Six people detained after Russian ambassador killed in Turkey

Six people have been detained in Turkey in connection with the killing of the Russian ambassador to the country, state media has reported.

Andrey Karlov was killed by off-duty policeman Mevlut Mert Altintas, who shouted "don't forget Aleppo" after shooting him.

The state-run Anadolu news agency said Altintas' mother, father, sister and two other relatives had been held in the western province of Aydin.

Police also detained his flatmate in Ankara.

Altintas, 22, had been working for the riot police squad in Ankara for the past two-and-a-half years.

Mr Karlov, 62, had been attending an art exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Centre in the Cankaya area of Ankara, along with other dignitaries and media.

Later today, Russian and Turkish foreign ministers will meet to discuss the situation in Syria.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: "We are sure that those who staged that barbaric crime were seeking to derail the process of normalising Russia-Turkey ties primarily with a goal to prevent an efficient fight against terrorism in Syria.

"This attempt is futile."

US Secretary of State John Kerry called the assassination a "despicable attack", while President-elect Donald Trump said it was a "violation of all rules of civilised order" and must be "universally condemned".

The UN Security Council condemned the assassination of Mr Karlov "in the strongest terms" and called for the perpetrators, organisers and sponsors to be brought to justice.

It is understood that Altintas entered the building using his police ID and opened fire on the ambassador as he made a speech.

A video showed him shouting: "Don't forget Aleppo, don't forget Syria!

"So long as our brothers are not in safety, you will not taste safety either. Only my dead body will leave here.

"Whoever is involved in this cruelty, one by one, you will pay for it."

The gunman also shot three other people, although none were seriously injured, according to Turkey's interior ministry.

He then climbed to the second floor of the building before a 15-minute shootout with police, during which he was killed.

Security expert: 'Christmas markets should have been shut'

Authorities should have done more to protect people in Berlin if they had intelligence providing clear information about a threat, a security expert has told Sky News.

Professor Anthony Glees, of Buckingham University, said if German police had the same intelligence as that possessed by the US, they should have taken firmer action.

It remains unclear whether terrorism was behind the crash, in which at least nine people died after a truck drove into a busy Christmas market in Berlin.

But the US State Department issued a warning in late November telling American citizens to exercise caution at "holiday festivals, events and outdoor markets".

The warning said: "Credible information indicates the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or Da'esh), al-Qa'ida, and their affiliates continue to plan terrorist attacks in Europe, with a focus on the upcoming holiday season and associated events.

"US citizens should also be alert to the possibility that extremist sympathisers or self-radicalised extremists may conduct attacks during this period with little or no warning."

Prof Glees said: "Forgive me for saying this on such a tragic evening, it is mealy-mouthed to tell individual citizens to be careful when they go to Christmas markets.

"It is the job of the state and agencies of the state, the intelligence of security agencies, to keep people safe.

"If there was clear intelligence that a Christmas market was going to be attacked, then all Christmas markets should have been shut until that danger was dealt with.

"You cannot tell people to watch out for a truck that might be driven by terrorists in their direction. You cannot do it that way."

Berlin Christmas market lorry crash a 'probable terror attack'

A lorry was "intentionally" driven into a Christmas market in Berlin, resulting in the deaths of at least 12 people, police believe.

Police have appealed for video and images taken of Breitscheidplatz on Monday night to be sent to them as they try to reconstruct what happened.

Witnesses described the moment of terror when the articulated truck smashed through the popular tourist spot.

A tweet from the Berlin police force said: "Our investigators assume that the truck has been intentionally controlled into the crowd at the Christmas market on the #Breitscheidplatz.

"All police measures on the probable terrorist attack at #Breitscheidplatz are being carried out with high pressure and the necessary care."

Analysis by the Polish owners of the truck found that it appeared to have been started and stopped several times in the afternoon before the 'attack', German media reported.

Der Spiegel, citing Polish website money.pl, said that GPS data showed the lorry's engine was started at 15.44, 16.52 and 17.37.

It finally got under way at 19.34. At around 8pm, the lorry careered into the Christmas market, leaving a dozen dead and injuring a further 48, several seriously.

A man found dead in the lorry's cab was later revealed to be a Polish citizen.

Police said this man, who has not been named, was not the driver when the crash happened.

A second man who escaped from the cab was arrested near the Victory Column, about 2km (1.3 miles) from the Christmas market shortly afterwards, Der Spiegel said.

No details have been released about the man in custody but several German newspapers are reporting that he arrived in German last February as a refugee, either from Pakistan or Afghanistan, with some reports saying he travelled via Passau, in lower Bavaria.

Tagesspiegel claimed the arrested man is a "small criminal" who is known to police, Bild reported.

