live from london, this is bbc news. the uk economy flatlines — revised figures show gdp figures failed to grow in the last quarter. police arrest a suspect after a woman is killed after being set on fire on the new york subway in an apparently random attack. this is the scene live in magdeburg as tributes continue to be laid for the victims of the german christmas market attack. and "lungs in a box" — the new machine keeping lungs alive outside of the body could help boost the number of transplants. hello, i'm geeta guru—murthy. iam going i am going to take you straight to paris, i am going to take you straight to paris, because i am going to take you straight to paris, because president macron is holding a ceremony at

the elysee palace with a minute's silence for all of those affected in mayotte after a cyclone devastated the french indian ocean territory. france is holding a day of national mourning and emmanuel macron has called for nationwide remembrance after he was visiting the island last week. he was jeered by some islanders who criticised the slow delivery of aid. that is the elysee palace, president macron and his wife who have come for and his wife who have come for a minute's silence to commemorate those who have lost their lives. we will be back for more on the latest developments on mayotte in a few moments. now our other menus. —— main news. figures on the state of the uk economy show it failed to grow

at all in the third quarter of this year. the revised official figures for gross domestic product — gdp — coverjuly to september and cover the months after the general election and the run—up to the labour government's first budget. and there are warnings too for chancellor rachel reeves from the influential business groups the british retail consortium and the confederation of british industry. they predict a difficult economic start to 2025 — with data suggesting a lack of confidence after that tax—raising autumn budget which could affect sales, and the way firms operate. the government insists it's delivering stability for companies and encouraging long—term investment. theo leggett and political reaction from damian business correspondent essllt carr. we are asking businesses to contribute more, and i know that there will be impacts of this measure felt beyond businesses too. ever since the chancellor delivered her budget, she has faced a backlash from businesses. many say a higher rate of national insurance contributions, increases to the minimum wage,

and the cost of new workers�* rights legislation amount to a significant burden on firms. the cbi, which says it represents around 170,000 companies, says its survey of around 900 businesses suggested a steep decline in activity in the first three months of 2025, with expectations at their weakest in more than two years. but according to the british retail consortium, which represents the likes of marks and spencer and tesco, it's notjust businesses feeling downbeat. its monthly survey of around 2,000 people found consumer confidence in the economy had dipped, as had people's plans for spending in the next three months. this is a real concern for retailers, particularly with spending expectations down six points, both general spending and retail spending specifically, which means that injanuary, many retailers could find themselves squeezed between these low expectations of spending and the billions, around seven billion in new costs that are expected to come down the line. a treasury spokesperson said

they had to make difficult decisions to fix the economy. businesses say the new year could bring some tough choices for them, too. on hiring, investment and prices. esyllt carr, bbc news. our business correspondent theo leggett and political correspondent damian grammaticas explained more about the significance of this decision from the ons. the first estimate of growth for the three months to the end of september was for positive growth of 0.1%. it's now been revised downwards to static zero growth. it's not a huge revision, but it is a psychologically significant one. what lies behind it is that a lot of the smaller businesses, pubs, retailers, businesses in the service sector have performed a bit more poorly than expected. that's why we are seeing these figures today. there is more information available than there was with that first estimate.

the understanding is that there has been no growth. damian, this was for the period from july to september, so immediately after the election before the budget. what is the political significance of them? the fact that it is the period immediately after the election means the government can point to it and say this is the situation they inherited, and that is what they're doing today. chancellor rachel reeves has released a statement in which she said the challenge they face is huge because of 15 years of neglect. the difficult bit for the government is that it is a slight revision downwards, but also the forward—looking of confidence about what's coming going forwards. rachel reeves' deputy darrenjones, the chief secretary at the treasury, has been commenting.

