to help treat an inherited form of blindness. also: a rise in violent crime committed by the over 65s. offences ranging from minor assault to murder have increased by nearly 80% since 2012. good morning and welcome to bbc news. german security services face growing questions about why they ended a surveillance operation on a suspect who s now the subject of a europe wide manhunt for the berlin lorry attack. anis amri was known to have ties to a radical islamist group. a big police operation has been going on this morning near the dutch border, where agents from special units have been searching a refugee centre amri stayed in. let s go to berlin now. and robert hall is following events for us. what is the latest about the search for anis amri? good morning. what you see behind me is that search continues is an indication of the level of concern gci’oss indication of the level of concern across germany now. the workers from the civil defence team putting concrete barriers ar
to israeli settlements on occupied palestinian land. the obama administration broke with longstanding american practice and withheld its veto, in a sharp rebuke of israeli policy. our state department correspondent barbara plett usher reports. it was that conviction which led the us to withhold its customary protection of israel at the council, although not without much soul searching. because the united states does not agree with every word in this text that the united states did not vote in favour of the resolution. but it is because this revolution reflects the facts on the ground and is consistent with us policy across republican and democratic administrations through the history of the state of israel that the united states did not veto it. the israelis had managed to delay but not prevent the vote. they felt betrayed by their ally, especially angry about condemnation of their construction in occupied east jerusalem. construction in occupied east jerusalem. who gave you
which it calls a flagrant violation of international law. the vote passed after the united states, israel s traditional ally, abstained. the us ambassador to the un, samantha power, said the resolution was consistent with washington s support for a two state solution. our correspondent barbara plett usher reports. in a rare show of unity, the un security council passed judgement on israeli settlements. 14 votes in favour. ..voting that they had become a serious threat to a viable peace deal with the palestinians. it was that conviction which led the us to withhold its customary protection of israel at the council, although not without much soul searching. it is because this forum too often continues to be biased against israel, because there are important issues that are not sufficiently addressed in this resolution, and because the united states does not agree with every word in this text, that the united states did not vote in favour of the resolution. but it is because thi
biggest resignalling scheme on the network s history will close the line between cardiff central and the valleys, and several stations including paddington and london will either be partially or completely shut for several days. our transport correspondent has more. it is going to be the biggest rail upgrade ever taken on, and it all starts late tonight, hitting services across south wales, london and manchester. the lack of trains will make the roads busier. this was the m6 today. and it is a popular time to fly away for the holidays. here is sta nsted. so why do they always pick christmas to close the railways? we have a huge programme of works that we have to deliver, as part of our railway upgrade programme, and some of that work just can t be done on a live railway. we have to shut the railway. and so christmas is the best time to do it, because it s one of the quietest times of year. 2a,000 engineers will work on 200 sites across britain. well, one of the biggerjobs the
promised to do more for people sleeping on the streets. here s our political correspondent, iain watson. the british people have spoken and the answer is we are. the eu referendum divided not just the answer is we are. the eu referendum divided notjust the politicians but communities and families. so against this back drop it is perhaps not surprising that in her christmas message the prime minister appeals for unity. coming together is important for us as a country, the reason they says. as we leave the eu we must seize an historic opportunity to forge a bold new role and to unite our country as we move forward into the future. in a separate message recorded to the armed forces theresa may tells them that the government is on their side. because i want you and all the families to know that this government is on your side. jeremy corbyn says his thoughts are with those experiencing loneliness and despair at this time of year. he recently visited a homeless charity in london a