berlin. i would like to take this opportunity to make sure that us, the government and the italians, that we all give a hug to the relatives. an exemplary italian was killed in this massacre. we are not taking any threats likely, but works happen tonight just goes to show that the government is there and that italy is there. thank you. a statement by the italian prime minister who has only been in the job for ten days, expressing huge gratitude and pride for what happened with two police officers stopping the primes us act anis amri in that berlin truck

attack and killing him in the early hours of this morning. this is bbc news with reeta chakra barti and chris rogers. the main suspect in the berlin lorry attack is shot dead in milan after opening fire on police officers during an id check. anis amri, who is a tunisian national, was killed in the early hours of the morning. one police officer was injured in the shootout. there is absolutely no doubt that the person who was killed is anis amri. 12 people were killed and dozens injured when a lorry drove into the christmas market in berlin. anis amri's fingerprints were found inside the truck. nephew have just

nephew havejustjoined nephew have justjoined us, nephew havejustjoined us, let's bring you up—to—date with our breaking news. within the last hour, it has been confirmed that a man shot dead in the italian city of milan is anis amri suspected of killing 12 people when he smashed a lorry into a busy berlin christmas market. italian can to terror services say he pulled a pistol from his backpack when he was asked to prove his identity. he shot a police officer and then was killed by a second police officer. the italian interior minister give further details about the events leading up to the shoot out. translation: this evening, at three

min translation: this evening, at three m in sesto san giovanni? in milan, during a normal patrol fire police officers, one of our police officers on patrol savvy person who looked very suspect. he was walking around looking very suspect. any moment he was stopped, the man did not hesitate, he immediately took his gun outand hesitate, he immediately took his gun out and shot a police officer. he shot at the police officer who asked him for his identification papers. immediately, the police on

patrol reacted to the shoot out. luckily our police officer was not shot fatally and he is now in hospital recovering. the police officers reacted to the shoot out. the person who attacked oui’ shoot out. the person who attacked our police officer was killed. the police officer on patrol, the person who was killed, there is absolutely no doubt that the person who was killed is anis amri. he is

the suspect of the terrorist attack in berlin. our correspondent bethany bell is in berlin for us. we heard from a government spokesman just 18 minutes ago in berlin. can you be capped what he had to say? he said that they heard the news from the italian authorities that from the italian authorities that from the german side, it was not yet an official confirmation from the german authorities as to the identity of this person, but he said the indications were that it was anis amri who was shot dead in milan. she said the german confirmation would take a bit more time to come through, but it did look very likely that this was the case. if it was shown that this was anis amri, the interior ministry would be very lip believed that this person was no longer a threat and

that threat had been removed. thank you. here's what's known about anis amri's movements prior to the berlin attack: anis amri left his family in tunisia, travelling illegally to italy in 2011. he spent four years there in jail for violence and theft, but without a passport, he couldn't be deported to tunisia. so last year he moved to kleve in germany. denied asylum, once again he wasn't deported. security services feared he was trying to get automatic weapons for an attack but with no new evidence, surveillance of him was halted in september. with us now is our diplomatic correspondent. very quickly after the news reached us that he was found and shot dead questions are being asked about whether this attack could have been prevented.

first of all, it looks as though this was a routine stop in milan. they got lucky. it wasn't a result of any heightened security. that is one factor. the may well have missed him. the key question is, how did he get from berlin to milan? some people think you may have taken the train. it is raising questions about security within the european union? the interests lapsed, they had limited resources. they had to focus on other potential targets, but clearly that was a mistake. he was he radicalised individual planning to create mayhem. this problem of paperwork and individuals were trapped in a limbo, seeking asylum

in your country and they do not get asylum. the germans could not return him to tunisia because he had no original documentation. that is the big problem area that needs to be addressed. this does seem to have been a chance encounter by two italian police officers with this man, who at the time of the most wa nted man, who at the time of the most wanted man in europe. absolutely, it does seem to have been a stroke of luck on their part. we know from his itinerary in europe that he had strong connections with italy. he had served time in prison in sicily. he had a background of petty criminality and violence, that is often typicalfor criminality and violence, that is often typical for these individuals. as you say, this wasn't a result of any police dragnet or heightened security, they just got any police dragnet or heightened security, theyjust got lucky. whilst one shouldn't discourage that fa ct, whilst one shouldn't discourage that fact, that is not clearly enough

