Police are treating a car-ramming at a Christmas market in Germany that killed at least five people as an attack.

LONDON – Security officials downgraded Britain's terrorism threat level on Monday from "severe" to "substantial," with officials saying the country now sees an attack as "likely" rather than "highly likely." "Despite the change in the threat level, terrorism remains one of the most direct and immediate risks to our national security," Home Secretary Priti Patel said in the statement. "Substantial continues to indicate a high level of threat; and an attack might well occur without further warning." The change in the level is a positive development but hasn't eliminated the threat of terrorism, said the head of counterterrorism policing, Neil Basu. The UK's terror threat was last listed as "substantial" in August 2014; since then it has held steady at "severe," briefly rising to "critical" in May and September 2017.