four men were arrested in raids early this morning in derbyshire and south yorkshire with bomb disposal officers at the scene. they came banging on the door saying you need to evacuate. my grandad refused to leave the house. still in there now, the only one on the street. they said it's for your own safety, bomb disposal are here. and later in the day a mosque and community centre were sealed off in sheffield, part of an extensive operation by police. we'll have more on the day's events and the ongoing police operation. also tonight... facebook, twitter and google are heavily criticised by mps about extremist content on their platforms including death threats against politicians. a man who threw acid into a crowded nightclub in east london has been jailed for 20 years. the scandal of contaminated blood in the 19705 and 805. families respond to the news that inadequate research has been used until very recently. i started this as a young woman and now i'm now going towards retirement and there's still no justice. and life after 90, and why american

scientists predict that before long new drugs will help delay the way our bodies age. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news, could manchester city continue their unbeaten domestic run and reach the semi—finals of the league cup with victory over leicester? good evening. police in derbyshire and south yorkshire say they've taken action to prevent an alleged islamist terror plot that could have been carried out during the christmas holiday. early this morning four men were arrested on suspicion of terror offences and bomb disposal teams

were sent to the scene of one raid in chesterfield. they were working with large numbers of police as our correspondent reports. a street in central sheffield tonight, the second placed the army bomb disposal unit searched as part of this terrorism investigation. early this morning two men were arrested here in bedsits adjoining a muslim community centre. tonight the muslim association of britain said those detained had no connection to the centre. the other place the bomb squad searched today was a property on sheffield road in chesterfield. counterterrorism officers arrested a 31—year—old man here. in the predawn darkness, armed police were pictured guarding the scene as the raid took place. at the edge of the cordon, people evacuated from their homes could not believe what was happening in their street. they've come banging on the door saying you need to evacuate. my grandad refused to leave the house, still in there now,

the only one on the street. and they said it's for your own safety, bomb disposal are here and they made everyone else leave apart from him. how does it feel that this is happening in your neighbourhood? in the way it's a bit scary, it's a bit weird, isn't it? you know, you don't expect things like this to happen in chesterfield or in a little area like this. so it's a bit worrying in a way. arrests were made elsewhere too as police took action against an alleged islamist terror plot against the uk that could have come to fruition over christmas. the most obvious activity was in chesterfield. the other raids were about 15 miles away around sheffield. as well as the two men arrested next to the community centre in burngreave, business raided in stocksbridge and another man was detained in meersbrook where local people heard stun grenades being used. we were woken up at around 5:30am by a really, really loud bang and initially we did think that somebody had crashed outside our house. we were looking outside

and all we could see were police officers dressed in riot gear and they were storming a house across the road from us. lots of running about and shouting. these were coordinated counterterrorism raids which may have stopped a plot timed to coincide with the christmas holidays. danny is in burngreave in sheffield tonight. as we were saying, this has been a very extensive operation. what are you being told about the state of play tonight? the four men who were arrested now being questioned at a police station in west yorkshire, aged between 22 and 41 and police have up to m days under current legislation to hold them, albeit with oversight from the courts. the bbc understands these arrests were the result of intelligence gathered by mi5 passed on to counterterrorism officers and hence the raids this

morning. we also understand, people thought they heard explosions when the raids were taking place but it was stun grenades being used as police raided the addresses. the timing is interesting, the week before christmas, although these are only allegations with these men under arrest on suspicion of planning something. the police presence here is set to be for a few days and the cordons have reduced the night, just this area sealed off behind me in sheffield and we understand people in chesterfield had been allowed back into their homes and in the last few minutes the north—east counterterrorism unit has given us an update, saying that the searchers have been scaled down for the night, there are no more going on but they will resume here at this community centre in sheffield and also the address in sheffield and also the address in sheffield road in chesterfield tomorrow. there is a lot more to be done on this investigation which began early this morning. thank you very much for the latest update.

