this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. the headlines at ten. six people have been killed and a seventh is critically injured after a multi—vehicle crash in birmingham , officers have said the complex scene was spread over some distance. plans to automatically enrol hundreds of thousands of young people in workplace pensions for the first time, to help them save for retirement. i think especially in london, moved jobs quite frequently, tend not to stay in one place too long, so pensions have always been lower down the list in things i've been conscious of. a new leader of south africa's ruling anc party is expected to be announced today — after years of scandal and corruption. england's ashes hopes are fading — captainjoe root one of the men out already with more than a day to bat to save the series. also in the next hour — hailed as a triumph of modern

design engineering — the world's steepest funicular railway opens in switzerland. climbing an incline so steep, that specially constructed carriages are used to enable passengers to stay upright. and in half an hour here on bbc news — we go ‘through the lens‘, — we go through the lens, capturing iconic images of moments that shaped history. good morning and welcome to bbc news. six people have died after a multi—vehicle crash on one

of birmingham's main roads — the belgrave middleway at the junction of bristol road.. a seventh person is critically injured. officers have described the scene as "very difficult and upsetting". the midlands today reporter bob hockenhall in birmingham described the scene. i can see some damaged cars in the underpass but i am assuming those are the cars that only suffered minor damage because they don't work that wrecked. the ambulance service have told us six vehicles were involved. a man and a woman inside the first car, extensive damage, but by a miracle the man and a woman got out and only suffered minor injuries and were taken to the hospital. a black cab on its side, the driver pronounced dead at the scene. a man and a woman were in the black cab, removed by the emergency services. the womman died at the scene. the man taken to qe hospital and has died now. third car, four men, three of four dead at the scene, the other in critical

condition in hospital. three other cars involved. either minor injuries or none at all. the scene has been taped off and the cars there i assume those were the minor injuries. also a police tent around, but very difficult to say what it is around. i have murray mcgregor, spokesman for west midlands ambulance service. what did your team is fine at the scene of the terrible tragedy?‘ difficult scene for our staff to deal with with so many casualties all at the same time, 13 people having to be seen in rapid time. the

firstjob was to find out who was most seriously injured. that was established very quickly. bringing the doctors did we get, two people brought to hospital, one died shortly afterwards, the other in critical condition. it is difficult for our staff. one of the reasons why we have debriefed all of them already. and provided further support for those staff. we do with a lot of difficult incidents but something as bad as this at this time of year in particular we want to make sure our staff are ok. the injured were taken, the casualties, toa injured were taken, the casualties, to a couple of different hospitals in birmingham? the two most serious we re in birmingham? the two most serious were taken to the major trauma centre, special centre at the queen elizabeth hospital. world leaders in dealing with dramatic injuries. less seriously injured patients taken to

ta ken to another taken to another hospital to give the queen elizabeth hospital breathing space. they were taken to heartlands. every worker aged 18 or over will begin saving into a workplace pension — unless they opt out. that's under government plans being unveiled today. at the moment, employers must enrol staff aged 22 and over into a pension plan if they earn more than £10,000 a year. ministers say they want to reduce the minimum age to 18 — a move that could affect around 900,000 young people. but the changes won't kick in until the mid 2020s, as our business correspondent joe lynam reports. olly browning is 21 and, like many young people, he hasn't started saving for his retirement.

if the government has its way, he would soon be automatically enrolled for a pension at his company. it's not really crossed my mind yet. maybe i am a bit relaxed about the whole thing but i have always, especially in london, moved jobs quite frequently, i tend not to stay in one place too long, so pensions have always been low down the list of things i have been conscious of. at the moment, only those aged over 22 are automatically included in a pension scheme by their employers but this consultation could see that age lowered to 18. that could mean 900,000 additional people will be saving for their pensions. but, is that a good thing? it's important that people are educated about their options because if they don't understand what a pension is, they are far less likely to know what their rights are. to an 18—year—old, retirement must seem a very long way off. especially if they don't earn much and saving for a house is a lot more pressing.

