this is bbc news, i'm lukwesa barak. the headlines at eight: labour's kelvin hopkins categorically denies allegations of inappropriate behaviour, as his party faces criticism for his promotion months after he was rebuked for sexually harassing an activist. tonight, labour is also investigating a formal complaint against former shadow cabinet member clive lewis — who denies any wrongdoing. scotland yard is investigating an allegation that the hollywood actor kevin spacey sexually assaulted a young man in london. an official arrest warrant is issued for the ousted catalan leader, who's remaining defiant. an army sergeant accused of attempting to murder his wife by sabotaging her parachute gives evidence for the first time. also ahead this hour: two delivery drivers are attacked with acid in london. police say one is likely to lose his sight. a 14—year—old is in custody.

it has an impressive cast including judi dench and johnny depp, but is kenneth branagh‘s remake of murder on the orient express a hit, or does it come off the rails? we'll find out in the film review. good evening and welcome to bbc news. jeremy corbyn is under pressure to explain why he appointed the labour mp, kelvin hopkins, to the shadow cabinet months after he'd been reprimanded for alleged inappropriate behaviour towards a young party activist. mr hopkins has this evening said that he "absolutely and categorically" denied allegations of inappropriate conduct. it has also emerged this evening

that the party is investigating an allegation the labour mp clive lewis groped a woman at the party's annual conference in september. mr lewis has denied the allegation and he has not been suspended by the party. labour says it will appoint an independent organisation to offer confidential support to anyone affected by sexual harassment. meanwhile, for the conservatives, theresa may has issued the party's own new code of conduct. our deputy political editor, john pienaar, reports. step—by—step, one by one, in one party, then another and today, a young labour activist with more allegations of sexual misconduct in politics. her story has added to a crisis unlike anything westminster has seen. ava etemadzadeh tells of a labour mp 15 years her senior, kelvin hopkins, who she says

subjected her as a labour—supporting student to inappropriate treatment again and again. the first incident happened on campus and he hugged me very tightly and rubbed himself against me. he made me feel extremely uncomfortable and it was a revolting act. the second incident was in parliament, when i went to have a political conversation with him and he told me that, "let's not talk about politics, do you have a boyfriend?" he also said that if nobody was in his office, he would have taken me there. i was absolutely shocked. there were calls she didn't answer, then came the uncomfortable text messages. i'm an "attractive, lovely young woman" and a man "would be lucky to have me as a lover", and if he was young... but he's not. kelvin hopkins was reprimanded two

years ago after she complained, yet he was made a shadow cabinet minister when jeremy corbyn was facing a party mutiny and needed allies lastjune. now the story's come out and he's been suspended from the party. there is an investigation but his accuser is unhappy that he was promoted at all. that made me feel very powerless and isolated and alone. today, jeremy corbyn was in no mood to defend his position as leader in the whole affair. thank you for coming, goodbye. were you aware of the allegations against him, mr corbyn, before you promoted him to the shadow cabinet? no word from him or his office, although he knew about the reprimand and some, but not all of the detail, but promoted kelvin hopkins anyway. goodbye. but some in labour's ranks want to hear more. she said she was satisfied with the way in which the chief whip at the time manage the situation but horrified to then see the mp in question promoted. i think it's a fair question

as to how that happened. it's one that only the leadership can answer. i don't think i would have promoted him and i know that the victim felt a bit bereft by his promotion. as for the tories, reports say cabinet minister andrea leadsom accused sir michael fallon, who resigned this week, of inappropriate conduct six years ago. he denies misconduct. downing street says she never called for him to go. theresa may's published a new conservative code of conduct, with a hotline for complaints and an independent figure to helpjudge cases. tories accept all sides must act. it's very important that all political parties have codes of conduct where they set out the standards that should be expected of people who are in elected office and who are in public life. no—one here is arguing with that, but there will be new safeguards for people working in parties and parliament, but no—one imagines that will stem the flow of accusations that is hanging over british politics. they fear that every day could bring a new scandal, another crisis. a member of the welsh government,

