live from london, this is bbc news. the man accused of the attack on a christmas market in germany is remanded in custody — charged with five counts of murder and multiple attempted murders. choral singing. a memorial service is held at magdeburg cathedral — attended by victims�* families, emergency workers and germany's leaders. black smoke rises over gaza as israel's military carries out a fresh wave of attacks across the gaza strip the takeover of new rulers in syria sparks concerns for ethnic and religious minorities. we have a special report. this is the live scene in madrid at the el gordo lottery draw. there's a shared pot

of 2.7 billion euros up of 2.7 billion euros up for grabs. tyson fury storms off after a unanimous—decision defeat against the defending world champion. hello. a man has appeared in court in germany, charged with the five counts of murder and multiple counts of attempted murder, after an attack on a christmas market in the city of magdeburg. this is the scene in the square where many people have been leaving floral tributes. people coming to pause and reflect on what has happened. more than 200 others were

injured when they were struck by a car driven through crowds on friday evening. police say they are trying to establish a motive. a 50—year—old doctor from saudi arabia, taleb al—abdulmohsen, was placed in pre—trial detention when he appeared in court last night. the suspect�*s social media posts appear to suggest he had been critical of islam. our correspondent, anna foster reports from magdeburg. hundreds of people attended a vigil at the city's cathedral — a packed and sombre affair. some of the first responders who helped at the scene joined the mourners and families of the victims. chancellor olaf scholz sat next to germany's president. on friday night, this market was packed. 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 the rescue entrance was how the car got into the square — a gap deliberately left for ambulances to have access. police say the deadly rampage lasted three minutes. armed police quickly made an arrest. taleb al—abdulmohsen is a doctor, originally from saudi arabia but living here for nearly 20 years. germany's interior ministry said he holds islamophobic views as their investigation continues. translation: as things stand at the moment, i it looked 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.

the german 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 investigation just a few metres away, the collection of flowers and candles herejust keep on growing. this better 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 will not be reopening. the focus instead turned on remembering the victims, helping the survivors and making sure a tragedy like this can't happen again. anna foster, bbc news, magdeburg. our correspondent, bethany bell, is in magdeburg with the latest.

we've had the suspect, the 50—year—old man who was born in saudi arabia, who has been charged with five counts of murder, five counts of attempted murder and multiple counts — multiple counts of attempted murder and multiple counts of dangerous bodily harm. investigators are continuing to try and establish a possible motive in this case. we know so far that this man had lived in germany he was granted refugee status in 2016, and he worked as a psychiatrist at a local clinic. the police have also told us a little bit more about the victims, those who died in the attack on friday. they include a nine—year—old boy and four women, aged between 45 and 75. and bethany, what's the sense there in terms of a political fallout reaction?

because we are seeing pictures as we are speaking to you, of people coming and just pausing for a moment and being still in front of that sea of flowers there. but i'm sure there will be a range of different emotions and people there in the media and the press this morning starting to think about how something like this could have been avoided — if any more could have been done. very, very mixed emotions here in magdeburg, as you say. deep, deep sadness. one woman last night that i met here said, "this is my hometown. and there's pain, there's terrible pain." but also there's anger. people heckled germany's chancellor, olaf scholz, when he came here yesterday. i've spoken to people who say much more should have been done to stop this kind of thing happening. we know from the authorities that the car was able to enter the market through a route that

was intended for the emergency services, so it wasn't blocked off with concrete blocks. people are asking whether that was a bad mistake. and also there is this mixture. while again, we saw last night the vigil held at the cathedral for the victims and the tremendous outpouring of sadness and solidarity there. at the same time, there was a demonstration in the town at which far right slogans and xenophobic slogans were heard. so a very uncertain, quite swift—moving picture here in terms of the mood. the israeli military has carried out a wave of attacks across the gaza strip, hitting targets in gaza city, rafah and khan younis. a school sheltering displaced families and the kamal adwan hospital, in northern gaza were among the sites hit. it comes as mediators

try to secure a ceasefire between israel and hamas, hamas officials say a deal is closer than ever if israel does not impose new condition. here's our correspondent emir nader with an update. there's been a series of israeli air strikes on the gaza strip — across the gaza strip overnight and into the recent hours. and that includes a school that was housing displaced families in gaza city, where we understand that eight people were killed, including children. the civil defence forces there, the first responders who've got there, say they found children amongst the dead and pulled out bodies from the rubble. we reached out to the israeli army, the israeli military, about this particular set of strikes, and they said that that school was, uh, they said it was a command and control centre being used by hamas. now, that isn't the only location that was has been —— has been struck in the past few hours. we know about five people being

killed in strikes injabalia, including four children, uh, four killed on a vehicle that was hit in gaza city. and amongst those strikes, we understand that there are now 28 people killed overnight. and into those recent hours. 28 palestinians killed in the gaza strip. and now all of this comes as we've been hearing since yesterday evening, urgent, desperate pleas from the medical staff at the kamal adwan hospital in the north of gaza, which has been operating in very dire circumstances in the past weeks, and the medical staff there are saying that they are being directly targeted by the israeli military and in an unprecedented manner. they've said that they've been told to evacuate by the israeli military, but they can't do so because it would put the over 80—90 patients their lives at risk and also the lives of their staff.

