21/12/2016 BBC News at Six

Tonight at six, German police launch a Europe-wide

manhunt for a suspect in the Christmas-market terror attack.

This is the man they want, a Tunisian-born asylum-seeker

who's thought to be armed and dangerous.

The authorities admit he was known to police.

TRANSLATION: This person attracted the attention

of several security services in Germany

through his contact with a radical Islamist.

this rise in terror attacks in Europe.

Also tonight, life for the property-developer millionaire

I'd be in a hell of a lot of trouble for that,

and she could have still gone on and blackmailed me.

Cared for in her home and not on a ward,

the NHS reforms that critics say will end in cuts.

The number of vehicles being clamped has doubled

who are already planning for Olympic glory in 2024.

Coming up in Sportsday on BBC News, Saints escape any punishment

for allowing George North to carry on playing

after appearing to be knocked out in a match.

Good evening and welcome to the BBC News At Six.

A Europe-wide manhunt is under way tonight

after German police issued a warrant for a suspect

in the Berlin Christmas-market terror attack.

a failed asylum-seeker who arrived in Germany last year.

It's emerged that Amri was known to German authorities

because of his links to an Islamist extremist.

So tonight the police there are facing serious questions

about whether they should have done more to stop him.

From Berlin, Jenny Hill sent this report.

You're looking at Europe's most wanted man.

Anis Amri is the main, the only suspect in the investigation

into an attack which shattered Germany.

TRANSLATION: There's a new suspect, we are searching for him.

We issued a warrant for this suspect's arrest at midnight.

The warrant covers the whole of Germany and most of Europe.

We're learning more about the 24-year-old Tunisian.

He was refused asylum but granted temporary leave to stay.

He was known to the authorities, considered a threat because of

his links to one of Germany's most notorious Islamist networks.

he used six different names and three nationalities.

The hijacked lorry used in Monday's attack

documents leading to the suspect and DNA.

It's thought he struggled with the man who should have been

behind the wheel before shooting him dead.

Germany's misery compounded by the suggestion again

that one of those who sought asylum here may have been responsible.

Earlier, the far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders

posted a picture of the Chancellor, her hands covered in blood.

Do you blame Angela Merkel for what happened?

"Angela Merkel," she says, "is a humanitarian woman."

"She did the right thing a year ago,

no-one could know this would happen."

Flowers for the dead, prayers for the injured.

Germany's Foreign Minister joined today by his Italian counterpart.

is Fabrizia Di Lorenzo, who comes from L'Aquila.

TRANSLATION: We have to realise that we are vulnerable

right in the middle of our country, of our capital.

We have to realise that we aren't spared

the kind of attacks that happen elsewhere.

Tonight, they don't know where their main suspect is.

In fact, they're offering a reward of 100,000 euros.

But this investigation does now have a face and a focus.

That is, for some here perhaps, a little light in the darkness.

And we can talk to Jenny Hill in Berlin. The more we learn from your

report, the more it feels like the German police could have perhaps,

should have done more. Yes, and I think there will be a growing sense

of frustration, if not anger, actually, and for two reasons. First

of all, Anis Amri was known to the authorities, they considered him to

be dangerous because of his links to an extremist network. Secondly, of

course, it was 24 hours before they identified him as the main suspect

in this case, and bear in mind that during that time the police arrested

and finally released an entirely, apparently, Ennis and man, giving

Anis Amri a vital head start. -- innocent man. I think too

compounding the misery for people in Berlin, in Germany tonight is the

suggestion that somebody who entered this country as an asylum seeker may

have been responsible, may have been the perpetrator of this terrible

attack. Already, this evening, there are demonstrations by the

anti-immigrant party, which has been fiercely critical of Angela Merkel's

refugee policy. They have been demonstrating in the city this

evening. I would go as far as to say that tonight Germany is not simply a

country in morning, it is also a country deeply ill at ease. Jenny,

thank you very much. With me is our security

correspondent Frank Gardner. Paris, Brussels, Nice, Berlin,

people will be thinking, where next? The jihadist threat to Europe is not

new, it has been around in various forms for 20 years. In the year

2000, Al-Qaeda plans to attack a Christmas market in Strasbourg, some

16 years ago. But we have seen an intensification of plots, and the

Syrian conflict has drawn in unprecedented numbers of

international jihadists, would-be fighters, and some of those have

been killed on the battlefield, some have given up the fight, but a large

number of them are still there or trying to come back, winning their

way back into Europe. There is a problem on the borders, a problem

with all the different names, so the call to attack European countries is

about two years old, specifically from so-called Islamic State. Their

spokesman, to jihadist he was quite charismatic, and he issued his call

- he is now dead, but a lot of people that call, and that has

outlived him. All right, Frank, thank you very much, thank you.

