this is bbc news. i'm reeta chakrabarti. the headlines at seven: authorities in tunisia arrest three people suspected of being part of a terror cell connected to the berlin christmas market attacker, anis amri. a man and woman have appeared in court in london charged with making preparations for a terrorist attack. israel condemns as shameful a un security council vote calling for an end to settlements on occupied palestinian land. tributes are paid to the status quo guitarist rick pariftt, who has died in hospital in spain at the age of 68. also in the next hour: the prime minister calls for unity after the brexit vote. in herfirst christmas message, theresa may urges britain to move forward as the country prepares to leave the eu. merry christmas, everybody. and the

obamas take a trip down memory lane as they prepare to deliver their final christmas message from the white house. good evening and welcome to bbc news. security forces in tunisia say they've arrested three members of a terrorist cell linked to anis amri, the tunisian who killed 12 people by driving a lorry into a christmas market in berlin this week. the interior ministry said one of those detained was amri's nephew. 24—year—old anis amri was shot dead by police in milan in the early hours of yesterday morning. bethany bell reports. this is anis amri, the man who's suspected of being behind the attack on a berlin christmas market in the name of so—called islamic state. and now authorities across europe and the middle east are trying

to piece together his extremist connections. the 24—year—old tunisian made this video shortly before driving a lorry along a crowded street, killing 12 people. now a clearer picture of his network is emerging. officials in tunis say he was connected to a militant cell, which included his sister's son. amri is thought to have sent his nephew money to help him come to germany. the nephew's now in custody in tunisia. two others have also been arrested. the spanish authorities are investigating whether amri may have had links to an extremist in spain. in tunis today, hundreds of people took to the streets to demonstrate against extremism. they gathered outside the bardo museum, which was attacked by militants last year. in recent years around five and a half thousand tunisians have joined jihadist groups, making the country one

of the largest exporters of militants in the region. translation: the terrorists damage the image of tunisia in the world, and have harmed the expats who are living abroad. translation: our message is from the heart, it is a panic wave, and you need to understand, tunisians are afraid, but we will not stay silent. we're standing by our country. this was how anis amri met his end. shot dead in an exchange of fire with the police in the italian city of milan. one police officer was injured. he's now recovering in hospital. and the hunt for more clues about the attacker goes on. bethany bell, bbc news, berlin. a man and a woman have appeared in court in london charged with making preparations for a terrorism attack. the pair, who are in their 30s, appeared at westminster magistrates' court. our home affairs correspondent dominic casciani has more. arriving at westminster magistrates'

court after a fortnight in custody, two charged on christmas eve with preparing a terrorist attack in the uk. they are 35—year—old munir hassan mohammed from derby and rowaida el hassan, who is 32 and from north—west london. they are accused of one count of preparation of an act of terrorism in a case that relates to the alleged acquisition and possession of chemicals for explosives. mr mohammed faces five more charges, including membership of daesh, or the so—called islamic state group. miss el hassan is also accused of possession of information useful to terrorism. mr mohammed and miss el hassan appeared in the dock flanked by five police officers. they spoke only to confirm their names, dates of birth and home addresses. neither indicated a plea, and there was no application for bail. the charges come after a significant operation led by the northeast counter terrorism unit. officers conducted extensive searches at properties including homes in derby.

four other men arrested at the same time were this week released without charge. mr mohammed and miss el hassan have been remanded in custody, and will next appear in court at the old bailey injanuary. dominic casciani, bbc news. israel has condemned a vote by the un security council calling for an end tojewish settlements on occupied palestinian land. the us abstained rather than vetoing the resolution as it usually does. donald trump has tweeted things will be "different" when he takes over. here's our middle east correspondent yolande knell. these israeli homes are on land that the palestinians want for their promised future state. there are now some 600,000 israelis living in the occupied west bank in eastjerusalem, and numbers are growing. in a rare show of unity, the un security council passed its judgment on thejewish settlements. translation: 14 votes in favour.

describing them as a flagrant violation of international law and a threat to any peace deal with the palestinians. crucially, the united states did not use its veto power in israel's favour as it usually does. it is because this resolution reflects the facts on the ground and it is consistent with us policy across administrations throughout the history of the state of israel that the united states did not veto it. israel disagrees that settlements built on land captured in the 1967 middle east war are illegal. at the un, it felt betrayed by its closest ally and was especially angry about criticism of building in eastjerusalem. who gave you the right to issue such a decree denying our eternal right in jerusalem? this holy book, the bible, contains 3,000 years of history of the jewish people