seniorfigures from facebook, twitter and google have been heavily criticised by mps about extremist content on their platforms including death threats against politicians. labour's yvette cooper, chair of the home affairs select committee, accused the firms of failing to remove abusive material quickly enough. 0ur media editor, amol rajan, has more details. harmful content online takes countless forms but not all of them are illegal. 0ne kind is the hate speech that attacks individuals on the basis of attributes such as disability or gender. internet safety campaigners met at a conference in geneva today. one was seyi akiwowo, herself a victim of abuse online. if you stream music that you haven't had permission for, if you put up something like, i don't know, beyonce or adele's music, that gets taken down within moments but when it comes to someone saying, i'm going to kill you, get lynched, hope you die of a std, those are the words i've received, you don't get much action or reaction from these twitter companies.

today mps grilled tech companies about this kind of abuse. the committee chair said twitter still hadn't removed an offensive tweet it was warned about in march. that tweet is still up on your platform. why is it? i don't know the answer to that question. "i really do think that we should all kill a tory. just think of the benefits if each family in the uk were to killjust one tory." that's on twitter, miss mcsweeney. your code says you will not tolerate violent threats, wishes for the physical harm, death or disease of individuals or groups. how does that comply with your code? we have 500 million tweets a day, we have 330 million users. twitter is used in multiple, multiple languages. another quite separate form of harmful content propagates extremism. how easy is it to find this extremist material online? it's very easy indeed. here is effectively far right material.

this campaigner, who works closely with mp5, believes social media platforms lure vulnerable adults into the extremists' web. actually the material clearly is not removed, it is not illegal in the eyes of social media providers. but the other factor is their algorithms are directing individuals who may have an aggressive world view and the algorithms direct them tojoin up with other groups which may have similar content. you are actively recommending what is effectively racist material into people's timelines. i will ask our reviewers to look at that and get back to you with a good and solid response to what our reaction is. as i said, we are looking at how we can scale those new policies we have out across areas like hate speech and racism. isn't the real truth that your algorithms and the way in which you want to attract people to look at other linked and connected things, is that actually your algorithms are doing that grooming and that radicalisation? but that's not how facebook sees it. but i do recognise we have a problem

which is a shared problem with the police, with yourselves, with civil society organisations of how do we address that person who may be going down a channel which can lead to them being radicalised? mps now have a personal stake in the fight against harmful content online. they want tech giants to do more but there is a danger that asking them to censor content before it is uploaded would undermine the open web. most people can agree what harmful content online is and everybody agrees that there is too much of it but nobody can agree on what to do about it and that is because the sheer volume of content uploaded onto the internet every single day is impossible to manage. ultimately this is probably a war without end and our most effective weapon in that war is not going to be more human beings, but smarter computers. amol rajan, bbc news. a man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for throwing acid into the crowd at a packed nightclub in east london. arthur collins, who's 25,

squirted the liquid into a group on the dance floor at the mangle nightclub in april last year. he was convicted last month of five counts of grievous bodily harm and nine of assault, as our correspondent tom burridge reports. acid hurled across a crowded dance floor. look closer on the cctv and you can see arthur collins' arm throwing the liquid a second and a third time. young people, like lauren trent, suffered severe burns and scars for life. today, she and other victims gave vivid accounts outside court of what it's like when acid is thrown over your skin and clothes. i think that night ijust remembered the sheer panic. the fear, the pain, more importantly, the pain. the smell, the smell of the chemicals and your skin blistering, and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. i remember looking at the police officers and the people around us at the time when they arrived,

it was almost like disbelief that something like this had ever happened in a nightclub. collins caused severe burns to 14 people. his actions, in the mangle nightclub, left physical and mental scars. when you are out, like ifjust a splash of somebody‘s drink on your arm, like, brings the worse things through your head. so it's just very hard to deal with it and to just try and carry on like normal because i know i'm never going to be the same girl that walked into mangle that night, but it's just trying to get as close back to that as possible. earlier that evening, collins argued with two of his victims, but the judge said his indiscriminate attack, which affected so many young people, was unprovoked. he sentenced him to 20 years. it sends out the right message that it will not be tolerated. it will not be tolerated by the criminaljustice system. anyone carrying acid needs to look at the offence and be aware that a strong sentence will be passed.

collins showed no remorse in court for what was described as a "despicable act." one of his victims today said her old life had been taken from her on that night. tom burridge, bbc news. government officials have been using a discredited report into the use of contaminated blood products in the 19705 and 805, despite assurances that it would be taken out of circulation. the bbc has learned that the report, issued in 2006, was still being used earlier this year. theresa may announced in the summer that there would be a thorough inquiry into the scandal which saw haemophiliacs and other patients infected with hiv and hepatitis c, causing the deaths of around 2500 people. 0ur health editor, hugh pym, has the story. carol grayson‘s husband, peter, was a haemophiliac. because he was given contaminated blood products in the 19705 and 805, he developed hiv and hepatitis and died at the age of a7. the biggest hope that the truth would come out...