this is what he said. this labour government is going | into 2025 with absolute resolve | to work with investors, - wealth creators and workers across the country to stimulate economic growth and improve i living standards for workers across the country. - this is our number one mission as a government, and we start| from a disappointing set of economic statistics i as we end 2024, but that's why we're going to fight every day l to make sure we improve the lives of working - people this country. now, the conservatives, unsurprisingly, have been criticising labour. shadow chancellor mel stride has said this is a problem of labour's making and urge them to ditch their policies in their budget. the budget came just after the period covered by the economic statistics. the issue for the government is that it's pinning its hopes on this promise to deliver economic growth.

there are reforms it's bringing into the health service, planning a system to stimulate housing and infrastructure projects. the critical thing for the government is, can that start to deliver the growth impetus it is saying it wants to see? a disturbing story coming from new york — where police have arrested a suspect, after a woman was burned alive on a subway train. police said the man approached the woman on board the f train at coney island on sunday morning, as she appeared to be sleeping — and set her clothes on fire with a lighter. officers responded with fire extinguishers, but she died at the scene. here's transit chief, joseph gulotta. that will be part of the investigation, she is definitely there. she is motionless. if she's asleep or not, we're not 100% sure, but she appears motionless at that spot. there's no interaction between the two, and when the incident happens, there's no interaction between the two. the cbs news correspondent tammy mutasa spoke to us from new york.

this was a brutal attack on a woman who just appeared to be sleeping on a public train, and police found that victim when they saw smoke during a routine patrol. after the nypd released images of a person of interest, three young men called 911 when they saw the suspect in a different subway. police stopped the train and arrested the man. there must be strong, swift consequences on this person, and i use that term lightly, who committed this brutal, brutal homicide. nypd said cameras have been installed in every subway car, and it's because of images from those cameras that led to this arrest. this week governor kathy hochul announced an additional 250 national guard members will be deployed on subway cars to make sure everyone is safe. to germany now and the

aftermath of friday's car attack at a christmas market in magdeburg where five people were killed and many more injured. the country's interior minister has promised to leave no stone unturned in the investigation into what happened. this is the scene live in magdeburg, where people have been leaving flowers and candles near the scene of the attack with the growing number of floral tributes stretching across the pavement. our correspondent bethany bell is following developments in magdeburg. the head of germany's federal criminal police unit office yesterday said on german television that they had received a warning from the saudi authorities about the suspect a year ago. he said the police initiated an investigation, but the threat was deemed to be too unspecific. we're seeing questions in the local german media about how there were other complaints and warnings about this man. he was not an unknown quantity, in the words of one official. he was known to be an activist and was very active on social media.

there are many questions as to whether more could have been done to alert the authorities about the danger. there are also questions about what happened in this market. what about the security here? how was it possible for this car to get in? most of the market where i am now was surrounded by a concrete perimeter, of concrete blocks, but the car seems to have entered through a route that was meant for emergency vehicles. there is a lot of discussion about why it wasn't possible to put a barrier across that route and just lift it for emergency vehicles. one man came up to me and said, "i'm from magdeburg, but it's clear something went badly wrong". what about wider security now at christmas markets?

obviously, this is a holiday period, a time when families want to celebrate, but what is going on on that front? the market here is now closed. people behind me have been able to come to their stalls and clear away the food and dismantle what they had. security has been increased at christmas markets around the country. as i said, there are a lot of questions about what more could have been done to protect this place. it's known that there have been attacks in markets in germany in recent years, including eight years ago, an attack on a christmas market in berlin. but people are saying much more should have been done here. it shouldn't have been possible for this car to drive through the way it did. donald trump has threatened to reassert united states control over the panama canal, saying american ships are being charged excessive fees by the central american nation.