when you have an individual who is so much the focus of police attention across the continent of europe, the fact that he should be able to get all the way from berlin to milan and just be stopped by a chance encounter, that clearly isn't good enough. one name we are going to be hearing a lot is the police officer who approached him and asked him for ide papers. he is now recovering in hospital. he is described as extraordinary by italy's interior minister. on top of those in custody, there are more than 330 suspects on radar that they cannot arrest, they have not enough evidence. this whole picture emerging in europe is one going to drive fear into people wanting to go christmas shopping today. there are two aspects to this, there is a

community of potential suspects and it is clear that the intelligence agencies in most european countries are hard stretched to pirate eyes and allocate resources between this group of individuals. equally, there is another worrying and roger dimension, are politicalforces in europe who want to dramatise the situation and see a huge wave of terrorist spreading across europe as a means of battening down the hatches, closing the doors and stopping immigration altogether. we see these forces in germany and they will be strengthened by what happened in berlin. we see them very clearly in france also with the national front of france. it is a phenomenon across many european countries. in both those countries we have crucial elections in the

coming years. it is worrying, not just because of the terrorism itself and the danger of attacks and the public concern, but also because of those forces who play upon what is a very real, but limited is not perhaps the rate worried, but an unknown quantity. there are many forces trying to play up all this and that is not something that many people believe is doing much good for the political climate in europe at all. you're going to stay with us, because are a lot of new developments emerging. stay with us if you can. a short time ago we spoke to the editor of the panorama magazine in italy. how quickly did the news get out? one of our

reporters howard during the night from one of his sources. we spent all morning checking it. it was sure when one of us was sent a message from a very high up police officer. he answered with this. i don't know if you can see it. i think we will have trouble seeing it. can you tell is what it says? he answered with this emoji. can you see it? no, we cannot see it. it was a thumbs up.

that'll do everything you needed to know? if someone said the police we re know? if someone said the police were lucky. they were very lucky indeed, but they were efficient as well, because it was very difficult and he was the most wanted man in europe and they were both very young. it was notjust about luck, but efficiency as well. you say they we re but efficiency as well. you say they were efficient, but they would not have known who they were dealing with, would they? all the italian police had his face in their cars, so they were looking for someone. have you spoken to anybody within the police to suggest that the

recognised him ? the police to suggest that the recognised him? they actually recognised him? they actually recognised him. they knew who they had in front of them. is that why they stopped him?|j had in front of them. is that why they stopped him? i don't know if they stopped him? i don't know if they stopped him because of this. they were looking for him. everyone in italy was looking for him. the police knew his face, because they had his photograph in their cars. i would guess that they thought the man they had in front of them could have been him and then they stopped him because of their suspicion. fascinating. many thanks for joining us. thanks to you. let's get some more analysis and reaction now. thank you for taking the time to speak to us. i find

thank you for taking the time to speak to us. ifind it thank you for taking the time to speak to us. i find it quite interesting what we just heard they're from another journalist interesting what we just heard they're from anotherjournalist in italy, that italian police were actively looking for the suspect. police were on high alert, but this was just a normal checkpoint. police were on high alert, but this wasjust a normal checkpoint. it police were on high alert, but this was just a normal checkpoint. it was not set up in the action to the berlin attack. there is a lot of debate on social media at the moment about whether or not this was just the italians getting lucky. hallow. ican hear the italians getting lucky. hallow. i can hear you now. i wasjust describing the comments of our prior guest who said that the police in italy were on high alert. this was an operation that found him. it was not just down to an operation that found him. it was notjust down to luck. do you agree with that analysis? i do believe that they were looking for him. the

german interior minister already said that we could count on the country's core operating very closely. it is not a surprise. as far as the way the actual event went, i do not think they are going to tell us the whole story for a long time, because it is quite obvious that we can for example imagine that the man had been traced in the train and been followed. he may have had a group of friends who could hide him and call operate with him and that sort of thing. when you have that kind of a man in your hands, you want to squeeze as much as possible out of the situation. but obviously, there are not going to tell us that for the time being... sorry to interrupt, but are

you suggesting that he was heading to an italian terror cell and that there is more worried terrorism in italy than we are led to believe?” do not know how much terrorism there is in italy, i could not possibly say. it was obvious that he had chosen to come back to italy where he had lived. he could probably count on some friendships, on someone he had known injail or who he had connections to because of islamic links. it seems to me that the police would not arrest somebody that they could follow and find out more about him and his connections. all of this is a supposition. the interior minister didn't say