There were conflicting reports over whether the truck had been stolen with police tweeting they were investigating reports it had been taken from a construction site in Poland but the boss of the firm that owned the truck said it had gone to Berlin with a load of steel beams.

Ariel Żurawski said he was confident the driver who was using the vehicle was not driving at the time of the crash and claimed someone must have hijacked the vehicle and used it to cause carnage.

He told Reuters: "I can vouch for my driver. I see it that they did something to him and hijacked his truck that was practically in Berlin centre... It was not my driver. They simply did something to him, God forbid, so it looks.

"He is my cousin... I have known this man from birth. I can guarantee, it was not our driver who did it. Why would he drive in Berlin centre, if he was waiting for unloading. He was packed with steel, 25 tonnes of it. It would be illogical.

"He has been a driver for 15 years... When I talked to him he said he was in such a district that he saw Germans only in offices. He bought a kebab because he was hungry. We shared some jokes.

"His phone does not answer. A moment ago my wife spoke to his wife. She could not get through to him since 1600 (GMT). Something is wrong. He should have answered, the more so that it was his wife calling."

Several witnesses said the crash appeared not to have been an accident, with one speaking of the vehicle "going through people" and "pulling everything down" as it tore through tables and wooden stands.

Witness Emma Rushton, who had been just several feet from the crash, told Sky News: "It wasn't an accident. It was going at 40mph through the middle of the market.

"There was no way it could have come off the road and it showed no signs of slowing down."

A Syrian refugee who was also visiting the market with friends told Deutsche Welle: "We wanted to have some gluhwein, have some fun, and we heard glass breaking and we saw people shouting, screaming, crying, some people with blood on their faces. It was a truck, it came through the people."

Police said the truck was undergoing forensic examination

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Nine killed in lorry 'attack' on Berlin Christmas market

At least nine people have died after a lorry ploughed into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin in a possible terror attack.

Around 50 others were injured, including several critically, and the suspected driver has been arrested, possibly close to the city zoo.

A passenger reportedly died in the crash at Breitscheidplatz, near the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in central Berlin.

Security Council unanimously approves sending UN monitors to war-torn Aleppo

19 December 2016 – Alarmed at the “devastating” humanitarian crisis in Aleppo, where perhaps thousands of civilians remain trapped, the Security Council today requested the United Nations and other relevant institutions to carry out “adequate, neutral monitoring and direct observation on evacuations from the eastern districts” of the war-battered city.

Through a unanimously adopted resolution, the Council also requested the UN to ensure further deployment of staff for Monitoring and reporting on the evacuations, as needed and demanded all parties to provide these monitors with safe, immediate and unimpeded access.

Noting that “urgent humanitarian evacuations and assistance are now needed by a large number of Aleppo inhabitants,” the Council demanded that all parties provide the UN and it is implementation partners with safe, immediate and unimpeded access to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches people “through the most direct route, in order to meet basic needs, including the provision of medical care.”

The French-led resolution also calls on all parties to respect and protect all medical and humanitarian personnel, “their means of transport and equipment, as well as hospitals and other medical facilities throughout the country.”

The Secretary-General is requested “to take urgent steps to make arrangements, including security arrangements in consultation with interested parties, to allow the observation by the [UN} and other relevant institutions of the well-being of civilians,” and to report back to the Council within five days.

Thousands of civilians are reportedly awaiting evacuations to resume today.

Today's decision comes after the Council's two most recent attempts to take action on Syria: on 8 October, Russia vetoed a resolution that would have called for an end to military flights over Aleppo; and on 5 December, a measure calling for a seven-day ceasefire in the beleaguered city failed to pass after negative votes by both China and Russia. In all, Russia has vetoed six texts on the Syrian conflict, while China has vetoed five of those six.

Top UN officials have been sounding the alarm about the worsening conditions – and urging Council action to halt the violence so aid could get in – for months, culminating in Secretary-General's Ban Ki-moon's assessment this past Friday that Aleppo is now a synonym for hell. “We have collectively failed the people of Syria. Peace will only prevail when it is accompanied by compassion, justice and accountability for the abominable crimes we have seen,” he added.

As the Syria crisis enters its sixth year, civilians continue to bear the brunt of a conflict marked by unparalleled suffering, destruction and disregard for human life. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 13.5 million people require humanitarian assistance, including 4.9 million people in need trapped in besieged and hard-to-reach areas, where they are exposed to grave protection threats.

Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov shot in Ankara

Russia's ambassador to Ankara has been shot in a gun attack in the Turkish capital, according to Turkish media.

Andrey Karlov was speaking at an exhibition when he was shot in the back on Monday evening, Turkish media said.