this is the briefing. i'm victoria fritz. our top story: catalans head to the polls in a regional election. will it resolve spain's worst political crisis in decades? britain's prime minister sacks one of her closest allies after an inquiry found he'd made misleading statements about pornography found on a computer in his office. waiting for the big day. we'll tell you about the baby born from an embryo frozen for nearly 25 years. and coming up in the business briefing, inside silicon oasis. how the emirates are cultivating high—technology to support a post—oil economy. and we'll be live with our correspondent in barcelona to talk about the effect of the catalonia crisis on one of europe's biggest economies. a warm welcome to the programme, briefing you on all you need to know

in global news, business and sport. apple confirms what we've all suspected for years. older iphones get slower each time you update their software. today we're asking, are tech firms too quick to make gadgets obsolete? tell us what you think. just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. catalans will go to the polls in a couple of hours to vote in a regional election amidst the worst political crisis in decades. the vote is intended to resolve a stand—off between the spanish government and the campaigners who unilaterally declared catalan independence in october. all indications are that the result will be very close. our correspondent james reynolds reports from barcelona. pro—independence supporters are planning a revival...

..and a new strategy. declaring unilateral independence in october simply got their leaders sacked, and even jailed. the deposed regional president, carles puigdemont, now campaigns from exile in belgium. so this time, if they win, they promise no more unilateral steps. if you win, will you make another effort to declare independence? translation: we are the people of dialogue, of agreement. the problem with the spanish government is that it is extremely weak. the strong come to an agreement, the weak impose their will. this election will test which side is stronger,

pro—independence or pro—spain. unlike the disputed referendum in october, this time, both sides will vote. the pro—spain camp wants to use this election to block any more attempts to break away. the most powerful pro—spain voice belongs to ines arrimadas, the local leader of a party called citizens. she addresses her final campaign rally in spanish, not catalan. why do you oppose independence? because ourfuture is inside spain, and inside the european union. we don't have any future outside the european union, and outside our country. because catalonia is our homeland, spain is our country, and europe is ourfuture. months of crisis are now marked by a single election.

vote by vote, catalonia will count its divide. james reynolds, bbc news, barcelona. the british prime minister theresa may has been forced to sack her deputy, damien green, after an official inquiry concluded he gave misleading statements about the extent of his knowledge that pornography had been found on a computer in his office. he's the third cabinet member to leave the government injust seven weeks. here's our political correspondent, alex forsyth. side—by—side yesterday, the prime minister and her close ally damian griffin. her deputy in orbit name. hours after they sat together in the house of commons, he was sacked. it goes back to this police raid on mr green's parliamentary offices nine yea rs green's parliamentary offices nine years ago. officers said legal pornography was found on computers.

mrgreen pornography was found on computers. mr green has always and still denies it was his, but he also said he hadn't been told about it, and that wasn't right. he has now admitted police lawyers spoke to his lawyers in 2008 and the police raced it with him in 2013, and he has apologised that his state m e nts and he has apologised that his statements were misleading on that point. it is that reach of the ministerial code that cost him his job. there were also claims from this tory activist about inappropriate jaegar by mr green. her account was said to be plausible but there was no clear conclusion about what had happened. mr green apologised for making her feel uncomfortable but the night wrongdoing. in a letter to mr green, theresa may said she was extremely sad at having to write regarding his resignation. she has lost a long—term friend and confidant from her cabinet table. some said her decision shows straight.” her cabinet table. some said her decision shows straight. i don't think it is damaging to the prime

minister at all, really. think it is damaging to the prime ministerat all, really. she think it is damaging to the prime minister at all, really. she has made the decision. it says something about that even if somebody is a close ally, she is prepared to make a decision and urge him to take the decision himself, to step down, and in doing that i have to say that shows that she is not prepared to cover this somebody of she feels that they didn't answer the questions they should have done. nonetheless, the prime minister will no doubt feel the loss of such a trusted ally from her top team. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. the european commission has threatened a member state with the loss of its eu voting rights. it's started disciplinary measures against poland, accusing the government of undermining the independence of the country's judges. polish ministers have dismissed the commission's actions as politically motivated. britain's most valuable company, shell, and the italian oil company, any, have been ordered to stand trial in italy, in what has been described as one of the biggest corporate corruption cases in history. the companies and several senior officials face allegations in connection with a deal in nigeria. the oil firms and the individuals