A millionaire property developer from south Wales has been jailed

for life for the murder of his personal escort.

Peter Morgan strangled Georgina Symonds,

who earned up to ?10,000 a month, at her home in Newport.

He had admitted killing her but denied it was murder.

Georgina Symonds, mother to a five-year-old daughter -

she was strangled by the man who called himself her sugar daddy.

The 25-year-old had met property millionaire Peter Morgan

The married 54-year-old had become infatuated with her.

But the court heard he killed her in a carefully planned attack

out of cold anger on finding out that she planned to blackmail him.

Georgina Symonds's mother, Deborah, said their family was broken.

The death of my daughter, Georgina Symonds,

has been a devastating tragedy for the whole of our family.

Her beautiful daughter has been left without a mum.

Georgina has left a hole in our lives that will never be repaired.

During their relationship, the father of two

had paid Georgina Symonds up to ?10,000 a month,

taken her on helicopter flights and bought expensive gifts.

She moved into a bungalow in the grounds

of a ruined mansion that he owned, but she didn't know that

he'd installed a listening device disguised as a plug adapter.

The multimillionaire overheard a conversation in which

she spoke of plans to blackmail him by threatening

to send intimate pictures to his family.

Police visited her bungalow when she was reported missing

after failing to pick up her daughter from school.

claiming that he didn't know where she was.

Where did we think she was going at 12 o'clock?

Didn't say. She didn't say.

But Georgina Symonds was already dead.

Peter Morgan had concealed her body in a barn at his family home.

that Peter Morgan told police officers what he'd done.

The trouble was, once I'd sort of attempted to murder her,

I'd be in a hell of a lot of trouble for that,

and she could have still gone on and blackmailed me, couldn't she?

During his trial, the jury had been told

that Peter Morgan had Asperger's syndrome.

He had denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility,

but the judge told him that the plans that he had made

and the steps he had taken to cover up what he'd done showed

that he was in control and understood his actions.

Peter Morgan showed no emotion as he was sentenced to life

in prison with a minimum of 25 years for the murder of Georgina Symonds.

Sian Lloyd, BBC News, Newport Crown Court.

The Queen and Prince Philip have delayed plans to travel

to their estate in Sandringham in Norfolk today, because

they both have what Buckingham Palace described as "heavy colds".

The Queen, who celebrated her 90th birthday this year,

usually spend the Christmas break at Sandringham.

Our royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell

Neck, what more can you tell us? Well, this is the story of the day,

George, all the travel arrangements were in place for a train journey

from King's Cross to King's Lynn at around 11 o'clock this morning, the

protection people were there but then they were told to stand down,

nobody would be travelling. Speculation started, at 1:30

Buckingham Palace let it be known that the Queen and the Duke had, in

their words, heavy colds, and travel was delayed. The question is whether

they will be able to make the journey tomorrow, Friday or indeed

Saturday, Christmas Eve. There is every expectation that they will,

the Royal Family gather at Sandringham for Christmas, and they

certainly won't want to miss that. The health of the Queen in recent

times seemingly as robust as ever for somebody in a 91st year. The

health or so of the Duke, at the age of 95, seemingly good at recent

times. So heavy colds, in the words of Buckingham Palace, an expectation

that they will travel, and no undue concern here tonight that I can

detect. All right, thank you very much.

A former Royal Marine Sergeant, who's serving a life sentence

for murdering a wounded Afghan fighter in 2011,

has been refused bail while he awaits an appeal hearing.

The family of Alexander Blackman - who's known as Marine A -

had hoped he'd be released from custody in time for Christmas.

His case is due to be reconsidered next year.

At least 31 people are known to have died

in a series of explosions at a fireworks market in Mexico.

Around 60 other people were injured, many with severe burns,

The cause of the fire is unknown, but it's believed one stall

caught fire before triggering a chain reaction of blasts.

It's the third major fire at the market since 2005.

NHS England has hit back at suggestions from some campaigners

that it's about to embark on a major programme of cuts.

Medical director Sir Bruce Keogh has told the BBC that plans to make

radical changes to the way the NHS is run - with services

concentrated on fewer sites - will deliver better patient care.

that what he called "difficult choices" will have to be made.

This report from our health editor, Hugh Pym.

With threats to local hospitals, cue protesters, and that's what's

They fear NHS reform plans will mean the local A being downgraded,

Local managers say nothing's finalised, but with maternity

services recently reduced, these demonstrators claim

We need a hospital that is going to support the population of Banbury,

and I feel that reducing the services of Banbury

and forcing people to go elsewhere is going to put lives at risk.

I want the Horton to stay as it is and grow, really.

Not to shrink, to get better and bigger.

It's just one example of sustainability and transformation

plans drawn up in every area of England, with local health

and social-care leaders urged to do more

to look after people away from hospitals.

