a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is lebo diseko. our top stories: the un security council has passed a resolution demanding a halt to israeli settlement building on occupied palestinian land. the us, israel's traditional ally, abstained. anis amri, the suspected attacker of the berlin christmas market, dies in a shootout in italy. president putin faces the world's media, and says he is not worried by donald trump's talk of a new arms race. the star wars actress carrie fisher suffers a heart attack on a flight to los angeles, but is said to be stable. israel has reacted angrily after the united nations passed

a resolution demanding a halt to israeli settlement building on occupied palestinian land. it happened because the united states changed its usual veto policy, and abstained in the vote, saying it has long argued against the settlement buildings in the west bank and eastjerusalem, which are considered illegal under international law. today, the security council reaffirmed its established consensus that settlements have no legal validity. the united states has been sending the message that the settlements must stop, privately and publicly, for nearly five decades. by voting yes, in favour of this resolution, you have in fact voted no. you voted no to negotiations. you voted no to progress, and a chance for better lives for the israelis and palestinians, and you voted no to the possibility of peace.

prime minister netanyahu of israel has rejected the resolution. a statement from his office said israel would not abide by its terms. it said israel looked forward to working with us president—elect donald trump to counter what it called the harmful effects of the resolution. mr trump also has responded to the un vote. it is worth mentioning that mr trump has chosen a pro—settlement hardliner, david friedman, to be america's next ambassador to israel. barbara plett—usher has been following this story for us. she explained the ramifications of what occurred at the un. well, i think the resolution shows a strong international consensus that israeli settlement—building in the occupied palestinian territories is illegal, and is a very serious threat to a viable peace deal. and the obama administration strongly felt that there was this threat, so it decided not to veto. it abstained, and therefore the resolution passed. but this is something

that was a diplomatic earthquake at the un, because the americans always support the israelis there. they always protect israel against criticism. so it was a very strong rebuke, as you said, and the israelis are very angry. but president obama has only taken this step right at the end of his administration, so it's going to have far less of an impact than it might have done had he done it earlier. right now, he's reallyjust putting down a marker, especially as he's going to be handing over to donald trump, who has shown that he's ready to strongly support the israeli government and its policies. and in fact, after the vote, he's already tweeted, things will be different after 20 january, which is of course when he takes office. khaled elgindy is a fellow at the centre for middle east policy at the brookings institution, in washington. is this anything more than symbolic? yes, i think it is more than symbolic, because, you know, if it

we re symbolic, because, you know, if it were purely symbolic, we wouldn't have this sort of angry reaction from the israeli government, or the president—elect trump, for that matter, and i think the... you know, we haven't seen anything like this in almost four decades, really since 1980, the security council has not passed a resolution condemning settlements, precisely for the reasons that you have outlined in your introduction, that the united states has consistently locked those effo rts states has consistently locked those efforts over the years. —— locked. but i think there is a realisation, it may be too little, too late, but there is a realisation in the obama administration that the stakes are very high. you have a two state solution is being dismantled, literally, on the ground. the possibility of a palestinian state is being eviscerated by israeli

settlements. and you have an incoming american administration thatis incoming american administration that is entirely sympathetic to the settle m e nt that is entirely sympathetic to the settlement enterprise, to what is the most hard—core, right—wing israeli government in its history.” must say that the israelis, for their part, would say that the two state solution is being held up by palestinians behaving in a violent manner towards israel, that they feel under threat as well. yes, that isa feel under threat as well. yes, that is a talking point, i understand. but it doesn't hold up under scrutiny, because we had, for example, between 2010 and 2013 or 2014, unprecedented calm, mostly, for israelis. they were virtually no israelis killed in violent attacks during that period, and yet we saw an intensification in settlements, we saw negotiations collapsed under