carl sargeant, has stood down after allegations were made about his personal conduct. he has also been suspended from the labour party while an investigation takes place. mr sargeant, the cabinet secretary for communities and children, said he didn't know the details of the claims, but he hoped to return to the government "after being allowed to clear his name". let's talk to our political correspondent, chris mason. chris, those allegations have come about concerning clive lewis in the last half—hour, but we have also today heard back from kelvin hopkins, he has been quiet all day, what has he been sink was make there had been no word until now from kelvin hopkins in the nearly 2a

hours that elapsed and the labour party announcing his suspension, and removal of the whip, he was not returning calls or text messages last night, when the story first broke or indeed during the course of the day. but in the last hour or so, we have had a pretty extensive statement rummage around 1000 words, issue via mr hopkins' solicitor. in it, it is a pretty thorough account of his side of the story in terms of his interactions with the woman who has made the allegations against him. iwill has made the allegations against him. i will bring you some of the key elements of it. in response to that central allegation, you saw that central allegation, you saw that in the port, —— report, the suggestion mr hoskins had rubbed his crotch up against the student that he had met at essex university, he saysin he had met at essex university, he says in this statement, i absolutely and categorically deny that in any

way, i engaged in any such inappropriate conduct. i simply put my arm around her shoulder to give her a brief, slight hug before getting into my car. i did not hold her tight, i did getting into my car. i did not hold hertight, i did not getting into my car. i did not hold her tight, i did not rob any part of my her tight, i did not rob any part of d. her tight, i did not rob any part of my body, let alone my crotch, against her. she wished me as i drove away and did not say anything whatsoever to suggest anything that had occurred that had such, let alone the vaulted her. he then says a little later that same evening, he had a text from her saying, thank you so much for coming, we had a fantastic time, my members loved you, you are a star. mr hopkins acknowledged that he hasn't a taste matches in which she said she was charming and sweet natured and a young man would be lucky to have her as a governor or a lover. he points out she responded to that text saying thank you for such kind words, then goes on to talk about stuff she was working on

ina talk about stuff she was working on in a local student politics. so, kelvin hopkins clearly very angry and surprised and upset that these allegations have emerged and pretty keen to respond to them in a pretty robust and thorough manner. chris, we have also heard about this new code of conduct that theresa may has announced. it is on the website. what more can you tell us about it? all the political parties here as well as the broader parliamentary institutions are wrestling with how they respond to these allegations. taking a pretty cold, hard look at their culture their procedure. the cultures of parliament are curious and in no way excuse inappropriate behaviour but they are an important context. this is a place where the social and the professional overlap toa social and the professional overlap to a huge degree, perhaps greater than in many other lines of work, late night votes and alcohol and people being away from home for much of the week if they are mps outside

the capital. 0n of the week if they are mps outside the capital. on top of that, there have been in the past procedures for complaint, but they have been pretty piecemeal, not least because if you work for an piecemeal, not least because if you workforan mp piecemeal, not least because if you work for an mp and you want to make an allegation about the mp in question, the mp was your employer so question, the mp was your employer so they would be the first person to whom you might complain. so all other parties are looking at codes of conduct. we have elf eeeeeee; e‘e eeee eeefi. ffie lieefee the conservatives elf eeeeeee; we eeee eeefi. ffie lieefee the conservatives - to out new procedures. flesh out new procedures. the conservatives have said it will set up conservatives have said it will set upa conservatives have said it will set up a hotline. —— the labour party and the conservatives. some say that is not sufficiently independent. labour have appointed a qc to look into the allegations made by becks bailey, the liberal activist who alleged she had been raped by a party member at an event the party held some years ago. on top of that, on monday, the prime minister is going to hold a meeting, to try and

