this is bbc news. the headlines at three: germany says its terror threat remains high — despite the killing of the main suspect in the berlin lorry attack. the german chancellor praises the work of the security forces after anis amri was shot dead in milan in the early hours of the morning. translation of terrorism is a challenge for all of us, and it's good to know how resolutely and how well we work together. two uk men are convicted of using syria aid convoys to funnel cash to extremists in war zones. the hijacking of a libyan airliner forced to land in malta has ended peacefully, with those responsible surrendering to the authorities. also: delays are expected on the roads and railways as people head home for the festive season. passengers are warned of significant disruption on roads and rail

as the christmas getaway combines with the end of the working week. and there are difficult travelling conditions and power cuts across parts of scotland as storm barbara starts to hit. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. we begin with the latest on the plane hijacking, the plane which was meant to land in libya but was hijacked and landed in malta. let's get the latest on what is happening.

here are the shots we have from valletta airport, the maltese capital. we understand that it has now ended peacefully. our correspondent is with me and has been following developments throughout this afternoon. the most recent news is that the hijackers have surrendered? the prime minister of malta has tweeted that the hijackers have surrendered, have been searched and have been taken into custody. there has been a big question over this — what is their motivation, and what requests did they have? was it met? there are different rumours but nothing yet verified. there was a suggestion that they want to form a probe into the party, that they are gaddafi supporters and perhaps want to seek political asylum in the country. what we know is that all passengers are now off the plane and the seven members of crew and most likely the

pilot too. so this has ended safely, but it was an ordeal. the 100 passengers thought they were flying from south—west libya to the capital, tripoli. instead, we understand that there were two hijackers on board, possibly with hand grenades, saying they wanted to blow the plane up, and the pilot was forced to divert some 300 miles away to malta. there have been lots of questions over this and there will be more still to be answered. regarding these images, we are told this might be one of the hijackers. this has been a confused situation for much of the afternoon. you probably realised the pictures before were members of the crew being let go from the plane. female passengers were the for to be released. there was one infant on board as well. women and children we re board as well. women and children were let off first, then male passengers, then the members of the

crew. we believe that last shot was one of the hijackers. just to reiterate, it is unclear what i wanted. this was a flight that was meant to be flying from one part of libya to tripoli. we believe the pilot contacted air traffic control and wanted to land the plane in tripoli as planned, but that was not allowed for some reason. this is why the plane is now in malta. but we don't know what the men were trying to achieve. the two men will now be questioned in detail. there are still some questions. the biggest one — why did they do this and what are they hoping to achieve? there are they hoping to achieve? there are some suggestions that they are pro—gaddafi and want to set up a party. 0thers pro—gaddafi and want to set up a party. others say they are looking for political asylum. there are many different suggestions and there will still be many questions to answer. what is clear is that the passengers

are now safe. there were paramedics, security officers and negotiators and seen in malta, waiting for a few hours until the situation was resolved. there will be major relief, but still those questions to answer. i know you will keep us up to date. because this landed unexpectedly in valletta, the knock—on effect is that there was some disruption to other flights that should have been flying to malta during a busy holiday period. we understand that all flights to and from malta are understandably delayed or diverted elsewhere. we know of two planes in britain that have been diverted to sicily. 0ne know of two planes in britain that have been diverted to sicily. one is a british airways flight from gatwick to malta originally, and one is an easyjet flight that was going from gatwick to malta and is now in sicily. we will keep you up—to—date to how those travel plans change. smitha mundasad, thank you very

much. those are the live pictures from valletta in malta. those look like security operatives at the top of the plane. it was an internal flight of the plane. it was an internal flight due to land in tripoli. but crucially, the two hijackers have surrendered and are under arrest. we do not know what their demands were. mercifully, as far as we are aware, nobody was hurt in this hijack. but there are still many questions to be answered. the german chancellor, angela merkel, has promised to take measures to make her country a stronger state in the face of the terrorist threat. speaking after the death of the tunisian anis amri,

the suspect in the berlin lorry attack, ms merkel said her government wanted to speed up the deportation of failed asylum seekers and increase the number of those expelled. she's already spoken to tunisian leaders about the issue. amri was shot dead in milan overnight after opening fire on police on patrol who asked him for id. the italian authorities say the finger prints of the man they shot in milan do match those found on the track that smashed into the christmas market on monday and killed 12 people, injuring many more. the authorities are trying to find out whether a support network helped amri escaped italy, even as a europe—wide manhunt intensified. translation: we are going to

investigate into how state measures need to be changed. i therefore ask the interior minister, thomas de maiziere, in conjunction with the authorities involved and also with the regional authorities, to investigate and analyse each and every aspect of the case of mr amri. and i have asked him to submit the results as speedily as possible. wherever there is the need for political or legislative change, we will implement those changes in the federal government speedily. today, i was talking via telephone with the tunisian president. we talked about all our relations between germany and tunisia. tunisia have intensified their efforts to fight terrorism. i'm pleased about that.