the auspices of senator mitchell. so in times of calm and in times of conflict, really, the outcome is the same. i suppose the point is that there is less than four weeks left of the obama administration. donald trump has said as much, in practical terms, what difference does this make? it makes a difference for saving the historical record straight. this kind of orwellian interpretation that, by saying no to settlements, and the language of the resolution, is quite mild. it is quite balanced, it talks about palestinian incitement and violence, it also talks about the very problematic nature of settlements. and everybody agrees. peace of israelis, the american administration, the international community, there is a very solid consensus that settlements are

destroying the possibility of a two state solution. and if, you know, if you are going to interpret this as anti— israel, as opposed to anti— settlement, then that is purely a matter i think of political spin more than it is reality. we are going to have to leave it there, but thank you for your time. german chancellor angela merkel has said security will be reviewed in her country because of the attack on the berlin christmas market. the man believed to be responsible, anis amri, was killed in a shootout with police in milan. from berlin, here is damian grammaticus. anis amri's brief, violent life as a terrorist ended here, in an exchange of gunfire on the edge of milan. alone and hunted, he managed to flee 1,000 kilometres south from berlin. but, at 3:00am in the morning, acting suspiciously, he was stopped by two officers, and tried to shoot them. translation: at that moment the man, without hesitating, pulled out

a pistol and fired towards the policeman who had asked for identity documents. the officers reacted immediately. the one who was hit is recovering in hospital, but his condition not life—threatening. and this has been released by the so—called islamic state, a recording made in berlin by anis amri sometime before the attack, pledging his allegiance to is. it is now believed that the 24—year—old tunisian may have been radicalised after he arrived in europe, perhaps during the four years he spent injail in italy. german security services knew he was a threat, but he talked of buying guns, not using a truck. so how did he get all the way to italy? this is what we know about his movements. at 8:00pm on monday, he attacked the christmas market. then he vanished, but managed to get to chambery, in france. from there, a train ticket found on his body shows he managed to travel to turin, then

on to milan's central station, arriving at 1:00am in the morning. finally, he took the metro to the last stop, san giovanni. translation: at the end of this week, we can be relieved that one acute threat has come to an end, but the general threat posed by terrorism will continue. we will do our utmost to make sure our state is a strong state. so germany is trying to root out radical islamic networks. we visited this place today, a short distance from where anis amri's new video was recorded. well, this is one of the places that anis amri was known to frequent in the months when he was in berlin. it is a residential complex. but the reason he would come here, over in this corner, what used to be a mosque. it was closed down, though, and became a meeting point for radical islamists. one of the neighbours told us small groups of young islamic men continued to use the building.

they would meet late at night, apparently discussing attacks. translation: of course it was dangerous. when the men sit here and fantasise about carrying out attacks, yes, i was worried. my children and my family live here. with the immediate danger apparently over, berliners gathered for a memorial this evening by the brandenburg gate. no matter what, we are all one. all people come together here, and think of the victims. the berlin people, where something is, they have to be. germany is a country now confronting the reality it faces new and hidden threats. the actress carrie fisher, who played princess leia in star wars, has had a heart attack on a flight from london to los angeles. her brother said she was out of emergency, but in a critical condition.

fisher, who is 60, had just finished a tour to promote her new autobiography. let's get more from our la correspondent peter bowes. just bring up to date with she is. well, we understand from her brother, tod, that she is in a sta ble brother, tod, that she is in a stable condition. earlier we were told that she is in a critical condition, having taken to hospital in los angeles. he is now telling american media outlets that is out of emergency, meaning out of the emergency room, and in a stable condition. but he couldn't discuss any of the other circumstances surrounding what happened, or indeed her precise condition now. so there is still a little bit of mystery surrounding precisely what is going on at the moment, whether she's been moved to a different ward in the hospital, and what the precise nature of her medical problem is. we understood earlier, again from us