work out how a new overarching grievance procedure can be drawn up. the striking reality tonight is that this is a road that has swept the usual conversation of this place, brexit, completely out of the headlines, and nobody and no one is in control of it or can be certain of where it is going to lead. we will talk about where it is going to lead, eu think this is the last of the allegations we are going to hear? i suspect it isn't. earlier in the week i thought the whole story might be to write because of the difficulty in a legal sense of reporters being able to publish revelations because of the danger of libel and the fact it can be one person's word against another. but we have had some very serious allegations, like those made by ms

bailey, that have had an airing, than others, some very serious, others arguably less so, and some undeniably highly contested in terms of the chains of events that have been alleged. but what we now have isa been alleged. but what we now have is a discussion going on in westminster and an injuried attached to this particular story, which acts asa to this particular story, which acts as a magnet towards all sorts of potential allegations that in another time might not, bluntly, have made news on their own. but because there is such an appetite to find out the extent and the scale of this problem, then there is an opportunity, i suppose, for those who feel that in the past, they were treated inappropriately but for whatever reason at the time did not raise it or did not raise it publicly, but at the moment they have an audience that might be receptive to hear their claim. so i think there is every likelihood that

this story could carry on for some time andi this story could carry on for some time and i can tell you without any fear of contradiction that plenty of mps approached this coming weekend and particularly the sunday newspaper with a collective sense of trepidation, either because of something they might fear they have done fast or on the broader point about the chipping away of yet another plank of trust in this institution, and a sort of drip feeding of more cynicism for those who feel already a pretty anti—politics mood. who feel already a pretty anti-politics mood. chris, thank you very much. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:a0pm this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are martin lipton, deputy head of sport at the sun and rosamund urwin, columnist for the london evening standard. following the latest breaking news,

this time concerning clive lewis. the norwich south mp. the labour party has said it is investigating an allegation which he denies, that he groped a woman at a party conference this year. the labour party spokesperson has said the party is investigating a formal complaint made today against clive lewis. we will hopefully be hearing from mr lewis himself shortly, so do stay tuned for that. just to remind you, he has denied those allegations. the hollywood actor and theatre director kevin spacey is being investigated by the metropolitan police. it follows an allegation of sexual assault here in the uk. it's understood officers from the child abuse and sexual offences command are looking into claims that the house of cards actor sexually assaulted a man in lambeth in 2008. the met has declined to identify the suspect. 0ur entertainment correspondent chi chi izundu sent us this update

from outside the old vic, theatre where mr spacey used to be artistic director. we understand that the metropolitan police are now investigating an allegation of sexual assault against kevin spacey will stop it is not a 32—year—old british man walked into a police station in london earlier this week and made a complaint. that has been passed to the metropolitan police's child abuse and sexual offences, and. allegations of sexual abuse and harassment have been made against kevin spacey to the week. we hear a against kevin spacey to the week. we heara number of against kevin spacey to the week. we hear a number of employees have come forward who work on the house of cards set, which has shut down production indefinitely because of these allegations. they have said that they have had sexual harassment from kevin spacey. the charities commission in the uk is also

investigating, not formally, but they have approached the old vic's trust and the kevin spacey foundation, the two charities he was pa rt foundation, the two charities he was part of, to ask about allegations of what they know or did not know about these allegations. kevin spacey is also parting ways with his publicist and his agents. he did issue a statement previously saying he was seeking treatment, he tried to reach out for his lawyers and are yet to hear any response. some breaking news. this is from the world of football. if you have been following the story concerning patrice evra, we are now learning that he has been suspended by 0lympique de marseille, following a scuffle with a supporter before his game on thursday. that was part of the europa league. they have said,

