good afternoon. six people have died, and a seventh is in a critical condition, after a car crash in central birmingham. six vehicles were involved in the collision which happened just after 1am at an entrance to an underpass, just south of the city centre. four others needed hospital treatment. police described the scene as very difficult and upsetting. tom burridge reports. horrific and upsetting is how the emergency services described the scene. this black taxi flipped onto its side, the driver and a couple on board all died. next to it, the mangled remains of another car. police are now investigating how the vehicles collided with such force killing many of those on board. clearly a very difficult scene for the staff to deal with, to have so many casualties at the same time, 13

people having to be seen in rapid time, including the firstjob finding out who is most seriously injured, that was established very quickly. four men in one of the cars we re quickly. four men in one of the cars were all thrown out of the vehicle. three of them died at the scene, the fourth man is in a critical condition in hospital. a man and a woman travelling in a third car which was badly damaged survived with relatively minor injuries. this photo shows the aftermath as those first to arrive tried to save lives. a devastating scene with debris strewn all over the road. the crash happened on a section of the belgrave middleway, a busy road in the heart of birmingham. the vehicles collided before the entrance to the underpass at the junction of bristol road. police say the dual carriageway will probably stay closed for the rest of today. three other cars were also involved in what ambulance crews called an

extremely distressing and complex crash scene. tragedy on one of birmingham's main roads a week before christmas. tom burridge, bbc news. phil mackie is at the scene now. the police have just been the police havejust been holding the police have just been holding a news co nfe re nce to the police have just been holding a news conference to give more details about what happened. yeah, they have been talking about the harrowing nature of what they have had to deal with since the early hours of this morning, this happened at about 1:10am. you can see the underpass behind me tom was referring to in the report. the cars on the left we re the report. the cars on the left were those who largely avoided serious injury. the taxi in which three people were killed is lying on its side. there is another vehicle between it and the wall, the one that was crushed, the man and the woman driving in that, astonishingly, they managed to escape with minor injuries. further

along the underpass, the other vehicle involved in the most serious pa rt vehicle involved in the most serious part of the accident, that is where it is at the moment. lots of activity, forensic and specialist teams inspecting the scene. i have been talking to people who live here. flats overlooking the scene. some people heard the crash and went out to see what had happened. they have all said it is a particularly busy stretch of road, even late at night, and a lot of people speed along here, that will almost certainly be a focus of the investigation. for the time being, everyone's thoughts are with the families of those people who have died. thank you. every worker who's 18 or over could be automatically enrolled in a workplace pension, unless they opt out, under plans unveiled by the government today. at the moment, employers have to provide pensions for all staff aged 22 or over, and earning more than £10,000. the move is expected to affect around 900,000 people. joe lynam reports. 0llie and nate are both 21.

0llie on the left has not yet started saving for his retirement. it's not really crossed my mind yet. i've moved jobs quite frequently, tend not to stay in one place too long, so pensions have always been lower down the list of things i've been conscious of. nate has been saving for his retirement since he was 16. i grew up with a family on welfare, so i was aware of the effects that being reliant on public money can have and how insecure it can be sometimes. if the work and pensions secretary david gauke has his way, young people like 0llie and nate could soon be automatically enrolled into a pension at their employers. that, i think, will get more people into the habit of saving. it will mean that younger people will be saving for those extra years, so that is obviously significant when it comes to their retirement.

at the moment, only those aged over 22 are automatically included in a pension scheme by their employers, but the government wants that lowered to 18. soon, 8% of our salaries will be going into a pension pot, something employers are worried about. i think what the government needs to bear in mind however is how much of the cost of that is going to be falling on employers in the future, because already the cost to employers is on course to treble by 2019. today's announcements means the cost to employers will be even higher than that. to 18 or even 21—year—olds, retirement must seem a long way off, especially if they don't earn much. but if this plan proceeds, it could help young people avoid depending on the state in decades to come. the prime minister says developments over the last ten days have marked a watershed in the uk's departure from the european union. writing in two newspapers this morning, theresa may said

the government is proving the doubters wrong after the eu agreed to move on to the next phase of negotiations, but labour say their brexit plans are a mess. 0ur political correspondent, jonathan blake, is here. jonathan, this comes ahead of big discussion in cabinet this week? the timing is important because cabinet will meet this week to discuss for the first time in full what the uk's future relationship with the eu will be. the prime minister is striking a defiant tone in her piece on the sunday telegraph and sunday express, the familiar phrases, taking back control, getting on with the job. she phrases, taking back control, getting on with thejob. she is looking ahead to the next phase of negotiations which she describes as the exciting part. two reminders, if they are needed, it will not be an easy ride, at home in westminster, two conservative and he's writing in the observer that the lords will not