media reports, that she had a medical emergency while on a flight from the uk, from london to los angeles, about 15 minutes before the flight angeles, about 15 minutes before the flight was due to land, which is about noon local time, that is about six hours ago. and paramedics were called to the airport. they met the plane, and she was given some treatment at the scene. a number of the passengers, a number of nurses a p pa re ntly the passengers, a number of nurses apparently on the flight also tried to help, and then she was taken to hospital. so we are still waiting for a categorical statement, either from the hospital, or indeed from her statement, to understand precisely what is going on. and she became iconic for her role as princess leia, but she has done so much more, hasn't she? tell us about that. she has done so much more, but that. she has done so much more, but thatis that. she has done so much more, but that is the role, of course, that so many people know her for. she that is the role, of course, that so many people know herfor. she has written a lot of books, she has written a lot of books, she has written about eight books. the latest was an autobiography published recently. that is what she has been doing the last few weeks.

she has been on a book tour to talk about that book and one of the revelations was that she had an affair with harrison ford during the making of one of the original star wars, an affairthat making of one of the original star wars, an affair that lasted a few months. and that is typical of her, that she is very open about talking about her life, and some of the problems that she has had, some of the past medical problems, bipolar condition, battling depression, and drink, alcohol, as well. she has that kind of character, and she really has a huge following of fans from those days back in the late 70s, when the original movies came out, but of course, because of the ziggler came out last year, an entirely new generation of fans that are following her. and you canjust look at social media today to see the kind of response from people around the world, who have been talking about what has happened today and wishing her well. we are going to have to leave it there. i know you will keep across as for us. thank you. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: winning the white house. a look at some of the images which have captured the essence of us presidential campaigns. we saw this enormous tidal wave

approaching the beach, and people started to run, and suddenly it was complete chaos. united states troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of general manuel noreiga. the pentagon said the operation had been 90% successful, but it's failed in its principal objective, to capture general noreiga and take him to the united states to face drugs charges. the hammer and sickle was hastily taken away. the russian flag was hoisted over what is now no longer the soviet union, but the commonwealth of independent states. day broke slowly over lockerbie, over the cockpit of the pan—am's maid of the seas, nose—down in the soft earth. you could see what happens when a plane eight storeys high, a football pitch wide, falls from 30,000 feet. christmas has returned to albania after a communist ban lasting more

than 20 years. thousands went to midnight mass in the town where there were anti—communist riots ten days ago. this is bbc news, i'm lebo diseko. the latest headlines: the un security council has passed a resolution demanding a halt to israeli settlement building on occupied palestinian land. the us, israel's traditional ally, abstained. anis amri, the man suspected of carrying out the attack on a christmas market in berlin, has died in a shootout with police in italy. russian president vladimir putin has written to donald trump, calling for stronger relations and co—operation between their countries. and speaking to the world's media in moscow, the mr putin said he did not want a new arms race with the west. that's after donald trump suggested he would expand america's nuclear arsenal. mr putin also rejected accusations that russia had intervened in the us presidential election. from moscow, steve rosenberg reports. he is always confident, but is he a little confused?

as vladimir putin met the world's media today, there were mixed signals from across the atlantic. donald trump, sabre rattling one moment, and talking friendship the next. the kremlin leader said he hoped he and america's new president would work together to improve relations. it's not so simple. russia says it's modernising its nuclear missile potential. while today, donald trump reportedly said "let it be an arms race, we will outmatch them at every pass." so, would the kremlin respond? well, putting a question to the president is not easy when there are 1000 of you and just one of him. but he took my question. are you not concerned, though, that there is a danger of a new arms race if america is talking about boosting its nuclear arsenal?