these events, of course, unfolding as the background to all this. we've been covering and reporting these cease fire talks. what is the latest on those? well, yes. the talks have been continuing in qatar and in egypt. and a senior palestinian source has been speaking to the bbc and we've been getting positive signals, talk of a cease fire possibly happening in the next days, that it could be —— we could be 90% of the way there. there are some sticking points around the names of the particular palestinian prisoners who might be released in exchange for the israeli hostages that will be released in the first stage of the ceasefire deal. there's also talk around a buffer zone being established around the gaza strip inside of it, which the israeli military would continue to have a presence there, and discussions, a bit of contention around whether the israeli military would remain on the border section between gaza and egypt.

let's take you live to syria and this the scene —— lets — — lets ta ke —— lets take you live to germany, magdeburg. these are the live pictures showing the emergency services paying their respects, turning up at that site just close to the christmas market whereby people were killed and 200 injured. you can see the size of the floral tributes, you can see the size of the floraltributes, people you can see the size of the floral tributes, people coming and laying flowers. we have been keeping across these pictures for the last few hours. there have been periods where there haven't been a great deal of people but a constant flow, certainly, people coming. in the last few minutes we could see those members of the emergency services arrive, all lining up and taking a moment in silence to reflect. so many first responders, emergency services

called in the aftermath of the incident at the christmas market. a poignant scene where they came and lined up in front of all of those vows before disappearing behind through the crowds. let's take you live to syria and this the scene in the capital, damascus over umighyad square, is returning to normal. an extraordinary political change has taken place in that country. ending the assad family's 50 years of iron rule. but hayat tahrir al—sham, or hts�*s takeover has sparked concerns for ethnic and religious minorities.

hts is a sunni muslim group, and has a jihadist past. minorities say they are worried about islamic rule, and those the bbc�*s yogita limaye reports from damascus with aamir peerzada and sanjay ganguly. the dictator has fallen and fled. but what of the community he belonged to? bashar al assad is from the islamic alawite sect. it's one of syria's biggest minorities, but it's controlled power over a majority sunni muslim country for 50 years. in a working—class alawite neighbourhood of damascus, a few agree to speak to us. dozens of others refused. i asked if they feared revenge. translation: so far, we are ok. hayat tahrir al—sham has been respectful to us, but there are groups pretending to be hts who are making threats. we are scared of them. many from the alawite sect and indeed this neighbourhood worked in assad's forces.

where are they, i asked? translation: everyone - who worked with the military and did bad things has fled. but people who do not have blood on their hands, they are not scared and have stayed back. the men who've taken control have said those from the deposed regime involved in crimes will be held to account, but that the freedoms of minorities will be protected. hayat tahrir al—sham has a jihadist past and an islamist present. does syria's plural society believe their promises? this country's christian community is one of the oldest in the world. this is the christian quarter of damascus. now, we have seen christmas decorations up in some parts of the city, but people who live here tell us the decorations here are more muted than they have been before. christians have told us that they do feel reassured by hts�*s promises,

but that there is still uncertainty, and there are still worries about the form of government that this country will have in the future. we met yusuf sabag, a lawyer from the christian community. i'm so happy- because assad fall. this is like a dream come true. but there is concern. i have to be realistic. htc will. .. ..are here now and they are islamic militia. - that's what they are. 0k, iwant them, i need, i wish, i pray they will bej modern islamic militia. it's a moment of hope in syria, but also one of uncertainty. yogita limaye, bbc news, damascus. let's get some other main stories this hour. police in nigeria say 22 people are now known to have been killed in a crush

by a crowd at a charity event on saturday in okija, in the south—eastern state of anambra. it happened when people were collecting christmas donations including rice and vegetable oil. a similar tragedy also occured at a catholic church in the capital, abuja where ten people lost their lives. a bus crash in brazil has killed more than 30 people. it happened in the south—eastern state of minas gerais. officials say the driver lost control of the vehicle after a tyre burst. witnesses say it crossed the carriageway into the oncoming lane, collided with a truck and caught fire. president elect donald trump has named a special envoy to britain in addition to the ambassador he has already nominated. mark burnett, who produced the apprentice, the long—running reality tv show that made mr trump famous, will take up the position. now, let's show you these pictures from spain, where the country's christmas