also, as regards the deportation and repatriation of asylum seekers from tunisia who do not have leave to stay in germany, we have also made progress with that. the repatriation process , we progress with that. the repatriation process, we need to accelerate that and we need to increase the number of those repatriated. i told this to the president, beji caid essebsi. ladies and gentlemen, towards the end of this week, we can be relieved that one acute threat has come to an end. but the threat posed by terrorism is a general threat which will continue. that was the german chancellor angela merkel at a news conference in berlin about an hour ago, responding to the news that the main suspect had been shot dead by italian police in milan in the early hours of this morning. a questions remain. among them, how was he able to flee germany and get away even

when there was such an intensive manhunt on for him? our correspondent angus crawford has been looking at the events so far. the body of anis amri lies on a milan street. his last act, to pull a gun from his backpack and shoot at police. his last words, god is great. the question for the authorities is how did he evade one of the biggest manhunts in german history and make it to italy? look, in the doorway. this is thought to be amri, just hours after the attack in berlin. caught on cctv, leaving a mosque in the city. after that, the authorities lost track of him. but we now know he travelled to chambery, in france, then crossing the italian border to milan, arriving early this morning. at 3am, according to the italian interior ministry, he was challenged by a two—man police patrol

and shot dead. without a shadow of a doubt, the person who was killed is anis amri, the suspect of the terrorist attack in berlin. footage has now emerged of the attack. 0n the left, the lorry speeds through traffic lights. the taxi dashcam keeps filming as it heads towards the market. shoppers run away in terror. it took german police two days to focus on amri. his fingerprints were found on the steering wheel, his documents hidden in the cab. translation: our investigation continues with high intensity. we are particularly interested in revealing the network of accomplices to understand the course of events. but what do we know about amri? he 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. 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. from petty criminal to terror suspect — a journey that for anis amri ended here. angus crawford, bbc news. two men have been convicted of using aid convoys to supply funds to terrorists in syria. the old bailey heard the high profile muslim community—led convoys became unwitting vehicles for the plan to fund terrorism. our home affairs correspondent dominic casciani is at the old bailey. yes, this is quite a significant

conviction here at the old bailey, notjust because of the severity of the allegations, but also because it is the first official formal confirmation that the major aid convoys that people will remember from 2013, some of them were exploited and infiltrated by jihadists. this is a suspicion that was long held by intelligence chiefs and the verdict of the jury today confirms that. about the story is a man called syed hoque, from stoke—on—trent. at the heart of the story is a man called syed hoque, from stoke—on—trent. his nephew had gone to fight in syria in 2013. the two of them agreed that hoque would supply him with cash. the nephew wanted to buy a weapon in syria to take part in the fighting. hoquejoined an aid convoy injuly 2013 and took that cash with the aid convoy. it was a huge convoy and within that were £3,000 that he took for his nephew.

after delivering the cash, he agreed to send an extra £1,500 on the second convoy which went in december 2013. so these were serious allegations he faces and was convicted of today. commander dean hayden is the head of counterterrorism at scotland yard. this was what he had to say. i welcome the court verdict today. what happened in this case undermines the genuine work done by members of the public to help those involved in the syrian crisis. aid convoys were infiltrated and the goodwill of charities was abused by taking money and goods from the uk to syria to help terrorists. that second tranche of cash which went out in december 2013 was taken with the help of a second man, mashoud miah, from east london. he was convicted today of funding terrorism. a third man in the convoy, pervez rafiq, is a well—known charity worker from huddersfield who has raised thousands of pounds for good causes. he today was cleared of involvement.