deny any wrongdoing. saudi arabia's crown prince, mohammed bin salman is to visit britain next year. that's according to a statement from downing street. it said the prime minister is looking forward to welcoming the crown prince to the uk in the new year. let's take a look ahead to the business briefing now. we'll have lots more on the catalonia election and the potential impact on the spanish economy we're also reporting from dubai, where the high—tech cityscape could soon become home to the world's first driverless flying taxi service. it's part of an ambitious plan by the united arab emirates to establish itself as a centre for advanced technology, and secure its economic future in a post—oil world. we will be asking if silicon valley is set to have a new rival, silicon oasis? priya lakhani is founder and ceo of century tech, a uk—based education

technology platform. drone taxis, this seems a bit far—fetched? drone taxis, this seems a bit far-fetched? it is so exciting! a german company has reduced this drone taxis. essentially you have your phone, you have your app, you will be able to go to the app can order a taxi and it will arrive, come and collect you, and take you up come and collect you, and take you up into the sky is —— the skies and it will fly you to where you need to go. they tested this on monday. it is all about you by trying to be futuristic, looking at where tech can take us. it is a vca sexy area to go into, it is drones, it is the skies, they are very ambitious. it is not that far—fetched. they have done a test flight. noel sharkie,

and robotics expert at sheffield university, says the challenge will be about obstacles and whether you cannot crash into birds and buildings. exactly, and trying to police the skies. we expect lots of arms on drones and those guys as well. —— amazon drones. now, lots of people are ashamed —— upset about this admission from apple, that when you do software updates, if you have an older iphone model, your phone is actually getting slower. how annoyed should we be, or should we not be surprised? this is really about commute occasion. everybody knows this, they talk about their phones being slower. the perception of the consumer is that they then need to upgrade to a new phone, they need to go and spend all that money on a new phone, and it transpires that actually you can replace your phone's battery, which can cost less than £100, and if you can replace

the battery than you actually get longer life. and apple are saying, we are doing this because otherwise your phone will ship down, because the older phones can't cope. —— your phone will shut down. apple should have been clearer about replacing the batteries. they are making it difficult, how was it to replace your phone battery? absolutely. stay with us, priya, maybe go get a coffee, because i know that you will be taking us through the papers in about half an hour. a baby has been born from an embryo frozen for nearly 25 years. it may be the longest gap between conception and birth since ivf began. the embryo was donated by a family in the us. it's now the first child for a woman who would have been only one year old when the baby was conceived. andrew plant reports. preparing for christmas in eastern tennessee. this year, tina and ben gibson got the gift they wanted. he was born from an embryo frozen 25 years ago. in the middle of the night we wake

up in the middle of the night we wake up and look at her and say, can you believe it? she is really hours! i never thought this would happen, to have their pregnancy and have a baby, it's a miracle. mum tina is only 26 years old. that means she and her daughter were conceived in the same year. she and benjamin cannot have children naturally, said the national embryo donation centre provided them with an embryo which had been in frozen storage brea kwater of had been in frozen storage breakwater of a century. —— frozen storage for a quarter of a century. if this embryo was born when it was supposed to be, we could have been friends. it is so crazy. the embryo was donated 25 years ago by an anonymous family and kept in carefully controlled conditions. emma will not be genetically related to her parents, but has become

theirfirst child. and it is thought she is a record baby and it is thought she is a record ba by ba by and it is thought she is a record baby baby as well. i think she was chosen to us. she is perfect. they're called snow babies because of how long they're kept frozen. finally, she is nice and warm and delivered in time for her very first christmas. andrew plant, bbc news. what an amazing story. stay with us on the briefing. also on the programme, a big upset for manchester united after they are knocked out of the english league cup by bristol city. we saw this enormous tidal wave approaching the beach and people starting to run, and suddenly it was complete chaos. the united states troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of general manuel noriega. the pentagon said the operation had been 90% successful but it's failed in its principle objective — to capture general noriega and take him to the united states to face drugs charges. the hammer and sickle

was hastily taken away. the russian flag was hoisted over what is now no longer the soviet union but the commonwealth of independent states. day broke slowly over lockerbie, over the cockpit of pan am's made of the seas, nose down in the soft earth. you could see what happens when a plane 8 stories high, a football pitch wide falls from 30,000 feet. christmas has returned to albania after a communist ban lasting more than 20 years. thousands went to midnight mass in the town of shkodra, where there were anti—communist riots ten days ago. you're watching the briefing. our headlines: britain's prime minister theresa may sacks her close ally, damian green, over allegations that he lied about pornography on his work computer. dessert minister from cabinet to