panama's president has hit back, insisting panama's sovereignty and independence are non—negotiable. the canal — which links the atlantic and pacific oceans — is critical to international trade — with about 40% of american container traffic passing through it. largely built and administered by the us at the beginning of the last century, it was eventually handed over to full panamanian control in 1999. mr trump made the comments to a conference of the conservative turning point usa group in arizona. it's his first political rally since winning the presidential election in november and comes four weeks before he officially takes office again on january 20th. he told the audience he is not happy about the panama canal arrangement — and is concerned it is falling into, quote, "the wrong hands". here's a little of what he said. you've got to treat us fairly, and they haven't treated us fairly.

if the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand of america in full, quickly and without question. i'm not going to stand for it. so, to the officials of panama, please be guided accordingly. mr trump's remarks prompted a quick rebuke from panama's president, who had this to say. translation: the canal is not under the direct i or indirect control of china, the european community, the united states, or any other power. as a panamanian, i strongly reject any statement that misrepresents this reality. every single square metre of the panama canal and its adjacent areas belongs to panama and will continue to belong to panama. the sovereignty and independence of our country are non—negotiable. daniel lippman is politico's white house reporter. i asked him why trump has chosen now to bring up the panama canal. it's a little curious.

panama had increased the fees for ships going through their canal after there was a major drought in the last year or so, but you have to wonder, was there some shipper who was mad about this and got in the ear of trump? this kind of reminds me of when he wanted to buy greenland a few weeks ago. when he had dinner with the canadian leader, justin trudeau, hejoked about trying to make canada the 51st state. so he kind of sometimes has a short attention span, so in a few weeks, i don't expect him to be talking about this again. yeah, china has tried to gain lots of influence in central america, in latin america, but what's interesting is that the current leader of panama is a pro—trump populist, so he has stuff in common with trump, but i think he is almost... you know, he will probably want a meeting with trump to discuss this, and i don't expect trump to be sending the us marines down to panama

to seize back control. this was given back to the panamanians 25 years ago. trump does not like foreign conflict. he was against the iraq war at least part of the time, and he is an isolationist, so he is more america first. i don't see a lot of americans here in the country, you know, having a big protest to try to get back the panamanian canal. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

now it's time for a look at today's sport. hello from the bbc sport centre. we are kicking off with football. liverpool came out on top of a nine—goal thriller against tottenham, and it means arne slot�*s side will top the table come christmas day. on the basis of what we've seen so far, many are suggesting

they could still be there come the end of the season. 6—3, they beat tottenham, with mo salah serving up a christmas cracker with his first goal. he overtook manchester city's erling haaland as this season's top scorer. he also scored a second and earned a slice of club history. he's now fourth on the all—time list of goalscorers in the club's history. and what a history, with the club looking for all the world as though they're set to write another chapter this season. even for his standards, it's maybe a bit more than what he usually does. but, yeah, we need these goals because we conceded three today, as well. so let's hope he can continue doing this. but it's. .. of course it's his quality because if we bring him often enough in that position, he scores the goals. it's been a year to rememberfor british number one katie boulter. after climbing to a career high ranking of world number 23, she's revealed she's engaged to fellow professional player alex de minaur. there won't be many celebrations over the festive period, however. as fate would have it,

the newly engaged couple will actually play each other on court in the united cup on new year's day. i wouldn't say i was thrilled at the idea of playing him all over again. at the idea of playing him all overagain. obviously, he is at the idea of playing him all over again. obviously, he is a top ten player and he knows how top ten player and he knows how to play tennis, so there is one side of it and there is a personal side of it as well, which is difficult but also great for bragging rights. so i am looking forward to the match. it's going to be a great atmosphere. playing in australia was always going to be fun, so let's put pressure on them. be fun, so let's put pressure on them-— be fun, so let's put pressure on them. let's hope they are both still _ on them. let's hope they are both still smiling _ on them. let's hope they are both still smiling after - on them. let's hope they are both still smiling after it. - and is this a sight we can expect to see more of? tiger woods son charlie celebrating with his dad after sinking his first hole—in—one. he holed out at the fourth to send the pair into the lead in the final round of a family event in orlando. he said he "just kind of hit it". his dad was clearly pleased for him, it was high fives

all round. interestingly, there was a third woods there — daughter sam was caddying. they might have lost overall in the team family event, but charlie, i'm sure, will be reminding his dad for a while about that one. and that's all the sport for now. france is observing a day of national mourning for victims of the powerful cyclone which devastated its overseas territory of mayotte. president emmanuel macron has led a minute's silence at the elysee palace. authorities fear the final death toll could be in the hundreds, or possibly thousands. let's speak to mathilde hangard, a journalist working on the island. what is the mood like on the island during this day of mourning?