carol has campaigned for decades for a full public enquiry into the scandal which claimed 2500 lives and ruined thousands more. at last that is about to happen. she has uncovered hundreds of documents which she says reveal an official cover—up. i think there are huge implications for government. the bottom line for government is they don't want to pay compensation because there are very high numbers of people both infected and affected because you have the infected haemophiliacs and you've got the affected family members. blood products for haemophiliacs and transfusions were imported from the us. some were infected by donor5 including pri5oner5. in 2006 the government published what was billed as a definitive report but some original documents had been destroyed so key information was missing. the bbc can reveal, however, it was still in use this year. in august, sir chris wormald,

the top civil servant at the department of health, wrote that the report had not been used by officials in recent years and will not be used in the future but the bbc has seen a letter, written earlier this year by a health minister, which did make reference to the report as an authoritative account. it included a web link to it. when sir chris was told he apologised and said it wouldn't happen again. the former lib dem minister baroness featherstone, who received the letters from the civil servant, said it was shocking that even this year misleading information was being put out. he apologised because he himself had been part of what the community has suffered since day one. 0bfu5cation, misuse of facts, lies, rebuttal5, refusing to acknowledge, almost incapable of listening. the department of health 5aid the independent enquiry would ensure victim5 and their families got answer5. for carol, the long battle with the authorities has come at great personal co5t. at the end of the day it has taken my family life away,

that is the reality. i mean i started this a5 a young woman. i'm now going towards retirement and there's still no justice. carol wants to pass on all the documents to the official inquiry. she can only hope it gets to the truth of what has been described as the biggest di5aster in the history of the nhs. hugh pym, bbc news. in washington, president trump is a step nearer to achieving his first major legislative achievement with his plans for radical tax reform, which are being voted on by both houses of congress. he's proposing tax cuts for corporations and those on middle and higher incomes. democrats describe it a5 a republican giveaway to big business and the rich, and say it would only add to the national debt. live to washington and our north american editor, jon sopel. jon, how big a moment is this for

president trump? this is very big. he failed on the legislation to reform healthcare. thi5 he failed on the legislation to reform healthcare. this would be the biggest change to america's tax system in 30 years, since the reagan era. the house of representatives, they passed the measure. it will go to the senate for their approval tonight. the house of representatives will have to do redo the vote tomorrow morning because of proceedual anomalies. it should give donald trump that victory. a pre—christmas present for him that he will no doubt enjoy. the democrats say this is just a tax giveaway for the rich. it will line the pockets of republican donor5 giveaway for the rich. it will line the pockets of republican donors and swell the coffers of wealthy corporations. to republicans though this is a sweeping reform that will clear the tax code there will be a turbo booster for economic growth

that will lead to more jobs and higher wages. it's also going to see a big change in terms of corporation tax with the corporation tax rate coming down from 35% to 21%. why doe5 coming down from 35% to 21%. why does that matter? becau5e coming down from 35% to 21%. why does that matter? because it will mean american companies should be much more competitive with british and european companies were the corporation tax rates are so much lower. 0pinion poll data suggests that the americans tend to believe the democrats over this tax reform, that it's for the rich, it's not for ordinary americans. it may not be for the trump voter5. that may give donald trump a victory tomorrow, but with consequences. jon, many thanks once again. jon sopel for the vote there later on in the senate and capitol hill. a brief look at some of the day's other news stories: local authorities in england will be able to increase council tax

byjust under 6% next year without triggering a local referendum. currently, a raise of 5% or more must be put to local voter5. mini5ter5 say it will ease pressure on local services. the local government association say5 councils will still be at financial breaking point. elsewhere, the home office has announced an extra £450 million for police in england and wales next year, but they say much of that would need to come from a rise in council tax. police and crime commi55ioner5 will be given powers to raise tax by £12 per household. the rest of the money would come from central government. saudi arabia says it has intercepted a missile fired towards the country's capital, riyadh. the houthi rebels in neighbouring yemen said they'd launched a rocket that was aimed at a gathering of 5eniorfigure5 in king salman‘s official residence. a passenger train which cra5hed in the state of washington was travelling at more than twice the speed limit, according to accident investigators. the train veered off a bridge onto a busy highway yesterday. three people died and more than 70 were injured. two men who died following a fire

