live from washington. this is bbc news. a memorial service at magdeburg cathedral attended by germany's leaders for victims of the market attack. a nine year old is among five people killed in the attack — two hundred others are injured. a senior palestinian official tells the bbc that a ceasefire deal between israel and hamas in gaza is 90% complete. and after days of negotiations — joe biden signs a us government spending bill into law, officially averting a shutdown. a memorial service has been held in the german city of magdeburg —

for the victims of a deadly attack on a christmas market on friday. at least five people were killed when a man drove into a crowd at high speed. along with those five deaths, city officials say two hundred people have been injured, many seriously. we can now name the suspect in the attack as taleb al—abdulmohsen — he is a 50 year old doctor from saudi arabia. officials say he appears to have been motivated by resentment at the treatment of refugees in germany — rather than religion. the bbc has been told the saudi authorities passed on warnings about him. chancellor scholz has visited the scene. he's called what happened in magdeburg a �*terrible act'. there are questions about security after it emerged the suspect drove through an entrance reserved for ambulances and official vehicles. our correspondent anna foster is in magdeburg. as night fell, hundreds of people attended a vigil at the city's cathedral,

a packed and sombre affair. some of the first responders were among the mourners. chancellor olaf scholz sat next to germany's president. 2a hours ago, this market was packed with people, but the laughter and celebration was cut devastatingly short when a car sped through the crowds, killing five people and injuring 200 more. translation: the car sped past us and the police ran after it. - other emergency services arrived, evacuated people and diverted traffic. people were still panicking and screaming. we now know it used the rescue entrance to get into the square, a gap deliberately left for ambulances to have access. police say the deadly rampage lasted three minutes. armed police quickly arrested a man,

a doctor originally from saudi arabia but living here for nearly 20 years. his motive is still under question. translation: as things stand at the moment, i it looks as if the background to the crime could have been disgruntlement with the way saudi arabian refugees are treated in germany. but what exactly is behind it is still under investigation. emotions are running high here. alongside the sadness, there's an undercurrent of anger against politicians, who some feel didn't make this place safe enough. earlier today, chancellor olaf scholz came to lay a white rose and promise an investigation. translation: it is a dreadful tragedy that so many people i were killed and injured. it is a dreadful catastrophe. we send our sympathy to those who are injured, and i express the solidarity of the entire country. as specialist police

continue their investigations just a few metres away, the collection of flowers and candles here just keeps on growing. this bitter december wind is not keeping people away. they want to be here, they want to be together and to remember the friends that they've lost. christmas feels very different here now. the stalls won't be reopening. the focus turned instead on remembering the victims, helping the survivors and making sure a tragedy like this can't happen again. in just the last few hours, around a hundred far—right protesters gathered in the streets of magdeburg. the march called for the "rre—migration" of immigrants living in germany. the christmas market attack will likely add to the debate over security and immigration before national elections in february. opinion polls show the far—right alternative for germany party is likely to perform strongly. while a motive for the attack is still unclear, our security correspondent, frank gardner has been looking into the suspect

taleb al—abdulmohsen, and alleged warnings from the saudi government about him. they say that they passed four nodes. these are official diplomatic notifications that they sent from saudi arabia to germany. i don't have the dates but they said three of them to germany intelligence agencies and one to the german foreign minister warning they say about taleb al—abdulmohsen�*s stream views that he held for the two sides to this, there is a view taken by at least one respected counterterrorism expert that i know of who is saying that this is something of a bit of a disinformation campaign saying that this is the salaries trying to blacken his name. well, it's pretty blacken his name. well, it's pretty black right now, obviously. trying to say that here was somebody that was dangerous back then put that

why? he was allegedly trying to help a number of people who had left saudi arabia while political dissidents or people trying to turn their back on their islamic faith. saudi arabia being very much a monolithic one faith country, islam. and this man taleb al—abdulmohsen had left his religion of his birthplace. so in islam you are not supposed to leave your religion. and he has turned into somebody that the german interior minister as referred to as an islamic foe. and certainly some of the text, some of the tweets that he posted and are being reported in german media are exactly that, islam a phobic. there are two sides to this but it does seem the authorities were concerned about this man's extreme views. authorities were concerned about this man's extreme views. joining me live now is rebecca schonenbach, a counter extremism consultant.