the europa league. they have said, the club, that the france international had been summoned to an interview that will lead to disciplinary action. so, patrice evra has been suspended by marseille following that scuffle that took place before the whistle blew before the game on thursday's europa league game. let's stay in europe. a spanishjudge has issued a european arrest warrant for the ousted catalan leader carles puigdemont. mr puigdemont, who was sacked as the region's leader after declaring independence last week before spain asserted direct rule over catalonia, had left the region and failed to appear at a spanish court earlier this week. thejudge rejected his request to testify by video conference. eight former ministers from the spanish regional government

of catalonia are preparing to spend a second night injail, charged with rebellion after the disputed independence referendum. thousands of catalans have staged protests in barcelona, saying the politicians had become political prisoners. this report from our correspondent, tom burridge, contains flash photography. si. a week ago, they declared independence. now, eight former catalan ministers are behind bars. they face charges of rebellion. and were denied bail by a judge at spain's high court. theirsupporters, outside catalonia's parliament, stunned. it has polarised opinions further. which, even in sleepy catalan villages, is now often on public display.

the abuse hurled atjordi, a pro—independence counsellor. at a local school where a month ago, he, arms crossed at the front, led a human wall blocking spain's civil guard. it's because of that disputed referendum that his political leaders are now injail ahead of their trial. translation: it reminds me more of a repressive state like turkey than a country in the european union. lively discussions at home too. this family's split on that key question. who is in favour of independence for catalonia? his sister is, his mum and dad are wavering. but jordi is not. "spain's laws have to be followed," he tells me, "and those who don't should be prosecuted." almost every day, a new chapter in this catalan crisis.

on the horizon now, regional elections. with pro—independence leaders in jail, divisions below the surface are ever more entrenched. tom burridge, bbc news, in barcelona. labourmp labour mp clive lewis has been named as being investigated following an allegation this evening that he groped a woman at the party's annual conference in september. he has denied the allegations and he joins me now from westminster. thank you for joining me now from westminster. thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. what can you tell us about this allegation whiz—maclj what can you tell us about this allegation whiz-mac i was informed this afternoon that someone has made a complaint to the labour party hotline, and then has approached the

independent, as i understand it, and told them the same story. but anonymously. and then the first i heard of it when the independent asked me for a comment on the story, i denied the allegation. the comments are now, i have read the comments are now, i have read the comments from the person in question. i do not, as a rule, at labour party conferences, group people's bottoms when i greet them. this is just not how i roll, it is not what i do. is the person mistaken, was i going to give them a hug, and it has been misinterpreted? but all they know is that i would not deliberately do that and then do what is alleged. i completely deny that. but how are you feeling about it? i am feeling pretty taken aback by it all. it has not been a great week in parliament, for parliament.

it has been a pretty tough fortnight. but what i am very clear about is that as difficult as it is for me, i think it is right and proper that there are robust and effective processes in place to allow people to come forward, if they work in westminster or beyond, and they want to make an accusation that they are being abused in some way, bullied, assaulted. ithink thatis way, bullied, assaulted. ithink that is really important, the westminster clears up its house and has those processes in place. are you worried? unfortunately there will be people like me, and allegations are made, i am disputing it vigorously, whether this person has made a mistake or whether they are lying, i think it is politicians, we are often in a position where we are quite vulnerable. there are people in the media would love to see things happen to us, that is what can happen. we need to find a balance, i am not sure if we have found it yet,

but it is right and proper appeal —— that people feel confident to come forward and express themselves if something untoward has happened. forward and express themselves if something untoward has happenedlj would something untoward has happened.” would like to know what you mean by robust rules. but first, it must be a strange atmosphere within the political world at the moment. are you worried? i think lots of people government talking to colleagues in parliament, i think lots of people are kind of igas and thinking, whose turn is it next? —— kind of aghast. as human beings, we all pretty much know as active members of society what is right and wrong, what you can and cannot do. as politicians, the bar is set higher. and that is right and proper. i think there needs to be clear guidance on what you can do, the relationships you can have, what is appropriate and inappropriate. so there are no excuses of ignorance. those are the robust processes i'm talking about, the ability for people to be able to