which destroyed a luxury hotel on the banks of loch lomond have been named as simon midgley and richard dyson, believed to be from london. more than 60 firefighters fought the blaze which started yesterday and crews have remained there today. guest5 were led from the hotel while emergency services dealt with the fire. the cause is still being investigated as our correspondent, lorna gordon, tells us. 0n the secluded 5hore5 of loch lomond, the burnt—out remains of one of scotland's most prestigious hotels. it was here that early yesterday morning, while many of the 200 guests were still 5leeping, that fire took hold, gutting the main building and leading to the loss of two lives. the bbc understands that richard dyson and simon midgley had been staying at cameron house on a winter break. police have not confirmed their identities, but tribute5 have been paid to them on social media. firefighters arrived at the resort nine minutes after the first

emergency call was received. more than 60 of them were involved in tackling the blaze. today 5ome remained on site, dampening it down. the damage here is extensive. the top two floors of the main building look to be completely burnt—out. the priority for fire crew5 now is to make this building safe. their initial investigation is likely to fell focus on trying to find out where the blaze began. they'll be taking witness statements from the guests and staff that were at the property. they will be looking to see if there are cctv cameras about which may assist them in narrowing the focus of where the fire first started. dramatic footage, taken at the height of the fire, showed a recently married couple being rescued from their second floor room, their baby carried out by a firefighter. in a statement, the hotel described this as a "heart stopping moment" and called the firefighters involved "heroes." the swift actions of the emergency

services may have prevented further loss of life in this fatal fire. lorna gordon, bbc news, loch lomond. the metropolitan police says it's reviewing all of its current sex offence investigations after the collapse of a second rape case in a week. scotland yard says it wants officers to ensure there has been full disclosure of evidence. the trial of liam allan was halted last week after it emerged that text messages proving his innocence had not been passed to the defence. this afternoon, prosecutors said they would end another rape case because police provided them with new information. the future of the retailer toys r us in the uk, with more than 3,000 jobs, is hanging in the balance after the company was told to allocate £9 million to its pension fund. the retailer has been ordered

to find the money by the end of the week or its restructuring plans will not be approved. our business correspondent, simon gompertz, is at a toys r us store in west london. simon, in your view, simon, in yourview, how simon, in your view, how precarious is this compa ny‘s simon, in your view, how precarious is this company's future now? huw, it's a desperate night for the 3,200 staff who work at toys r us because if things stay as they are at the moment, there is a real danger that administrators will have to be called in by the end of the week. what's happened is that the pension protection fund, that's the body which bails out the pension schemes ofle troubled companies like this one, is voting against a rescue plan that toys r us is trying to put to its creditors. basically, toys r us is going to slim down, this is one of the stores that it would close anyway, get support, financial support, from creditors and soldier on. but the pension protection fund has said that unless it stumps up three years worth of pension

contributions in advance, it won't get its support. toys r us has said it hasn't got that money. its us pa rent it hasn't got that money. its us parent hasn't got that money, it's in financial trouble. that's putting all 100 outlets injeopardy. it's not over yet because, if the company can persuade the pension protection fund to change its mind by thursday, when the vote is finalised, there is still hope, but tonight, which should be the busiest, best time of yearfor should be the busiest, best time of year for toys r us staff, should be the busiest, best time of yearfor toys r us staff, is turning into one of deep uncertainty. simon, many thanks once again for updating us on many thanks once again for updating us on that. simon gompertz there for us us on that. simon gompertz there for us in west london. the affordability of sanitary products is a problem for thousands of women across the united kingdom. research by the charity plan international suggests that 1 in 10 girls and women in the uk, aged between 1a and 21, can't afford to pay for sanitary products. campaigners say it's keeping girls out of school and stopping some women from leaving their homes.

