for the first time in 25 years — the deeply conservative state of alabama has voted in a democrat for a us senate seat. as dr king liked to quote: "the moral arch of the universe is long but it bends towards justice. " we'll be assessing the political impact of the defeat on donald trump. also this lunchtime... four time tour de france winner, chris froome, is being investigated over an apparent breach of anti—doping rules. the prime minister promises mps they will be given a vote on any final brexit deal as she tries to avert a possible government defeat tonight. jailed — briton‘s most prolific prison smuggling gang — which used drones to get weapons and drugs into prisons. a man and a woman in their early 20s appear in court in manchester charged with murdering three children in a house fire. and needing at least a draw to save the ashes — it's make or break for england — as they prepare to face australia in the third test tomorrow. and coming up in the sport on bbc news, tyson fury could be given a

licence to fight as soon as january. the british boxing board of control will review his case after he served a ban for doping. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. it's being seen as a big blow and personal embarrassment for president trump. for the first time in 25 years, the democratic party has won a senate seat in the deeply conservative us state of alabama. president trump had publicly backed the republican candidate, roy moore, despite allegations of past sexual misconduct with teenage girls. the result reduces president trump's majority in the senate to the slimmest possible margin, as david willis reports. it was a stunning political upset. doug jones, a former federal

prosecutor, is the first democrat to be elected to the senate in this conservative southern state in a quarter of a century. his victory reduces the already razor thin republican majority in the senate to just one seat. as dr king liked to quote: "the moral arch of the universe is long but it bends towards justice. " cheering. if trump is losing in his deepest of red states, in his republican states, then the swing states, the blue states, this should send an ominous warning to mr donald trump that this is not your country. i think they destroyed a good man. so i'm feeling bad for roy moore. because roy moore was a good christian person. and i believe he would have been a great senator. more, perhaps, than the strengths of the victor this defeat points to the weaknesses of his opponent, republican candidate roy moore. a firebrand evangelical who believes homosexuality is immoral

and muslims should not be allowed to serve in congress. he saw his sizeable lead in the polls start to falter after a string of women came forward to claim that he had sexually assaulted them, in one case, when the accuser was just 1a. roy moore denies the allegations. part of the problem with this campaign is we've been painted in an unfavourable and un. . .faithful light. we've been put in the hole, if you will,... despite calls from senior members of his own party for him to withdraw from the race, mr moore continued to enjoy the support of president trump who tweeted tonight, "congratulations to doug jones on a hard—fought victory. "the write—in votes played a very big factor, but a win is a win." those so—called write—in votes could prove significant. in a further twist to

a long and often ugly campaign, the vanquished candidate is refusing to concede defeat. for this deep south state to prefer a pro—choice, pro—gay rights candidate like doug jones over a hardline conservative such as roy moore is a reflection, not only of the weakness of the republican candidate but a major snub to the president who backed him. it will also be seen by some as a victory for the victims of sexual assault whose claims roy moore has consistently dismissed as "fake news". david willis, bbc news, washington. in a moment we'll speak to laura bicker at the senate in washington, but first to gary o'donoghue in alabama. has roy moore conceded defeat yet? no, he hasn't. but he is clutching

at straws. he is still 1.5% still behind in the overall tally. he is 20,000 votes a jerk. the last time -- 20,000 20,000 votes a jerk. the last time —— 20,000 votes a drift. the republican party in alabama has said that they respect the voting process and that suggests they are not prepared to pay for a recount. he would have to be within half a percentage point for the state to decide to do that so he is nowhere near that. he may not concede for a few days but i think his senate run is over at this stage. alabama has its first democratic senator in a quarter of a century. president

trump has already taken to twitter trying to distance himself from roy moore. how significant is this defeat for him. he said he didn't back roy moore in the first place because he knew he wouldn't win. you are right he is trying to distance himself. the republican party will see this as a weak candidate rather than a referendum on president trump's policies and his presidency. it does leave him without problem, the majority in the senate is now down to just the majority in the senate is now down tojust one. the majority in the senate is now down to just one. things like tax reform, health reform, building the border wall all just reform, health reform, building the border wall alljust got much harder. the president is going to have to work very closely with the republican party. establishment republicans may be breathing a sigh of relief, a controversial candidate like roy moore taking a senate seat here would be difficult for many to stomach. there were already talks of