anything. he gave us the impression that there were only two people to hockey to him and checking on him, although it one point he also said that there was another group of police officers who intervened. why did the intervening? probably because of the shots drawing their attention and they must have and rushed to the spot. we have not been told the old story and we can only imagine what may have happened. indeed, the nature of terrorism in itself is the unknown. that is what we all fear. either fears itself is the unknown. that is what we all fear. eitherfears in italy that terrorism, like we've seen in france and germany could now spread to italy? so—called islamic state have made threats saying they are going to invade rome, but we have not seen much yet, not much

activity. no. there is always fear. as long as there are people prepared to die, you can expectjust about anything, because you can definitely try and destroy a network, but if there is a single individual ready to die, we are very much deprived of the cancers. the interesting thing is that for a very long period, italy seems to be a target primarily because the target of islamic state was christianity. the funny thing is that they never really threaten israel. if they decided to have an enemy, the enemy was christianity. it was quite obvious that if they had decided to have christianity as an enemy, we have the centre of

christianity, or a catholic is anyway, in rome. the threat was there and it was quite possible to imagine that something would happen. then all of a sudden, christianity seems to have been dropped out of their agenda. they don't talk about it any more. i wonder personally whether, like any other organisation, unless they are stupid, they can put out also to things including the popularity of the pope and they must know that if they strike the vatican, they may find themselves with less friends than the already had. it's a fact that we felt more vulnerable a year ago that we feel now. indeed. many thanks for that analysis. just

hearing the german federal prosecutors office is going to hold a news conference in berlin at 12:30pm, presumably with more details about the shooting of anis amri is the main suspect behind the truck attack on that christmas market in berlin. he has been shot dead by police officers in milan in italy in the early hours of this morning. we will keep you updated here on bbc news. let's ta ke let's take you away from our main story just for let's take you away from our main storyjust for a moment. let's take you away from our main story just for a moment. maltese media are reporting that a airline flight media are reporting that a airline flight in libya has been diverted to malt. this was tweeted. the report says that the airbus has 118 people

on board. i think we can speak now to the deputy mayor in multi. thank you forjoining us. to you give us an update on the situation now? aaron newscasters have just issued an address from the prime minister where he said it is only a few minutes ago that he officially receives a statement that a libyan airliner was landing receives a statement that a libyan airlinerwas landing in receives a statement that a libyan airliner was landing in malta and there are hijackers on board. although the situation was here already, he has just although the situation was here already, he hasjust received although the situation was here already, he has just received the official news now and there is a meeting in process of a special committee to address the situation.

the airport is closed, it has been com pletely the airport is closed, it has been completely closed and all flights are diverted. there are flights coming in at 11:20am and they have been diverted. there are paramedics and soldiers and security. the army is on stand—by. they are all on stand—by to see what the next step is. two people on board seem to have been threatening to blow up the plane if their demands are not met. we are seeing pictures of the plane standing at the airport and resizing pictures earlier of security services clearly standing at the perimeterfence. services clearly standing at the perimeter fence. it's clearly a very delicate situation. what are the emergency services doing? what i be able to do in this situation? emergency services doing? what i be able to do in this situation7m emergency services doing? what i be able to do in this situation? it is not the first time that we have had this situation. we have had at least five planes hijacked between 1973

and 1979. situations have been handled one way or another. the emergency and the security and special units, they are all standing by and in actual fact, even at other airports they are standing by in order to not let the hijackers themselves. the news keeps coming in. this is the latest that we have. the requests have not been made, this is the problem. we do not know what the requests are at the moment. we are very grateful to you for that update. let's just remind you of our

breaking news here on breaking news. italian police have shot dead anis amri, the man suspected of carrying out a deadly attack on a christmas market in berlin. the interior minister in italy said anis amri was killed by police on patrol in milan in the early hours of this morning. we understand it was a normal checkpoint, although italian journalists are telling us that police were on high alert, they were looking out for anis amri is indeed we re looking out for anis amri is indeed were many police forces across european countries. he was asked to show his id papers by police officers. we are told that anis amri immediately shot at the police officer and fellow police officers then shot at anis amri, shooting him dead. that officer is recovering in hospital now. no questions are being asked about the investigation, what we knew about anis amri and good that attack in berlin have been