Campaigners out trying to protect local hospital services

The question is whether protests like this become more widespread.

NHS leaders know they have to work hard

to convince the public that changes could benefit patients.

It's incumbent on those who are putting those proposals forward

to be absolutely clear about what the benefits and risks

of each proposed change are, because many communities

will have some pretty difficult choices to make.

What would you say to those who say this is a smoke screen for cuts

There will always be people that think that.

But actually, this is really about a proper conversation

about how we improve the services, and in particular

how we link up social care and the National Health Service.

The local plan in Kent draws on pioneering work

it sees GPs, the NHS and social care looking after patients together.

I'm a lot better than I was, darling.

Barbara, who has heart, lung and kidney problems,

has visits whenever she needs, so she can live in her own home.

The doctors come in and nurses, the carers come in and say to me...

I recommend being at home to get better, rather

Northern Ireland and Scotland already have integrated

The landscape's the same across the UK, with an ageing

England's attempts to join up local services offers opportunities,

Police in Germany have launched a Europe wide

manhunt for a suspect in the Berlin Christmas

The success of Rio 2016 is still fresh in our minds,

but these athletes are already thinking of Olympic glory

Coming up on Sportsday in the next 15 minutes on BBC News,

Kvitova's injury is worse than feared, the two-time Wimbledon

champion said to be out for six months after injuring her hand

Businesses and politicians are warning that Northern Ireland

will be especially vulnerable when the UK finally leaves the EU.

The two parties in Stormont's power sharing government were on different

But since then they have been united in calling for a deal that

recognises Northern Ireland's unique position as the only part

of the UK with a land border with another EU country.

In the latest of our series of reports looking at Brexit six

months after the vote, here's our Ireland

Londonderry is known as the walled city.

These barriers were built as defences four centuries ago.

But to protect itself in the future, most here want Derry to be

There is particular concern among businesses about what the UK

losing its European Union branding will mean.

This labelling company sits just a mile from the border

between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

Soon that line will mark the point where the UK starts and ends.

Northern Ireland, I believe, should have a special deal.

Not only for the movement of goods and services

but for the movement of people within the island of Ireland.

It would be a nonsense to think that the island will be

It has been pointed out time and time again that Northern Ireland

is the only part of the UK to have a land border

But it's only when you come to a city like Derry that you really

There are people who live on one side and they work on the other.

And people cross that border just to see friends and family

Fearing stormy times ahead, Scotland has also been

pushing for a special deal, or potentially even a second

Something Irish nationalists have been watching closely.

At this cultural centre in Derry you can order the Christmas special

And there are some here who say if Scotland gets

a vote on independence, there should also be

If their argument to get another vote is based

on remaining in Europe, the same argument should apply here.

A majority on this side of the Irish Sea did

But polls suggest there has been no real rise in support

Yet since the Brexit decision, even in unionist areas like North Down,

post offices have seen a surge in demand for applications for Irish

and what will remain European passports.

People from Northern Ireland are entitled to joint citizenship.

I would like to feel European, but I won't now, will I?

Other than the fact I've got an Irish passport,

It's not yet clear what gifts could be offered by the EU

or Westminster to this part of the UK.

But on the road to Brexit, Northern Ireland needs to find a way

of ensuring its unique position stands out.

A brief look at some of the day's other other news stories.

The European Court of Justice has ruled that the "indiscriminate"

collecting of emails and other electronic data by the UK

EU judges said communications information can only be retained

if it's targeted and used to fight serious crime.

The Home Office says it'll try to get the decision overturned.

The Italian Parliament has approved a government plan

for a possible ?16 billion bailout of the country's banks.

It follows an announcement from one of the oldest

surviving banks in the world, Monte dei Paschi, that it may run

It's believed the Italian Treasury would use the fund to prop up that

Inspectors raised "serious concerns" about patient safety at one

of England's main abortion providers, Marie Stopes

Concerns over the quality of training for some staff

and checks on the skills of anaesthetists, doctors

Marie Stopes International says "considerable changes" have been

made since the inspections this summer.

A Labour MP has announced he is quitting Parliament to take

Jamie Reed - an ex-shadow health minister - has represented Copeland

His resignation, which he called the "hardest decision of his life",

has triggered a by-election in a seat Labour retained in 2015

New figures show that the clamping of cars for non-payment of vehicle

tax has soared since the paper tax disc was scrapped two years ago.

The data obtained by BBC News through a Freedom of Information

request shows that the number of vehicles clamped was running

at 5,100 a month in the run-up to the paper disc going.

But in the latest six months - up to October this year -

Some people complain that they forgot to renew

because they didn't have the disc to remind them.

Our Personal Finance Correspondent, Simon Gompertz, reports.

It's the last thing you want to see locked onto your car. And the cost

of getting rid of the clamp can be much more than the car tax itself.