what do you make of the profile of the suspect? what stands out to you? thank you for having me. what stands out most is that he seems to have suffered from a prosecution complex. a lot of his tweets on x, a lot of his direct messages show that he preferred prosecuted by the german state and even by the police. he accused other secular muslims or ex—muslims who are also persecuting him. it is true that he defamed some of them and they had to sue him and court and they won. it seems to be a mixture of him accusing others then failing that they got after him, feeling suppressed by the german state. that is the most significant

thing that stands out apart from his hatred of islam. and his fandom of the long musk and the far right in germany. the long musk and the far right in german . , ., ., ,., the long musk and the far right in german . , ., ., ., , germany. tell us more about regards to elon musk- — germany. tell us more about regards to elon musk. i _ germany. tell us more about regards to elon musk. i wonder— germany. tell us more about regards to elon musk. i wonder more - to elon musk. i wonder more generally when you're looking at cases of extremism and of course we don't know the motive here for what extent are we seeing for example conspiracy theories or misinformation and amplification of that feeding into those kind of briefs? , , ., , briefs? -- believes. he was in africa for— briefs? -- believes. he was in africa for re-migration. - briefs? -- believes. he was in africa for re-migration. he - briefs? -- believes. he was in| africa for re-migration. he was briefs? -- believes. he was in i africa for re-migration. he was a africa for re—migration. he was a staunch critics not only of islam but any sort of migration to germany but any sort of migration to germany but particularly the migration of muslims of muslim countries. he favored people who were known as critics of islam. not only of islam

islam, such as tommy robinson in great britain. he read tweeted some of elon musk. he didn't particularly retweet all of the extremism theories, it does not seem that his whole world view was right wing extremism. he also tweeted a lot about sexual abuse. he tweeted a lot about women's rights. some facts that are really to be criticized for anybody advocating for women's right but he mixed it with theories, conspiracy the most outstanding work his own perception of the german state, of the treatment of refugees, of the german police and even accused his own lawyers to have betrayed him. i accused his own lawyers to have betrayed him-— accused his own lawyers to have betrayed him. i want to ask about somethin: betrayed him. i want to ask about something you — betrayed him. i want to ask about something you wrote _ betrayed him. i want to ask about something you wrote about, - betrayed him. i want to ask about. something you wrote about, saying the suspect had worked as a doctor. i've seen you comment about

education levels, not ruling out self radicalization. just tell us more about what you've seen in that regard. brute more about what you've seen in that retard. ~ ., ., ., regard. we note that at least researching _ regard. we note that at least researching organized - regard. we note that at least researching organized crimel regard. we note that at least i researching organized crime and terrorism that a lot of the terrorists, maybe two thirds to a half of them have education degrees that are equivalent to university degrees. so most of the time if you research organized terrorism it's organized by people who are able to organized by people who are able to organize attacks such as in paris who have a good education. so to say that education in general has prevented radicalization is simply naive to say the least. of course education can play a part in the prevention of radicalization but it must be accompanied by other

factors. what is unusual with the attack is his age for that he is 50, he's been captured alive. it is unusual that he radicalized not in a short time span but it seems to be over several years. they have been people already warned against him in 2017. he was sued in 2018. he himself called the police several times during the years. he seems to... there seems to have been a very slow sort of radicalization over the years. he seems to have done real refugee work in the beginning and then attacked other refugees. it sort of a mixture. he's not a typical example of a terrorist.— not a typical example of a terrorist. , . ., , terrorist. extremism consulting “oininr us terrorist. extremism consulting joining us from _ terrorist. extremism consulting joining us from berlin. - terrorist. extremism consulting joining us from berlin. thank i terrorist. extremism consulting i

joining us from berlin. thank you. and a reminder — you can follow all the developments from magdeburg on the bbc news website or app. syria 5 new rulers have begun appointing key ministers two weeks after the fall of bashar al—assad. the european union, britain, france, and the united states have all sent delegations to the syrian capital damascus — with the us scrapping a $10 million reward for the arrest of syria's de facto leader, ahmed al—sharaa. as the regime change continues to take shape i've been speaking with the director of the syria conflict research programme at the london school of economic, dr rim turkmani. thank you for being here with us on bbc news. before we delve deeper into that question of the transition into that question of the transition in syria. i like to begin by talking about how people in the country are currently faring. can you give us an idea when it comes to the humanitarian needs, infrastructure