he told the trial he had been devastated in december 2013 because another man on the convoy was alan henning, the eccles taxi driver and a friend of pervez rafiq who was subsequently kidnapped and murdered by is fighters after going to syria as part of that convoy. mr rafiq told the trial he had no idea of these allegations of infiltration byjihadists, and that he had no idea there were attempts to take equipment or cash to syria. the jury heard from him that he had spoken to m15, who had asked him for his help in identifying who the bad guys were. he walked out of court todat a free man, as did a fourth defendant. we are waiting to hear about sentencing for hoque. i suspect that will come in the new year. let's show you the latest images

from valletta airport in malta. this is the libyan airliner that was hijacked earlier today. everyone has been let off. we don't believe there are any injuries and the two hijackers have surrendered. in the last few minutes, we have seen troops going on board the aircraft. everybody who was on board is off safely, men, women and one infant and seven crew members. we have not heard reports of anyone being injured. the two hijackers have surrendered and are now under arrest in malta. this was an internal flight, in malta. this was an internal flight, due to land in tripoli when it was hijacked. the headlines on bbc news: germany

says its terror threat remains high despite the main suspect in the berlin lorry attack being shot dead in milan. two men have been convicted at the 0ld two men have been convicted at the old bailey of using syria aid convoys to funnel cash to extremists in war zones. and as you have just heard, the hijacking of that libyan airliner forced to land in malta has ended peacefully, with those responsible surrendering to the authorities. in sport, sam allardyce has arrived and at crystal palace's training ground to discuss becoming their new manager. palace want the deal done in time for their next match on boxing day. 0scar becomes the seventh most expensive footballer in history after a £60 million move from chelsea to shanghai sip g is agreed. and petra kvitova calls being able to move the fingers on her left hand the best christmas present she could have hoped for. the two—time

wimbledon world champion has left hospital following the knife attack during a burglary of a. more on those stories later. britain is braced for the arrival of storm barbara, which is expected to bring winds of up to 90mph to some parts of the country. the met office has issued severe weather warnings for much of the uk, with scotland expected to bear the brunt of the storm. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon reports. storm barbara is barrelling in. the worst of the weather has yet to hit, but already, conditions are difficult out at sea. ferries to many of the islands have been cancelled. for those who couldn't get home early, christmas travel plans are for now on hold. today, there's some services operating. they‘ re battling through. but the northern area is definitely off.

we are reviewing those services and will make announcements regarding tomorrow evening, and people may be able to travel, however, we can't guarantee that. gusts reaching more than 70 miles an hour have already been recorded in the outer hebrides. some homes on the isle of lewis and south uist left without power. but the stormy conditions were forecast well ahead. extra generators have been shipped out and others, including farmers here, have taken precautions. i slept quite well until5am, when the winds started to hit. i spent all day yesterday preparing for it, moving livestock to sheltered areas and making sure everything was tied down so i don't lose anything. this christmas tree in dunoon is holding tight, for now! while festive rides in edinburgh are off—limits because of high winds. storm barbara is an unwanted early gift. travelling may get more difficult as the gales increase, and those hoping to get away will be hoping the weather eases for long enough to get home

for christmas, when more stormy weather is expected to sweep in once again. lorna gordon, bbc news. let's cross to our correspondent, who can bring us the latest. it doesn't look too terrible where you are, but is it going to get worse? my are, but is it going to get worse? my sense is that the worst of storm barbara may have passed where we are now. we are on the banks of the firth of clyde. behind me, you can possibly see the ferry terminal of gourock. a lot of cancellations of ferries today, 19 out of 26 routes which are operated by the ferry company. as you say, it is not looking as bad as it was. still fairly strong winds. the rain has eased off for now. but bear in mind that this is a sheltered part of the firth of clyde, so the sea conditions will be much worse in the

more exposed areas that are further to the west. the storm front is coming in from the west. i don't think we can be certain that the worst is over, but for now, the conditions are not too bad. what preparations have people been making in advance of barbara hitting? huge preparations. we have been aware of the potential disruption that could be caused by storm barbara since the start of the week. so travel companies, the airlines and ferry operators and train company of scotland, scotrail, the electricity supply company hydro electric, which ru ns supply company hydro electric, which runs the grid in the north and north—west of scotland, they have all made extensive preparations. they also hold meetings together so that they can come their efforts.

and we get a sense of how effective that coordination has been from something that happened in the western isles this afternoon. large parts of the western isles, that is lewis and harris, lost electricity for some this afternoon. some of them have already got power back. we are told that in about half an hour or within the next hour, the rest of them should get their electricity supply back. so the weather has caused problems, but the utilities and travel companies etc have as they can to resolve those problems for their customers. james, thank you. well, today is set to be the busiest food shopping day of the year, with an estimated 10 million people hitting the supermarket aisles. they're calling it frenzied friday. 0ur correspondentjudith moritz