in the land of israel. no one, no one can change this history. officially, israel rejects the resolution and says it looks forward to working with us president—elect, donald trump. on twitter, he said things will be different when he's in office. here in bethlehem, palestinians gathering for their annual christmas parade feel they have something extra to celebrate. they're calling this resolution a victory and hoping it will help them in international courts. but israel says it will not change policies on settlements and is counting on the next us administration for support. yolande knell, bbc news, bethlehem. yolande knell has been speaking to dr mustafa ba rghouti of the palestine national initiative. he says the resolution is very important and that donald trump's position would harm the peace process. it gives us a very strong weapon to

fight back against the resolution, but it is an important resolution because it reminds everybody that said that all israeli activities must be reversed, including the occupation of jerusalem. must be reversed, including the occupation ofjerusalem. it will give us a very strong base for diplomatic actions, for struggle on the ground and even for demanding boycott a nd the ground and even for demanding boycott and sanctions against israel for violating international law. but already we have had the us president—elect donald trump promising things will be different when he takes charge injanuary. how the palestinians respond to that? unanimous international support has been shown to the rights of the

palestinian people. if the american president—elect wants to be against international law and violate himself international law by supporting israeli settlements, he will be making a problem for himself. but at the end of the day, if he proceeds with not accept this resolution, this would mean the end of the possibility of the united states having any serious role in any peaceful process in the future. they cannot be totally biased to israel and a mediator at the same time. the status quo guitarist rick parfitt has died suddenly in hospital in spain at the age of 68. in a statement, his family said he'd died as a result of a severe infection, after being treated for complications following a shoulder injury. david sillito looks back at his life. i've got to where i wanted to go.

you know, to become a pop star or a rock star. to quo fans, he was easy to spot. he was the bobbing blond head, and he was responsible for some of rock's greatest riffs. 1972's piledriver was the beginning of a run of a0 hit albums. 57 top a0 singles. no other rock band comes close, and it all began at butlins. rick parfitt met francis rossi when they were teenagers. their first single was a bit of 60s psychedelia. but their passion was something a bit more raw, a hit—making rock formula. all our records do sound alike, of course they do, because it's status quo. i'm not trying to get out of a corner here. they are gonna sound like us.

who are we supposed to sound like? who would you get to open this thing? as soon as i had the idea, i couldn't think of anyone better. # here we are and here we are and who we go # we're hitting the road # here we go # rocking all over the world... and when it came to sex, drugs and rock ‘n‘ roll, rick parfitt did it all. this riff arose, the consequence of a huge dose of amphetamines. i felt i've just got this riff, i have this riff i want to do, i am going to stay here, i will be all right on my own. we said, good night, rick, see you in the morning, goodbye. we came back about 11:30 the following morning, rick's on the stool. i said, you're early. he said, i haven't been home yet. he had sat there for 12 hours doing it. from too much speed the previous day. he married three times.

of course he has a particular type of woman. blondes. and his health? even when he was recovering from heart surgery hospital, he was still smoking and drinking. i was smoking in the hospital. and drinking. it was the rock ‘n‘ roll lifestyle, but when it came to turning rock into hit songs, he was one of the best. that's rick parfitt, who has died today at the age of 68. we can speak now to dave peacock from chas and dave who toured with status quo in 2014. good of you to join us. tell us aboutjohn memories of rick parfitt. they were part of a unique band, and he said, who are we supposed to sound like, he didn't know straightaway who they were! last time i saw him, he gave me a

couple of ukeleles, which we still play. he was a great bloke, a bit wild, but i think that was what he was down four, in the end. what sort ofa was down four, in the end. what sort of a character was he? all kinds of stuff. he liked country and all kinds of stuff. and that sort of sound of status quo, of which he was a key part, is so much the soundtrack to people's lives from the 1970s, soundtrack to people's lives from the 19705, 19805. soundtrack to people's lives from the 1970s, 1980s. yes, they had so many hits, and when the live aid thing started that bob geldof put together, that was the perfect start for it, there couldn't be a better tune than that one, rocking all over the world. but you couldn't have

been much different to them, they we re been much different to them, they were rock. status -- status quo what a lwa ys were rock. status -- status quo what always fa ns were rock. status -- status quo what always fans of us, but it was the first time we toured with them, couple of years ago, but we got on great with them. and touring with them, that will have been quite late in the band's career. what was it like? it was a good atmosphere, the crowd loved them and loved us as well. i think we got a few more fans but hadn't seen us play before, in big arenas and staff. so he remained a performer until very recently? yes, he was playing up until... he had a couple of scares, one in turkey almost year ago, but yes it was a terrible shame. you sound very upset, it is a shock for you. yes, it was a shock. i was round at

