live from washington, this is bbc news. a memorial service at magdeburg cathedral attended by germany's leaders for victims of a christmas 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. hello, i'm helena humphrey. 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 with this report. 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. i spoke to anna a short while ago live from magdeberg. anna, thanks so much for being with us. what more at this stage are we learning about the suspect? stage are we learning about the susect? h, . stage are we learning about the susect? ,., . ., ., stage are we learning about the susect? . ., ., , suspect? the police had a bit more to say _ suspect? the police had a bit more to say this _ suspect? the police had a bit more to say this afternoon i suspect? the police had a bit i more to say this afternoon they held a press conference and talked about this man who we saw in a video actually being arrested just down the street from your last night by armed police. we know he is 50 years

old, he is a doctor, a psychiatrist who lives about a0 orso psychiatrist who lives about a0 or so kilometers from here, who worked in a correctional facility there. police say they have been questioning him throughout the day. they say they've done psychological and physical checks on him. what was interesting is what we heard from the german interior ministry they say they believe this man held islamic phobic views with up they thought perhaps he was involved with concerns that people who had come here from saudi arabia as he had were not being treated properly when they got to this country. of course at this stage a lot of this is conjecture and speculation. the police have said they are preparing to charge this man in the next few days. they do still believe that he operated alone. i think there are more layers of this investigation to come as they try to work out what the motivation could have been and continue that investigation. been and continue that investiuation. ,, ~ , , investigation. shocking, deeply troublinu investigation. shocking, deeply troubling scenes _ investigation. shocking, deeply troubling scenes which - investigation. shocking, deeply troubling scenes which we - investigation. shocking, deeply troubling scenes which we saw|

troubling scenes which we saw there last night. how are people coming to terms with what happened there? let me show ou what happened there? let me show you because _ what happened there? let me show you because this - what happened there? let me show you because this place l show you because this place should be driving tonight. it's the saturday before christmas, it should be filled with people thronged with families, out celebrating, it should be festive. look at this place. it's been like this throughout the day. there've been people gathered to our lighting candles and laying flowers but all of these stores are closed with up you can possibly see on some of the chairs next the blankets that were used to wrap the wounded last night. even the wounded last night. even the a medical court may come of the a medical court may come of the gloves that we used to treat people. in this treatment rampage, that is how long the car was actually in here speeding between the stalls, more than 200 people were injured. five people were killed, one we know a nine—year—old child. that has really shocked the city to the core. i see a lot of times today people standing in this

area just looking at this, just gazing silently, trying to process what had happened. there's also the nerves and tension when olaf shows the chance to arrive here earlier, there was some booing on the street. —— olaf scholz for the people felt it had not been made safe enough was up when you look at the political background, thejiggly when it comes to immigration and refugees that has been a real issue over the last few years. their concerns that could reopen some of those divisions that are happening here. what is for sure is what has happened in the last 2a hours will change notjust the city forever but the of germany. anna foster in echo one. good to talk you. —— magdeburg. in just the last few hours, around a hundred far—right protesters gathered in the streets of magdeburg. the march called for the "re—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 notes. these are official diplomatic notifications that they sent from saudi arabia to germany. i don't have the dates but they sent three of them to germany intelligence agencies and one to the german foreign minister warning they say about taleb al—abdulmohsen�*s extreme 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 black right now, obviously. trying to say that here was somebody that was dangerous back then. 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 has referred to as an islamiaphobe. and certainly some of the text, some of the tweets that he

posted and are being reported in german media are exactly that, islamaphobic. there are two sides to this but it does seem the authorities were concerned about this man's extreme views. and a reminder — you can follow all the developments from magdeburg on the bbc news website or app. 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. he welcomed funding in the bill for hurricane and other disaster relief. the bill makes no reference to lifting the limit on how much the government can borrow — a measure which donald trump wanted in place before he returns to the white house on january 20th. 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. with me is catie edmondson, new york times congressional reporter. thank you for being with us. shutdown averted, but some measures were stripped