stand for a restrictive timetable. borisjohnson in stand for a restrictive timetable. boris johnson in an stand for a restrictive timetable. borisjohnson in an interview with the sunday times saying britain should not simply mirror brussels' regulations in future because it will end up being a vassal state in the eu. 0thers will end up being a vassal state in the eu. others in cabinet take a different view. they will have to agree this week of the prime minister is to deliver her promise that she will not be derailed in delivering brexit. thank you very much. cricket, and england's battle to save the ashes will go into the final day of the third test in perth, after rain brought an early end to play. but it looks a tough task. needing at least a draw, england are still 127 runs short of australia's first innings total, with four wickets down. andy swiss reports. a day when english cricket was rescued by some very english weather, but for how long? it had started out a damage limitation exercise to restrict australia's gargantuan total. the video umpire helped, finally dislodging steve smith for a mere 239.

some hefty late—order took australia's total way out of sight. commentator: sailing overhead... for england's batsmen, it was now all about survival. oh, dear. josh hazlewood's brilliance did for alastair cook, and worse was to follow. joe root, the captain, remember, what was he thinking? but as his team—mates fell around him, james vince stood tall, a fluent 50 starting the recovery, until the ball of this or perhaps any summer. mitchell starc, the stump destroyer. just watch this zigzag off the pitch at 90 miles an hour. unplayable. dawid malan and jonny bairstow helped calm the nerves with an unbeaten partnership until a deluge sparked delight among the barmy army, but their team needs something very special. got two guys at the crease that have spent a lot of time there in the first innings. it's slightly different conditions, but, yeah, we've got to have belief that we can stay in the series and get over the line tomorrow. so, england are still hanging on.

more rain is forecast for tomorrow. they will need that and some determined batting to have any chance of saving their ashes hopes. andy swiss, bbc news, perth. prince harry has interviewed barack 0bama for bbc radio 4's today programme. if you use long pauses, you will get the face. let me see the face. laughter the interview is part of harry's guest editorship of the programme and features the former us president sharing his memories of the day he left office and his hopes for his post—presidential life. you can see more you can see more on you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. the next news on bbc one is at 5.20pm. bye for now. hello.

you're watching the bbc news channel. in the past few minutes police have given an update into the investigation of a fatal multiple vehicle crash in birmingham this morning. five men and a woman are known to have died. let's get the latest information from that police news conference now. what we know. we were called at 11 minutes past one this morning to the report of a serious collision on belgrave middle way in birmingham, edgbaston. three vehicles were involved in the collision in the underpass, involving at least nine people. this has resulted in five people. this has resulted in five people being confirmed dead at the

scene, and one later in hospital others were injured, some were taken to hospital but all are believed to have non—life—threatening injuries. all of our thoughts are with the families of those injured and deceased at this time, especially in the run—up to christmas. police officers from the collision investigation unit are investigating the circumstances around this collision and have closed the roads for the foreseeable future. the road will be closed for several hours. it is expected to be clear later today ahead of the early morning rush hour traffic tomorrow, but please follow twitter for more information about that. we have some effective traffic management in place while we are investigating at the scene. everyone is advised to avoid the area wherever possible. we are still in

the process of letting families, next of kin no, for those that are involved. as a result we are not in a position to release any information about any of the people involved in this collision. there area number of involved in this collision. there are a number of specialist officers working with families and at the scene working with families and at the scene and will be doing so for the next few days to try and understand the causes of the collision. what i would say is, can i remind anyone who is either reporting on this or has any information around this to respect the well—being and welfare of those that are involved and the families that are involved at this very, very tragic time. anyone who does have any information for the police, please can i ask you to ring 101 and quite log number 175 from the 17th of december and we will treat that information as sensitively and quickly as possible. i've spoken to the officers at the

scene i've spoken to the officers at the scene and the officer in charge of the overall investigation who is there now and has been never some time. he's described this as a very harrowing incident and has asked me personally to pass on his thoughts for the families and everyone involved at this time. it is a very, very tragic incidentjust before christmas. folks, that's all i have in the press statement at the moment. i'll hand over to my colleague and then we can answer some questions. thank you. i can confirm that west midlands ambulance service, two ambulances arrived on scene service, two ambulances arrived on scene within seven minutes of the initial call. multiple resources we re initial call. multiple resources were on scene initial call. multiple resources were on scene including doctors, specialist trained paramedics and senior officers. given the nature of the incident, it was a very difficult and significant scene and quickly became apparent there were multiple patients. unfortunately, despite the best efforts of our staff, five patients were unable to be saved and were confirmed deceased