chas's daughter's has to give his grandson a christmas present, i hadn't heard. you have onlyjust found out? yes. what will be your lasting memories of him? well, just him bobbing up and down on stage, the way he looked on the way he was, and his laugh and everything. he was and his laugh and everything. he was a good laugh. and that is how you will remember him. yes, definitely. dave peacock from chas and dave, thank you forjoining us this evening. thank you. let's ta ke let's take a look now at the headlines on bbc news. the authorities in tunisia say they have arrested three people suspected of being part of a terror cell linked to the berlin christmas market attacker anis amri. a man and woman have appeared in court in london charged with making preparations for a terrorist attack. tributes paid to

the status quo guitarist rick parfitt who has died in hospital in spain at the age of 68. the queen's granddaughter zara tindall and her husband mike tindall have lost their baby, a spokeswoman for the couple has said. equestrian champion zara and former england rugby player tindall announced at the end of november they were expecting their second child. in a statement the spokeswoman said: "very sadly, zara and mike tindall have lost their baby. at this difficult time, we ask that everyone respects their privacy." nick witchell is our royal correspondent. buckingham palace saying nothing, saying this is a private matter. zara tindall always in an ambiguous situation, although she is a grandchild of the queen, neither she nor mike tindall are members of the working royal family, they have both carved out distinguished careers in their sporting fields. they married in 2011, they have one child, maya,

who will be three next month, and this pregnancy was announced a month ago and it is thought the baby would be born in the spring, so it was thought she was around four months pregnant. no medical risk to her, to zara, but sad for both of them. theresa may has urged britain to "unite and move forward" in herfirst christmas message as prime minister. mrs may said the vote to leave the eu would offer britain the opportunity to carve out a bold new role in the world. in his christmas message, the labour leaderjeremy corbyn promised to do more for people sleeping on the streets. here's our political correspondent, iain watson. the british people have spoken and the answer is we're out. the eu referendum divided not just politicians but communities and families. so, against this backdrop, it's perhaps not surprising that in her christmas message, the prime minister appeals for unity.

coming together is important for us as a country, theresa may says. as we leave the eu we must seize an historic opportunity to forge a bold new role and unite our country as we move forward into the future. in a separate message recorded for the armed forces, theresa may tells them that the government is on their side. because i want you and all your families to know that this government is on your side. jeremy corbyn says his thoughts are with those experiencing loneliness and despair at this time of year. he recently visited a homelessness charity in london and uses his christmas message to repeat the promise he gave them. labour has pledged to put an end to rough sleeping in our first term of government. we would do that by doubling the number of homes available for people who have been sleeping on the street. the lib dem leader, tim farron, filmed his message at a centre

for child refugees in france and he called for more tolerance. the least traditional message was from the greens. they say 2016 was rubbish, or words to that effect, and they hope next year is better. but there's one thing most politicians can agree on, and that is to wish their voters a happy christmas. iain watson, bbc news. it is just it isjust coming up it is just coming up to it isjust coming up to 7:20pm. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news this afternoon. the search has been called off for an elderly british woman who's presumed to have fallen overboard from a cruise ship off the east coast of the united states. she was a passenger on the cunard liner queen mary ii, which was sailing from new york to the caribbean. a fire that killed a mother and a daughter in essex was accidentally started by a candle. alina kordaszewski and her 11—year—old daughter emilia died

in the blaze in braintree on wednesday evening. essex fire service said the candle was in the living room on the ground floor, and urged people to take extra care over the festive period. the star wars actress, carrie fisher, is in intensive care in hospital in los angeles after suffering what's believed to have been a heart attack on a flight from london. she fell ill minutes before the plane landed. her condition isn't clear. angus crawford reports. come on, we've got to get out of here! it's the role that made carrie fisher a star. beautiful, resourceful, tough princess leia. she played the part in the first star wars films and again in the force awakens, released last year. it is princess leia herself, carrie fisher! here she is just two weeks ago on the graham norton show, promoting her new book based on her teenage diaries. we brought all these things up, writing it down, thinking it's funny. we now know she boarded

a plane from heathrow to los angeles yesterday. 15 minutes before landing, she was taken ill with a suspected heart attack. off—duty medical staff and cabin crew came to her help. paramedics transferred her by ambulance to the intensive care unit here. initial reports suggested she was stable, but current medical condition is unknown. how're you feeling? good! ish! the last two years have been a steady round of publicising her latest memoir and films. in the past, she has been candid about her health problems. co—stars have taken to social media to wish her well. peter mayhew who plays chewbacca wrote, thoughts and prayers from all ourfriends for everyone's favourite princess. mark hamill, who played