well, the day of mourning doesn't change anything because some residents don't know that there is national mourning because they are still deprived of electricity.— of electricity. and tell us how the recovery _ of electricity. and tell us how the recovery process - of electricity. and tell us how the recovery process and - of electricity. and tell us how the recovery process and the | the recovery process and the clean—up are going. the recovery process and the clean-up are going.- clean-up are going. well, health professionals - clean-up are going. well, health professionals and i clean-up are going. well, l health professionals and aid centres specialising in the management of this type of disaster and specific equipment have arrived. the population had criticised this aid for not being fast enough. it has been nine days since the cyclone ravaged the island and many residents still have no water, food or electricity. we residents still have no water, food or electricity.— food or electricity. we know the death —

food or electricity. we know the death toll _ food or electricity. we know the death toll is _ food or electricity. we know the death toll is expected i food or electricity. we know| the death toll is expected to rise. are there any preparations for that? in my oinion, preparations for that? in my opinion. the _ preparations for that? in my opinion, the population - preparations for that? in my opinion, the population is i opinion, the population is waiting for the state to take responsibility and look for other possible victims, those who are under the rubble and those who have been already buried and can be identified tax to theirfamilies, buried and can be identified tax to their families, yes. buried and can be identified tax to theirfamilies, yes. == tax to their families, yes. -- thanks to — tax to their families, yes. -- thanks to their _ tax to their families, yes. —— thanks to their families. and what more do the people there want to see from the french government?— want to see from the french government? the population needs water, _ government? the population needs water, food _ government? the population needs water, food and - needs water, food and electricity. they told us that everything was coming, but it is not the case. maybe planes and boats have arrived at the port and airport relation is

waiting for that. so water, food networks and electricity are the urgent points. but i know it's going to be very long for electricity because 9% of the electrical infrastructure has been destroyed by the cyclone. so for several months, mayotte will continue to have severe water cuts and electric cuts. at severe water cuts and electric cuts. �* . , . cuts. a devastating event. mathilde _ cuts. a devastating event. mathilde hangard, - cuts. a devastating event. mathilde hangard, thankl cuts. a devastating event. - mathilde hangard, thank you. surgeons believe that a new machine which keeps lungs alive outside the body could significantly boost transplant numbers and save more lives. royal papworth hospital in cambridge is the first in the uk to use the technology outside clinical trials — and it's already changed the life of one patient. our correspondent nikki fox has the story. these lungs might usually be rejected for transplantation —

but because of this machine, they're being kept alive, and their health restored outside the body. the lungs have been perfused and ventilated for over an hour and a half. we're very happy with their function, and likely we will go ahead. this patient is the first in the uk to benefit — 49—year—old daniel evans—smith. there was conversations this time last year of... some of the hospitals were saying i needed to talk about palliative care, because if i didn't get the lung transplant, the likelihood was that i wouldn't survive much longer with the way things were going. 81% of lungs aren't good enough for transplantation. it's hoped the machine could prevent so many organs from being wasted. so how are they kept alive? well, the lungs are placed in an incubator at room temperature for up to six

hours, mimicking the environment of the human body. they're connected to a ventilator, which forces air in and out, while oxygen and nutrients are pumped through the lungs. tests are then carried out to make sure the organs work well. we are hoping that it will increase transplant activity by 30%, because at present we have up to one in three people dying on the waiting list. do you think daniel would still be alive if it wasn't for this machine? absolutely not. sadly. so i think we managed to catch daniel in the very last minute before he would have become untransplantable. before the transplant, daniel was taken to hospital with a collapsed lung five times. keep going until you've - completely emptied your lungs. he spent a total of six months there, as he was so ill. he developed copd, despite giving up smoking 12 years ago.

