you can see live pictures there from the floor of the us senate — where senators are preparing to take their own vote on the bill, after the house passed it earlier. senate majority leader chuck schumer sounded optimistic on the bill's prospects, saying in the past few minutes that "democrats and republicans havejust "reached an agreement that will allow us to vote on the cr "tonight before the midnight deadline." we'll have more on that later. but first, our other top story in germany, authorities are investigating a deadly incident at a christmas market. that's where a car ploughed through crowds on friday, leaving at least two people dead — including a small child — and injuring more than 60. the suspect is said to be a 50—year—old doctor who's a saudi national and who has been in germany since 2006. saudi arabia's government has come out with a strong statement condemning the attack and expressing solidarity with germany. the attack happened in the centre of magdeburg in east germany. here's our correspondent

frances read. confusion, chaos. there are passers—by tending to those injured on the ground, what sounds like children crying, and adults too. people are looking round, bewildered at what has just happened. eyewitnesses say a car drove at speed straight into dozens upon dozens of people. just a few hours ago, this market was bustling with people, shopping and socialising in the days before christmas. ambulances and emergency services scramble to help those they can, taking people to hospital and treating at the scene, hospitals in the area told to deal with a mass casualty event. translation: this is a terrible tragedy. - it's a catastrophe for the city of magdeburg and for germany in general. for this to happen at a christmas market is hard to comprehend.

attacks on citizens in germany are nothing new. eight years ago, an articulated lorry ploughed into a busy christmas market in the heart of berlin, killing 12 people and injuring many more. tonight, german police have arrested a doctor from saudi arabia who has been in germany since 2006, and investigators are not on site. —— now on site but now they work to save lives, in what has become another scene of horror. frances read, bbc news. anna noryskiewicz from our news partner cbs news sent this report from the scene. we're in magdeburg at the christmas market, where an attack happened at roughly 7:00 local time. a car was able to run through a huge crowd of people, going for around 400 metres, injuring 60 people, 15 of them severely, killing two, and one of them a toddler. it is yet unclear how the car was able to drive for so long

until it stopped. the man, the suspect, is a saudi man, a saudi doctor, who has resided in germany since 2006. his motives are yet unclear, and it is yet unclear how he was able to drive through the crowds, especially after security measures were in place after the berlin christmas market attack, which happened exactly eight years ago. yesterday was the anniversary. and after that christmas attack in berlin that left 12 people dead, there were all sorts of security measures, especially these barriers that you can see over there in green and red that are supposed to stop cars from ploughing into the crowds and running into the crowds. how the driver managed to do that and to drive for so long is yet unclear. christmas markets in germany

have a very long tradition. this is something that especially families and young children look forward to in the christmas season. they usually start in the last weekend of november and go through even after christmas. and today is a friday, where people on a busy friday afternoon were out to do their last—minute christmas shopping and gather at the christmas markets. there were lots of families. the christmas market is known as famous for his attractions for children. over here we can see a ferris wheel and a small theatre set up over there where we cannot access now. but christmas markets in general, and especially in the former eastern states of germany, in the former east germany, are very famous. and people actually have a tradition to visit christmas markets all across the country and travel, especially on the weekends, to visit different christmas markets.

and the magdeburg christmas market is especially famous for its attractions. peter neumann is professor of security studies at king's college london. he explained the political context around this attack. well, it's very interesting. we have an election coming up in february, so that's only eight or nine weeks away. and it's very likely this will play an important role in the election. a lot of far right politicians have immediately come out, condemned islamist, have condemned the political establishment for allowing refugees into the country from muslim countries. however, it quickly turned out this was not actually a recent refugee. this man had been in the country for 18 years and it may well turn out he was not an islamist after all. i think the general mood is that the far right will try to exploit this anyway. they will say regardless of his motivation is person should have been in the first place. so, it is going to be very interesting to see how