at the scene. a sick patient was taken to queen elizabeth hospital in a critical condition, however has since sadly passed away. a seventh patient remains at the queen elizabeth hospital in a critical condition. four patients were transported to heartlands hospital, all believed to be non—life—threatening. two further patients were discharged on scene. by patients were discharged on scene. by be dealt with a total of 13 patients in total. all of our staff worked extremely well during difficult circumstances alongside other emergency services. our thoughts are with the family and friends of those patients involved in this tragic incident. that was west midlands ambulance service and before that west midlands police with the latest on that collision in birmingham. australian police have charged a man

they suspect of acting as a black—market agent on behalf of north korea, brokering sales of its missiles and military expertise to other parties. 59—year old chan han choi is south korean in origin. he's also charged with illegally brokering the sale of north korean coal to groups in vietnam and indonesia, as well as discussing the supply of weapons of mass destruction. phil mercer reports from sydney. australian police say there was evidence that chan han choi had been in contact with high—ranking officials in north korea. investigators believe the 59—year—old suspect, who has lived in australia for more than 30 years, was a loyal agent of pyongyang. he was arrested at his suburban home in sydney. mr chan is accused of trying to sell guidance software for ballistic missiles, as well as north korean military expertise, to foreign buyers. authorities say the sales could have been worth tens of millions of dollars to the regime of kim jong—un. they also allege he has

breached both united nations and australian sanctions. the australian prime minister, malcolm turnbull, says more punitive measures to rein in the rogue state are needed. north korea is a dangerous, reckless, criminal regime, threatening the peace of the region. it supports itself by breaching un sanctions, not simply by selling commodities like coal and other goods, but also by selling weapons, by selling drugs, by 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. the prime minister has previously argued that north korea should be seen as a criminal entity operating under the guise of a state. the case against chan han choi is the first of its kind in australia. until now, not one has been charged

under the country's weapons of mass destruction act. if convicted he faces up to ten years in prison. phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. prince harry has taken on a new role — as a journalist — and interviewed the former us president barack 0bama. the interview was recorded at the invictus games in september as part of the today programme's guest editor series. the fifth in line to the throne takes over the show on the 27th december on bbc radio 4 — and he gave the politician some interview advice ahead of the discussion. do i have to speak faster, because i'm a slow speaker. not at all. should i do a british accent? if you start using long pauses between answers you're probably going to get this face. laughter. i don't want to see that face.

it will be a 20 minute package for the bbc after christmas, and we hope to use the whole thing. excellent. 0k. i'm ready. do you guys have sound? sounding great. you're excited about this, i'm nervous about this. it's fine. i'll interview you if you want. let's keep it this way, i'd much prefer that! prince harry is going to make a great interviewer. french sailor francois gabart has smashed the record for the fastest solo nonstop circumnavigation of the globe. he completed the voyage in 42 days and 16 hours, beating the previous record by more than six days. his arrival back in the french harbour of brest was welcomed by a flotilla of small boats. president macron tweeted his congratulations for what he described as an exceptional achievement. gabart‘s new generation 30 metre

maxi trimaran was helped by favourable weather, especially crossing the pacific ocean when he reached speeds of up to a0 knots, that's 65 kilometres per hour. translation: it was really strange. it was really dark. they're why was in the middle of all these fishermen. i had to go past a fisherman. i said, fishermen. i had to go past a fisherman. isaid, can fishermen. i had to go past a fisherman. i said, can i fishermen. i had to go past a fisherman. isaid, can i pass fishermen. i had to go past a fisherman. i said, can i pass on the right? go on then, he said. there i was, alone. it was a weird. and the tradition is really weird too, being in front of you all, that's weird too. the bbc‘s sports personality of the year will be announced tonight. the show comes live from liverpool where the winner will be decided by public vote. 0ur sports correspondentjoe wilson is in liverpool ahead of tonight's awards.

it's another exciting night, talk us through the runners and riders. we have 11,000 seats at the echo arena in liverpool and one stage behind me which has been gainfully employed for a few sound checks ahead of the musical entertainment. hopefully if there's any noise from there it will only enhance the next minute. the nominees i think represent a great sense of diversity in sporting coverage on the bbc and across british media. bianca walkden is one of the 12. elise christie, speed skater, will be at the winter 0lympics. she's a triple world champion. jonnie peacock is there. you may have seen him quite a lot and saturday evenings. along with them, some sports men and women who maybe have typically a higher profile, for example lewis hamilton.