reports from east didsbury in greater manchester. merry christmas! two days to christmas, and for the supermarket industry, this is frenzied friday, the day most shoppers go to buy their festive food. 10 the day most shoppers go to buy theirfestive food. 10 million british customers will keep the tills ringing today. at peak time, we will serve 15,000 customers in a minute today. a huge volume of customers will go through our checkouts, but we are ready. for the grocers, it has all been building up to this point, a peak day of trading after months of planning. supermarkets have to get the stock levels just right, and the planning sta rts levels just right, and the planning starts almost a year in advance. but the last few days are the most important time. they will be looking at exactly how many sales of each product by each store are likely to happen, making sure the products are on the shelf in the right quantity. of course, it's all about christmas

dinner. tesco say they will sell more than 200,000 turkeys today. don't forget the veg. 27 million ca rats, don't forget the veg. 27 million carats, and love them or hate them, they are going to sell a0 million sprouts. it is the people, the experience, feeling something and being there. sound like i'm not bothered about how busy it is, to get on with it. it is bizarre, it is only one day in the year, and we panic. we think, we have to get more wine, milk! in bristol, the christmas market is doing a brisk trade and the spending will continue tomorrow, with the hope of an extra boost because christmas eve falls on a saturday this year. some research points to a downturn in the total amount of retail spending in the uk this christmas, but shopkeepers need not despair. the boxing day sales are onlyjust not despair. the boxing day sales are only just around not despair. the boxing day sales are onlyjust around the corner. if you're planning a christmas getaway you may be facing a delay or two.

extensive rail engineering work starts across britain from midnight — with 200 different projects being carried out over the christmas break. the biggest re—signalling scheme in the network's history will close the line between cardiff central, bridgend, newport and the valleys. services around manchester will be affected by work there, while paddington station in london will close to allow the crossrail line to be completed. roads are also expected to be busy and britain's airports are predicting the busiest festive travel getaway ever. 0ur transport correspondent richard westcott reports. it's going to be the busiest rail upgrade ever taken on, and it starts tonight. the lack of trains will make the roads busier. this is the m6 today. it's a popular time to fly away for the holidays. here is sta nsted. away for the holidays. here is stansted. so why do they always pick

christmas to close the railways? we have a huge programme of works that we have to deliver as part of our railway upgrade plan, and some of that work can be done on a live railway. we have to shut the railway. we have to shut the railway. christmas is the best time to do it, because it is one of the quietest times of year. 24,000 engineers will work on 200 sites across britain. 0ne engineers will work on 200 sites across britain. one of the bigger jobs they are doing this christmas is to open up and test these new lines between the concrete blocks there. critically, they unblock a bottleneck between the trains going from heathrow into paddington station in london. it will hit services across the country. paddington station will actually 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, newport and the valleys, as they finished the

biggest resignalling job ever done. i have to take an extra day of work because the replacement bus service is not good enough for what i need. but i understand the work needs to be done. it is the busiest time of year when families get together after not seeing each other for a while. then they are all disrupted and they can't get where they want to go. totally inconvenient. there isa to go. totally inconvenient. there is a lot of shopping between christmas and new year, side bus service is not necessary. christmas engineering overrun two years ago, causing chaos because the back—up plan failed. network rail says all the holiday work since then has gone without a hitch. most roadworks have been cleared for the holidays, but tonight could still be tricky. between the hours of four and 8pm this evening will be the busiest. that is the rush hour period. but additional traffic travelling long distances, it will get busy. the pinch points will be the obvious

choices of the m1, m6, m25 and the fight. as ever, leave plenty of time before you head off, or take the slate instead. —— tekori sleigh instead. let's get the weather now. the weather is not very cheerful. it is pretty wild, wet and windy across many parts of the country. there are nasty condition spreading from the north—west, this band of intense rainfall, locally no doubt causing problems with strong winds too. later this evening, the core of the strong winds will be across scotland. barbara will cause 80 or 90 mph gusts across the far north. that is not unusual for this part of the world, but be prepared for disruption. those gusts of wind will continue to blow across the

highlands. rain showers elsewhere across scotland, northern ireland and northern england. relatively quiet once the rain has cleared, but chile. bright and breezy during the receive in the south. mostly rain showers for northern ireland —— during christmas eve. very mild for a time on christmas day. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines. german officials say the terror threat remains high, despite the killing of the tunisian man suspected of the berlin lorry attack. chancellor angela merkel said she wants quicker deportation of failed asylum seekers from tunisia. translation: we need to accelerate the repatriation process and we need to increase the number

of those repatriated. anis amri, who'd pledged allegiance to islamic state, was shot dead in milan in the early hours of the morning. amri's fingerprints were found inside the truck that drove into the busy christmas market on monday. the hijacking of a libyan airliner forced to land in malta has ended peacefully after 118 passengers have left the plane and those responsible surrendered to the authorities. two men were convicted at the old bailey of sending cash and supplies to foreign terrorists using syria aid convoys. the court was told that muslim community—led convoys were unwitting vehicles of the plan. let's see what is in the latest sports news. crystal palace are closer