this plays out. it may well end up strengthening the far right even further. there could be political fall—out, as you mentioned, couldn't there, given the political uncertainty 0laf scholz, the current chancellor, not in a strong position as it is. could this kind of further weakening germany's chancellor? so his has decided very quickly to immediately come to magdeburg to the town where the press must market was taking place to show he is taking this very seriously. nevertheless the far right will try to play this, try to spin this in theirfavour. they will say this person should not have been any country, and even if he came to the country 18 years ago, long before the current chancellor took over and, you know, the chancellor doesn't have responsibility for security arrangements at a local christmas market, they will still try to play this and to spin this in a way

that harms the centrist parties. of course, we're still waiting of course, we're still waiting for some crucial details here. for some crucial details here. we don't know the motivation we don't know the motivation behind this incident, behind this incident, whether or not it was confirmed whether or not it was confirmed to be an attack or not. to be an attack or not. nevertheless, we are hearing nevertheless, we are hearing new york police department new york police department announcing they will be announcing they will be visiting security at holiday visiting security at holiday festivals in the city. festivals in the city. do you expect major cities, do you expect major cities, may be in the us, also may be in the us, also across europe, might be across europe, might be a bit on edge after this? a bit on edge after this? this is not without reason. this is not without reason. we know from numerous studies of attack on tv now other we know from numerous studies that there is a copycat effect. that there is a copycat effect. so, terrorists like to imitate so, terrorists like to imitate what they consider to what they consider to be successful attacks. be successful attacks. so in 2016, for example, we had so in 2016, for example, we had the first vehicle attack. the first vehicle attack. terrorists are driving into a terrorists are driving into a crowd in nice in france crowd in nice in france and suddenly we had these and suddenly we had these vehicle attacks everywhere vehicle attacks everywhere because terrorists thought because terrorists thought this is working. this is working.

when they saw this kind

we are excited about this outcome tonight. we're grateful that everyone stood together to do the right thing. and having gotten this done now, as the last order of business for the year, we are set up a big and important new start in january. we can't wait to get to that point. we encourage swift passage in the senate now. they need to do theirjob, as the house just did, and we will all go home. i want to wish everybody a merry christmas, happy hanukkah, happy holidays and a happy new year, because i hope not to see you until we get back. we've also been getting reaction from the other side of the aisle. just after the house passed the bill, we spoke to congressman glenn ivey. he's a democrat from maryland. yeah, we were pretty pleased with the bill and the way it went forward. we liked the original bipartisan bill. this had most of what was in the original bill to start with. we were also pretty pleased with the ability to beat back donald trump's push,

essentially to put a blank cheque in here somewhere in the range of $4 trillion dollars for him to spend when he came into office. we didn't think that was appropriate. and this why so many republicans voted with us yesterday to block that version. but the one that came through didn't have that provision and so we've got the government staying open, we've got many of the provisions we wanted to provide assistance to americans, especially the disaster relief provisions to help people that suffered from floods and tornadoes and the like and the farm bill too is an important provision to include. so, i think was a good provision for us all. stephanie lai is a white house reporter for bloomberg — i spoke to her about the feeling on capitol hill following a chaotic 48 hours. certainly there is a lot of relief among republican lawmakers that this is behind them. they've averted a government shutdown. they've successfully pared down the spending bill in a way that satisfies those such as elon musk and vivek ramaswamy.

a lot of folks close to trump's orbit are touting this as a success — that the republican administration, the incoming congress, has already proven that they can cut government spending by doing this sort of legislation and making this push, even amongst an impending deadline. in the end, vote on the the house bill was 366 in favour, 3a against. all 3a were republicans. what does that tell you? it does definitely indicate that it won't be as easy as perhaps the trump team is hoping to corral every member. it's not the anointment that they're looking for, but it is reflective ofjust how washington works. it is very difficult to be able to get every single congress member on the same page. and given their different districts and the different demands on each member, it is certainly expected that there will be some dissent, especially given such a close margin.