It was quite shocking. I'd just finished a 13 hour shift... Joanne,

a nurse in Salford, had to pay ?340 when she was clamped. She'd moved

house. The reminder went astray and now there is no paper tax disc on

the windscreen to jog her memory. I noticed it had been clamped. In all

the years I've been driving, I've missed one, and that's only since

they removed the tax disc. Mine has always been paid on time. I think

it's a bit heavy-handed. I was shocked, annoyed, upset. This is how

the cost can mount. An ?80 late payment penalty and a ?100 release

fee for the clamp, rising to ?200 once they have taken your vehicle to

the car pound after a day. ?21 a day in the pound and if you don't come

and pick it up, this is what they can do to your car.

They can crush it, break it up or just sell it. This is one of 75

clamping fans on the hunt. Cameras check number plates as they pass

vehicles on the roadside. Alerting their clampers when they spot one

which isn't taxed. 9000 clamps a month is nearly doubled two years

ago. The DVLA has deliberately stepped up the rate to send a

message to evaders. The law is that you pay your tax. Some of those

people are saying is heavy-handed, they never meant not to pay the tax.

There are plenty of people, in fact the vast majority pay their taxes no

problem at all. The fact there's a small tax disc in the window

shouldn't be an issue. After all, people pay their TV licence and they

do have to put a little licence in their front window. So in the end,

the most important thing is people do pay their tax. There is little

doubt the end of a tax disc has provided more targets for the

clampers, but the DVLA promises its fans will scour every postcode area

twice a year, saying all car owners have a responsibility to pay. Simon

Gompertz, BBC News. Now, it was one of the

highlights of the year. Team GB's performance in Rio

delivered gold medal after gold medal and will live long

in the memory of sports fans. Now, Team GB's bosses

are looking ahead, not just to 2020, but they're

already working with Our Sports Correspondent

Natalie Pirks has been It was a summer of unprecedented

sporting success. Golds were boldly won where golds

hadn't been won before. Never before had a nation

exceeded their medal tally at a Summer Olympics,

immediately after a home games. Adam Peaty takes Olympic

gold for Great Britain. But future stars are already

on the springboard, UK Sport was you big when it

launched its eight-year Not only does it invest in athletes

with what it calls "podium potential" for the next Olympics,

but also for the athletes coming up behind them,

like diver Kat Torrance, with two golds at the recent

World Junior Championships she's an Olympic hopeful

learning her trade alongside An Olympic medal, a gold one

for Team GB had never happened, so it did almost seem impossible,

but now they've done it, it's like OK, maybe it's not impossible,

maybe it could be repeated It's kind of weird to think

we are role models for them, but I think they were hugely

inspired by watching the Olympics We've got such talent, just here,

and its young talent as well, So looking forward

to 2020 and onwards, Another sport to exceed

expectations in Rio, Everybody's looked at gymnastics

in Great Britain and thought London was going to be a fluke and then it

would drop off the cliff. We set out to make sure that

that was sustainable going through to Rio,

and in the same way now, we expect that to be

sustainable going on to Tokyo One of the gymnasts

on the eight-year pathway He's part of Great Britain's

juniors, who this year won their fifth

European team gold in a row. The ultimate dream,

to win an all-round medal at the Olympic Games,

at least by 2024, or 2020 is a dream,

and 2024 is reality? With confidence like that,

it seems Britain's future medal We have been hearing about some

rough weather on the way. Let's get the latest.

Looking ahead to Christmas and in the next few days alternating

between rain and windy weather. It will remain very windy. Through this

evening and overnight, Saint Gales and frequent wintry showers in

north-west Scotland. Rain developing in southern England will clear away

and as it does so we will see some patchy fog forming in the south-east

later. As sky is clear it will turn chilly in the countryside. Close to

freezing and some icy patches in Scotland, especially at high levels,

with the snow continuing. Gales and showers in Northern Ireland. A few

coming into Western Ireland and Wales. Much of England dry and quite

sunny. There will be a chilly feel in there. Not bad where the winds

are lighter in the south and you get the sunshine, but vertically cold

with the Gales and showers towards the north-west. We have our storm,

Barbara, heading towards the north-west of Scotland. A deep area

of low pressure. That weather front on Friday will give us all a spell

of rain. The wind will be the main feature. The Met office have issued

this amber wind warning for Friday and into Friday night. The strongest

of the winds will develop across the North West of Scotland. Cost of 90

miles an hour. Across the rest of Scotland on Friday and Friday night,

gusts of 70 miles an hour, so doing Northern Ireland and North Wales.

Christmas Eve morning, the winds becoming lighter. Still blustery

showers in the North and some could be wintry. It's not as wintry

further south, but clouding over, just in time for Christmas debts.

Very windy, especially in the north, but it could be very mild.

Thank you very much.