he became for time formula 1 champion. mo farah, gold and silver in the war championship as he retired from track athletics. harry kane, premier league top goal—scorer at once more. adam peaty the swimmer has dominated his distance, double world champion. jonathan rea of northern ireland has dominated world superbikes and became world champion for the third time this year in 2017. johanna konta reached the semifinals of wimbledon, the first woman to do that since the 1970s and virginia wade. anya shrubsole had her best summer as england's cricketers won a world cup. anthony joshua became heavyweight world boxing champion and defended that title in 2017. then there is chris froome who uniquely won both the tour de france and the vuelta a espana. in recent days he's been defending his reputation after that

as “— defending his reputation after that as —— at first test for a drug. defending his reputation after that as -- at first test for a drug. many thanks. you can see that later on the bbc. that's all the sport for now. sport now, and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. england's hopes are hanging by a thread at the end of day for out in perth. england will need to bat out the final day of the third test in perth to stay in the ashes series. six wickets is all australia need to win back the urn. australia declared on 662—9, a lead of 259. in reply england crumbled to 132—4. mark stoneman, alistair cook and joe root went cheaply. james vince providing some resistance before a brilliant ball from mitchell starc saw him depart. it's a special weekend.

to get root is a good one for us. we would love to stay there for another hour and maybe get that fifth wicket today. come back tomorrow for the next six. i think we've tried to put the rain to the back of our minds. today was going to be more of a wash—out than it was. i haven't seen a huge amount of rain in the time i've been in perth. two guys at the crease, spent a lot of time there in the first innings, slightly different conditions. we've got to have belief we can get over the line tomorrow. it's going to be tough, i'm sure there's going to be some good balls flying around out there. these two especially showed in the first innings they can occupy the crease for a long time. hopefully getting off to a good start in the morning. celtic‘s long unbeaten run is in danger, they are losing at hearts. harry cochrane scored his first senior goal to give his side the

lead against a celtic team going for a 70th game undefeated in scotland. hearts got a second through kyle lafferty making it 2—0, heading towards half—time there. manchester united can narrow the gap on rivals manchester city to 11 points if they beat west brom later — managerjose mourinho, aware that city will take some stopping. we are second. with this number of points we could be first in other seasons, but we are second. this is where we are. not first, not third, we are second. as i was saying, match after match, one match at a time. and let's see at the end of the season how many points and where we are. justin rose has won the indonesian masters — finishing 29—under over the four rounds. he was eight clear of the nearest challengers and dominated the tournament from beginning to end, starting and finishing with rounds of ten—under par. he played 30 holes on the final day after weather had impacted proceedings,

but that didn't stop the englishman from marching to his third win of the year. it was a great week. i was in control of my game, absolutely. it was a nice mixture of driving the ball well, some good iron play and making putts. it's a nice combination. that score is my lowest—ever shot, 29—under—par. to start with 62 and finish with 62, i've never done that. many firsts this week, and i don't think i've ever won a tournament with that many shots. i was aware of those things, and because it was unchartered territory, it's not always easy. that's all the sport for now. drivers are being urged to avoid travelling on frantic friday this week when the last of the year ‘s

commuter traffic will clash with the christmas getaway. the rac warning the worst hold—ups are expected between 4pm and 8pm. they estimate 11.5 million car trips will be made between now and christmas eve. that will be eclipsed between christmas day and new year's day as people ta ke day and new year's day as people take advantage of post—christmas sales. switzerland is known for its transport challenges with children regularly using cable cars to get to school. now the world's deepest funicular railway has been unveiled and it opens later. —— ‘s deepest. —— steepest. up here, 1300 metres above sea level, is not a view for the faint—hearted. 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 price tag 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. time for a look at the weather. thank you. it's not great out there at the moment. certainly across the greater part of england and wales, weather fronts which started the day across a good part of scotland and northern ireland have made their way further south. there are already some gaps in the cloud north of those weather fronts. i think those gaps become more widespread with time through the rest of the afternoon but it is going to be one of those for the greater part of england and wales. maybe sunshine creeping into cumbria to finish off the afternoon. those fronts eventually clearing away. not much

in the way of breeze. there will be quite a widespread frost. these are towns and city temperatures, colder in the countryside. not a cold night for the western peripheries. here we are on monday going into tuesday. this ridge of high pressure very much the dominant feature across the british isles. not without its own problems. for monday, you will be scraping problems. for monday, you will be scraping across problems. for monday, you will be scraping across many central and eastern parts of the british isles. it's a decent day with a lot of sunshine around and a notable exception of the shetland isles. it's relatively mild across many of these western areas, much chillier out to the east despite the sunshine. some of the fog may well linger and throughout the day. even at this range, we've got a real concern. that rather ghostly pallor across the british isles is dense fog. the condition is absolutely right for it. i'm highlighting those

regions but other areas will be affected by fog which may linger for the greater part of the day. not an issue at the far south—west where it issue at the far south—west where it is mild. pushing further north and east it is cold, some of this fog will be freezing, that will do nothing for the temperatures through the course of the day. the odd spelling of rain. it is the fact that even as far north as scotland and points north, it could be a really treacherous day on the roads.