it does show some sign of what congress might look like, given the small margin they might have. with a 2—3 seat majority, that sort of thing will come up again and again. there will have to be more deals made with the support of democrats to be able to push forward with certain aspects of legislation. and so this sort of chaotic negotiation style is something that we can perhaps look forward to more of in the incoming administration in the next session. yeah, the next session, of course, beginning in january. we've been hearing some democrats talking about this. they clearly helped push this across the line. they're framing this a bit as a win for them, especially over elon musk and donald trump, who were, in the end, the ones that really sank that first bipartisan bill. do you think they'll be able to sell that argument to the voting public — that they kind of triumphed over some outside influence by a billionaire and by donald trump, who is not yet the president? that is definitely a good question.

you know, one thing senatorjd vance, the incoming vp—elect, is trying to paint this as is democrats are slowing things down in washington and trying to cause a government shutdown. so the fact that this didn't quite happen or is moving towards that path gives them a way out to sort of avoid that attack line that they are the reason why this government shutdown happened. so this definitely is a win for democrats as well. and the fact that they are able to push back on some aspects of the bill — you know, there is still $100 million dedicated to disaster relief. that is also a win for a lot of these members. what about republican house speaker mikejohnson? he came under a lot of pressure, a lot of criticism, after that initial bill collapsed. what do you think comes next for him? there will be a new vote to elect a new speaker coming up next month. it is too soon to say exactly what that might look like, but before this bill even came to the floor, it did get the support

of elon musk. donald trump had been truthing out earlier today, as well, some things that were favourable about speakerjohnson. and so it does seem like he still has the support of the upper brass, and perhaps that could trickle down to some of the rank—and—file members. but, of course, we can never guess what this congress is going to do. but it does seem like he still maintains the support of trump and elon musk. we will track the progress of that vote when it does happen in the senate which is expected to be one of the final vote on this bill that would avert that government shutdown once joe biden government shutdown oncejoe biden signs the bill. turning now to israel, where we're following some breaking news. at least 1a people have been wounded in tel aviv, after the israeli military says it failed to to intercept a missile shot over by the houthis. the yemeni group says its acting in support of palestinians in gaza. israeli airstrikes killed nine civilians in yemen wednesday, following attacks by

the houthis on tel aviv earlier in the week. we'll bring you more information about this latest strike when we have it. meanwhile, elsewhere in the region — american diplomats held their first official meeting with the new islamist rulers of syria in damascus. us assistant secretary of state barbara leaf met representatives from hayat tahrir al—sham, or hts, the group that overthrew president assad's regime two weeks ago. ms leaf held talks with syria's de facto leader ahmed al—sharaa, and following the meetings — the us scrapped a $10 million reward for the arrest. however washington still designates hts as a terrorist group, and has set conditions before it considers delisting the group. in syria, there are fears that the fall of president assad could mean the islamic state group will re—emerge. the leader of the syrian democratic forces — which is led by the kurds and backed by the us — has told the bbc the present situation has made a resurgence much more likely.

nearly a decade ago, islamic state controlled about a third of the country until the group was defeated in 2019. 0ur senior international correspondent 0rla guerin travelled to the north east of syria, an area controlled by kurdish fighters, where she was given rare access to the largest is jail in the city of al hasakah where around 10,000 is suspects are held. the fall of assad has not freed all of syria's prisoners. with good reason, we were told. this is a maximum securityjail. around 5,000 men are detained here, including some britons, cut off from the outside world and a changing syria.

but local authorities warn is is planning its next moves, and could use the current chaos to try a jailbreak. it's very rare to get access inside these walls. this is the biggest prison for is detainees. the men being held here, most of them were with is until its last stand. kurdish security sources tell us that they were deeply committed to the ideology of is. we were taken to meet a detainee. hello. who didn't want to be identified. he is 28, from australia, and said he was speaking freely. do you have blood on your hands? were you involved in killing anybody with is? no. i wasn't. "no, i wasn't", he said, barely audibly. 0n the key questions, he had little to say.