to appointing sam allardyce as their new manager. as negotiations continue between the two about the former england boss replacing alan pardew. who was sacked yesterday. 0ur sports reporter david 0rnstein is with me. david, palace seem to be moving pretty quickly here. palace seem to be moving pretty quickly on this. very quickly. alan pa rd ew quickly on this. very quickly. alan pardew was only sacked 2a hours ago. sam alla rdyce has pardew was only sacked 2a hours ago. sam allardyce has been in the building at the beck and training ground about an hour, finalising negotiations to become the new crystal palace manager. they still need to sign the actual documentation, finalise the details. but the expectation is he will lead crystal palace's training session tomorrow, and then be in charge on monday when they travel to watford. what kind of predicament will sam find palace in? they've had a difficult year to say the least. they are the worst performing team in the entire english football pyramid, with just six winds. this

time last year crystal palace were sixth in the premier league, just outside the prem —— champions league places on goal difference. they sit one point above the relegation zone, they've won just one of their last 11 matches. six consecutive defeats put paid to alan pardew‘s hopes of continuing and sam allardyce, out of the england job, back in to club football, and he will be the new crystal palace manager. another relegation battle for him after that brief spell. chelsea have agreed to sell midfielder 0scar to a chinese club for a fee thought to be around £60 million, making him the 7th—most expensive footballer in history. the brazilian will move to shanghai sipg injanuary and is reported to be earning around £a00,000 a week. the 25—year—old has been at stamford bridge for four and a half years, during which time he won three trophies, but hasn't had much of a look—in under antonio conte this season. meanwhile jose mourinho says morgan schneiderlin will be allowed

to leave manchester united for the "right offer". after west brom confirmed they've made a bid for the midfielder. thought to be £13 million. that would be around half what united paid for the frenchman when they bought him from southamptonjust 18 months ago. former british middleweight champion nick blackwell has woken from a coma and is smiling again, according to his brother, after being injured in a sparring session. blackwell had surgery to reduce swelling on his brain. he had returned to sparring in an unsanctioned move last month. he had retired earlier this year after being placed in an induced coma following a defeat by chris eubankjr. two—time wimbledon champion petra kvitova says she does not see herself as a victim, and doesn't feel sorry for herself, despite suffering a knife attack in her own home. she's left hospital today after needing surgery on her left hand following the burglary in her home in the czech republic. doctors told her she'll need to spend six months out, but kvitova says she's determined to return to the sport. yesterday morning during a session

with the doctor, i was able to move the fingers on my left hand, which i think was the biggest gift i could have. to heal the fingers. this was the greatest christmas present i could have wished for. the ioc has issued disciplinary proceedings against 28 russian athletes. evidence emerged in the mclaren report of manipulation of one or more of the athletes hearing tests during the 201a winter games in sochi. russia has lost toasting rose to two more sporting events following reports of state sanctioned doping. they gave up a buyer from meeting and was stripped ofa buyer from meeting and was stripped of a speed skating event in march. —— biathlon event. that's all the sport for now. 0lly foster will be with you in the next hour. now an update on the story that has

dominated here for the last few days, and with that development in the early hours of the morning that the early hours of the morning that the main suspect in the burlington lorry attack has been shot dead. he was shot at about 3am in the morning, an italian police officer was injured in the attack. this happened in a suburb of milan in the early hours. we've heard in the last hour and early hours. we've heard in the last hourand a early hours. we've heard in the last hour and a half from the german chancellor angela merkel who has been giving her reaction to the news. let's assess what this means and what we know about the tunisian man who has been shot dead with our security correspondent who has been following developments. let's talk more about the 2a—year—old himself. what sort of picture are we building 7 what sort of picture are we building up? this is somebody who has had a pretty troubled and chequered past. he's fairly typical, i would say, of

the kind of people that so—called islamic state have used or ended up pledging allegiance to them to carry out attacks. he's got a criminal past, a violent past. he's been in trouble with the police over non—terrorist activities. drug dealing, violence. he served four yea rs dealing, violence. he served four years in italy after trying to burn down a refuge hostel where he had, as an illegal migrant from tunisia in the wake of the arab spring. he was arrested fairly quickly in sicily. it spent time being moved around sicilian prisons where he was around sicilian prisons where he was a bully and tried to intimidate others. italy didn't want him, they tried to deport him but tunisia said we've got no record of him, so he made his way to germany. there he applied for asylum, it was refused, but in the meantime he was under surveillance for six months because it was suspected by the germans that he was looking to carry out a robbery to raise money to buy guns