from the final bill. what key areas were impacted by these omissions? the major components of this legislation ultimately stated, that was of course the funding mechanism to make sure there was not a shutdown. it contained $100 billion in disaster aid for communities that have been battered by hurricanes in recent months. it also had $10 billion in direct economic systems for farmers. what fell out were a number of measures in particular democrats really wanted in this legislation. chief among them a measure that would have put new restrictions on pharmacy benefit managers and the goal of that was try to reduce drug prices. in of that was try to reduce drug rices. ., ., , prices. in all of this wrangling - prices. in all of this wrangling we - prices. in all of this wrangling we saw l prices. in all of this l wrangling we saw the prices. in all of this _ wrangling we saw the influence of the likes of elon musk from donald trump, the president—elect but is not yet shepherding government i wonder speaking from your congressional sources on the hill, what kind of reaction has there been to that influence? i think it's no secret that house

republicans in particular have been deferential over the years to president—elect trump's policy preference e. number of the senior lawmakers were quite frustrated to see that president—elect from not only interfered in this process in a major way but did so so late in the game. speakerjohnson had negotiated a deal with the democrats, that seem to be the vehicle in which you are going to avert a suck two shutdown and elon musk and president—elect trump weighed injust president—elect trump weighed in just days before the shutdown deadline and upended the entire thing. how shutdown deadline and upended the entire thing.— the entire thing. now we have averted the — the entire thing. now we have averted the government - the entire thing. now we have - averted the government shutdown over the heralded a period next deadline coming back on the iath of deadline coming back on the 1ath of march it's not so far away. i wonder what you are anticipating as we get closer to that deadline.— to that deadline. what potential— to that deadline. what potential scenarios - to that deadline. what potential scenarios we j to that deadline. what - potential scenarios we could see then? i think with the last week showed us it's going to be in extraordinarily difficult task for republicans in march when they have control of the house, the senate in the white house to come together and

agree on some sort of spending mechanism. there are a lot of talks this past week about wanting to raise the debt limit with some spending cuts, steep spending cuts in fact that i think a divide house republicans. i think this is going to be a problem that only balloons in march. i going to be a problem that only balloons in march.— balloons in march. i also wonder— balloons in march. i also wonder whether - balloons in march. i also wonder whether you - balloons in march. i also l wonder whether you think balloons in march. i also - wonder whether you think this could potentially have an impact when it comes to the position of the speaker of the house, mikejohnson. there house, mike johnson. there works house, mikejohnson. there works criticism over how he handled the negotiations, including from his own party. he will then have that reelection on the 3rd of january for the gavel. do you think that will factor into his agile hopes of keeping the position?— agile hopes of keeping the osition? ~ , , , , agile hopes of keeping the osition? ~ , , , ., position? absolutely. this is a debacle that _ position? absolutely. this is a debacle that could _ position? absolutely. this is a debacle that could not - position? absolutely. this is a debacle that could not come l position? absolutely. this is a | debacle that could not come at a worse time for speaker johnson, just two weeks before he's going to seek reelection for speaker. we heard from a number of hard right republicans who said that previously they were inclined to support it for the speakership but they are now having second thoughts. they want to have a real discussion internally about who is the best person to lead them. i

think it's madejanuary three much more complicated for him that it was a week ago.- that it was a week ago. coming back to the _ that it was a week ago. coming back to the bill _ that it was a week ago. coming back to the bill itself, - that it was a week ago. coming back to the bill itself, we - back to the bill itself, we know there have been the bill that call from donald trump to lift the debt ceiling, it wasn't achieved this time around. how do you think that will shape the debate as his administration comes in again? it was quite rare to see house republicans in fact not answer the call that president—elect trump issues saying, raise the debt limit now so i don't have to deal with them. this is an issue that singularly divides house republicans. they are going to be a number who say i will never vote to raise the debt limit. that is going to be a realfight come debt limit. that is going to be a real fight comejanuary, a real fight come january, february, a real fight comejanuary, february, march when they are going to have to address this issue. this is the issue of the debt limit, as a nation defaults massive ramifications. it's a tricky fight that has been injected into this whole discussion. i think it can cause real problems for whoever is leaving the house republican congress next year. it’s