prevented. let's get more reaction to our breaking news. joining me as another italian journalist with more breaking news. joining me as another italianjournalist with more insight into the feeling there and the investigations as well. it's very quick. literally one hour or so after we know that the suspect has been shot dead in milan, questions are immediately being asked about why he was in italy. we know he had connections there, but that must be fuelling fear amongst italians that terrorism is coming close to home now? it is very interesting to underline that he crossed the border between germany and france by train to the frontier at 1am and then he ita train to the frontier at 1am and then he it a train to milan and was shot

dead around 3am. what does this mean? he probably knew the route to very well that he had to do to escape the german police. he probably came back to italy because he spent a lot of years in italy in jailand he he spent a lot of years in italy in jail and he boldly had a network error. we have background on him. in the last two years, the police discovered a lot of terrorist activity in milan and around the town. it is a tradition for islamic terrorists to use this area as a logistic place. it happened in the

two thousandths. we discovered terrorist cells with links to islamic state or other terrorist groups in the area. either any signs that italy are stepping up its security now that a terror suspect has been shot dead by italian police in milan? i think that milan, as i said before, is a place that has a role for the logistics base for a lot of terrorist cells that have been persecuted for a terrorist attacks in tunisia and in libya. just briefly, do you think that this was not just luck

just briefly, do you think that this was notjust luck as some people are seeing it, particularly analysts, that this actually was corporation between the italian police and the german colleagues?” between the italian police and the german colleagues? i think that there was an international mandate and so at the time, when there is something like this, probably somebody who's i have some information about him, and i think that we were very lucky to catch him. do you get a sense that this investigation into anis amri, what could have been done, what was known, very much in terms of comedy governments such as italy or germany need to look at their deportation policies? do you think all that will now be looked into? do you think lessons now be looked into? do you think lesso ns ca n now be looked into? do you think lessons can be learned from this?”

think that probably the italian police sent information about anis amri to the german police, so they we re amri to the german police, so they were able for example to understand how he could move around and as i said before, the italians were interested because you take the train from germany to france and italy and probably somebody could in some way follow him. it could be interesting. on the spot, we were lucky. we are hearing that chancellor angela merkel is going to be talking to the tunisian president about deportation policy of tunisian nationals in germany. so, it doesn't like that is going to be looked into. for many thanks. you're

watching bbc news. let's have a look at the headlines now. the main suspect in the berlin lorry attack is shot dead in milan after opening fire on police officers during an id check. anis amri, who is a tunisian national, was killed in the early hours of the morning. an italian officer was injured. there is no doubt that the person who was killed is annis amory. the suspect of the terrorist attack in berlin. 12 people were killed and dozens more injured when a lorry drove into the busy christmas market on monday. amri's fingerprints were found inside the truck. now we can we can bring you up to

day the terror suspect. it is been confirmed that anis amri has been shot overnight. yes. overnight the manhunt intensified. but came from the italian minister at conference. at three in the morning, in milan, during a normal patrol of our police officers, one of our police officers on patrol stopped a person who looked very suspect, who was just walking around, looking very suspect. in the moment he was stopped, the man without hesitating,

key immediately took his gun and shot. —— he immediately. he shot. he shot. —— he immediately. he shot. he shot at the police officer who asked him for his identification papers. the police officer immediately reacted to the shoot out. luckily, our police officer was not shot fatally and he is now in hospital recovering. the police officers reacted to the shoot out. the person who attacked our police officer was killed. the police officers on patrol... the person who was killed

after all, there is no doubt that the person who was killed is anis amri. the suspect he terror attack berlin. —— the suspect of the terror attack in berlin. i had a chance to speak personally to the police officer. i told speak personally to the police officer. itold him speak personally to the police officer. i told him that i hope he gets better soon. the boy is very motivated. he is an extraordinary person. i thanked motivated. he is an extraordinary person. ithanked him motivated. he is an extraordinary person. i thanked him for the professionalism that he

demonstrated. for the professionalism that him alongside his colleague had demonstrated we are talking about an operation that happened at three in the morning in the middle—of—the—road important city centre. —— in a really important. it happened in complete security. the only problem was for the police officer that was shot. no one else was injured. i gave him my own... isaid one else was injured. i gave him my own... i said thank you to him on behalf of me and the whole of the italian interior ministry. and of the entire italian police force. i

saidi the entire italian police force. i said i hope he gets better soon. and in the next few days, i will be going to visit him. and i said to him, happy christmas. and i said also that thanks to people like him, the italians can have a very happy christmas. and let me tell you at the end, i would like to thank the whole of the security of our country. italy should be really proud of our security. and i am repeating, really proud. next to me is the chief of police.

