this is business live from bbc news with victoria fritz and alice baxter. showdown in barcelona. can today's catalonia election see off an independence challenge that threatens one of europe's biggest economies? live from london, that's our top story on thursday 21st december. polls have opened in the spanish region of catalonia. we'll cross live to barcelona to hear how spanish businesses are reacting to the vote. also in the programme... uber‘s chinese rival receives a big boost to its plans for international expansion. and we'll be getting the inside track on the latest many investors are away for the

christmas break. investors taking a step back following those recent gains. and we'll be getting the inside track on the latest trend in eating out. would you go to a stranger's house for a home—cooked meal? well, our guest has turned that idea into a business. just use the hashtag bbcbizlive. apple deliberately saying they slow down old phones when it comes to updating software. what do you reckon? letters no. —— let us know. hello and welcome to business live. we start in the spanish region of catalonia where voters are going to the polls today to pick a new parliament. the elections were called after october's referendum which saw a vote in favour of independence, plunging the country

into a constitutional crisis. catalonia is barely more than 6% of spain's territory. but it accounts for around a fifht of the spanish economy and almost a quarter of exports— as well as 16% of the population. last week the bank of spain cut its national economic growth forecast for next year from 2.5% to 2.4% — citing the uncertainty around catalonia as one of the main reasons. businesses aren't waiting to find out the impact. many are moving their legal headquarters out of catalonia. some reports suggest 3,000 have done so since the referendum, although politicians have been arguing over the numbers. we'll also take a look at the spanish stock market, it was rising strongly in the first half of the year, but since 0ctober‘s referendum it's been on a downward trajectory.

victoria. thanks alice. our correspondent guy hedgecoe is in barcelona. guy, the separatist and pro—unity sides appear to be neck—and—neck at this stage? yes, absolutely. the polls have been suggesting it is a very tight race. perhaps the pro—independence parties have been marginally ahead, according to those polls. although the big question is, whether either side will be able to form a government after these elections, because it is so tight and they mightfailto because it is so tight and they might fail to get a majority in the cata la n might fail to get a majority in the catalan parliament. i am outside a polling station in central barcelona, i am with the managing director of a financial company, amc network. it has a lot of business

interests in spain, but particularly catalonia. after the instability we saw, have you taken any particular business decisions, how has it affected your business decisions? the instability came from the spanish state. this is a stable region, diverse economy with plenty of money here. but it affected our decisions across spain. we had to pull back on a lot of investments across the country. we are keen on catalonia, we will have to wait until next year until we can do something new and there are major issues in other parts of spain which haven't come to light yet. we did see the government take direct control of catalonia at the end of 0ctober, an unprecedented move. since that happened, have we seen a change in the business climate, have things calmed down in the last few

weeks since direct rule was introduced? direct rule sounds more interesting than it is. you have the same things going on, but no heads in place. you have people in charge from madrid, who you don't know what they are called, donor who they are. but things are trundling along and nothing is happening quickly. briefly, what affected the selection make to the catalan economy? the i'iews make to the catalan economy? the news today with that of poland and the eu coming down hard on them is interesting. we will see more noise from other countries about what is going on here and expecting them to operate from madrid like a proper country instead of not a very professional manner so far. thank you very much, managing director of amc network. thank you very much. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the us commerce department has ruled that canadian aerospace firm bombardier received government

subsidies and sold c—series jets below cost in the us. the investigation came after a complaint from us rival boeing. the commerce department is recommending import tariffs of almost 300%. telecoms giant at&t has said it will pay a $1,000 bonus to more than 200,000 workers, as a result of the new us tax reforms. the firm, which still needs government approval to allow it to take over time—warner, also said it would invest an additional $1 billion in the us in 2018. the global cost of disasters jumped 63% this year, according to insurance giant swiss re — well above the average of the past decade. the americas were hardest hit, hurricanes harvey, irma and maria caused insured losses of about $93 billion chinese ride—hailing service didi shoe—shing technology company has raised $4 billion