and so on? how are people doing? i think the daily lives of ordinary syrians are very significantly depending on the region. in many of the areas that were previously under regime control there is a sense of relief that the syrian regime is gone. howeverthe relief that the syrian regime is gone. however the coastal areas and part of the countryside, few process about what the future might hold and retribution for that in the northeast, which is tension, fears about potential clashes with turkey backed forces. despite the regional differences the one common thread that unites most syrians is really the daily struggle to survive. if you lookjust before the fall of the assad regime already we had about 70 million peoples requiring humanitarian aid. 90% the syrians were in poverty. around 13 million

were in poverty. around 13 million were food insecure. these numbers have deteriorated after the fall because of many infrastructure collapses. there is still a struggle for daily services for the people are getting hardly electricity. especially where it was under regime control. their prices are high as well. the sudden change in the regime also led to a change in the economy. the regime had a subsidy over things like bread, fuel and now this has been lifted. suddenly the price of bread went up tenfold overnight. the cost of commuting went up four fold overnight. ordinary people are really struggling to survive at this point. the sense of relief and joy finally the regime is gone. brute the sense of relief and 'oy finally the regime is gone._ the sense of relief and 'oy finally the regime is gone. we have seen a

number of international _ the regime is gone. we have seen a number of international delegationsj number of international delegations visiting syria this week including representatives from the early united states. have we learned anything new about the discussions about any kind of perhaps provisional agreement about how those governments will interact with each other after those visits? brute each other after those visits? we don't each other after those visits? - don't know much but we know that on the table there were issues like lifting the prescription is a terrorist organization, also lifting sanctions and providing international assistance for reconstruction. these are the issues right now. they feel the defective given by the power of arm. it's not yet the authority that another state can consider as a counterpart. there also doubts about the way its holding power, refusing to share

power with ordinary syrians for the weekend read especially from the visit of the american delegation which was significant really, they first met with syrian society with a wide range figures, these are people who are actually helping the people in syria and they everyday lives. each person in that picture that emerged with civil society leaders, behind each person there is a huge organization. they have been assisting people in all different areas in different ways. it was remarkable that the only pictures they published was with civil society. there were no pictures of all of meeting. i think there is a message behind that. i hope that the international will engage with the civil society. a partner in the development of syria and helping the daily suffering of people across the country. lie daily suffering of people across the

count . ,, , daily suffering of people across the count _ ,, w, , daily suffering of people across the count . ,, , ,~ country. us officials, they are sa in: country. us officials, they are saying they — country. us officials, they are saying they stress _ country. us officials, they are saying they stress the - country. us officials, they are i saying they stress the importance of building an inclusive governance process, ensuring fair treatment of ethnic, religious minorities in syria. are you seeing any tangible indications of progress in that direction?— indications of progress in that direction? ., ., , ., . . direction? unfortunately, not. we're seeinr direction? unfortunately, not. we're seeing attempts _ direction? unfortunately, not. we're seeing attempts to _ direction? unfortunately, not. we're seeing attempts to look _ direction? unfortunately, not. we're seeing attempts to look like - direction? unfortunately, not. we're seeing attempts to look like they i seeing attempts to look like they are going to be inclusive, they are talking about a conference that they cannot invite people from across the country to a conference they are deciding who they are going to invite. they are saying they're going to vote in that conference on keyissues going to vote in that conference on key issues that have consequences for long—term syria. they don't have the legitimacy to do this. they did not invite the majority vote in their favor. not invite the majority vote in theirfavor. they not invite the majority vote in their favor. they are not invite the majority vote in theirfavor. they are really concerns about any process which led by this act or for the even as a military actor didn't come to power on its own. it crude meeting, a