if this plan proceeds, it could help younger people financially in decades to come. joe lynam, bbc news. this morning the pensions secretary, david gauke, told the bbc why the government was extending auto—enrolment and get more people saving for their pensions. it'll get more people into the habit of saving, young people saving for those extra years so that is significant when it comes to their retirement. extending the benefits of auto enrolment which i think everybody agrees has been a huge success everybody agrees has been a huge success has been a very important next. step. i'm joined from bristol by tom mcphail, head of policy at the investment company, hargreaves lansdown. good for young people? yes, a

logical continuation of what has been a successful policy programme of bringing people into pensions. where people have alreadyjoined the workforce after the age of 18, getting them started on saving young. in the end it will cost them less money because of the extra money going in at the, effective compound, investment growth over the yea rs. compound, investment growth over the years. a good idea. other changes announced around thresholds and the amount that will be paid in will also in the end mean that they get larger pension pot and spend less money on retirement savings. still some unfinished business for the government but a good start. a good thing you say. an 18—year—old might say retirement is an awfully long way away. i am just beginning their working life, why do i need to think about a pension? if you start a pension when you start working and it becomes second nature that you are automatically saving for

retirement age is actually easier to do it them than to try and address the problem a few years further down the problem a few years further down the line when you are used to money going in and out and have to adjust to make extra space for pension savings. but i come back to the point of the earlier you save money, in the end the less it will cost you. it looks like a challenge now but i suspect in the end they will be glad it has been done. is there a wider issue that people in this country on the whole are not saving enough for the future? there are still lots of challenges, helping people to engage with their retirement savings. still problems about the question of ownership of the pension pots. you cannot dictate which pension arrangement you want to have, your employer dictates that. this is the kind of stuff the government has to address next, finding ways to make it easier for people to take control of their retirement savings. that is not to say the announcements made today are a good thing, i think they are good,

but clearly a lot more work to be done yet. pinky, tom. theresa may says the last ten days have "marked a watershed" in the uk's departure from the european union. writing in the sunday telegraph and the sunday express, and the prime minister says she will "not be derailed" from securing an "ambitious" brexit deal. meanwhile, the foreign secretary borisjohnson has told the sunday times that it's vital the uk doesn't mirror eu laws in the long—term — or the country risks being a "vassal state. " joining me now is our political correspondentjonathan blake... pretty defiant message from the prime minister? a defiant tone putting a marker down. she calls this a watershed moment of the brexit process and after that deal was reached in brussels to bring to an end phase one of the brexit

negotiations, she is clearly trying to remind us all of our achievements, proving the doubters wrong as she puts it. other brexit catchphrases, taking back control, i made all the noise we are getting on with thejob. she made all the noise we are getting on with the job. she looks ahead also to the next stage of negotiations where the detail will be working out, she calls it the exciting part. exciting is perhaps the word she is choosing to use, others could say it could be potentially be more difficult of the two. one of the exciting things about her government, not only heard at odds, the rest of her cabinet that talk about brexit. it seems. whatever we have from boris johnson about brexit. it seems. whatever we have from borisjohnson and others? a reminderfor the prime minister of the potential bumps on the road, the foreign secretary giving an interview to the sunday times, he praised the prime ministerfor getting us this far, as he put it. he said he would like to see the uk not mirror eu regulations and rules

in the future and to have the freedom to dave birch and to set its own laws and regulations. that is what you would expect him to say. —— freedom to diverge. a reminder there are differences within the cabinet about how the uk by is relationship with the eu should work in the future. subtle, in some cases, stark and others. this week, the prime minister will chair a meeting of the cabinet on tuesday, they are expected to discuss the end estate to get the negotiating ducks in a i’ow s0 to get the negotiating ducks in a row so theresa may can go to brussels in the new year, with david davis, to say, that is what we are trying to achieve year. clues as to what that might be? if we were looking for them this morning from cabinet ministers, unfortunately disappointed. david gauke was asked on the andrew marr programme his position and he said the uk will

have to maximise access to european markets and we will have a negotiation. his view is we need the right result for the uk. suitably ambiguous! now to south africa where the ruling anc — at its national conference — is deciding who will succeed president zuma as leader of the party. the two frontrunners are the deputy president, cyril ramaphosa, and the former foreign minister succeed president zuma as leader of the party. and nkosazana dlamini—zuma, as leader of the party. who is one of the president's former wives. zuma standing down after leading the organisation for ten years. his replacement will be the leader of the anc, biggest political party in south africa and potentially the president of south africa. let me show you the newspapers. look at what's they are saying.