to carry out an attack. but they couldn't find any proof. what they did find proof of was that he was on the fringes of an extremist group led by somebody called abu wallah. he is accused of recruiting people to send them to syria and join ices, so—called islamic state. to send them to syria and join ices, so-called islamic state. how much do we know about any connections, contacts with so—called islamic state ? contacts with so—called islamic state? what has come out this afternoon is a video, a posthumous video. it was recorded by him. it is a kind of selfie video where he has gone around like that in berlin, where he is pledging allegiance to the leader of isis, in which he talks about revenge for the air strikes. it is clearly following the is narrative that attacks on europe,

they justify them is narrative that attacks on europe, theyjustify them because they is narrative that attacks on europe, they justify them because they are coming under pressure militarily in iraq and syria. he has got his various insults for all non—believers, as he puts it. it is a fairly typical ies video. by is? —— inspired by is? a fairly typical ies video. by is? -- inspired by is? it is certainly inspired by is and there's no question he is pledging his allegiance to the caliphate and the caliph himself. there are people who have actually gone to join is, spent time in syria, lent a horrible tactics and things and then come back to europe. these people, if they are caught, spend time in prison. then there are the people who are in contact with is but never actually leave europe. but is

probably him. in other words, he was radicalised in prison, probably went online and may be met some other people but probably didn't go to syria. he has been radicalised and got himself towards that point at which he did the berlin attack, allegedly, by the things he saw online. then you've got the people who never had any contact with is. they look at what they see and are self radicalised and decide to go and do something. they are less common. is the working assumption that somewhere along the line he will have had help? authorities must be working on that assumption. there is rarely any such thing as a lone wolf attack. there will be somebody, either online or in real life who has helped them. somebody who has provided shelter, paid their bills, provided shelter, paid their bills, provided a sim card. perhaps given them petty cash, often out of

charitable motives, not realising they are helping a terrorist. i remember going to the first post 9/11 trial. it was a moroccan guy who had been arrested. his lawyers said, the germans missed the whole hamburg cell. they've got some guy who paid some gas bills while these quys who paid some gas bills while these guys were in the state is learning how to fly planes. thank you. the syrian army has described the defeat of rebels in aleppo as a "turning point" in the country's civil war. pro—government forces took full control of the city yesterday after the final evacuations of opposition fighters and civilians from eastern aleppo. the army high command said it would continue fighting until every last bit of syria had been liberated. well, thousands of families have left the city over the past weeks and the bbc‘s lina sinjab has caught up with one of them. a moment of relief for aleppo's children, finally warm and safe,

away from the hell of war. no more fear, no more tears, but fun and laughter. and they even compete over who gets their picture taken. this school has turned into a temporary shelter for many families who fled the horrors of eastern aleppo. 75—year—old suliman ahmed badem's family is among them. he made it through with his wife and three children and their families. this classroom has now become their home. they have some food and some means to stay warm. they left with only the clothes they were wearing, but were stripped of all their valuables. translation: i left with my whole family. we did not take anything. the regime got the men on the floor and took everything. money, phones, everything.

i only have family papers with me. where do we go back? to the war and bombardment? enough. their grandson arrived ill. they waited in freezing temperature in eastern aleppo until they were evacuated. he is constantly coughing, the grandmother tells the doctor. he can't sleep at night. they were stuck for days after the evacuation was suspended. they were among hundreds who were pushed back from the crossing point, threatened by gunfire. they are not expecting to go back to aleppo any time soon. translation: we would love to go back when things are safe. there is nothing like home. we have three houses but we won't go back to be under fire. i would live in tents and never go back now. this is what they have escaped from.

what was their home, turned into a ghost town. ishmael‘s family is moving to the border with turkey to live in tents there but it may not be the safe haven they were hoping for. refugee camps were targeted before and, as long as they stay in rebel—held areas, they may face bombardment by government forces again. syria's war is not yet over. lina sinjab, bbc news, beirut. with me now is caroline anning — part of the humanitarian emergencies team at save the children. thank you forjoining us. what is the picture for all those people who left aleppo, and they've been spared the terrible atrocities going on there, the bonds and the bullets. but now they have gone to idlib and what is the situation there? about

