The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.Oleh BBC World Service

A nine-year-old-child is among those who were killed when a car drove into crowds at a Christmas market in Germany, officials say. Four adults were killed and 200 people were injured when the suspect entered the market through an entrance reserved for ambulances and other emergency vehicles. The BBC understands that the suspect in the Magdeburg att…

Five people, including a child, have been killed after a car drove into crowds at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg. The suspect, a 50-year-old Saudi psychiatrist, holds "Islamophobic" views, according to Germany's interior minister. However, the motive behind the attack is still unclear. The head of Germany's police union says sec…

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to crowds in Magdeburg, after the attack that has left at least five people dead and over 200 injured. Addressing reporters, the chancellor said that "normally a Christmas market is a very peacefully and joyful place... what a dreadful tragedy it is that so many people were injured and killed with such brutali…

At least four people, including a child, were killed after a car drove into crowds at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg. More than 68 people have been injured, with 15 of them in a serious condition, according to city officials. The suspect, a 50-year-old Saudi doctor, is believed to have acted alone. Video footage shows the moment…

Melanie Woods is the 30-year-old wheelchair racer and Paralympian from Scotland. Since 2018, she has competed at two Paralympic Games and several World Championships putting her in a unique place to inform new research from Loughborough University. Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news #M…

A Christmas market in Germany has been turned into a scene of carnage after a car ploughed through crowds, leaving at least two people dead - including a small child - and injuring around 60 other people.It took place in a market in the centre of the city of Magdeburg in east Germany. Emergency services and police have been deployed in large number…

The US is edging towards another government shutdown after the lower chamber of Congress failed to pass a spending bill to keep federal agencies open.Funding is set to lapse at midnight on Friday unless Republicans and Democrats can agree on a way forward. Elon Musk is pushing for the move - the Tesla boss has been tasked with identifying spending …

A car has reportedly been driven into crowds at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg. German media report that at least one person has been killed and dozens others injured - we are still awaiting official confirmation. Local police in the central Germany city said "operations are currently taking place" at the market, which has been …

This week, Yang Tengbo was identified as the 50-year-old Chinese businessman and alleged spy banned from the UK. It's triggered questions on an issue multiple governments have grappled with - the UK's relationship with China. As the UK's Chancellor prepares to visit China in the new year, the BBC's Analysis Editor, Ros Atkins, looks at how relation…

The UK has announced a stepping up of its international leadership in the support of Ukraine into 2025, with a new £225m package of military support. But it’s not just weapons and aid that the UK and its allies are providing. A programme known as Operation Interflex has now trained more than 51,000 Ukrainian troops on British soil, as soldiers work…

Adam Fleming speaks to a panel of new UK MPs about whether they felt prepared when the election was called in 2024, what mistakes they’ve made in Parliament so far and what really goes on behind the scenes in the House of Commons.Labour MP for Kettering Rosie Wrighting, Conservative MP for Huntingdon Ben Obese-Jecty and Liberal Democrat MP for Sout…

“Their mission is to infiltrate enemy lines.” Former North Korean soldiers have given their insight on the condition of thousands of troops deployed to the frontline in Russia's war against Ukraine. The North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, has reportedly sent around 11,000 troops to help Russian forces reclaim part of its Kursk region taken by Ukraine…

Us Brits are weather obsessed. Be it a heatwave, the latest named storm or a weather warning - it’s our go-to topic for small talk. Join BBC Weather’s Carol Kirkwood, Matt Taylor and Barra Best, along with famous faces Jeremy Vine and Lucy Porter, to explore where our fascination with a white Christmas comes from.Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfU…

The US House of Representatives has voted against a Donald Trump-backed funding measure, bringing a government shutdown a step closer. A revised spending plan failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed in the lower chamber of Congress, with 38 Republicans voting against the bill on Thursday night, defying the president-elect. After the bill fai…

US diplomats are in the Syrian capital Damascus where they plan to meet representatives from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group now in charge but which Washington still designates as a terrorist organisation. The visit follows those of delegations in recent days from the UN and other countries including the UK, France and Germany. The delegation…

Judges in the French city of Avignon have sentenced Dominique Pelicot to 20 years in prison for aggravated rape after he drugged and abused his then wife, Gisèle Pelicot, and invited dozens of strangers to rape her.Dominique stood accused alongside 50 other men. Of the 50 co-defendants found guilty, 46 were found guilty of rape, two guilty of attem…

The de facto leader of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has said the country is exhausted by war and is not a threat to its neighbours or to the West. In an interview with the BBC in Damascus he called for sanctions on Syria to be lifted, saying “the victim and the oppressor should not be treated in the same way.” Sharaa led the lightning offensive that top…