translation: the basis for a new arms race was there already after the us pulled out of the antiballistic missile treaty and started to create a missile shield. so either we create our own shield, or, as we are doing, develop weapons to penetrate theirs. but this wasn't our choice. vladimir putin made it clear today that if there is to be a new arms race, that won't be russia's fault, and he delivered a defiant message, that russia is stronger than any potential aggressor. and that goes for cyberspace too. in recent months, russia has been accused of launching cyber attacks against america, even of using hacking to defeat hillary clinton. mr putin, your country has been accused of state—sponsored hacking with the aim of influencing the results of the us presidential election. and president obama revealed that he told you personally

to "cut it out." so, what did you tell him in response? the president refused to say, dismissing all the talk of hacking as sour grapes from the democratic party. translation: the losing side always tries to pass the buck. they would do better to look for the problems among themselves. but tough talk doesn't solve domestic problems. the russian economy is still struggling, notjust because of sanctions. low oil prices have hit hard in an economy reliant on exporting energy. to many here, stagnation breeds pessimism. they see problems growing with living standards and they see that the health system is collapsing. they see inflation and a forecast of the government that russia will be surviving through

the next 20 years in this state of stagnation. and that is one reason the kremlin is counting on donald trump, hoping he will ease sanctions against moscow. russia wants to be seen as a global player. but if president putin does not mend the cracks in the economy, he may be building a superpower on thin ice. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. in syria, where russian forces helped seize the city of aleppo, the last buses have been taking away rebel fighters, their families and residents from the east of the city. the red cross say 35,000 people have left their homes in the last few weeks. after four long years of bombardment, syrian government troops are now in complete control of aleppo. our middle east editorjeremy bowen considers the significance of the victory and how it may affect the outcome of the war. in western aleppo, a christmas party

became a victory celebration. it was watched over by banners of syria's three wise men, president putin, president assad, and the leader of lebanon's hezbollah movement. the regime support is often underestimated in the west. and there was relief that the killing in there was relief that the killing in the city might finally be over. the last buses out of eastern aleppo delivered thousands of fighters and civilians into an uncertain future. the fall of eastern aleppo is the rebels want to write greatest defeat and shows how the war is now being decided by the foreign powers that have intervened. what is next in syria? president assad and his allies have won themselves some options. their victory in aleppo does not end the war. thousands of rebel fighters have been bussed out to the neighbouring province, idlib. the regime and its allies will want

to win it back. the question is when. they might decide to make eastern ghouta their priority. it is horrible because rebel groups that control that have weakened themselves by infighting. —— vulnerable. foreign powers are shaping the battlefields. turkey has troops fighting in syria and backed some of the rebel groups in aleppo. but it watched while russia and its allies destroy them. that is because turkey needs russia to stand aside while it hits the kurds. they are now its main target. while you still personnel, the west was also a bystander. that is because the syria policy of the americans, british and their friends, never policy of the americans, british and theirfriends, never coherent, has failed completely. aleppo, though, looks to be a turning point. tonight, britain's foreign secretary said again president assad must go. but the downfall of the president

looks like a hollow dream. diplomacy has not done it. early in the war, there was a chance to make it happen by joining there was a chance to make it happen byjoining the there was a chance to make it happen by joining the fight. there was a chance to make it happen byjoining the fight. but that chance has gone while president assad remains russia and iran's men. it won't be easy for his coalition to move from aleppo and victory in syria, but now they have the momentum. the us presidential election will probably go down as one of the most memorable events of the past year. much of it was captured on camera, and now a new photo exhibition in new york explores how candidates have shaped their images over the years. we went to have a look. we're at the international centre of photography at the exhibition winning the white house from press prints to selfies, which takes a look at the last 5—6 decades of us presidential campaign photography. it traces the relationship of power

and how personas are developed. the idea is that the visual image in the media is how presidential candidates portray their personas to the public as members of the public typically do not interact with them. we understand them through the media, newspapers and illustrated periodicals. and now up to the present, through internet and social media. each candidate sort of conveyed through photography what they wanted the voters to understand in different ways that were relevant at the time of their candidacies. john f kennedy in his stills showed charisma and the energy of his supporters. ronald reagan portrayed himself as a cinema president, the movie version of what we would expect a president to be. bill clinton used photography to cast himself as a rock star with kennedy—like charisma and appeal to young voters. barack obama similarly used photography to project himself as a young and relatable candidate. these two photographs are meant to address the fact that both candidates in 2016 were national