complain and be able to come forward in confidence that what they are saying will be taken seriously. earlier today, and nec member, jasmine beckett, has said that she has written to your leader and said that the code of conduct is not good enough, this is actually her word, insufficient. they do not stand up to what is actually needed now. what do you make of how these sexual harassment allegations are being handled? when ms bailey came forward six years ago, that was an appalling case, she was told a number of things which led her to not come forward with that, that was wrong. i understand that the code of conduct thatis understand that the code of conduct that is in place, that is being put in place now, is dealing with that. i think what we are seeing since harvey weinstein is that there is a repositioning, if you want, of what

is acceptable, what is not, and how the processes that we use the challenge that and go forward with that, i think it is right that parliament takes stock of vat and a cts parliament takes stock of vat and acts accordingly. my party needs to do that, the conservative party needs to do that. there is talk about different codes of conduct, that all needs to happen, this is an ongoing, unfolding situation, and i think political bodies will need to catch up and have those processes in place. earlier today, mr corbyn was asked how it is that kelvin hopkins was included within the shadow cabinet following those allegations and being reprimanded. what do you think specifically about him first of all not commenting, and how he has been handling this current issue? i am not going to talk about kelvin hopkins when he is under investigation. if he wants to talk about himself, it is right and proper you ask him. he has had the whip withdrawn and that is under way. i think if kelvin wants to talk

about that, that is up to him. but i am not going to comment on a case thatis am not going to comment on a case that is active and being investigated. what about mr corbyn himself? is he showing enough leadership on the matter?” himself? is he showing enough leadership on the matter? i think so, it is going to be very easy for people to sit down and play yah boo politics. but i think most people wa nt to politics. but i think most people want to contribute something. there will be people who perhaps do not live up to that expectation or that stand above the vast majority of my collea g u es stand above the vast majority of my colleagues who come to this place, including the party leaders, want to see an environment where if there are wrong is done, those people are confident they can come forward. i think that process will happen and i think that process will happen and i think given enough time, that is what will happen. back to your investigation, what happens next in this particular allegation? what can

you tell us about how a labour investigation into such an allegation, what actually takes place? i cannot tell you because i had never been in this situation before. it is the first time for me, i have never come before. it is the first time for me, i have never come across before. it is the first time for me, i have never come across this before myself so i am on a learning curve myself. very quickly, do you know when you will be finding out whether you are cleared or not? no, i do not. i do not have the foggiest! just very quickly, you say you do not have the foggiest, you do not know how these things happen, but what do you make of the fact it is only now that all the political parties are looking at putting procedures like this in place? because it seems that nobody knows how to handle it. i think what has happened in the past... i think what is happening at the moment is that people are looking back at the processes and saying, it is not good enough, for the second decade of the zist

enough, for the second decade of the 21st century, the processes in place potentially may not be robust enough. i think the conservative party have acknowledged that. i'm not sure where the liberal party are on that but i think people will say that this is an unfolding situation and our processes need to be in place to make sure people have confidence in them. this is notjust going to end in westminster, i think your own newsrooms are also going to be looking and reviewing the processes , be looking and reviewing the processes, the transparency they have in place. this is something that our entire society, hopefully, we'll take on board and relies that this is something, when people look backin this is something, when people look back in the future, should have happened a long time ago, but it's happening now and we need to get it right and that is hopefully what the outcome of this process will be. will you continue hugging in public spaces? that is a really good question. i am someone who will shake hands of a colleague comes for a hug, —— or ofa shake hands of a colleague comes for a hug, —— or of a colleague comes for a hug, a hug, —— or of a colleague comes fora hug, iwill give