36,000 people have fled what was left of east aleppo and have arrived in idlib. there has been heavy snow there. idlib already hosted hundreds of thousands of displaced people and is also readily bombed itself. families are coming off buses malnourished, frightened and traumatised. children have been sprinting off the buses because they haven't seen fresh fruit in so long. it isa haven't seen fresh fruit in so long. it is a chaotic situation but we are able to get some assistance to them now which is much better than when they were in aleppo. conditions are still difficult and not safe. are they living in other people's homes or tents or what? anywhere they can find. there are informal camps, people are sleeping in tents but the snow has collapsed a lot of those already. people sleep in mosques, community centres. people are breaking down doors to try and give families a place to stay. the

community has opened its arms but they are overwhelmed. we focus on aleppo in recent weeks, but there are other parts of syria where there is huge suffering as well. what are you doing there? be suffering in aleppo was so huge and the scale of devastation was so huge it rightly took our attention. we end this year with 750,000 people living under siege across syria. children and families deprived of food and medicine. we had a father messaging us on medicine. we had a father messaging us on the lebanese border, from a town that has been under siege for more than a year, begging us to get his son out. he is about to lose his eye and isn't allowed out for medical treatment. all of these towns need an end to the sieges so we can evacuate people. what's really important is people shouldn't be forced from their homes. what happened in aleppo isn't a victory. they've been forced under threat of bombing and starvation to leave

homes. we don't want to see that repeated across syria. we should be allowed to get help to people where they are. five years after the war started the syrian regime have obviously had a victory in aleppo but the war just obviously had a victory in aleppo but the warjust goes on and we are about to go into yet another year of it. there is no end in sight. we have to be hopeful that 2017 will be the year. it is appalling, the suffering is appalling. 0urfailure to protect children and families is really depressing. the fact we haven't been able to separate humanitarian aid and the political process has been disappointing. that's not to say we can't do it. the only way to end this is through diplomatic negotiations. it's only by bringing syrians together and making an agreement that we can bring a peaceful end to the war. there is no military solution to the war in syria. thank you.

in a moment a summary of the business news this hour, but first the headlines on bbc news. germany says its terror threat remains high — despite the main suspect in the berlin lorry attack being shot dead in milan. two men are convicted at the old bailey of using syria aid convoys to funnel cash to extremists in war zones. the hijacking of a libyan airliner forced to land in malta has ended peacefully, with those responsible surrendering to the authorities. in the business news. germany's deutsche bank says it has agreed a £59 billion payment to us authorities over an investigation into its role in the financial crisis. credit suisse also announced a similar deal, while barclays is now under investigation as well. some positive news

for the uk economy. the latest revised figures show that it grew by more than previously thought between october and december this year thanks to more output from business financial services. the consumer group which has begun legal action to strengthen protection for the owners of tumble dryers that pose a fire risk. five million affected machines were sold between 200a and 2015. the manufacturer, whirlpool, is carrying out a repair programme. so the uk economy grew more than previously thought between october and december. britain's economy expanded at a 0.6% faster that orginally thought. so what does that mean for 2017? allie renison is head of europe and trade policy at the institute of directors. some positive news about the economy

growing than we originally thought, but we had some data and today about the current account deficit which has widened relative to gdp. what is significant about that? it means there had been anticipated boost exports from a weaker pound, and clearly from various revisions that have come out over the last month, it shows that there hasn't been any sustained pick—up in exports. but it's what people were looking to to offset the drop in stirling. we seen the last few months, the economy hasn't done as badly as previously predicted by some economists. how do you think the next three months is going to be and also, weakness in sterling, will that persist?” going to be and also, weakness in sterling, will that persist? i don't think sterling ruble have a massive recovery in the short term. there are some questions over whether it will fall any further once article 50 is triggered. there were quite a

few economic shock predictions about the immediate aftermath of a leave vote which haven't materialised. we will continue to see robust consumer demand but there is the potential for inflation to pick up to 2.7%, over the course of the next year. the question is when will that start to bite, and that's when you might start to see the more negative effects. we talk about inflation and the cost of living, that is going to be an issue that will be discussed quite a bit presumably over the next few months, how will that impact everyday consumer prices and energy prices, will we see more hikes in those areas? it's quite remarkable, there is clearly evidence importers have started to see their cost base start to increase massively but they haven't passed it on yet to consumers or retailers. part of that is because you are in the christmas rush period, people want to discuss

that once the holiday period is over. there is the potential that well over half, nearly 65% of importing members are saying they are putting their prices up. the question is how far along that gets passed through the supply chain to consumers. the question is for 2017 and consumers have said there is a big question around that. 0nce consumer confidence starts to fall and wants consumer spending starts to fall it is hard to reverse that trend. that is why the bank of england and the government are looking to try and look out for those trends once they happen. here's some other business stories we've been following today. planned strikes by british airways cabin crew on christmas day and boxing day have been suspended. employees were due to walk out in a row over pay and conditions. the unite union said a,500 workers employed on so—called "mixed fleet" contracts, who have joined since 2010, were on lower pay than other staff.