public figures for decades prior to their candidacy. the juxtaposition of the two photographs actually is surprisingly relevant to the way they attemped to portray themselves in 2016. you have hillary clinton trying to seem soft and relatable. but the american public saw her as a complicated figure as having her own career and not being a traditional first lady. donald trump as host of the apprentice was trying to portray himself as a tough businessman. those two personas ended up being how they portrayed themselves in the 2016 elections as well. while presidential candidates may spend a lot of effort controlling their image, the advent of digital photography and smartphone photography all sort of lead to a situation where candidates do not have as much control over their persona as they wanted. he has made his post and checked it

twice, and we can report father christmas has officially left lapland and started to make his deliveries —— list. that means santa claus is set to make hisjourney around the world delivering presents. in a small grotto in northern finland, crowds gathered to see him off, as laura westbrook reports. the state ways 70,000 gumdrops and can travel faster than starlight, according to the norwegian tracking. our top story: the united nations security council has passed a resolution demanding a halt to israeli settlement building in the occupied palestinian land. it calls ita occupied palestinian land. it calls it a flagrant violation of international law. it passed after the united states abstained. that is it from us. thank you for watching. yesterday's weather was all

about storm barbara, the second named storm for the season. it has been a quiet season so far. there is barbara, the curl of cloud working into the uk. the strongest winds are in the scottish islands. reports of power supply problems here. transport disruptions as well. into the atlantic, our next storm system is forming. this is connor, bringing strong winds to the north of scotland especially for boxing day. the weather watchers had their work cut out enjoying strong winds, being driven out into the bay in lerwick. the winds will continue to blow, with plenty of blustery showers. that is how we start the day. showers falling wintry with snow in scotland above 200 metres, perhaps 100 metres at times. this is mainly in the hills where we will see that. because of that, we will have icy conditions on some of the roads. england and wales, a lot of dry weather to start the day. a few isolated showers working

into north—west england and across wales as well first thing. the further south and east you are, the better chance you have of starting the day on a dry note with a fair bit of sunshine. but it will be quite breezy for all of us. through the rest of the day, those gale—force winds will bring plenty of showers in. again, they will be falling as snow up in the hills of scotland. a more general spell of rain moving into northern ireland late in the day. turning damp here. england and wales, a mainly dry day with sunny spells. temperatures, 8—11 degrees. colder than that in northern ireland and scotland. the cold air will be behind us to start christmas day. mild air is on the way. these are the temperatures first thing on the big day itself. christmas day, quite windy. a lot of cloud around. this cold front will push south during the day. bringing wet weather for northern ireland, the north of england, and north wales. the south is still quite mild. temperatures could reach 14—15 in the mildest spots. further north, cold air moving in. that means late in the day,

some of us could see a white christmas. the chance of getting a bit of snow in the hills of northern scotland. for boxing day, remember connor? i showed you that on the satellite. it is bringing strong winds to the northern isles of scotland where we have an amber weather warning. 80 mph gusts a possibility. gale—force gusts for the northern half of the uk. further south, quite windy. a lot of dry weather with sunshine. temperatures between 7—8. later next week, the weather should calm down and we will see a return of some night—time frosts. the headlines on bbc news: the un security council has passed a resolution demanding a halt to israeli settlement building on occupied palestinian land. israel's traditional ally, the united states, abstained, saying it wanted to signal its backing for the creation of a palestinian state as part of a future peace agreement. italian police have shot dead anis amri, the man suspected

of carrying out the attack on a christmas market in berlin. amri was killed in a shootout in a milan suburb, when he was stopped for a routine identity check early on friday. the star wars actress carrie fisher has suffered a heart attack on a flight from london to los angeles. she is now thought to be in a stable condition. the 60—year—old had just completed a tour to promote her new autobiography. now it is time for business live's review of 2016.