in a new funding round. the fundraising will help fuel the firm's global expansion plans. christine hah is in singapore, how much of a challenge does this pose to its us rival uber? how much of a challenge is this to their big rival uber. this is the company that push uber out of the market in china. this $4 billion comes from abu dhabi state fund as well as another long—term investor. this pushes its evaluation up, but more importantly, gives the company a lot of financial power to push through its expansion plans. didi, was at around $3.5 billion two years ago, now it is $12 billion so it gives it a lot of extra cash to two

at the expansion. they said they will expand overseas and according to reuters, didi has said it wants to reuters, didi has said it wants to enter mexico and also looking to taiwan. it wants to put more money to artificial intelligence, so smart transportation, self driving cars and also wants to build up its electric car network, so very forward network. didi is also an investor, they have money put into us—based lift in brazil, estonia, the middle east. this is a threat to uber‘s global ambitions. uber wants to go public in 2018 but didi has the cash to back all this up. let's stay in the region. china stocks rose on thursday, as investors were inspired by beijing's commitment to maintain steady economic growth next year

while deepening structural reforms and curbing financial risks. stocks in asia more generally a little muted — as investors took a step back following recent gains after donald trump's tax reform bill finally passed through congress. equities have rallied this year on expectations the president's promised cuts would fire the already strong economy and those gains increased over the past week — however, with the uncertainty out of the way traders have clearly decided to cash in. meanwhile here in europe, yogita limaye has the details about what's ahead on wall street today. currencies have barely moved. the final estimate of third quarter gdp is expected to confirm some of president trump's proud boasts that the economy has now been growing at an annualised rate of more than 3% for two quarters. the consensus forecast is for 3.3% growth. as well as that economic data, investors will also have various bits of corporate news to mull

over on thursday. foot wear giant, nike, is releasing its second quarter earnings. they're likely to show that strong demand from international markets — notably europe and china — is driving sales growth. there are also signs that business in north america is improving too. and the consulting firm accentia is expected to post a rise in first quarter revenue when it releases earnings. joining us is david buik market analyst from panmure gordon. i , what a joy. the pleasure is all oui’s. mark carney reassuring investors that the cryptocurrency bitcoin does not pose a threat to global financial stability — we better hope he's right! the only area i would be worried

about, it is not a solid piece of metal like gold, and it does lend itself to criminology. people who can't get money out of countries will use bit calling to do it. it will use bit calling to do it. it will be impossible to regulate. —— bitcoin. how can you make a case to regulate bitcoin. i wish all those people, who want to fly by the seat of their pants, was up from $234 two yea rs of their pants, was up from $234 two years ago, up to 16,000, which is a drop of 200% on what it was yesterday. what will deter the smaller investor, is the unit size. which is absolutely enormous. it is a danger as commodity, but if you have got the stomach for it, how exciting is it? i agree with mark carney on that. it is not a

currency, so carney on that. it is not a currency, so it does come with all these warnings. he did agree though, that the technology behind it, blockchain, conceivably could improve the way transactions are conducted between financial institutions. the other thing is, bitcoin has been introduced on two future markets, ble and chicago. which blends a bit more liquidity to it and possibly help these volatile conditions. david, thank you and we will stick around to go through the business papers. bitcoin is up 3.2% this morning. but as david said, losing some ground after reaching $20,000 earlier in the week. has become a new hobby, tracking the price of bitcoin. still to come: do you fancy yourself

as a michelin star chef? we'll be speaking to the entrepreneur who's helping amateur chefs make a living from their hobby. you're with business live from bbc news. toys—r—us — the uk's biggest toy retailer — has been struggling and today it's seeking approval for a plan to restructure its business. it'll mean closing some stores and some job losses, but if its plan isn't agreed, well, the whole business could close. so why is this happening? ben's at a toy shop in london. are you having fun? morning. there was a time a big film franchise like this would guarantee big toy sales, but it's not working out like that. retailers having to sell things cheaper this year before christmas. it has been a pretty tough time for the toy market of late and it comes

to ahead with toys r us. they will determine whether investors will the retailer a lifeline. it means it would carry on trading but would close a number of stores and lose oui’ close a number of stores and lose our number of jobs. the close a number of stores and lose our number ofjobs. the alternative is it would slip into administration and back could put many more jobs at risk. it could mean the closure of those stores. why has it been such a tough time for retailers this year? gary is with me and is the boss of the entertainer. you are on high streets, these out—of—town parks, but it has been tough? these last six weeks, we're 9% down on maastricht, big drop at a critical time of the. nearly half the toy industry's turnover is in these last few weeks. turnover in december is 2596 few weeks. turnover in december is 25% more, so to be 9% down is a big loss. people just