this was is in its heyday. it brutalised one third of syria and iraq. now there are warnings that it's gearing up again. so general mazloum abdi is facing into battle. he helped defeat is in 2019 with his kurdish forces, backed by the us. translation: of course, | since the fall of the regime, there are more factors allowing is to get stronger. they have more capabilities and more chances. the prisons are more dangerous, and face more threat of attack. the danger has doubled compared to before. and behind the wire, hope has grown that freedom is coming, somehow.

this is roj camp, which holds families of is, around 3,000 women and children. sayeeda, from dagestan, tells me she hopes syria's new rebel leader will bring freedom for her and her son ali. 0thers believe is is coming, says the camp manager, who hides her identity because she fears for her safety. translation: they have - packed their bags, ready to go. they say, "we will get out of this camp soon". even their children have changed. they will say some slogans and swear at you and say "it", meaning is, "is coming soon". "we will come back soon and get you". the new syria has inherited plenty of threats, and much unfinished business. 0rla guerin, bbc news,

northeast syria. malaysia's government says it has agreed to resume the search for a passengerjet that vanished 10 years ago — in one of aviation�*s greatest mysteries. with 239 people on board, malaysia airlines flight mh370 disappeared in march 2014 on its way from kuala lumpur to beijing. efforts to find the wreckage stalled over the years, leaving the families of those lost without closure. it has been established that the plane crashed in the indian ocean, with debris found on east african shores. 0ur correspondent jonathan head has more. the plane, carrying 239 passengers and crew, left kuala lumpur 41 minutes past midnight on 8 march en route to beijing. about an hour into the flight, one of the plane's vital communication systems, known as acars, sent what would be its last message. 12 minutes later, someone believed to be the co—pilot told air traffic control, "goodnight, malaysian 370."

it wasn't long before the plane's transponder, which communicates with ground radar, stopped. the plane did not check in with vietnamese air traffic control. it was then detected by malaysian military radar flying west, before heading out over the indian ocean. that was the last time flight 370 was seen. despite disappearing from radar, the plane continued to ping its location to a satellite every hour for seven hours after the final communication with ground control. this suggested the plane travelled in one of two flight corridors, north or south — one north between thailand and kazakhstan, the other south between indonesia and the southern indian ocean. recent analysis suggests there was one last partial handshake with the satellite eight minutes later. by crunching the numbers, engineers concluded

that the plane ended its journey in the southern indian ocean. one of the passengers on board flight mh370 was anne catherine daisy. i've been speaking with her daughter, grace nathan. she's the chief spokesperson for "voice 370" — the official association for the families of mh370's crew and passengers. we're very, very grateful with the new announcement, because the search last stopped in 2018, some six years ago. so it's really great news that we finally have hope on the horizon that a search might resume in the near future, the very near future. is this something that you and your group have been pushing for? have you been advocating the malaysian government to pick up the search once again? yes, we've been advocating for this, actually, since the plane disappeared. there have been many searches that have started and stopped, and we have continued our advocacy, because we have always believed that the search should go on until the plane is found. how much contact have you had with the malaysia government? have they reached out to the families? we don't have a lot of contact with them, but the current

government and the current transport minister have been somewhat approachable compared to the previous transport minister. we've been able to communicate to them, and he has always been quite compassionate to our cause. he has kept in touch with us from time to time and has helped us bring forward the proposal with 0cean infinity, working to try to get the search resumed again. do you know anything more about the details about how this search is going to be conducted? we don't have any clear details yet, because i believe the proposal is still being finalised. we just know that a slightly new area will be searched. we know this from ocean infinity, and that they will be using some new technology that they haven't used before. yes, 0cean infinity, i believe — correct me if i'm wrong — are the firm that will be conducting the search in the ocean area. i believe it was similar search, you mentioned this, back in 2018. in the end it was not successful. yes. how concerned are you that this next search could raise some sort of false hope that someone

or something might be found? well, there's always a live concerned that the search may not be successful again, but if we do not try, we'll never know. i think it's always worth a shot. and if something is found and it brings us closer to some answers, even if not all of the answers, it will all have been worthwhile, if we can prevent this happening again. more than 11,000 starbucks workers in the us have begun a five—day strike in a dispute over pay and working conditions. the walk outs began at stores in los angeles, chicago, and seattle. the starbucks workers united union is calling for higher wages, more staffing and better schedules. the union says the strike could reach hundreds of stores by christmas eve. we have time to show you some live pictures before we go about senate floor, we are still expecting and waiting on the vote on the cr bill continuing resolution which would fund the government through march. these are some additional amendments before that note taking place now.