an investigation into those sexual allegations and now all that has been avoided. thank you to you both. the four times tour de france champion, chris froome, is being investigated by cycling's world governing body after an adverse drugs test. analysis of a urine sample showed the cyclist had more than double the allowed level of an asthma drug in his system, during this year's grand tourof spain. richard conway reports. he stands alone as britain's best cyclist. a fourth tour de france title was claimed earlier this year, swiftly followed by an historic victory in the spanish grand tour. but chris froome's reputation is now under threat, like never before. that's because the team sky rider was found to have exceeded the permitted level of the asthma drug salbutamol when tested in september. froome says, on doctors' advice, he did increase his dosage due to asthma but insists it was still within the legal limits. in a statement, he said... team sky says froome

has had asthma since childhood and regularly uses an inhaler. salbutamol is permitted under anti—doping rules when inhaled up to a limit of 1600 micrograms over a 24—hour period. and no more than 800 micrograms over 12 hours. froome is said to have tested at 2000 nanograms but his team say the complex way the body processes the substance can sometimes give results from europe that require further explanation. different people respond to salbutamol differently. if you gave the same dose to ten different people, you'd get different concentrations in their urine. so, that's part of the problem, they'll certainly be bringing that forward as a defence but i think,

actually, sky have quite a serious problem and i think they may struggle to make it go away. scrutiny on team sky involving parliamentary hearings has increased this year. it follows an ultimately inconclusive investigation into allegations, all denied, that centred on sir bradley wiggins and performance enhancing drug use in 2011. froome, though, has taken a strong moral stance on doping issues and has been outspoken on the matter of gaining medical exemptions, known as tues, for usually banned substances. i didn't feel as if having a tue in the last week of the tour de france was something i was prepared to... itjust didn't sit well morally with me. that was something i was going to do. 2018 was billed as the year chris froome would attempt to seal a famous hat—trick of grand tour wins in italy, france, and spain. instead, the potential ban and the loss of his spanish title both possible, he is merely riding into an uncertain future.

richard conway, bbc news. david 0rnstein is in manchester at the home of british cycling. just how serious is this, notjust for chris froome but also for team sky? i'm not sure if you can hear me but this is a huge day for team sky and cycling as a whole and especially chris froome. the ramifications could be huge, this is a four—time tour de france champion, the first british rider to win the vuelta and he was going for the—year—old italia next year. what he needs to do now is provide some significant evidence to the uci, detailed records as to what has gone on and perhaps potentially be tested 01’ on and perhaps potentially be tested or if found guilty he would be stripped of the vuelta title and could face a lengthy ban. the vuelta

organisers say their position is one of extreme caution and this isn't the first scandal involving cycling and team sky and it is an episode they will want to get to the bottom of quickly that it could run on for some time yet. david, thank you. the prime minister has promised that both mps and the house of lords will get a vote on a final brexit deal. ministers are trying to avert a possible defeat on its brexit legislation tonight. conservative rebels want to insert a legal guarantee that mps will have a vote on the brexit deal. here's our political correspondent ben wright. fired up in the cold and ready for a fight. this morning mps from opposition parties were demanding parliament has the final say on how britain leaves the eu. all we are asking on behalf of our constituents is for the ability to sign off on what our withdrawal arrangements from the eu are. whether you voted leave or remain, i think that is a very reasonable demand.

but the reason ministers are sweating is because a number of conservative mps seem likely to vote with the opposition this evening. they are urging ministers to guarantee in law a meaningful vote for mps and peers on the final deal done with brussels. and a former tory attorney general is leading the charge. putting down the crucial amendment that will be voted upon later. the government should show great flexibility in the way it approached mps raising legitimate issues and i am quite sure that if we do that, we should be able to resolve this without my having to rebel against the government, something which on an issue of national importance, i have never done in the course of my career. a defeat for the government this evening would not mean brexit is derailed, but it would beef up the power of parliament to scrutinise, approve or even reject the brexit deal theresa may is hoping to get with the eu. and at the moment, potential tory rebels are not backing down. which is why ministers are trying to turn the screws, persuade and cajole tory mps to stay in line. and this morning the brexit