military coalition. sadly, there are no real signs of being in process was that they have all the figures in government appointed, all key are still from the very core of x gs. i wanted to ask you on a more personal note, if you'll allow me to do so, we last spoke as damascus was falling. then you mentioned the possibility of finally being able to return home after many, many years of having to remain abroad. i wonder if you have any plans to visit syria in the near future.— if you have any plans to visit syria in the near future. absolutely. i'm workin: in the near future. absolutely. i'm working towards _ in the near future. absolutely. i'm working towards it. _ in the near future. absolutely. i'm working towards it. i— in the near future. absolutely. i'm working towards it. i have - in the near future. absolutely. i'm working towards it. i have some i working towards it. i have some personal circumstances now that prevent me from leaving the country. i have to wait at least for a week or two before i can leave. but once i can leave i will certainly book the first flight to go to syria. brute the first flight to go to syria. we wish ou the first flight to go to syria. we wish you all the very best with that

trip rim turkmani, director of the syria conflict research group at lsu. thank you for being with us. hamas and two other palestinian armed groups say that a ceasefire agreement with israel is 'closer than ever�* if israel does not impose new conditions. a hamas official has said talks in cairo on friday had made significant progress, with most terms related to a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreed upon. the announcement comes amid continued israeli assaults on gaza. airstrikes on two houses in the nuseirat refugee camp and deir al—balah city in central gaza killed at least 10 people, including two children. and in israel, a missile fired from yeme has evaded the country s advanced air defences and hit a park in the city of tel aviv, injuring more than a dozen people. the iranian—backed houthi group said it had fired what it described as a 'hypersonic�* weapon out of solidarity with palestinians in gaza. here in washington —

a partial shutdown of the us government has been averted — after presidentjoe biden signed a spending bill into law early saturday. the deal cleared the senate more than half an hour after a midnight deadline, having passed the the house of representatives on its third attempt. it will fund federal agencies for three months, lifting the threat of public services closing over christmas. in a statement, mr biden said the deal represented a compromise in which neither side got everything each wanted. peter bowes has more. the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. a sigh of relief for more than 3 million us government workers. many americans feared that christmas would be overshadowed by a damaging federal shutdown with no pay for some and reduced services. this was the third attempt to agree a spending plan after donald trump and his government efficiency tsar, the billionaire elon musk, intervened to scupper the bill in its originalform. but with hours to go

before the government ran out of money, a deal. after days of wrangling, republicans and democrats agreed on a plan that will fund the government for the next three months. there's money for essential services, as well as disaster relief and aid for farmers. the bill passed in congress but the president—elect appeared to be calling the shots. i was in constant contact with president trump throughout this process. he knew exactly what we were doing and why and this is a good outcome for the country. i think he certainly is happy about this outcome as well. but there's no reference in the bill to lifting the debt ceiling. that's the limit on how much the government can borrow — a measure which trump wanted in place before his inauguration. house democrats have successfully stopped extreme maga republicans from shutting down the government, crashing the economy and hurting working class americans

all across the land. the bill's passing marks the end of a turbulent few days in washington, which have also exposed divisions amongst republicans a month before donald trump takes office. peter bowes, bbc news. let's turn to some other important news around the world. a bus crash in south— eastern brazil has killed thirty—eight people. officials say the driver lost control of the vehicle after a tyre burst. the bus had reportedly departed from sao paulo and was carrying 45 passengers. pictures from the scene show tangled, charred wreckage littered across the road. authorities in nigeria have warned charities distributing aid during the festive season to involve the police after two separate crushes at such events on saturday morning left nearly forty people dead. police have said organisers of the give aways could be prosecuted for criminal negligence. albania's prime minister says the government is shutting down tiktok for at least a year. announcing the ban, edi rama

described the social media platform as "the neighbourhood thug". the albanian leader has been considering the boycott since a fourteen year old student was knifed to death at school last month by a classmate. the dispute allegedly began on social media. the world renowned opera singer maria callas is the subject of a new film. called simply maria, it focuses on her final years, in the 19705, when she was living in paris. angelina jolie plays the title role — and had more than 6 months of singing training to prepare for it. our culture reporter noor nanji went to meet her. one of the world's greatest opera singers, maria callas. now the subject of a new film, as she lived out her final days in paris. it stars angelina jolie, who learned to sing opera for the role. one of the greatest privileges to being an actor is you often are supported by a crew to try

something and explore something you've never done, and you can learn. but this one certainly was the most challenging. one of maria's most famous performances was as tosca in covent garden in 1964. but she also courted controversy. after an affair with the greek shipping magnate aristotle onassis, the paparazzi hounded her. have you talked to mr onassis? i talk to all my friends. i am answering no more questions. she was characteristically defiant. i don't read the criticisms because, you see, i know exactly what i do before anybody tells me. but the best critic is the public. angelina jolie's two eldest sons, pax and maddox, worked as production assistants on the film.