and of the finance. i want to thank them from the bottom of my heart for their hard work and that they managed to do this with such great cooperation. and a's such a high quality and high level of security. and as soon as this person entered our country he is the most wanted man in europe and we immediately identified him and neutralised him. this means that our security is working really well. i want to thank eve ryo ne working really well. i want to thank everyone who are on the streets.

everyone who are on the streets in these hours. our armed forces. everyone who are on the streets in these hours. ourarmed forces. our police. because it is not easy. with all the terrorist threat that we have, it is not easy guaranteeing the kind of security that we have. but i can guarantee that we do everything we can. i'm not going to enter into details of the operation, because there are somethings happening now. but we are collaborating with the federal prosecution office. so, we won't enter in the details and you will understand why. why we can't go into the details of the operations. we have let the german federal

prosecution office know. we have told the police forces and their authorities and let me tell you that iam authorities and let me tell you that i am entirely satisfied with how the operation went. these people in our police forces are exceptional. the police officer who was shot is so young and he is just doing hisjob. yet he, christian movio, did an extraordinary service to the community. both him and the driver. is an silly think this. —— i sincerely think this. i think that

the whole country will agree with me and won't want to say to these policemen thank you so much for what you have done. well, the italian interior minister marco minitti confirming what all the sources have been saying which is that anis amri, the tunisian suspect in the berlin attack. our reporter is outside the train station in a suburb of milan, where anis amri the man suspected of carrying out the berlin christmas market attack was shocked by the police. he sent this update. there isa police. he sent this update. there is a chalk circle and bloodstain where we think anis amri was shot dead by the police. we understand by the information given to us by the italian interior ministry that anis anis amri got off the train in the sesto san giovanni area of milan. he was stopped for a routine search. he

was stopped for a routine search. he was he doing mac got a gun out of his backpack. he was then shot and he died. he spent five years here, four of those were in a jail in balerno in sicily where he spent some time. he was known for his violent behaviour. eventually, he was issued with a deportation order which did not materialise and he escaped to germany where he was believed to carry out those attacks in berlin. that was our reporter there. let us get more now on the latest developments. frank gardner are security correspondences droning is in the studio. —— six billy mac security correspondence is joining us. there are a lot of talk about whether this was chance or whether

there was some cooperation or tip—off. i know it is hard, what is your analysis? i think it was a little more than luck. as you heard of them from the italian minister, italy was on alert form this guy. he spent five years in this country, most of it in a prison. he was known by the italian forces. the most obvious people who are going to be contacted obvious people who are going to be co nta cted by obvious people who are going to be contacted by the german authorities once they knew who he was was the italians and tunisians. there was a degree of international cooperation here. you can see this is a glass half full or empty. the glass half empty is, hang on, this guy was able to slip across borders and the word slip is perhaps slightly unfair because it's not known exactly... it took the germans a while to know who they were after. remember, they interrogated the wrong suspect for the first 20 hours. so, he wasn't necessarily being pursued initially.

he was able to get from germany across the board into france. get a high—speed train to turin and then get a regional train from cheering down to milan. in the end, he —— turing. he made a mistake going to italy probably. he would have been better hide himself in suburbs or make his way eventually over to syria. if indeed islamic state, their statement is correct. they claim that he is one of theirs. there is no proof that has been offered and they have not identified him as being theirs. they have just said that this attack was by one of their soldiers, as they put it. the glass half full is that this is superb european co—operation. this is making up for some of the bureaucratic red tape mistakes that have led to this disaster in the first place, or contributed to it. it shows that i getting ide, getting patrols out, stopping people,

obviously —— what was he doing around eight train station? he was asked for papers coming instead of papers: he produce a weapon and fired upon. it could have been like, but i suspect it was more of a tip off. when the italian investor was meeting earlier, he was very coy to give more details of an ongoing investigation. what will that be? it is still a live operation. even though he is dead, they have got to be certain that there aren't accomplices out there. it is very rare, as a former member of the m16 said, it is very rare that any such thing is a lone wolf. it has become a cliche. nearly always, somebody is operating with help or encouragement of financial assistance from somebody else. in the old days, it