Today, we discuss Gisèle Pelicot, whose ex-husband has been jailed for 20 years after drugging and raping her, and inviting dozens of strangers to also abuse her over nearly a decade.Dominique Pelicot, 72, was found guilty of all charges. He was on trial with 50 other men, all of whom were found guilty of at least one charge, although their jail te…

A major journalism body has urged Apple to scrap its new generative AI feature after it created a misleading headline about a high-profile killing in the United States. The BBC made a complaint to the US tech giant after Apple Intelligence, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to summarise and group together notifications, falsely created a head…

Eleven years since she was forced to flee the country, BBC Middle East correspondent Lina Sinjab returns to Syria to be one of the first journalists for a western news network broadcasting from Damascus after the fall of the Assad regime.Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUogFor more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news #Syria #Middle…

The BBC's Russia Editor, Steve Rosenberg, has challenged Vladimir Putin on whether he has "taken care" of Russia during his 25-year rule. At the president's annual end-of-year press conference, Rosenberg reminded Putin about how his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, told him to take care of the country when he handed over power. In response, Putin said R…

The suspect accused of shooting dead healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York has dropped his legal challenge against being extradited to the city to face murder charges.Luigi Mangione is now in NYPD custody and is expected to be flown from Pennsylvania, where he was arrested, to New York. He faces charges including first-degree murder and two cou…

Speaking at a marathon end-of-year press conference, Russian president, Vladimir Putin said he should've acted earlier in Ukraine and prepared more before the full-scale invasion in February 2022.He said "victory is nearer" in Ukraine, the situation was "changing drastically" and that Russian troops were regaining more territory every day.Putin als…

Gisèle Pelicot has thanked supporters in a speech outside a court in France, after her ex-husband Dominique Pelicot was jailed for 20 years for drugging her and recruiting strangers to rape her. Gisèle told a crowd of journalists that she is thinking about her children and grandchildren and all the other families and the victims of stories "often i…

Haiti is one of the poorest countries on earth and its capital, Port-au-Prince, is largely controlled by criminal gangs. Despite the deployment of an international security force to help restore peace, there has been a recent upsurge in gang violence. When a BBC team travelled to the capital, 200 civilians were killed by a gang, whilst they were th…

Dominique Pelicot has been sentenced for 20 years after drugging his ex-wife Gisèle Pelicot and recruiting strangers to rape her for years.Fifty other have also been sentenced alongside him in Avignon, France. Dominique admitted to raping her and inviting the men he recruited online to have sex with her in her bed at home while she was unconscious …

The leader of the most powerful group in control of Syria has told the BBC that the country is exhausted by war and is no threat to its neighbours or the West. In an interview in Damascus, Ahmed al-Sharaa told the BBC's international editor Jeremy Bowen that sanctions on Syria should be lifted.Sharaa led the lightning offensive that toppled Bashar …

Today we look at Nigel Farage’s meeting with Elon Musk. Adam and Chris discuss the significance of the Reform leader’s trip to Mar A Lago to meet Elon Musk and whether he’ll be allowed to donate to them under election spending rules. They also talk about the WASPI women who have been campaigning for compensation over pension changes as they say the…

Scientists have warned that climate change could spell danger, as melting ice is forcing polar bears to spend more time on land. Churchill, a town in Manitoba, Canada, is known as the polar bear capital of the world, and is noticing the effects of climate change on the number of bears spotted. Every year, the Hudson Bay - on the western edge of the…

Over the past few days, videos have been posted online about mass graves where Bashar al-Assad's regime buried those tortured to death in Syria's notorious prisons. Local people are reporting more and more locations of mass graves across Syria, as is the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), a US-based NGO. Rights group have concluded that more than …

The UN special envoy to Syria has warned that unless the country gets urgent support, it could be plunged back into conflict. Geir Pedersen called for free and fair elections in Syria, and urged for humanitarian assistance to the country more than a week on from the downfall of President Assad. Bashar al-Assad's regime was overthrown less than two …

Palestinian news outlets have seen a steep drop in audience engagement on their Facebook pages since October 2023.BBC News Arabic and BBC World Service analysis of more than 100,000 Facebook posts shows that news organisations based in Palestinian territories have seen a 77% drop in engagement since the start of the war in Gaza. The first comprehen…

The Latvian foreign minister, Baiba Braze, has described the death of a senior Russian general as "good news".But how will Russia respond? Together with Economist’s defence editor, Shashank Joshi, they react to Lt Gen Igor Kirillov's assassination and discuss what this can mean for a potential peace negotiations in Ukraine. Listen to the full inter…