a picture of the two frontrunners. look at the tabloid. normally reserving its pages for soapy gossip. look at what they have today. down to the wire for cr17 and ndz... they are going with nkosaza na dlamini—zuma. they are saying she would be a better leader as far as they are concerned. tell us a bit about the two rivals, the two frontrunners for the job, who are they? there were seven at the beginning, two have fallen away and it looks like the others definitely won't make the cut

when it comes to it. the delegate are meeting, over 5000 of them making the decision. they are supporting a lawyer by background on the one side, deputy president of south africa, cyril ramaphosa. he alongside nelson mandela led negotiations to end white minority rule in the early ‘90s. went into business, became wealthy, and has returned in 2012. leading by about 500 delegates. on the other side is dr nkosazana dlamini—zuma, president zuma's former wife. that is not her only credential — a medical dr graduated

from bristol university. qualifications additionally from liverpool university, nelson mandela's first health minister in a post—apartheid administration. she then went to become the chairperson of african union. currently an ordinary member of parliament. when will we know, milton? we think that voting and perhaps the results will come late into the night, around 9pm local time, about 7pm your time. the headlines on bbc news: six people have been killed and a seventh is critically injured after a multi—vehicle crash in birmingham — officers have after a multi—vehicle crash in birmingham — officers have described the scene as "very difficult and upsetting".

plans to automatically enrol hundreds of thousands of young people in workplace pensions for the first time, to help them save for retirement. a new leader of south africa's ruling anc party is expected to be announced today — after years of scandal and corruption. sport now and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here'sjohn watson. pretty disastrous night? england's hopes of retaining the ashes are fading fast. they must bat all day tomorrow if they're to avoid defeat in the third test in perth and snatch a draw to keep the series alive. weather could play its part. rain stopped play towards the end of the fourth day. at the close, england 132—4. mitchell marsh didn't add to his 181 overnight. and aussie captain steve smith out for 239. australia declared on 662—9 — a lead of 259. in reply, england lost

mark stoneman and then alastair cook. james vince made a half century before he was bowled. joe root also went. defeat looming for england and would leave them 3—0 down and hand the ashes back to australia. pretty special. to getjoe root is good. looking to get the fifth wicket today, coming back tomorrow for the next six. today was going to be more of a wash—out than it was. i haven't seen much rain. slightly different conditions. we must have believed we can get over the line tomorrow. i am sure some good balls

will be flying about. they can occu py will be flying about. they can occupy the crease for a long time. hopefully get off to a good start in the morning. justin rose has won the indonesian masters, finishing 29—under over the four rounds. it's the englishman's third win of the year. he was eight clear of the nearest challengers and dominated the tournament from beginning to end, starting and finishing with rounds of 10—under—par. it's now 16 consecutive wins for manchester city — the longest run in english top division history — thanks to the 4—1win against tottenham at the etihad stadium. kevin de bruyne, who scored this goal, gave a man of the match performance as city outclassed spurs to move 1a points clear for the time being. manager pep guardiola is still three wins away from his longest ever in management — the 19—game streak he reached with bayern munich. that happened because i was with

barcelona, bayern munich and this one, three amazing clubs. all three clu bs one, three amazing clubs. all three clubs supported me, we believed in the decisions and had outstanding players. without good players and a clu b players. without good players and a club supporting your ideas, impossible to achieve these kind of things. two of the tournament's surprise packages will contest snooker‘s scottish open final this afternoon. neil robertson beat the home favouritejohn higgins 6—3 to set up a meeting with the world number 67, china's cao yupeng, who stunned judd trump earlier in the day. robertson has fallen outside the world's top 16 recently, but has been in much betterform in glasgow. britain's olympic and world champion adam peaty has won his fair share of medals in his time, and it would appear he's got so many he's happy to give a few away. after winning gold in the 100m breaststroke at the european short course championships, he took his gold medal over to a very lucky young girl in the crowd. this event's being held in copenhagen and clearly peaty has

made one spectator very happy indeed. bradley lowery, the six—year—old sunderland fanatic who died from a rare type of cancer earlier this year, is to be given a special posthumous award at tonight's sports personality of the year ceremony. he became best friends withjermain defoe while the striker was at sunderland last season. bradley's been given the helen rollason prize, which rewards outstanding achievement in the face of adversity. tonight's show is coming from liverpool. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. plenty of reaction at the end of dave four in perth. —— day four. if you can bear to read it? mps have expressed "serious doubts"

that the ministry of defence will be able to afford all the new military equipment it plans to buy. a report by the commons defence select committee says the mod will struggle to make the necessary savings it needs to pay for newjets, warships and armoured vehicles, as ian palmer reports. she is the flagship of the royal navy. hms queen elizabeth, commissioned by her majesty the queen earlier this month. at 218m long, she has space for a0 jet planes but defence in this century doesn't come cheap. the biggest warship the british navy has ever had cost more than £3 billion. another aircraft carrier is being built in scotland. the ministry of defence wants to spend £178 billion on more military equipment over the next ten years but it has to make savings to achieve that goal. to do that it will have to sell buildings and make efficiencies.