would be al-qaeda from parker sunil afghanistan, sending money. but they have got helpers usually. —— pakistan. some false id, a bit of help. there is a mix and a crossover. jihadists who are loyal to islamic state and the criminal underworld. weapons change hand, particularly in continental europe. once they have got from the balkans into the eu, weapons can move around really quite easily across borders. that is a big problem. it is harder to get them into this country. not impossible. we heard from the german prosecutor ‘s office earlier that there are around 330 people in germany who are on radar, but there is not enough evidence to deport them all to tame them. that is on

top of those who are already detained. undersuspicion top of those who are already detained. under suspicion of being radicalised as a potential threat to germany and europe. i know figures are higher in the uk and other european countries. france has been badly affected by terrorism. but people are going to start wanting to see more being done to protect their lives and their country. we hear that angela merkel is going to be speaking to the tunisianpresident. about policies of deportment and asylum. you mentioned bureaucratic red tape can. can it ever be redone and written? it can. there are two issues here. the sharing of intelligence on suspects. germany has a particular problem here and so do belgium for that matter because often the right hand of authority isn't talking to the left hand of authority. in the case of belgium, you have got six different police forces. in brussels, you have two

different languages. in the case of germany, there is a high degree of autonomy for different states. in the north—west for example where he had spent time, they would not necessarily share everything immediately with other states within the federal republic. so, it probably needs to be a bit more joined up. when it comes deporting failed asylum seekers, the problem was that tunisia didn't it initially agree that it was tunisian. he only delivered his passport couple of days. that's like they. you can't deport a stateless person. that was the problem. when they are travelling as refugees that come they are told to rip up your passport and travel documents. they can't deport you. yes. this particular character. we should not beat him up too much in terms of his operational security, he spent four yea rs operational security, he spent four years in prison. he is not that successful a escape artist. they did have six different aliases, many

nationalities that he went by. it was extraordinary that it was known to be on the fringes of an extremist group whose leader was known to be on the fringes of a group who was recruiting people to send jihadists tojoin islamic recruiting people to send jihadists to join islamic state recruiting people to send jihadists tojoin islamic state in syria. and yet, he was... he was us watchlist. he was free to move away germany —— around germany. i just he was free to move away germany —— around germany. ijust want he was free to move away germany —— around germany. i just want to he was free to move away germany —— around germany. ijust want to pull back and talk about what we're dealing with. the last leaders, so—called islamic state have released a video of people burning to death turkish soldiers. border guards. people who have not shot and killed anybody in their lives. they are in uniform, but that is not the point. they have shown these people being burned alive as thejordanian pilot was. i've not seen the video,

just the report. it is a 20 minute video showing the intense pain and suffering with them being burnt alive in gruesome detail. that is what you are dealing with here. that is the mentality, cruelty and barbarity of this organisation which has no place in the middle east or in our lives. thank you. our security correspondent. a reminder that of our threat to europe. in malta, the media are reporting that an airliner has been hijacked and diverted to malta where it landed. multi's prime minister said on twitter that security are standing by. they see they have 100 and 18 people on board. we have since had more news coming in. one from malta

news state tv. which says that the two hijackers on board the plane have hand grenades and are threatening to blow up the aircraft. more information from reuters, the pilot apparently tried to land the plane in libya, but the hijackers refused. this is information that has come from tripoli airport control before communications were lost. an ongoing and potentially dangerous situation there. earlier, i spoke to the deputy mayor in malta. she gave us the latest about what authorities there have heard. well, at the minute, our newscasters have just issued an issue and an address from the prime minister. he said it is only a few minutes ago that he officially received a

statement that a libyan airliner was landing in malta with hijackers on board. the situation was here ready, but he is onlyjust receive the official news now. there is a meeting where a special committee are addressing the situation. the airport is closed, it is being com pletely airport is closed, it is being completely closed and all flights diverted. flights coming from after 1130 have been diverted. there are paramedics, there are soldiers, there are all security. there is the army. they are all on stand—by to see what the next step is. two people on board seem to have been threatening to blow up the plane if there demands are not met. we are seeing pictures of the plane standing at the airport. we saw some

pictures earlier of security services clearly standing at the perimeterfence. it is services clearly standing at the perimeter fence. it is clearly a very delicate situation. what are the emergency services doing? what are they able to do in this situation? well, it is not the first time that we have had this situation. we have had at least five planes which were hijacked and landed in malta between i believe in 1973 and 1979. the situations have been handled in one way or another. the emergency and the security and the special units, they are all standing by. and in actualfact, even other airports, there are people in hidden posts in order not to alert the hijackers themselves. obviously. but the news keeps coming m, obviously. but the news keeps coming