they promised they will get the vote done by midnight. stay tuned, our colleagues in london will obviously continue to track that story for you right here. stay tuned for more on bbc news. hello there. well, it's a very windy weekend in store and it's a big one for travel, too, with the run—up to christmas. so watch out for some travel disruption caused by the strength of the wind, particularly for the western half of the uk. also maybe some icy surfaces on some of the roads on saturday night into sunday, as the air turns colder, and there will be some wintry showers pushing down from the north—west. here's our area of low pressure. it's been approaching from the north—west, this huge mass of cloud. the winds are really picking up, very brisk westerlies. 0ut towards the exposed coastal areas of north—west scotland, there could even be some gusts of wind of up to 80mph through the day on saturday, but widely gusts of 50—60mph an hour across northern ireland and into north—west england too. now, there's an area of cloud and rain gradually pushing

further southwards and eastwards across england and wales as we head through the second half of the day. sunny spells but also blustery showers digging in behind. the winds are pretty brisk towards the south as well, although lighter than further north and west. and this is how we'll end the afternoon. still that mild air hanging on towards the southern half of the uk, 12 or 13 degrees celsius. but it will soon be replaced on saturday night into sunday by these much colder—feeling conditions. low pressure pushing eastwards towards the north of the uk, so the winds come down from the north—west. and there's a tight squeeze on the isobars, so it remains very blustery out towards the north—west, with some of the strongest of the winds transferring a little further southwards as the as the night wears on. wintry showers — watch out for those icy surfaces. could be very tricky for travelling, with those strong gusty winds. and this is how we'll start off the day on sunday, on a much colder—feeling note. now, this is the area of most concern on sunday. this is where we'll see the strongest winds, up to 50—60mph. so that now includes much of wales and down

through south—west england. through south—west england. and there will be some more and there will be some more showers around again, showers around again, likely to be wintry over likely to be wintry over the higher ground, particularly the higher ground, particularly across the hills of scotland, across the hills of scotland, although it will turn quite although it will turn quite quickly back to rain, quickly back to rain, i think, as we head i think, as we head through the afternoon, through the afternoon, with some slightly with some slightly milder—feeling air. milder—feeling air. but elsewhere, it is set but elsewhere, it is set to be really quite chilly to be really quite chilly through the day. a lot of added wind chill, through the day. a lot of added wind chill, and temperatures won't make it and temperatures won't make it much past 6—7 celsius. much past 6—7 celsius. there will be some weak winter there will be some weak winter sunshine, but it won't do much sunshine, but it won't do much for the temperatures. for the temperatures. milderfeeling conditions, milderfeeling conditions, though, by the time though, by the time we get to monday. we get to monday. into christmas eve and into christmas eve and christmas day, it looks a lot christmas day, it looks a lot quieter, largely dry quieter, largely dry and mild too. and mild too. bye— bye. bye— bye.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. shouting actually, i'm feeling pretty sick. put the hammer down, billy. engine revs bleep ha! you're good, you're good. don't worry. right. we only got a little bit of time here, but the weather seems to be changing, which means that this is our only time to leave, right?

oh, wow. here we go! whoa! hello and welcome to this look back at some of our favourite adventures this year on the travel show. we've had some truly amazing experiences to share and we hope that you've enjoyed coming along for the ride. let's kick off with reece, who recently took a trip to the caribbean islands of the bahamas and the dominican republic. he went looking for a close encounter

with the local whales. but first, he had to negotiate some incredibly choppy seas.