his operations changed his life. i can walk further. i can now do hills without having to think about it. i don't have to rest so often when i'm out walking or moving round town. i'm miles ahead of where i was. despite law changes in 2019, which made it easier to donate organs, there's a shortage. it's hoped this new technique will make the most of the lungs that are available, giving others a chance for a better life. nikki fox, bbc news. you may be used to seeing father christmas flying through the night sky — but have you ever seen him on a boat? over the weekend, dozens of sa ntas swapped their sleighs for gondolas to bring some festive cheer to venice. they rowed along the grand canal dressed in their signature red suits as part of the city's annual christmas regatta. it's the 12th time the event has taken place and large crowds gathered to watch as they passed on boats covered in lights and decorations.

stay with us here on bbc news. hello. there was a little sunshine around first thing this morning, but it's been fading, and today is a day of transition to much milder weather. less windy, yes, and still mostly dry, but there will be much more cloud for the week ahead. and the reason is that we are losing that chilly north—westerly wind and instead we are picking up this milder south—westerly, which has come right the way over the atlantic. so, as it does so, it picks up a lot of moisture, a lot of cloud, and with it these weak weather fronts. even though we've got high pressure to the south, we've still got some weak weather fronts. so the rain will always be heaviest towards the north and the west. so, the brightness continues in the east, the sunshine fading but remaining bright, the showers easing, too, but instead we've got all this cloud rolling in, misty and murky over the hills, patchy rain or drizzle,

but temperatures will be lifting, 105, 11s by the end of play. but further east, still feeling chilly, particularly with the cloud overhead and the breeze still hanging on for east anglia and the south—east. through the evening and overnight, we've got our weather fronts crossing, so introducing that milder air right across the uk, the rain most noticeable over the scottish highlands, but i think the most significant feature of the night's weather will be how mild it is, temperatures 10—11 for most of us, picking up in the south and east, as well, after the chilly day. and that's because then we are in this mild atlantic air throughout as we go into christmas eve. high pressure is to the south, very little rain around, but a lot of cloud, and i do think if you're heading out onto the roads, it will be quite misty and foggy over the higher routes around the coast as well. a chance of some brightness, perhaps, around moray and towards aberdeenshire, perhaps the welsh marches, but look at the temperatures, it could be the mildest christmas eve, one of the mildest christmas eves on record, i think. we are still in that mild air as we go into christmas day.

still a lot of weather fronts close to the north, that's where we are most likely to see some rain, some risk to see some rain, some brisk south—westerly winds, strong winds, gales at times, but not as windy as it has been. and that wind will help to break the cloud up a little bit, but it is still predominantly dry and cloudy, and not quite as mild, but still temperatures well above where they should be for this time of year. so, no white christmas from the looks of things, a rather grey one, and that rather grey weather looks set to continue into boxing day and indeed friday, as well. as ever, to stay up to date, you can head to the website for more detail.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the uk economy failed to grow in the last quarter, according to revised figures forjuly and september. police arrest a suspect after a woman was set alight and killed on a new york subway in an apparently random attack. officers said the man approached the woman as she appeared to be sleeping and set her clothes on fire with a lighter. officers responded with fire extinguishers, but she died at the scene. the french president emmanuel macron has led a minute's silence for the victims of cyclone chido. the country is observing a national day of mourning for mayotte after 35 people were killed in the worst cyclone in the overseas territory in nearly a century. authorities fear the final death toll could grow. at his first rally since winning the us

presidential election, donald trump threatens to try and regain control of the panama canal.