the government is introducing a £60 million annualfund to help areas of england with high levels of second—home ownership. the money will be shared by 150 councils over five years and will go into providing "affordable" housing forfirst—time buyers in places where demand is high. the money has been raised through increases in stamp duty. one third of it will go to south—west england. london's eaton square has been named the most expensive place to buy property in britain, with a home costing an average of nearly £17 million. the belgravia address tops a list that shows every english region now contains "million pound" streets. the scores in st andrews tops scotland's list with an average of almost £2.2 million. a quick look at the markets. the

biggest movers were in pharmaceuticals. astrazeneca did quite well. that's all the business news. the bells at york minster have wrung out for the first time since the 30 strong team of bell—ringers was dismissed in october. they were run last night for the service of nine lessons and carols. for centuries, the bells have chimed out across the city. in october, they stopped. two days after the group was stood down by the chapter, we were hoping before long that the bells ring again. we are grateful for the courageous and generous ringers from inside the city and across the country that have come forward to try to help us move forward over this period of time. there they go again. it is a wonderful sound, singing the glory of god. the volunteer bell—ringers were dismissed over concerns about safeguarding procedures. it came after one of them was accused of indecent assault

against young girls. no charges were ever brought. since then, the minster has struggled to find replacement volunteers to take over, with accusations of intimidation towards anybody who tried to step in. the previous team have denied any involvement in that intimidation and said they had tried to find a way forward. the minster are now working towards a permanent solution with a new team. we're going to be recruiting a new band in the new year. yes, we had some volunteers for this christmas season. it is an interim to make sure that, for the benefit of all of those coming to worship and the citizens of york, they know that there is a very special service for christmas happening tonight. this time, because of the way the processors have happened, we are looking forward to recruiting a band that will abide by the church's processes in terms of safeguarding. great to hear the bells again, the service was wonderful as well.

and the row going on? the dispute? i am glad it is finished. nice to have them back. absolutely wonderful, great to hear them ringing out across york. it makes it christmas, i think. it is a time for forgiveness. that is what has happened, let's hope they have sorted things out. time for a look at the weather. a bit stormy but darren can tell us. good afternoon. it's worth pointing out straightaway that the worst of the weather over the next few days is going to be across the northern half of scotland. that's because we've got two named storms on the way. this area of cloud will develop into storm conor. right now we have got storm barbara on the scene. this

was the scene a short while ago with gusts of wind over 60 mph. we've also got some brain as well. that rain is moving through cumbria right now. heavy rain and squally winds with it. the worst of the winds are still arrive in the far north of scotla nd still arrive in the far north of scotland as we head into the evening. that band of rain pushes quickly eastwards. wintry showers coming into scotland and the winds continuing to pick up during this evening. gusts of 80—90 mph in the far north of scotland which is why we have that warning. the winds will slowly eased down a bit overnight but it remains very windy across scotland. there will be quite a few wintry showers with more snow to come and icy conditions as well. across northern ireland a lot of showers. the most of england and wales it will be dry and clear and a

little chilly. there is barbara, moving out of the way and taking away most of the winds as well. it will still be windy on christmas eve and across scotland is more snow showers as well. if you shout was driven into england and wales but generally bright and breezy. rain coming into the north—west later in the day. this is from the next storm system, this is conor. we will see twin impacts. a lot of mild air drawn up on christmas day. but there is some rain around as well and we've got some very gusty winds particularly across the board. the rain comes with that cold weather front which will take it down away from scotland and introduce colder air across the north of scotland, and maybe eventually a white christmas across the hills. colder in the north, still mild in the south. colder air on boxing day

which is where the storm conor is at its closest to the north—east of scotland, particularly the northern isles. gusts of 80—90 mph. further south few wish i was, it should be dry, not as windy and more sunshine. -- if dry, not as windy and more sunshine. —— if showers. is, this is bbc news. we are going straight to valletta in malta, because we are going to hear an update following the successful ending of the hijacking of the libyan plane. let's go to the maltese prime minister. this request was rejected. after further negotiations, the hijackers agreed to free the remaining members of the crew and to surrender. they were asked to

surrender. they were asked to surrender any weapons in their possession. they were found to be in possession. they were found to be in possession of the hand grenade and a pistol. nevertheless, the armed forces of malta are currently conducting a full search on the aircraft and a second pistol has been found so far. the search is