secretary david davis wrote this letter to his colleagues, promising them a meaningful vote as soon as the negotiations in brussels are done. the government has also promised that there will be a separate bill on the final withdrawal agreement. are you facing defeat, prime minister? and this lunchtime theresa may tried to reassure her own side. we will put the final withdrawal agreement between the uk and the eu to a vote in both houses of parliament before it comes into force. as we have said, we expect the uk parliament to vote ahead of the european parliament, so we fully expect parliament to vote well before march 2019. but with no overall majority in the commons, just a handful of tory rebels could inflict defeat on the prime minister and potentially change the course brexit will take. ben wright, bbc news, westminster. let's speak to our assistant political editor norman smith. the prime minister has promised a

vote, will it stave off a rebellion? i think we are in showdown country. tory rebels are saying they won't back off and the government say they won't back off and in the commons mrs may rebuffed an offer from one of the rebels to except their key amendment. the vote could be very close and if mrs may loses she risks surrendering her grip on the brexit process because mps would gain the power not simply to approve any deal before it is signed off but also to amend that deal. more than that, it would be a significant defeat for mrs may just when would be a significant defeat for mrs mayjust when she had got back on herfeet mrs mayjust when she had got back on her feet after getting that deal in brussels last week. and the day before she has got to go back to brussels to carry on the negotiations. for mrs may, yes, victory would be wind in her sales, the mojo would be back and defeat

she is back on the canvas looking pretty wea k. the ringleader of the most prolific gang to be caught smuggling drugs and phones into prisons using drones has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison. the group, run from inside prison by former armed robber craig hickinbottom, he organised at least 49 flights, and smuggled contraband estimated to be worth more than a million pounds into prisons as far apart as the west midlands and perth in scotland. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford has this exclusive report. cameras originally set up to take pictures of wildlife, catching instead britain's most prolific drug smuggling gang. —— drone smuggling. recording the pilot mervyn foster time and again flying a drone from a field outside hewell prison in worcestershire. its illegal cargo hanging underneath on fishing line. from the field, the smugglers had a view directly into the jail and the prison block where the drone's cargo was pulled in through the windows.

over the months the gang grew in confidence and sophistication. they had started by simply throwing the drugs over the prison wall. but then they started using drones and they added to the contraband, mobile phones, weapons, screwdrivers, and even a freeview box with a remote control. cameras inside hewell prison caught one of the ringleaders, john hickinbottom, with an improvised hook used to catch the fishing line and recover the contra band. the contents of the loads were specifically ordered by inmates. the officer who caught the gang told me they had organised the least 49 flights into jails as far away as scotland. it was across like i say, the west midlands region primarily, hmp featherstone, birmingham, stoke heath, obviously here. but we have also had stuff up in hmp manchester, liverpool and like i say, as far north as hmp perth. all from the same group of people? yes.

the epidemic of drones being used to airlift contra band into prison grew from nothing injust four years. we didn't see this one coming so the drones literally came from nowhere. they were flown in and it actually just was a game changer for us. so we had to relook at our systems, our procedures and methods of gathering intelligence. and it gave the gangs an opportunity to actually breach the secure perimeters almost effortlessly. to crack this case, officers downloaded the memories of the drones they seized and linked that to the mobile phone calls the smugglers were making. the prisons ministers had to invest millions of pounds in a new national network of police and prison officers working together, which helped catch this gang. what we have shown here is this is the most prolific gang we have come across and we have been able to deal with them. they're going to be serving jail time and that is a huge success. the gang, led by armed robber craig hickinbottom, is thought to have smuggled

contraband worth between £600,000 and over £1 million, continuing even after they had been arrested and charged. with such huge profits being made, keeping drones away from prisons is going to be a lengthy battle. daniel sandford, bbc news, at hmp hewell in worcestershire. our top story this lunchtime. a blow for president trump — for the first time in 25 years, the deeply conservative state of alabama has voted in a democrat for a us senate seat. and coming up — cracking down on fraud — banks say a new scheme to combat scams has led to more than 100 arrests. coming up in sport. more on chris froome's adverse drugs test — after he's found to have twice the allowed level of a legal asthma drug in his urine. he's responded on social media this morning. a man and a woman have appeared in court charged