luke skywalker, wrote, as if 2016 could get any worse. sending all our love to carrie fisher. president obama has delivered his last christmas message from the white house. sitting alongside his wife michelle he said it had been an honour to serve as america's president. merry christmas everybody! one of the best parts of the holiday season is spending time with the special people in your life and for me that means getting some help from my best friend for our annual christmas weekly address. given how our first christmas weekly address went, i realised that barack needed all the help he could get. this is our first christmas in the white house and... what?! stop! you know, what. .. you got to stop it! laughter. all right, you got to get it together. you are going to have

to pull it together, potus. celebrating the holidays in the white house over these past eight years has been a true privilege. we've been able to welcome over half a million guests, our outstanding pastry chefs have baked 200,000 holiday cookies. that's a lot of cookies. and barack has treated the american people to countless dad jokes. they're great jokes. not so funny. although a few got a frosty reception. the last one. ha—ha! this year's white house holiday theme is the gift of the holidays. and our decorations reflect some of our greatest gifts as a nation, from our incredible military families, to the life—changing impact of a great education. and the greatest gift that michelle and i have received over the last eight years has been the honour of serving as your president and first lady. together we fought our way back from the worst recession in 80 years and got unemployment to a nine—year low. we secured health insurance for another 20 million americans and new protections for folks who already had insurance. we made america more respected around the world, took on the mantle of leadership in the fight to protect this planet

for our kids and much, much more. by so many measures our country is stronger and more prosperous than it was when we first got here. and i am hopeful we will build on the progress we've made together in the years to come. tomorrow, for the final time as the first family, we willjoin our fellow christians around the world to rejoice in the birth of our saviour and as we retell his story that holy night we will also remember his eternal message, one of boundless love, compassion and hope. the idea that we are our brother's keeper and our sister's keeper, that we should treat others as we would want to be treated, that we care for the sick, feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, no matter where they come from or how they practise their faith. those are values that help guide, notjust my family's christian faith, but that ofjewish americans, and muslim americans, non—believers, and americans of all backgrounds.

and no one better embodies that spirit of service than the men and women who wear our country's uniform and their families. as always, many of our troops are far from home this time of the year and their families are serving and sacrificing right along with them. their courage and dedication allow the rest of us to enjoy this season. that's why we tried to serve them as well as they've served this country. go to joiningforces.gov to see how you can honour and support the service members, veterans and military families in your community, not just during the holidays, but all year round. so, as we look forward to the new year, let's resolve to recommit ourselves to the values we share and on behalf of all the obamas, michelle, malia, sasha, bo and that trouble—maker, sunny, merry christmas everyone. we wish you and your family a happy and healthy 2017. thanks and god bless.

now, it is the start of the busiest day of the year for one man in particular. and as we speak, santa claus is gearing up to get all those presents delivered to millions of children across the world tonight. but have you ever wondered exactly how he does it? it is magic? or does science play a part? there's one professor who's got his own theory. jayne mccubbin has been to meet him. this is a vip, a very important professor. why? i can scientifically prove santa can deliver all the presents in one night. scientifically prove? yes. scientifically prove. our search for evidence begins here in london zoo. how fast do these guys go? estimates vary, but i reckon about 20—30 miles per hour. they are pretty fast across the snow. not quite fast enough for what we have in mind, though. of course, children don't need

to fully understand how, they just know. how can they do all of those miles in one night? because they do exercise. ok, so they are healthy, they work out... there is a special star! henry's theory, a work in progress. not terribly scientific, and without science, there are cynics. in one night? a ridiculous idea. it doesn't some possible at all. you need scientific evidence? oh, yeah. i need hard evidence to be convinced of anything like that. happy christmas! it might be enough for children to simply believe, grown—ups need more. and this is where they have come in search of the proof. let me summarise.

we've all heard of schrodinger‘s wave, right? santa could be a wave particle. he can travel 75.5 million miles injust 7.5 minutes. that leaves plenty of time to eat mince pies and the presents. there is a lot more science. some of it involves carol kirkwood. for more evidence, note the doppler shift. as the sound comes towards us it makes this noise! so, with light, as light comes towards us, we see it as blue, leaving us, we go to the red shift, and that is why santa claus is red. of course he is red! i hope i have convinced you. is that enough evidence for them? cheering. you see? scientific proof! so now we know! let's go to tomasz

schafernaker for the weather. if anything, it is going to be one of the mildest christmases we have had, 15 degrees potentially as we head into christmas day. storm conor pushing in mild atlantic south—westerly winds in our direction. this is the temperature first thing in the morning, it will be around ten or 11 in the south, seven across the north, and through the course of the day, cloudy with a little rain. in the north of scotland, blustery showers, particularly across the western isles. some of those will push into the north—west of england. 13, 14

celsius. then a change on boxing day, howling gales across the far north of scotland, and amber warning. beyond christmas, fog could bea warning. beyond christmas, fog could be a problem.