now, the scottish government has launched a pilot scheme in aberdeen to provide free sanitary products to women on low incomes. it's believed to be the world's first government—backed scheme to tackle the problem as our scotland editor, sarah smith, explains now. trying to manage without adequate sanitary protection can be humiliating, many women don't want to talk about it. trisha chapman is remarkably frank about the problems she's had. i've seen myself for four days using socks and tissue and a lot of the time i wouldn't have tissue, but i might have tissue that i'd been using, i put it in my underwear so it wouldn't go on to my clothes. i've seen myself wearing white denims and i've been actually saturated in blood. that must be very embarrassing, pretty distressing? it's horrible, it's horrible, knowing that you're bleeding and there's nothing you can do about it. so if you haven't got the protection you need,

does it mean that you end up stuck in the house? you don't want to go out in case you have an accident outside? i can't go out because when i bleed, i bleed and i can't go out anywhere, anywhere. it's just a nightmare. tampax compak regular... this food bank in aberdeen is delivering towels and tampons to those who need them funded by the scottish government, who want to explore doing this nationwide. this pilot scheme in aberdeen is trying to work out what's the best way of giving women access to sanitary products that they cannot afford to buy. what they've learnt so far is just how many women have been trying to manage without these essential items. we've had some girls that have come in that say that they have to stay off school because they don't have pads or tampons and things. they don't feel clean enough, and things like that, so theyjust stay at home rather than going to school. even the volunteers here are women

who've themselves have had to do without adequate monthly protection. have you had situations were you've sent your daughter off to school without proper sanitary products? never. i would never ever put her through that. i mean, it's humiliating enough for myself not to have products but, as i said, i would give up meals for me so she could have at least some protection. you know we work with the simon community, we're the street team, so it's a new initiative that we're starting. some charities are trying to help, street teams in glasgow tell homeless women how to access free sanitary ware. trisha can help herself to whatever she needs at this drop—in centre, but these initiatives cannot reach everyone in need. the scottish government have promised action next year, campaigners are demanding the uk government follow their lead. sarah smith, bbc news, glasgow. american scientists are predicting

that before long it will be increasingly normal to start a new career in your 805 and to feel fit and healthy in body and mind and increasingly normal to take on a new physical challenge in your 905, walking for miles with no aches or pains. the scientists are working on drugs that could help delay the way our bodies age, meaning that we'll be able to do much more for longer. in the second of his reports on so—called ‘5uper—agers', our medical correspondent, fergus walsh, has been to san francisco and new york. new york public library, one of the city's grandest buildings, which has one of the city's oldest employees. hilda jaffe is still going strong at 95, so what's her secret to a long life? pick your parents, it really is. it's got to be genetic because both my parents lived long. good morning, fergus, i'm glad you could meet me here

in this absolutely beautiful room. hilda gives tours of this historic building when she's not at the theatre, music concerts, opera or her two book clubs. i don't exercise, i walk, i walk a lot. if i had to give anybody advice i would say, just keep moving. samples of hilda's dna are stored in this freezer in the bronx, part of a study into longevity. they found only one in 10,000 people has protective superager genes, but say drugs might be able to help the rest of us. metformin is an old, cheap diabetes drug, but a major trial is planned to see if it can delay ageing. i can get you 690 of those for $60. scientists here believe it may slow the biological processes that trigger key diseases. we have data in humans that metformin would delay cardiovascular disease and will delay diabetes

and is associated with less cancer, and seems to delay alzheimer or cognitive decline in people. ageing is an inevitable process which begins as we reach adulthood and continues through the decades as our muscles, bones and organs gradually wear out. this tai chi group in san francisco show that we can delay that decline, it helps with balance, core strength and provides a social network. it makes me feel so young, i have so much fun. i feel like i'm in the kindergarten of the universe. my mother lived to 103. i don't desire to live that long, but i want to be as healthy as i can, as long as i can. that's an ambition we can all share. imagine a future where it didn't hurt to get old, where ourjoints didn't wear out? it would have a huge impact on our quality of life as we age.

this biotech company in california has developed a drug to counter one of the key diseases of ageing, osteoarthritis. human trials of this experimental compound should begin next year. this is an area of the cartilage that is now diseased, you can see the cartilage is damaged. it works by clearing cells which build up in the kneejoint, known as synthesis cells, which may be a trigger for the painful condition. a single injection that we believe and hope will alleviate their pain and begin the restorative process in their knee to perhaps at least halt, regress and even completely repair the knee in the end