lottery is underway. it has been under way for quite a while. it has a total prize pot is 2.7 billion euros. that is not the top prize but the total prize pot our correspondent, guy hedgecoe is in madrid. so we do have some winning numbers which have already been announced today. so you mentioned there the top prize is 400,000 if you have a winning number on your on your single ticket. that has not been announced yet, but there are second, third, fourth, fifth prizes. we've had a third prize announced. that's worth ?50,000 for a single ticket carrying a third prize winning number. one of those has been announced, and a fourth prize and a fifth prize as well. you mentioned there the total prize money being given out today is ?2.7 billion. and this is all part of a huge tradition in spain. even people who don't normally play the lottery do tend to buy tickets

for the christmas lottery. what they normally do is they buy a series of tickets, often in a strip, with friends, family or workmates. the idea being that if they might win, then they share out the winnings. but we're still waiting to hear for that top jackpot for the ?400,000 prize. but a lot of people around the country, millions of people, are watching live on television the prize draw in the hope that they have the prize—winning number. ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky, has hailed the victory of his compatriot — the boxer oleksandr usyk — over britain's tyson fury. usyk retained his unified heavyweight world titles on points in the bout in saudi arabia. the ukrainian won on points after a thrilling i2—round contest in saudi arabia, with all threejudges giving him victory. boxing journalist yousef anani told me he thinks the right man won.

it was a close fight, but i think the right man won. i mean, there will be some controversy. there have obviously been protests by tyson fury�*s promotional team, but its extraordinary, really, that a much smaller man like alexander usyk, it really was, he really was in against a giant, could do so well and dictate large portions of the fight, landing a lot of body shots, which a lot of people don't really notice. but a body shot scores just as well as a head shot and he was the one landing those throughout. so i think the right man won. and what about the legacy now? i mean, both clearly great fighters of their generation tyson fury, two defeats now. what does that do to his reputation? well, he's a great boxer and his legacy is secure. but he always proclaimed that he was the greatest of all time and that's been shown up as a bit of a nonsense, really. perhaps not even the greatest british heavyweight of all

time, that accolade probably belongs to lennox lewis. but he's an exceptionally talented boxer, but at the top level... and he was, of course, a champion for a long time. but at the top level, he didn't quite do enough to secure himself in, let's say, the top ten in history. what about usyk then? where does he stand now after this achievement? usyk is an extraordinary athlete. i mean, he's getting on in years. he's nearly 38 and yet he just gets stronger throughout a fight. the energy that man has, because he lives like a monk, his training regimen is absolutely extraordinary. there's no—one like him. no—one works as hard in the gym. he doesn't have off days really. so i think he's, pound—for—pound, the greatest boxer in the sport at the moment. i mean, that's debateable, but i think he is. whether he's the greatest heavyweight of all time, he's not, because he doesn't have the depth in his record at heavyweight.

i think he needs another couple of fights to to really put himself in the top five in history. king charles has extended a special invitation to the bbc�*s countryfile programme to walk in his very own winter wonderland. the episode was filmed at his and queen camilla's private highgrove gardens residence and features three aspiring furniture makers. let's take a look. the students have worked incredibly hard and have each created a truly unique christmas gift fit for the king. excellent. got the goods? super stuff. well, the decorations have been finished, i've got changed, because we are heading for a festive royal engagement. are you feeling all right about this? are you ready? it's not every day, is it? it's not every day.

no, you're right there. let's have one last little check that you're happy, that everything's as you would like it to be. i think he's going to love that. i wonder which one he'll hang on the tree. laughter. well, we're about to find out, as the students prepare to deliver their royal commission to the king. your majesty. hello and merry christmas. very much the same to you. thank you. can i say a huge thank you for allowing us to celebrate our countryfile christmas here? i'm so glad. brilliant stuff. we're very touched you want to. laughter. well, do you know, it seems that with all the creativity around here, christmas is a very, very special time for highgrove? well, it does... well, i hope you've noticed... yeah, we have indeed. and we've discovered some wonderful students as well. and we've been at the furniture school. you have. and this is lily, yun

and miles, and they've made something for you. really? yes. my goodness. we've got some christmas baubles for you. 0h, splendid! so, each one is relating to a student and a project. so, this is mine. so this is silver birch from a lodge. right. yeah, so it's all looking at the underutilisation of birch in britain and how much of a beautiful timber it is and trying to showcase it. it is a wasted... i think so, yeah. only for firewood. this is mine. it's made of cedar which has fallen down in highgrove. i 0h, did it? yeah, that's it. so, i carved the grain. you're going to have to have an extra strong tree. yes. we've tried the branches already, your majesty. we have a nice light one. oh, you're a light one? yeah. so, this is lily's.