Since 7 October 2023, all schools, universities and training centres in Gaza have remained closed. Figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Education say that almost 13,000 Palestinian students have been killed since the start of the war with Israel, while 21,000 more students have been wounded in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank. They als…

There are concerns that the cyclone that hit the French island of Mayotte has caused great loss of life. Cyclone Chido brought wind speeds of more than 225km/h (140mph), flattening areas where the poorest lived in sheet-metal roof shacks. A surgeon said the emergency department at his hospital has seen worryingly few patients given the scale of the…

Russia's security service says a 29-year-old man from Uzbekistan has been detained over the killing of senior general Igor Kirillov and his assistant in Moscow. Lt Gen Igor Kirillov was outside a residential block early on Tuesday when an explosive device hidden in a scooter was detonated remotely. The Russian security service said the unnamed susp…

Pope Francis was the subject of a foiled assassination plot involving a suicide bomber during a trip to Iraq in March 2021, according to his new memoir. “Almost everyone advised me against that trip,” the Pope wrote in his autobiography Spera (Hope). The trip was the first ever by a pope to Iraq. He was visiting Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city an…

Today, we look at the assassination of a Russian general in Moscow.Lt Gen Igor Kirillov was at the entrance to a residential block on Tuesday morning when a device hidden in an electric scooter exploded and killed him. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for the attack. Adam is joined by James Waterhouse, BBC Ukraine Correspondent and Chris Steele -…

French President Emmanuel Macron said he will be travelling to Mayotte "in the coming days", as he pledged to support fellow citizens, civil servants and emergency services involved in rescue efforts. Macron said he will declare a national day of mourning, in light of "this tragedy, which has shaken each and every one of us". Cyclone Chido brought …

A senior Palestinian official involved in the indirect negotiations of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has told the BBC that talks are in a "decisive and final phase". Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, has also said an agreement is closer than ever. In recent weeks, the US, Qatar and Egypt have resumed their mediation efforts – r…

Sara Sharif's father and stepmother have been sentenced to life in prison for the 10-year-old's murder. Urfan Sharif must spend a minimum of 40 years in prison, and Beinash Batool must serve 33 years. Sara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, was jailed for 16 years for causing or allowing the death of a child - he was found not guilty of murder. The judge said …

A 7.3 magnitude earthquake has struck near Vanuatu's capital Port Vila, triggering landslides, crushing cars and flattening multiple buildings, including a complex that is home to multiple western embassies. Power and mobile networks across the country have been cut off and the full extent of the damage still remains unclear, but there are unconfir…

Sources in Kyiv say Ukraine killed a Russian general who died in an explosion in Moscow on Tuesday morning. Lt Gen Igor Kirillov was at the entrance to a residential block when a device hidden in an electric scooter went off. Sources in the Ukrainian security services have told the BBC that Kirillov was a "legitimate target". The bomb was remotely …

A fortnight ago they were rebel gunmen fighting the Syrian state. Now with President Assad gone, the fighters of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) are Syria's new de-facto rulers, and the new law in town.HTS was once aligned with al-Qaeda and is still proscribed as a terror organisation by most Western countries. But it’s promised to uphold the rights of …

Today, we look at the naming of the alleged Chinese spy with links to Prince Andrew. Sources have told the BBC that Prince Andrew will not be at Sandringham with the rest of the Royal Family for Christmas this year after the alleged spy was named as businessman Yang Tengbo. Mr Yang has responded in a statement saying it was “entirely untrue” that h…

In this episode of Path to the Presidency, the BBC’s Sumi Somaskanda and Caitríona Perry are joined by North America Correspondent Anthony Zurcher to discuss Donald Trump's key policy priorities as it gets closer and closer to his inauguration. Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news #BBCNe…

Zakir Hussain, one of the world's greatest tabla players, has died at the age of 73. The Indian classical music icon died of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease, at a hospital in San Francisco, his family said in a statement. Hussain was a four-time Grammy award winner and has received the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian …

Three people are dead and six others injured after a shooting at a school in Wisconsin, police say. A juvenile suspect is among the dead following the attack at Abundant Life Christian School in the state's capital, Madison, the city's police chief Shon Barnes says.The suspected attacker, who was already dead when officers arrived on the scene, is …

The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, is facing calls to resign over his handling of a sexual abuse case, days before he takes temporary charge of the Church of England. As Bishop of Chelmsford, Mr Cottrell let priest David Tudor remain in post in the diocese despite knowing he had been barred by the Church from being alone with children and ha…