however, the defence committee is extremely doubtful the mod can make those savings from an already stretched budget. the committee says funding pressures will inevitably lead to a reduction in the number of warships, jets and armoured vehicles the mod can buy. the government is currently carrying out a defence review. it is widely expected to recommend more cuts. with the changing nature of and increase in global threats, it said britain needs to strengthen its armed forces but will the government have the cash to pay for it? ian palmer, bbc news. police in australia have charged a man in sydney they suspect of acting as an economic agent to broker the sale of missiles and military expertise from north korea. they named him as chan han choi, who is originally from south korea. police said they believed he also tried to facilitate the sale of coal

from north korea to vietnam and indonesia to help raise foreign currency for pyongyang. australia's prime minister malcolm turnbull made a statement to journalists. let's hear what he had to say. this is a very, very important arrest. the charges being laid are of the gravest nature. it will be dealt with in court. north korea is a dangerous, reckless, criminal regime threatening peace in the region. it supports itself by breaching un sanctions, not simply by selling commodities like coal and other goods, but also selling weapons, drugs, engaging in cybercrime. it is vitally important that all nations work relentlessly to enforce those sanctions because the more economic pressure that can be

brought on north korea, the sooner that regime will be brought to its senses. at least five people have been killed and more than 20 injured in an attack on a church in the pakistani city of quetta. the methodist church was full of worshippers when it was stormed by two militants. pakistani media have broadcast footage of a fierce exchange of gunfire between security forces and militants. thousands of people living in santa barbara county in california have been told to leave after wildfires. the blaze is the largest in the state since records began. fresh northerly winds are likely to drive the claims towards santa barbara county. hillside homes and the

coast. fierce winds are driving one of the biggest fires in california's history towards the wealthy neighbourhood of montecito. they have already destroyed more than 700 homes. now another 18,000 are at risk, as the flames move towards the coast. strong winds from the north pushing the fire back downhill, so extremely gusty, cold, and relative humidity being low, it's a very hazardous fire. it's a very hazardous fire fight. this area north—west of los angeles is home to many celebrities, including oprah winfrey, who tweeted. .. and earlier this week, talk—show host ellen degeneres, who was forced to leave her home, posted this to thank firefighters. and west wing actor rob lowe shared shocking photos of the fire raging close to his house. "pray for santa barbara," he wrote. tens of thousands

of people have fled. this is what they are escaping from. 8000 firefighters are working around the clock to try to contain this mammoth blaze called the thomas fire. two people have been killed. the fire's been burning for nearly two weeks, blackening everything in its path. it's pretty crazy. went to sleep last night about midnight and then woke up to the roar of the fire coming through about 3am. the trees at the base are going to go up pretty soon. that's what they are telling us. and the thick billowing smoke is causing breathing problems across santa barbara county. the community can come by the station. we have masks sitting out on the patio in front of the station and they are welcome to as many as they would like. the authorities say 40% of the fire is contained, but with winds of up to 60 miles an hour forecast, firefighters are battling to protect coastal cities and towns.

sarah corker, bbc news. switzerland is known for its transport challenges — with children regularly using cable cars to get to school. now the world's steepest funicular has been unveiled and opens to the public later. virginia langeberg reports up here, 1,300 metres above sea level, is not a view for the fainthearted. and transporting people up this steep swiss mountainside is not without its challenges. two years behind schedule, it has taken 1a years of building with a pricetag of $53 million. but the swiss are convinced their new funicular on the world's steepest line, is worth it. translation: to construct a tunnel with 110% gradient has rarely been done before. all the workers have to secure themselves. sometimes they have to work hanging in the ropes. we have to be very careful with the material.

if you drop something, it falls all the way down. and what is even more dangerous, if you drop something, it could fall on the head of a worker down below. if the breathtaking climb itself doesn't leave you weak at the knees, standing upright in the carriages shouldn't be a problem either. they have been uniquely designed to allow the floors to adjust with the gradient as it travels. each carriage can carry 3a people at a speed of ten metres per second, meaning the climb or descent lasts no longer than four minutes. the line replaces an old funicular that had been operating between the valley town of schwyz to the mountain village of stoos since 1933. the new space—age—looking carriages have been hailed an engineering success. it remains to be seen whether it will help take the area's tourism to new heights. a woolly mammoth which lived at least 10,000 years ago has sold at auction in france

for more than £480,000. the skeleton — which is more than 3.4 metres high — was bought by a french waterproofing company, which uses the mammoth as its logo. the ceo said he thought there was enough room to display it in the firm's lobby. now, a look at the weather. is appointing afternoon across england and wales. area of low pressure moving eastwards, breezy with the rain as it spreads its words. lining up but for scotland and northern ireland. sunshine