it was good to have your children watch your mum not do something easily. they've seen me go through many things, but they but they hadn't experienced me expressing a lot of the pain that usually a parent hides from a child. your voice will not return. vocal decline, possibly caused by dramatic weight loss, led to the premature end of maria's career. maria callas spent her last years living largely in isolation. she died of a heart attack at the age of 53 on september 16th, 1977. crowds lined the streets to pay their respects. we've all been through joy, love, pain. the most quite deep human experiences, and often there isn't a sound that we've been able to let come out that matches what we feel. opera does. noor nanji, bbc news. book me a table at a cafe where the waiters know who i am. i'm in the mood for adulation.

stay with us here on bbc news. hello. saturday was a very showery and a very windy winter solstice. let's take a look at some of the gusts of wind that we recorded during the day on saturday — between around 60 to 80 miles an hour, particularly around exposed coasts and hills in the north and the west. south uist, at 82 miles an hour, was the windiest spot in the hebrides. now, for sunday, we've got more of the same — some strong gusty winds and wintry showers for some of us. there could be some travel disruption on the cards. low pressure sits to the north—east of the uk. we've got these winds funnelling in from the north—west, bringing us plenty of shower, gusts of wind of 60 to 70 miles an hour across parts of scotland, especially in the north—west. but elsewhere we could see 50 to 60 mile per hour gusts for western parts of england and wales, a0 to 50mph towards the east. so plenty of showers, as you can

see, blowing in on that breeze. there'll be a little bit wintry for the likes of the pennines, the peak district, the hills of wales and the north of scotland in particular. most of the showers turning back to rain later in the day, blown in with those very strong winds. but the south and east, a lot of dry weather on the cards, but it is not going to feel warm — around six to eight degrees, but feeling colder when you add on that north—westerly wind and those showers with a bit of a wintry flavour to them. now, later on sunday into monday, the next front approaches from the west. but we've also got higher pressure trying to ridge in. still windy at first on monday towards the east, but the winds will ease through the day. some sunshine holding on for central, southern and eastern parts, but clouding over from the west with some patchy rain later on. eight or nine degrees, the warmest spots down towards the south—west, but for most of us, another fairly chilly—feeling day — around 4—7 degrees. but as we head towards christmas eve on tuesday and christmas day on wednesday, that much milder air spills its way in from the south—west. so temperatures are going to be on the up. christmas eve we're looking at now, tuesday, quite a lot of cloud, low cloud,

perhaps some hill fog, a little bit of drizzle, especially towards the west. but temperatures back up at around 12 or 13 degrees for most of us. could see 1a anywhere to the east of higher ground. and a similar picture for christmas day as well. it's not going to be a white christmas, if you were crossing yourfingers for one. it is rather grey, actually, quite a lot of cloud. some holes in the cloud, i think. not a bad day. most of us dry. perhaps a little rain in the far north—west. temperatures 11 or 12, so probably not quite as warm on christmas day as it will be on christmas eve. looks dry into boxing day too, and then perhaps just a little cooler towards the new year.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. hello and welcome to the programme. let's take a look at what's on the show this week. getting growth going again. much of the global economy has struggled over the last 12 months. so we'll ask, what's in store for 2025? and as the us economy gets a new leader, will it continue to drag the rest of the world along, or will inflation, war and trouble in china prove to be bigger challenges? i'll discuss all of this with these two. we'll delve into the big issues with one of the top economists atjp morgan — it's one of the world's biggest banks — and this top expert will explain what trade tensions and climate change mean for the cost of our supermarket shopping. plus, what about the world of work?