leave in three months. —— the third. catalans will go to the polls in a couple of hours to vote in a regional election amidst the worst political crisis in decades. let's stay with that now because chell bonet is the wife ofjordi cuixart. he's a pro—independence activist who was jailed following october's referendum. chell has been speaking to tim willcox about coping without her husband and bringing up an 8—month—old baby alone. last time that i spoke with him was yesterday evening on the phone, five minutes. it is also very quick and you do not have time to talk deeply about nothing. 15 days ago i saw him in prison because we have the right to see him every 15 days. ifeel strongly and he feels strong because he is not guilty and then we do not feel as bad persons. what do you tell your child about where his father is? every day i have some

photographs of my husband with him and everyday we say, a load, and every night we say bye—bye. —— hello. i think he feels something because he is always smiling when he sees the photographs and also, in prison, he is happy to see his father. it is very strong... it is very ha rd to father. it is very strong... it is very hard to see. he is doing this in the glass because he could not see it was a glass only wanted to touch his father. i will never forget these images. do you think the fight for independence is over now? the fight is never finished because the real fight is the fight for democracy and i cannot respect there is no independent in my country. like in scotland and

quebec, we have the right to do a referendum, the right to self—determination, the right for the people to choose and it does not matter what the results because it is the people who can say i would like this future for my country. these are the latest things arrived from jordi cuixart? this is a long letter telling me he loves me a lot. i husband, when he writes me letters, he says to me that in the future we will tell our son that he was fighting for a better world and for democracy. those elections happening in the last few hours. fans have been gathering to say goodbye at the funeral of the south korea k—pop star kim jong—hyun his death has triggered an outpouring of grief from fans around the world. it's thought the singer took his own life — a note believed to be from him revealed he'd been struggling with depression.

sophie long is following the story for us in the south korean capital seoul. distressed young fans, mourning their idol. during the three days since the lead singer of one of south korea's biggest boy bands took his life, thousands have come here and waited in subzero temperatures. this, their last opportunity, to pay their respects to an international young star. there is a great sense of sadness here. hundreds of kim jong—hyun‘s fans have come here to stand in silence and pay their respects. many of them still wondering what course of this successful young celebrity to take his life. after a private ceremony at the hospital, attended just buy a family and close colleagues, including his fall band mates, kim

jong—hyun‘s body was driven away. his family chose not to disclose where he would be buried. translation: i am so upset that i cannot even cry. i am so heartbroken. kim jong-hyun found fame as the lead singer of shinee, at k—pop bank with massive international following. at k—pop bank with massive internationalfollowing. now, along with the outpouring of grief from around the globe, questions about the level of pressure young celebrities are subjected to hear, a country with a higher suicide rate in the industrialised world. note posted on social media, acra one talked about the depression that was devouring him, how he felt broken inside and he asked, say i did well. thousands of young fans came here to say that with their tributes and their tears. here's our briefing on some

of the key events happening later. first up in dortmund, a german—russian man goes on trial accused of carrying out a bomb attack on borussia dortmund's team bus in a bid to manipulate the club's stock market value. at the hague, a ceremony marking the official closure of the international criminal tribunal for the former yugoslavia — after more than 2a years — will take place. and later in new york, the un general assembly votes on a resolution rejecting us recognition of jerusalem as israel's capital. votes in the general assembly are not binding. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello coming up in your thursday sport briefing: birmingham is set to host the commonwealth games in 2022, holders manchester united are knocked out of the english league cup by second tier bristol city and tributes to the retiring former arsenal player tomas rosicky. the english city of birmingham

is set to be named as the host of the 2022 commonwealth games later, with organisers finally confirming their backing. durban in south africa was initially due to host but was stripped of the event in march. and birmingham was the only city to bid before the original deadline. the games are set to cost a billion dollars, which will make it the most expensive sports event in britain since the london 2012 olympics. holders manchester united have been knocked out of the english league cup by second tier bristol city who scored late for a 2—1win. after a goalless first half joe bryan got the home side off the mark before zlatan ibrahimovic equalised. but korey smith in the third minute of injury time grabbed the winner that takes bristol through to a semi final with manchester city. while alvaro morata late goal earned chelsea a 2—1win over bournemouth and a semi final against arsenal.