a hug, —— or of a colleague comes for a hug, i will give them a hug. a hug, —— or of a colleague comes fora hug, iwill give them a hug. i will think twice now. i am a friendly person, i enjoy the company of people, and it saddens me that i perhaps now we'll have to think about standing back, about being more formal, and that is a shame, because there are so many barriers between people and politicians, and the whole point about the world transformed was to break those down. i think if i was at the event next year or at future events, i think was politicians know will be thinking, actually, i don't want to put myself in a situation where those misunderstandings or accusations can be made so it is better to be on the safe side. i think a lot of politicians will probably are on the side of caution. some people will think it is the right thing to do, some people think it is sad. clive lewis, thank you for your time. this is bbc news, let's have a look at the weather. there may be a few folk patches

early this evening, but when will be developing over the next few hours and through the night. rain developing across england and wales, where it could be quite happy. a band of rain followed by shores for scotla nd band of rain followed by shores for scotland and northern ireland, slightly more chilly. otherwise mild underneath that rain. a soggy start to the weekend, and this rain, initially heavy, will move east, eventually clearing from east anglia and the south east, there should be some sunshine through the day. share was coming in on the north—westerly winds, particularly in western scotla nd winds, particularly in western scotland and northern ireland. it could be the same over the tops of the highlands. it will feel colder as the day goes on. i chilly start to sunday, still north—westerly winds, showers pushing down through the midlands towards the south east, then fading away. fewer showers, more sunshine, but a chilly feeling day, temperatures eight to 10 celsius. frost likely overnight. this is bbc news, our latest headlines.

the suspended labour mp kelvin hopkins has "absolutely and categorically" denied allegations of inappropriate conduct made by a party activist. jeremy corbyn is facing questions about why he promoted the now suspended mp to the shadow cabinet after he'd been reprimanded. tonight the party says it is investigating claims of inappropriate conduct by mp clive lewis — which he denies. i don't, as a rule, at labour party conferences group peoples bottoms when i greet them. it'sjust not conferences group peoples bottoms when i greet them. it's just not how i roll, it's not what i do. the metropolitan police are understood to be investigating a claim of sexual assault against the hollywood actor kevin spacey. the incident is said to have taken place in 2008. a spanishjudge has issued arrest warrants for sacked catalan leader

carles puigdemont and four of his ministers. the deposed separatist says he is ready to run in the snap elections called for next month. coming up at 9.30 this evening, in a special programme david sillito will be taking a look at the other buildings that were in the running for the prestigious riba stirling prize for architecture, which was awarded earlier this week to the restored hastings pier. bowe bergdahl, the us soldier who deserted his afghanistan post and was subsequently held captive by insurgents for five years, will serve no prison time, a militaryjudge has ruled. bergdahl has instead been given a dishonourable discharge, had his rank reduced to private, and will have to pay a 10,000 dollarfine. prosecutors had asked the judge to send bergdahl to prison for 1h years. president trump has tweeted

the sentencing decision is a "complete and total" disgrace. earlier i spoke to our washington correspondent barbara plett usher and i began by asking her what happens next in this case. it will probably go to an appeals court before the sentence actually ta kes court before the sentence actually takes hold, but it looks as if sergeant vogue darwinists escape any prison time which will be something that will be in real relief for him. as his lawyers have said, he's been through quite an ordeal. but this case has exposed deep divisions about what happened around what he did. he walked off his post, and that meant his fellow soldiers, his comrades had to go looking for him ina very comrades had to go looking for him in a very dangerous environment. hastily arranged rescue mission, some of whom got injured, one of whom got injured very severely. this is why the prosecution was arguing

he should get prison time and why he is seen as a traitor by some, including president trump. he tweeted while he was a presidential candidate, this man is a traitor and should be executed. on the other hand, the defence argued he had been captain of the five —— he had been captive for five years. and had mental health issues the judge should take into consideration which it seems thejudge should take into consideration which it seems the judge has done. we see now from the president's tweet that those feelings were still raw, he said the verdict was a disgrace to the military on the country. there may be others who feel that way, but suddenly the fact he the commander in chief and has said it will raise criticism of its own. a us federaljudge has proposed that former trump campaign manager paul manafort and has associate rick gates face their trial on seventh may next year. the pair were indicted on charges including money laundering as part of us special counsel robert mueller‘s investigation into whether russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. the metropolitan police say a fast