so, this is mine. so, this is alder, and then, hand plane shavings. - this is what i've been experimenting with. i spendid. so, is this the one we could try? yeah, sure. yeah, please do. um...no. choose carefully, your majesty. i have to go... that's wonderful, isn't it? it's rather nice because you see the light through. yeah. marvellous. your majesty, you must be so proud of everything here and what you've created. that vision that you had, you know, a long time ago. and here it is. all these students. incredible. well, the great thing is they're all interested, but it's really trying to get...to maintain the timeless skills which are always needed, really. yes. whatever age we live in. yeah. they're all rather disappearing, so it's a bit of a battle to try and keep everything. . .all the special ones going. yeah, well, it's wonderful to see that you're doing what you can. at least we can try and do something. yeah, well, thank you so much. you're very kind. and merry christmas. are you coming for a festive drink of some kind? laughter.

well, that's an offer! thank you. merry christmas to all the family. thank you. well, there we are. there you go. wasn't that fantastic? he loved them. he loved them, didn't he? lily, as well. yeah. the chosen one! looks good. first time seeing it _ on the tree, and it looks good. yeah. and the branch didn't snap! laughter. a total bonus. well, there we are. yes! that's great. that's something you'll neverforget, isn't it? you did so well. he loved the cedar. i knew he would. wonderful. there we have it. blimey. it's decorated in all of its glory... yeah. ..by the king. plenty more on all the day's top stories on the bbc news website and on the bbc news app. we will be back with

continuing coverage of the breaking news around the world and in the uk. this is bbc news. hello again. it's already very windy out there across many parts of the uk. we've got gusts of 50—60 miles an hour. higher than that across the far north and the west of scotland. but very tricky conditions, i imagine, on some coastal areas today. and again, if you're travelling, there could be some disruption. this is an idea of where we'll see those strong winds, more so towards northern areas. but all of us today will notice the windy weather even across eastern areas, gusts of 40—50 miles an hour. and that wind has continued to bring in quite a few showers, especially towards wales, north west england, the midlands. some of those wintry with some sleet, a bit of snow mixed in. snow certainly across parts of scotland, with some more significant rain spreading its way southward in the far north east of scotland. and it's a colder afternoon compared to yesterday. you'll notice that there is a wind chill. temperatures of six or seven degrees. now tonight we'll continue

with some wintriness across the northeast of scotland. otherwise, though, a bit of a quieter night to come. the showers generally easing off with some clear skies. overnight lows down to about two to six or seven celsius. on into monday, then, the area of low pressure responsible for the strong winds this weekend is clearing. then we've got high pressure building in from the southwest with this weather front moving its way in during monday, but it will be a bright start to the day. there'll be some sunshine. still a little bit breezy down the north sea coast, but otherwise the winds will be lighter. cloud thickening from the west and with that, some outbreaks of rain moving its way into northern and western areas. quite patchy really on monday afternoon, with maximum temperatures again about six or seven degrees. but then into christmas eve and christmas day we've got the milder air spreading in. look at those oranges across the uk. the south—westerly wind bringing those higher temperatures. so this is christmas eve.

quite a bit of cloud around. there'll be some outbreaks of rain towards northern and western areas into the afternoon. maybe a few bright spells. maximum temperatures getting to about i! to 14 degrees. really quite mild for the time of year. and as for christmas day, more of the same really. quite cloudy for many of us. some rain affecting the far north west of scotland. one or two bright or sunny spells, but again temperatures will be in double figures, so it's a mild christmas rather than a white christmas. bye bye.

this is bbc news. the headlines. a saudi man suspected of carrying out a deadly attack on a christmas market in the german city of magdeburg is remanded in custody. he is facing multiple charges of murder and attempted murder. five people were killed and more than 200 injured when a car was driven through a busy crowd on friday. the israeli military carries out a wave of attacks across the gaza strip, hitting targets in gaza city, rafah and khan younis, and killing 28 palestinians, according to gaza's civil defence agency. a school sheltering displaced families and the kamal adwan hospital are among the sites hit. the ukrainian boxer oleksandr usyk has won the biggest bout in boxing — the men's world heavyweight

title, beating tyson fury.