>> good afternoon. it's 12:00 on saturday, the 21st of december. and a merry christmas. i hope you're having a wonderful festive saturday out there. this is the weekend on gb news now. it has been confirmed that five people, including a child, have died after a car drove into crowds at a german christmas market. city officials say over 200 people were injured and the suspect, a 50 year old saudi doctor, is believed to have acted alone. we'll have the latest with our home and security editor mark white on that one, and a grey area for sir keir starmer. yes, another one as he appoints 30 new labour peerages in an attempt to rebalance the house of lords. it comes despite his pledge, upon becoming labour leader, to aboush becoming labour leader, to abolish the house in favour of a newly elected second chamber. we'll have all the reaction on

that story. and today is set to be the busiest shopping day of the year, as shoppers take to the year, as shoppers take to the high streets for last minute christmas bargains. have you.7 yes, christmas bargains. have you? yes, you. you out there? have you brought your presents yet? and remember, you can take gb news on your radio with you if you are popping out. i'll stay where you are though. i'm dawn neesom and the weekend starts right here and now. come on people, let me have some tinsel on that. the weekend. it's a field. it's lovely. i know, it's lovely and it's relaxing, but give me some blooming tinsel. it's christmas. as you might have noticed, i don't dress like this all year round, honestly. and this show, by the way, is nothing without you and your views. whether you're wearing sparkles or a christmas onesie or whatever you're wearing today, let me know your thoughts on all the stories we're discussing today by joining us at

gbnews.com/yoursay and joining the conversation. easy. what do you want to talk about? it's christmas. come on, have a chat. this is what we're here for. keeping you company and indeed keeping me company. actually, live here in the studio is labour party activist chris wall and broadcaster mike parry. thank you very much, gentlemen. you didn't get the sparkles memo. in fact, you are twinning. >> that is particularly, well, not worrying. >> not really. i mean, christmas is a great time to sparkle, but you sparkle all the time. dawn. >> thank you very much, darling. you can come back. but before we get stuck into today's stories, here is someone who does indeed sparkle all year round. it's the lovely san francis. >> very good afternoon to you from the newsroom. just coming up to 12:03. let's start with the latest from germany, where the latest from germany, where the chancellor, olaf scholz, has said the country will stand united. that's as officials have

now confirmed, at least five fatalities, including a child that's after a major car ramming at a christmas market. more than 200 are also injured, many seriously, after a driver drove an suv into crowds at that christmas market in eastern germany. the suspect, a 50 year old saudi doctor, has been arrested, but officials say he's not known as an extremist. sir keir starmer has called the attack horrific and expressed solidarity with germany, while foreign secretary david lammy has offered support to his counterpart. the tragedy yesterday comes eight years after a similar attack in berlin, where 13 people were killed. well, our homeland security editor, mark white, has been looking into the lone attacker believed to be behind the incident in magdeburg. >> he is a 50 year old originally from saudi arabia, who arrived in germany in 2006 and claimed asylum, having fled saudi arabia wanted by the saudi

authorities over allegations. >> apologies there. we'll try and get that clip to play a little bit later on for you. well, in other news, time is running out for pensioners to claim pension credit and secure their winter fuel payment for 2024 to 25, with the deadline just hours away. online applications closed just before midnight tonight and phone lines will be open until 315 this afternoon. around 760,000 pensioners could miss out, with the benefit topping up weekly incomes and unlocking extra support. the change, announced, of course, by chancellor rachel reeves in her budget, means winter fuel payments now go only to those on means tested benefits, slashing recipients from almost 11.5 million to now, just 1.5 million pensioners. scrap staff parking charges. thatis scrap staff parking charges. that is the call from unions today, as new research has revealed, 1 in 4 nhs trusts in england have raised fees for patients, for staff or both in the last two years. patients charities say the charges are unfairly penalising unwell

people, while nhs leaders argue financial pressures leave trusts little choice but to charge the rises, often targeting city centre hospitals have seen higher earners pay more, while nhs staff collectively spent over £70 million on parking last year alone. crowds across the northern hemisphere have been gathering from early on this morning to get a sight of the winter solstice, marking the shortest day and the longest night of the year. in london, there's just under eight hours of daylight today. sunrise was at 8:04 and sunset in less than four hours. time 3:53 pm, and even less daylight for people further north. the solstice signals the return of longer days and is celebrated worldwide, from pagan yule festivals to modern traditions inspired by ancient customs. events at stonehenge, though, are among the most iconic, drawing thousands to witness the so—called rebirth of the sun , so—called rebirth of the sun, and cache tops the list for christmas gifts for young adults, a new survey has

revealed. nearly half of 16 to 24 year olds say they prefer cash, with 40% happy to receive a voucher, 36% open to a bank transfer. a third say they would even like a direct payment into their savings account, while a fifth would still welcome a cheque. but across all age groups. gifts, cards and vouchers remain the most popular choice for financial gifts. and as christmas falls mid—week this yean as christmas falls mid—week this year, experts say cash machines will be even busier, with customers set to withdraw around £1.5 billion in just one week. and that's just for my christmas presents. those are the latest headunes presents. those are the latest headlines for now. i'll be back with you in half an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code or go to gbnews.com/alerts. >> thank you very much. you know

what? i'd like a present i can unwrap like a bottle of bubbly or something like that. you know, money in an envelope. it's a bit, i don't know, it's like you're being bribed almost, isn't it? any case, let's get straight into today's story, shall we? we begin this afternoon with the news that the horrific news from germany. we have to talk about it, though, because it's just again, isn't it? it's happening again. five people have been killed and over 200 injured after a car drove into crowds at a german christmas market last night. the suspected attacker is arrested at the scene is believed to be a 50 year old doctor from saudi arabia. images and video circulating online far too disturbing to air, certainly on a festive saturday like today, show a car being driven at high speed into the christmas market and the vehicle appearing not to slow down. joining me now is gb news home and security editor, mark white, to bring us up to date on this story. mark, this

obviously happened last night when the christmas market was full of families and children. and you see the pictures. it really is eyes full of tinsel and fire. and then this horror happens. can you bring us up to date in what's been happening this morning? >> yeah. well of course, christmas markets are such an integral part of german tradition. we have christmas markets in the uk as well. but of course they're often described as german markets because that's where the tradition is just so treasured. and in germany you will see many hundreds of people out packing those christmas markets at this time of year. it's a crowded place and as such, it's always a potential weak spot and a target for those that would seek to do harm. and that is indeed what happened last night with the german authorities very clear in saying that this was a deliberate ramming attack, with this vehicle smashing into that

christmas market just after 7:00 local time here in the uk. somehow that vehicle got through the vehicle mitigation barriers that they have at this market and many other markets in germany and indeed around europe, including the uk. ever since we saw a basically very significant vehicle ramming attacks under the terror group isis. those vehicle mitigation barriers were brought into effect right across countries in europe. and they were effect r