food delivery driver an army sergeant accused of trying to kill his wife by sabotaging her parachute has begun giving evidence in his defence. victoria cilliers suffered multiple injuries when her parachute failed to open during a jump at 4,000 feet in wiltshire in 2015. emile cilliers denies all the charges. duncan kennedy was in court. after nearly four weeks of prosecution witnesses, today it was emile cilliers who gave evidence. he is accused of twice trying to kill his wife, victoria, in the space of one week. in court, emile cilliers said he came to britain from south africa and joined the army but soon ran up a series of debts. his defence barrister elizabeth marsh qc asked him, did you deal with the debt? he replied, i started to but it spiralled out of control a bit. i was finding it difficult to support her and also spending

money on stuff i probably shouldn't have been. " the prosecution claimed it was emile cilliers's debts that was behind the reason why he wanted to kill his wife, victoria. they say he hoped to benefit from an insurance policy pay—out in the event of her death. in court, he said victoria didn't know about the extent of his debts. it was at the netheravon airbase in wiltshire that victoria cilliers made her parachute jump. she fell 4000 feet when her main and reserve parachutes failed to fully open. she suffered multiple injuries when she landed. this was the reserve parachute she had on. the prosecution say that emile cilliers learned to pack reserve chutes and knew how to sabotage one. the court heard mr cilliers,

who is father to six children with three women, including two with victoria cilliers, said he had tried to pay his debts back. he denies two counts of attempted murder and will continue giving evidence on monday. duncan kennedy, bbc news, winchester crown court. the metropolitan police say a fast food delivery driver is in danger of losing his sight and in a critical condition after having acid thrown in his face in north london. the incident was one of two attacks on delivery drivers last night. officers have arrested a 14—year—old boy. our correspondent dan johnson

joins me in the studio. any more on the delivery driver that sounds as if he's a pretty critical condition? he is, he may not even survive. police say his injuries are life—threatening, he's in an induced coma in hospital. when you about the impact ofan coma in hospital. when you about the impact of an acid attack you may think this is a case of someone having irritation to their eyes, the injuries are far more serious, police saying this guy has serious injuries to his face and eyes and throat. if you does survive, he may never see again. he was the driver who was delivering takeaway to a residential street in walthamstow about 6pm yesterday when he was attacked by two men trying to steal his bike. when he resisted, that attempt to rob his now dead, they threw a corrosive substance into his face. there was another attack not far away in tottenham, a few miles away, about half an hour later. the

police say they believe the two attacks are linked, they have arrested a 14—year—old boy on suspicion of committing grievous bodily harm, he is still being questioned but they believe there is at least one more young man involved, they want to know who that is and where he is. why do you think they are targeting delivery drivers? they seem to be a bit of a soft target, there are so many of them driving about london especially late at night, though this was at 6pm on at night, though this was at 6pm on a quiet residential street. they have, critically, usually a scooter, which is the sort of thing young criminals want because it makes it easy for them to get around london. ona easy for them to get around london. on a scooter it's easy to commit other crimes, driving past people, sometimes swerving onto the pavement to ta ke sometimes swerving onto the pavement to take on other people's hands, to do that sort of crime. the scooter is the ideal getaway vehicle. we have also seen shops being targeted by mobs of criminals scooter to turn up by mobs of criminals scooter to turn up maybe four or five on scooters, robert jewellery shop, up maybe four or five on scooters, robertjewellery shop, something like that, then disappear. they can weave through the traffic with a