congress next year. it's interesting _ congress next year. it's interesting that - congress next year. it's interesting that hakim jeffries pointed out, that division among republicans for the what you read into that, does that tell us everything about what could lie ahead in the months to come?— to come? democrats are very eater to come? democrats are very eager to — to come? democrats are very eager to point _ to come? democrats are very eager to point out _ to come? democrats are very eager to point out all - to come? democrats are very eager to point out all of - to come? democrats are very eager to point out all of the l eager to point out all of the fissures exposed in the house republican conference. i think it's a real dynamic moving forward. you have a number of house republicans in purple districts, may be slightly more liberal leaning districts who just one tough fight and eager to be reelected for another term who do not want to be seen as agents of dysfunction, do not want to be seen voting for spending cuts, do not want to be seen as driving the nations physical strength of a cliff. at the same time you have republicans who are saying, they are spoiling for the fight saying let's shut down, let's have a real discussion about their nation spending problem. a busy few months ahead for you for the catie edmondson, new york times congressional reporter, thank you for coming in.

syria s 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. very good to see you. before we delve deeper into the question of the tradition in syria, i like to begin by talking about how people in the country are currently faring. can you give us an idea about when it comes to their humanitarian need, infrastructure and so long, how 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. however the coastal areas and part of the countryside, few persist 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 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. there is a price hike 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. despite the sense of relief and joy finally the regime is gone. 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 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. meanwhile, the united states military says its conducted airstrikes on houthi targets in the rebel—held yemeni capital sanaa. it comes after a missile fired from yemen evaded israel's air defences and hit a park in the city of tel aviv, injuring more than a dozen people. 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 a5 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. in a blockbuster matchup in the world of boxing — oleksandr usyk defeated tyson fury to retain his title as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. the ukrainian won on points after a thrilling twelve round contest in saudi arabia, with all threejudges giving him victory. usyk set the pace for most of the fight, landing more punches than his british opponent. it's the second time he's beaten tyson fury.

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 1970s, 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 196a. 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 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. you are watching bbc news. thank you for your company.

stay with us here on bbc news. hello. saturday was a very showery and very windy winter solstice. let's take a look at some of those gusts of wind that we saw 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, too. 82 miles an hour was the windiest spot in the hebrides. now, for sunday, we've got more of the same, gusty winds and wintry showers for some of us, and there could be some travel disruption on the cards. low pressure sits to the north—east of the uk, we've got these winds bundling 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 mph gusts for western parts of england and wales, a0 to 50 mph towards the east. so, plenty of showers, as you can see blowing in on that breeze, they will 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 but blowing in with those very strong winds. further 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 sunday into monday, the next front approaches from the west but we've also got higher pressure trying to reach in. still windy at first on monday towards the east by the winds will ease through the day, and 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 spot is down towards the south—west but for most of us, another chilly feeling day, four to seven 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 are looking

now, tuesday, quite a lot of cloud, low cloud, perhaps some hill fog, little bit of drizzle, especially towards the west. but temperatures back up at around 12 or 13 degrees for most of us, we could see 1a anywhere to the east of higher ground. and it similar picture for christmas day as well, it is not going to be a white christmas, if you are crossing your fingers for one of those, rather grey, actually, quite a lot of cloud. some holes in the cloud, i think not a bad day, most of us will be 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. i'm paul carter, bbcjournalist and travel obsessive. i've always been fascinated by trains and the places they can take me. in fact, some of my earliest and fondest memories are of family holidays, travelling britain by train with my mum and dad. i've been fortunate enough to travel on japanese trains many times. now i'm here in tokyo, in time for the 60th anniversary of the shinkansen, better known around the world as the bullet train. ..a high speed train going into service on the tokyo... 60 years ago, the shinkansen opened up the country,

allowing high speed travel japan's capital tokyo