bayern munich are through to the quarter—finals of the german cup after knocking out the holders borussia dortmund. jerome boateng headed bayern in front after only 12 minutes. they've won the trophy a record 18 times and just before the break, robert lewandowski set up thomas mueller, who made it 2—nil to the home side. late in the second—half, dortmund's ukrainian international andriy yarmolenko pulled one bnack for the holders but bayern held on to win 2—1, and seal their place in the last eight. well it may seem a long way off but the head of the us soccer federation has been outlining why he thinks the joint bid of the us, mexico and canada should win fifa's vote to host the 2026 world cup finals. the other official bid is from morocco. the tournament will be the first to feature 48 teams. the 94 world cup which had fewer games and every subsequent world cup is still the largest world cup in terms of not only average attendance but total attendance, with fewer

games. i cannot think of any place better than that the us are long with our partners mexico and canada to ta ke with our partners mexico and canada to take on that expanded size. let's turn our attention to what's been popular on social media and there's been plenty of reaction to the retirement of the former arsenal and czech republic player tomas rosicky. santi corzola said, "it was an honor to play by your side and share moments, top player and incredible person. i wish you all the best my friend and i hope to see you soon" emiliano martinez added... a tribute to from per mertesacker who called rosicky. .. mesut ozil said... and a nice picture tweeted by theo walcott with the shirts of both players hanging next to each other in the chaging room. another current arsenal player jack wilshere tweeted this video...

good luck in your retirement. it was an absolute pleasure to play with you. it was a pleasure to play with you. it was a pleasure to play with you. thank you for all the memories andi you. thank you for all the memories and i am sure you will have a happy retirement and probably go on to be a manager. you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me tt that is your hursday sport briefing the british car park where the body of king richard iii was unearthed five years ago has been protected as a nationally—importa nt archaeological site. richard, reputed to have been a hunchback, was buried in a medieval friary in 1485 after his death at the battle of bosworth, which brought the first tudor king henry vii to power. nick higham reports. 2012 and archaeologists from leicester university mark out at car park in the centre of the city, just

with someone had spray—painted the letter a re with someone had spray—painted the letter are then they start digging on the site of what was once the mediaeval friar looking for the grave of the most notorious king. astonishingly, they find it and a skeleton complete with crooked spine and fatal injuries to the back of the skull. buried there after the battle of bosworth. he is one of the central characters in one of shakespeare's play, central characters in one of sha kespeare's play, the central characters in one of shakespeare's play, the man who supposedly murdered his young nephews. two years ago, that did king ‘s body was reburied in a new term in leicester cathedral and now, the car park, or at least, the archaeological remains hidden beneath it, has been made a monument. it is not something that just sits in stone but it is a way

of working with local authorities and owners to help manage it in a way to preserve critical remains over the coming years, for future generations. the protection does not extend to the modern road services 01’ extend to the modern road services or modern buildings like the visitor centre centre but includes the ground beneath. that means archaeologists think the mediaeval friar‘s remains of state undisturbed since it was demolished 500 years ago. tell us what you think about the talking point, apple admitting it older phones do get slower the more they are updated. stay with me on bbc news, i'll be back with the business briefing hi there.

the very cold weather we had behind us. the very cold weather we had behind us. including christmas day, the weather looks mild. a lot of cloud. the thickest along here we we have outbreaks of rain to content with first thing in the morning. a damp start to the day. fairly persistent but largely like tisch rain in northern ireland. —— light. a lot of fog around the coast of wales and south—west england. the downs and chilterns as well. an overcast kind of money with outbreaks of drizzle on and off. the wettest weather across northern ireland. a bit of rainfor across northern ireland. a bit of rain for the across northern ireland. a bit of rainforthe far across northern ireland. a bit of rain for the far north of scotland but much of scotland will have a dry, chilly bright start to the day. some hazy sunshine coming through.

the weather front will continue to push northwards and eastwards. the cloud seeding as we go through the day. occasional bright spells. the best of the sunshine across scotland but elsewhere pretty grey with the thickest cloud across northern ireland, north—west england and wales. for most mild day with temperatures in two double figures. and that will include christmas day. through thursday night, the kirk cloud bringing more persistent rain across wales and parts of england. chilly for the north—east of scotland. fog patches forming. the friday, more in the way of wind and blowing across the scottish mountains punching a few holes in the clouds. otherwise, another pretty grey day began with fog patches. temperatures mild. the mild

theme continues through the weekend and the christmas day as well. for most of us do when coming from the south—west. a bit of rain here with stronger winds across the country. a few more breaks in the cloud across eastern areas. and double figure temperatures probably for most of us on christmas day. this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. showdown in barcelona — can today's catalonia election see off an independence challenge that threatens one of europe's biggest economies? plus, inside silicon oasis. how the emirates are cultivating high—technology to support a post—oil economy. and on the markets, a bit of an anticlimax — congress finally approves president trump's tax overhaul, but wall street takes a breather from its month—long rally.