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German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was “shocked, shaken and deeply saddened” by the attack on a crowded Berlin Christmas market that killed at least 12 people on Monday evening. Speaking at the chancellery on Tuesday morning an ashen-faced Ms Merkel told reporters that it would be “particularly sickening” if it turned out the attacker was an asylum seeker who sought refuge in Germany.

The driver of the truck was a 23-year-old Pakistani man named by German media as “Naved B”. He was arrested after fleeing the scene and was on Tuesday being questioned by police, who described the incident as a “probable terrorist attack”.

Also on Monday evening, Russia’s ambassador to Turkey was shot dead at a public appearance in Ankara, Turkey, by a man who the city’s mayor described as a policeman. A photographer who was attending an exhibition and captured the chaotic scene with his camera. Before firing, the man shouted about Aleppo, the Syrian city retaken last week in a bloody siege by regime forces backed by Russian air power.

Russia and Turkey said their rapprochement would not be blown off course by the assassination of Moscow’s ambassador to Ankara as they seek to overcome the aftershocks of a murder that has tested an often tense and volatile relationship. (FT, NYT, AP)

In the news

IMF backs Lagarde The International Monetary Fund has stood by managing director Christine Lagarde, who was found guilty of negligence in public office by a special Paris court on Monday. The French tribunal chose not to sentence Ms Lagarde and the IMF board decided to retain her as chief. The last thing the IMF needs now is a leadership vacuum, writes the FT in an editorial. (FT)

Smog red alert The number of cars on roads is being limited and factories temporarily shut in some northern Chinese cities to reduce pollution during a national smog red alert. On Tuesday authorities cancelled flights and closed some highways in emergency measures to cut down on air pollution. (Guardian, AP)

Wanda wins international soccer tournament for China Property developer Dalian Wanda, led by China’s richest man Wang Jianlin, is to run China’s first international soccer tournament, with backing from Fifa, the sport’s global governing body, in January 2017. Four countries, Chile, Croatia, Iceland and China, will take part. (NAR)

Israeli billionaire detained Beny Steinmetz, the Israeli billionaire at the centre of an international investigation into alleged bribery to win African mining rights, was arrested on Monday on suspicion of bribing a foreign official, Israeli police and his family’s mining business said. Police said their investigation was part of a case co-ordinated between themselves and their US and Swiss counterparts. Listen to the FT’s podcast series: The Steinmetz affair.

Transgender rights flashpoint The North Carolina legislature plans to hold a special session on Wednesday to consider fully repealing a contentious law curbing legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The move comes after the Charlotte City Council rescinded a local anti-discrimination ordinance that had prompted passage of the statewide law in March. The law had led to boycotts by sports teams, businesses and entertainers, as public bathrooms become a flashpoint in the battle over transgender rights in the US. (NYT, BBC)

Trump makes it official Donald Trump has won enough electoral votes to become president, despite pressure on electors across the country to reject him. But at least seven electors defied the will of the voters in their states — a number not seen in roughly a century and a half. (WSJ)

It’s a big day for

Bank of Japan The central bank kept monetary policy on hold and turned optimistic on the growth outlook as a slide in the yen sharply improves the outlook for 2017. Japan’s economy is “likely to turn to a moderate expansion” with rising domestic demand, large-scale fiscal stimulus and growing exports, the BoJ said. Its comments highlight the dramatic turnround from September, when despairing analysts said the BoJ was out of options to stimulate the economy. (FT)

Food for thought

Train-crash Brexit So which is it to be: “hard” or “soft” Brexit? Maybe neither. The FT’s Gideon Rachman suggests a third possibility that is little discussed but increasingly likely: the “train-crash Brexit”. (FT)

Question marks over drones Amazon Prime Air, the company’s drones programme, could solve the “last mile” challenge in the delivery chain, believes founder Jeff Bezos. The critical question is whether we will ever allow the mass use of commercial drones over populated areas. (FT)

The chemistry between Sisi and Trump Egypt’s Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has found a kindred spirit in Donald Trump. Six years after the Arab Spring uprisings began, the Arab world’s most populous nation is back under the authoritarian grip of Mr Sisi, who was the first leader to congratulate Mr Trump on his victory and shares with the president-elect a populist worldview, disdain for political Islam, and benign view of Russia. (FT)

Do women make better doctors? Female physicians earn less than male doctors, but may deliver better healthcare for patients, according to a study in JAMA Internal Medicine. Researchers from Harvard University found that elderly Medicare patients treated by women had a 4 per cent lower risk of dying prematurely and a 5 per cent lower risk of being readmitted to a hospital within 30 days compared with the patients cared for by male doctors. In absolute terms, that means the mortality risk went from 11.5 per cent among the patients of male doctors to about 11.1 per cent among the patients of female doctors. (Vox)

Video of the day

Markets outlook for 2017 The FT’s Roger Blitz and Luca Paolini, chief strategist at Pictet Asset Management, discuss what to watch for in markets in the coming year. (FT)

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