with the murder of three children, who died in a fire at a house in greater manchester on monday. they're also accused of four counts of attempted murder. but pair were remanded in custody. dave guest is at manchester and salford magistrates' court this lunchtime. as you say zac bolland and courtney brierley faced three charges of murder. the charges relating to the deaths of 14—year—old demi pearson, her eight—year—old brother brandon and sister lacey, age seven. they died as far swept through their home in the early hours of monday morning in greater manchester. the pair in the dock today are accused of arson and attempting to murder the mother of the dead children, michelle pierson who is currently seriously ill in hospital. there are three

further charges of attempted murder relating to a three—year—old girl and two boys aged 16 who were also in the house at the time of the fire. we're not allowed to identify those three for legal reasons. the districtjudge khalid qureshi said thatis districtjudge khalid qureshi said that is what too serious to be dealt with at the magistrates court and remanded in custody for further appearance at manchester crown court which will happen tomorrow. is the great british jobs boom coming to an end? the latest figures show that unemployment has fallen again — this time by 26,000 between august and october. it now stands at 1.43 million. the jobless rate remained at 4.3%, the lowest in more than four decades. but the figures also show that the uk workforce is shrinking. 0ur economics correspondent andy verity is here. the workforce is shrinking yet unemployment is falling? it is a puzzling situation, we now have been used for a long time to the workforce expanding every month,

every year going right back to the 19805 every year going right back to the 1980s with a few exceptions like the 19905 1980s with a few exceptions like the 1990s recession and post crashed 2008. the workforce has been continually expanding. 0ne 2008. the workforce has been continually expanding. one reason is women during the workforce and 1980s and 1990s and then the admission of the accession states to the european union. if that is going into reverse and we cannot say that for sure, thatis and we cannot say that for sure, that is a significant change. so looking at the total number of people in employment, 32.1 million people, that is down by 56,000, that is how it fell between august and 0ctober is how it fell between august and october and that has happened in spite of what is going on with vacancies. the tightest labour market we have seen in a long time, 798,000 vacancies. the pre—brexit bowed you would have expected that many vacancies to attract migrant workers wanting to fill the vacancies. but that's not happening as much any more, we know immigration has slowed down and therefore there are fewer people joining the workforce from the eu.

so we have a strange situation of what we have this ultra—tight labour market and yet wages are not rising in response. a 15—year—old boy has pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving of five people who died when a stolen car crashed into a tree in leeds. the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared via video link at leeds crown court this morning. he was remanded in custody for reports to be prepared ahead of sentencing next month. five people, including three children, died in the crash in november. banks say a rapid response scheme aimed at combating fraud has already saved customers millions of pounds in its first year, and led to more than a hundred arrests. under the scheme, police arrive at a bank branch within an hour, if staff fear someone is being tricked into taking out a large sum of money to pay a criminal. simon gompertz reports. a rolls—royce. some people have their heart so set on getting one that things like this are prime bait used by criminals to get hold of your cash.

when i came into this bit of inheritance, i thought right, i've always wanted a rolls—royce. let's have a look. it was a dream carfor you? it's a dream car and they are so comfortable and so easy to drive. barry fox in essex had a lucky escape. thanks to swift action from his bank when he went to withdraw the money to buy another fictional rolls—royce in an ebay scam. the fraudsters tried to lure him into bringing cash to a pick—up in the middle of the countryside. so what was the danger, then? you might have gone there? i might have gone there... with ten grand in your pocket? with £10,000 in my pocket and been knocked over the head with a stick or something. no car there at all? and no car there at all. warned off by the bank, he then got this car instead, from a local dealer. when barry popped into his local bank and asked for £10,000 in cash, there was immediately concern about him. now banks often find it difficult

to explain to customers that they might be being scammed. but under the new arrangements, they were able to call 999, quote banking protocol, and get a police officer round here within half an hour. while in the branch, the police checked out the car. the situation just didn't seem right. it wasn't where it should have been. this was all happening in blackpool and the car was then registered in bristol. and also we made checks to the business details against ebay. it was the correct business name but the contact details didn't match. banks say they have stopped customers being defrauded of £9 million in a year. however that is just the ones going into branches. £100 million has been lost injust six months by people unwittingly paying fraudsters online. this is obviously really good news for those that use their branch. they are often the most vulnerable, so everything that banks can do to help is good news. however, more and more of us now back online and certainly have to bank online because bank