scooter. what we believe happened last night is too much of them arrived on scooter, they attacked the delivery driver and drove off separately with the two scooters they had then got which might have enabled them to commit further crimes in tehran. it's a bug problem, the government is trying to crack down on the sale of acids and other corrosive substances, that these attacks keep happening, it difficult problem that is not easy to solve. the police often say their hands are tied, particularly when it comes to mopeds and chasing them, and the combination of mopeds and acid? it does seem to be a really tricky combination to get to grips with, because the crime is easy to commitany with, because the crime is easy to commit any acid or other substances are fairly easy to get hold even with the plight of in place. having a police officer in the right place at the right time to respond is a matter of chance. even if they do get a call, treating these kids on bikes is really difficult because of traffic, the touraine, if they go over a park. there has been an issue

where the police are not allowed to carry on a chase if they think there isa carry on a chase if they think there is a risk to the criminals involved or to other members of the public, so sometimes they have to drop back and let a chase... dropped a chase and let a chase... dropped a chase and let a chase... dropped a chase and let people go. it's a complex issue. ministers are trying to find the answer to it, but it's having serious effects on people across london and in other cities as well. thank you. the government says it will speed up the process of getting new, life—changing medicines available on the nhs. a panel of experts is to choose five new treatments for fast—track approval in england next year — with more in the future. ministers hope it could halve the time it takes to get new drugs to patients. our health editor, hugh pym, reports. i'm beautiful, my nose is pink... rudy is two years old. he has a rare condition, spinal muscular atrophy, known as sma. there's only one drug which can help him. it's literally a life saver, but his parents had to go to france to get it, as it's still not been approved for use in the nhs.

people are having babies diagnosed with sma. there's nothing there for them. now there is, with the treatment, and it's not being given to them fast enough, so daily they're deteriorating. like others, they're frustrated that medical research is moving fast but the nhs isn't always keeping up. here at hammersmith hospital in london, their answer is a partnership with a technology company. this is a real heart procedure using a technique to pinpoint abnormal tissue by mapping a 3d version. it's also part of a research study. today, a health minister came to take a look. his aim is to speed up access to new technology and drugs for nhs patients in england. getting new products, whether medicines or devices, can be too slow. the purpose of our accelerated access review was to look at how to speed that up. what we are announcing is a plan to make that happen, and to bring those kind

of technologies that can absolutely transform people's lives up to four years quicker into the nhs. currently, the process can take seven years, and pharmaceutical companies say dealing with regulators and getting products approved is slower than in other health care systems. the general view of medical suppliers and patient groups is that this is a start, and an important one, but they want to see the detail of how the fast track process will work. and at this stage, the policy doesn't actually involve any extra spending by the nhs in england on new drugs and treatments. andrew has a rare eye condition. there is no drug available for him at the moment but there might be soon. at some point in my life, i expect i will go blind. but there are trials of new drugs at the moment, and knowing that they could be ready but i might have to wait another seven years to get access to them, in that time i could have gone blind.

there's a limit to the number of new drugs and devices which will be fast tracked. some patients will be disappointed, some will benefit. they can only hope the scheme does open new doors to new treatments. hugh pym, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: labour's kelvin hopkins categorically denies allegations of inappropriate behaviour, as his party faces criticism for his promotion months after he was rebuked for sexually harassing an activist. it's emerged labour is also investigating a formal complaint against former shadow cabinet member clive lewis — who denies any wrongdoing. and scotland yard is investigating an allegation that the hollywood actor, kevin spacey, sexually assaulted a young man in london. an update on the market numbers for you — here's how london's and frankfurt ended the day. and in the the united states this is how the dow and the nasdaq are getting on.

the ftse 100 the ftse100 closed for a record high for the second time in a month. now on bbc news, it's time for the film review with jane hill and mark kermode. hello and welcome to the film review on bbc news. to take us through this week's cinema releases is mark kermode. so mark, what do we have this week? so we have kenneth branagh‘s take on murder on the orient expression. killing a sacred deer from yorgos lanthimos.