in, this is what we have the latest. there is nothing else. the request has not been made. this is the problem. so, that was the deputy mayor in malta. to give you more information about who is on that hijacked plane, we are told it has 111 passengers, 82 men, 22 females and one infant. that comes from a tweet from the maltese prime minister. the prison service says a disturbance at the jail in kent is resolved. tornado teams took over. the police are now investigating. the police are now investigating. the prison service says that the challenges are long serving and would not be changed. a glimpse of

the chaos behind closed doors. some prisoners brundage in fire extinguishers. others holding snooker balls. they are sometimes used as weapons. reports say fires we re used as weapons. reports say fires were lit. their faces were covered, but their feelings were clear. it took specialist tornado teams strained in control and restraint to end this restraint for five hours after it started. but the trade union the prison officers' association says it could all happen again. there are simmering tensions around the estate, so what happened at swaleside last night, we believe could happen at any number of prisons up and down the country at this minute in time. but swaleside is a particularly tough prison to work at. the staff recruitment and retention there has been poor. in the last few years, they've lost lots of experienced staff there and new recruits haven't wanted to stick the job out, due to the toxic nature of the job. and this seems to be becoming a more familiar picture.

it's the fourth major incident at an english jail injust four months. on october the 29th, there was a disturbance in lewes, which lasted six hours. and just one day later, there was a riot in bedford, involving up to 200 inmates. and last month, specialist riot squads were deployed to hmp birmingham, to a disturbance involving hundreds of prisoners. it is not unusual. reform is desperately necessary. the government says the challenges in prisons are long—standing and will not be solved overnight, but the justice secretary is committed to making sure prisons are stable and delivering reform. no—one was hurt on this occasion, but this incident raises yet more questions about the safety of both prisoners and staff. smitha mundasad, bbc news. the uk's travel network is expected to face its busiest day of the year

as many try to get away for the christmas break. however significant disruption is expected for some travellers. this weekend sees major engineering works begin on rail—lines in and out of london, manchester and cardiff. drivers are likely to face tailbacks, and airports across britain are experiencing the busiest festive getaway ever, with more of us planning to leave the country than ever before over christmas and new year. our transport correspondent richard westcott has the details. it is one of the busiest lines in britain. a vital link between south—west england and south wales. it is part of the biggest rail upgrade programme ever taken on. 24,000 staff upgrade programme ever taken on. 211,000 staff will work on 200 projects across britain. why pick christmas? we have a huge programme of work that we have to deliver as pa rt of work that we have to deliver as part of rl way update programme. some of that work just can't part of rl way update programme. some of that workjust can't be done ona some of that workjust can't be done on a live railway. we have to shut

the railway. so christmas is the best time to do it because it is one of the quietest times of the year. it will hit services across the country. london's paddington station will close for six days after the last train leaves tonight. services at other big stations including london bridge, charing cross and liverpool street will be severely affected. there will be no trains late on christmas eve between cardiff central, bridgend and newport and the valleys. they will finish the biggest reek signalling job ever done. services around central manchester will also be affected. christmas engineering work overran two years ago, causing chaos. the back—up plan failed. since then has gone without a hitch. the lack of trains will make it harder to get to some of the airport, too .say they

are better prepared now. all work since then has gone without a hitch. the lack of trains will make it harder to get to some of the airport, too. christmas eve over holidays to try and ease anyjams. time for a look at the weather. lets get the forecast. on top of that, we have bad weather as well. stormy in the north—west. at least, some good news. the rough weather isn't going to be impacting much of the country as bad as it is in the far, far west of the uk. for most of us, it is heavy rain, strong winds. we have had it before, we have had it worse. nonetheless, still pretty nasty on roads. take care. these winds will be strong. the rain will be happy. overnight, the sky is clear over the south. the winds will drop out as well. in northern parts of the country, storm barbara will be pulling away. still, bringing very strong winds and

wintry weather across the hills. that will take us into christmas eve itself. some sunshine. not a bad day further north, still gale—force winds. you can see this rain you can see the outer edges of the storm forecast of the christmas day. this will be cold connor. on top of very, very mild. this is bbc news. laura trott stories: shot stars, the prime suspect in the burning christmas market attack is killed in italy. there is absolutely no doubt that the person who was killed is anis amri. the suspect of the terrorist attack in berlin. anis amri was killed after winding a police officer after a routine check in milan in the early hours of the morning.