branches are closing. so we want to see more done to protect consumers from being scammed online. automatic, preowned... but with the internet playing such a big part, it is still a good lesson to be wary of sellers asking for cash. i would tell people if they want cash, don't buy. the bank—police tie—up which meant barry did get his dream car, will soon be in place across the country. simon gompertz, bbc news, in essex. the comedian, peter kay, has cancelled his first stand—up tour for eight years and all other personal appearances. he's blamed what he called "unforeseen family circumstances", and asked for privacy. tickets for the tour, which had been due to start in april, sold out almost immediately, and extra dates had been added. social media companies could face legal action to prevent what's been called "vile and threatening behaviour" aimed at people standing for public office.

an independent ethics committee report, commissioned by the prime minister, found that social media was "the most significant factor" in driving harassment, abuse and intimidation of candidates in the general election earlier this year. here's our media editor amol rajan. many mps have faced horrific abuse on social media platforms. and twitter in particular. stella creasy endured a torrent of hatred after supporting a campaign forjane austen to be on the new £10 note. after posters of maria caulfield mp were defaced, she too suffered a sustained campaign of intimidation on social media. i guess it started around the time of that syria vote. and it really ramped up then and the election we just had earlier this year is kind of when it really peaked. but you know on a day—to—day basis, it is routine to get abuse, threats, i've had several death threats. i've had my tyres slashed outside my home. i've had my office graffitied with threats. the man who leads the committee on standards in public life wants

to see tech companies take greater responsibility. we were not impressed by their takedown rates, we were not impressed by their performance data. we do know that they are trying to do some good things but we think there has to be at least a discussion in parliament about the way in which they actually operate. twitter says it has introduced new tools to help users. the company is now taking action on ten times the number of accounts every day compared to the same time last year. and using new technology to suspend thousands of abuse of accounts. —— abusive. but while the report contains familiar statements about doing more to remove offensive material, it doesn't make clear how shifting vehicle responsibility for harmful content onto the companies would actually work. the sheer scale of material uploaded online, with 400 hours going on google owned youtube every single minute, means that this stuff is impossible to control fully. and even if it were practical, asking the likes of facebook to censor material before it is published would fundamentally change the nature of the open web. the report's recommendations will now be considered by the government,

who will then decide what if any action to take. a consensus is emerging that tech giants should take greater responsibility for harmful material, but there is no consensus on how. amol rajan, bbc news. it's make or break for the england cricket team as they face australia in the third test in perth tomorrow. already 2—nil down and under the spotlight for incidents off the pitch, they need a draw to keep their ashes hopes alive. andy swiss has just sent this report. in one of the most isolated cities in the world, one of the loneliest places for english cricket. the waca is where so many ashes dreams have died. so many decades of disappointment for england's players, and their fans. but here a team trailing on the pitch and in turmoil off it know they need something extraordinary. it's an opportunity to create history. it's a real chance to flip

the dynamics of this series on its head and if we do come away 2—1 from this game, then it does blow the series wide open. well, for england over the years the waca has normally lived up to its name. they've lost their last seven tests here and have arrived for this one with notjust their cricket but their conduct under the spotlight. the latest barroom incident, in which bowlerjimmy anderson had a drink poured over him, has given australia's headline writers another field day. and some believe the culture of the team needs to change. they do behave like students. you know, when they go out they think they're students. they are not, they're england cricketers. the perception is that they drink too much. in terms of everything that's happened to the team, the performance levels, the off field antics, i would be staggered if england got a victory this week. and at a ground famed as a paradise for its pace bowlers, australia are ramping up the pressure.

england are only a couple of bad sessions away from losing the ashes, essentially. so you know, we've got to do the basics really well and start this test match well and yeah, as i said, hopefully we can get the result we are after at the end of this week. this will be the last ashes test at this atmospheric ground, for so long australia's western stronghold, but for one final time it could watch the sunset on england's hopes. andy swiss, bbc news, perth. time for a look at the weather. here's louise lear. good job the schools have gone back because this is what happens to your