25% more, so to be 9% down is a big loss. peoplejust aren't 25% more, so to be 9% down is a big loss. people just aren't paying for this sort of stuff now? we have brought forward our january this sort of stuff now? we have brought forward ourjanuary sale, we started last friday. we reviewed the warehouse, looked that items we thought would be overstocked and we have been cutting prices. people have been cutting prices. people have been cutting prices. people have been reacting to that people are price conscious at the moment. good luck, you have a busy few days ahead of you, but we'll get the update from toys r us later. it could be pretty important for the future of the retail, but all of them facing difficult times getting us them facing difficult times getting us to part with our money, especially when it comes to joyce. us to part with our money, especially when it comes tojoyce. a lot of the competition is always coming from online retailers. every year one is to difficult to get hold of. this year it is the fingerling. check it out. you're watching business live. polls have opened in the spanish

region of catalonia. the vote is intended to resolve a stand—off between the spanish government and campaigners who unilaterally declared independence in october. all indications are that the result will be very close. we're expecting it later this evening. how do you fancy going out for a meal cooked by someone you don't know? i don't mean to a restaurant, i mean to the home of a total stranger. well, our next guest has turned that idea into a business. her company is called wefifo — which stands for we find food. it was founded in may last year and operates as a platform for foodies. amateur chefs can open up their kitchens and make money from enthusiastic diners. the company says that hosts can earn up to $40,000 a year. it has staged dining events in seven countries, including australia, america and israel. and plans to have 33,000 hosts by 2020. seni glaister, founder

of wefifo joins us now. this is a really interesting idea and it goes to heart of utilising underemployed people, people who may be at home perhaps work part—time. an interesting business model. yes, we're encouraging people who probably have a lot of talent and skill, but haven't yet put to it practice on an unknown audience. it is designed to encourage people to ta ke is designed to encourage people to take that skill and monetise it. when you go to a restaurant, you know that that has had to go through a lot of quality controls and sign off on licences and stuff, can anyone sign up, or do you have to prove you can cook a decent meal? i

can't cook. i bet people would love tojoin you at can't cook. i bet people would love to join you at your table. the joy of this is anybody can sign up and become a host. reviews and ratings will dictate the success of the host. but most people that are proud enough to serve food to even to their families are competent cooks and some we have found are exceptional. but they're not, you're not going to find them in a restaurant, because family commitments, might stop them pursuing it as a career. but they have a lot of talent. it is a big step from cooking for your family to paying guests, how big are the events and do you provide support? we provide a huge amount of support, the platform is designed to allow people to take incremental steps before they get to a bigger

audience. they start on family and friends and as they get more confident and the reviews get in they will build the size of it and charge for. our average events has been for eleven people, which sounds like a lot. but a lot of them are very big parties with our more experienced hoefss. —— hosts. very big parties with our more experienced hoefss. -- hosts. are there safety concerns allowing strangers into your home. if you had asked me that ten years ago it would have been different, because air b & b away. if you're prepared to hand over your most prized asset, it is a smaller step to invite people in, and people are so grateful for the experience to try something different that it is really attracting adventurous people and

also very polite guests. polite paying guests, how you make money? we charge a commission and the commission reduces as a host gets better. to encourage them and to empowerthem to better. to encourage them and to empower them to get the skills to progress their career with us. so the more they do it the more they earn and we're all finding that some of those most experienced hoechss are turn —— hosts are encouraging other hosts tojoin in are turn —— hosts are encouraging other hosts to join in and are turn —— hosts are encouraging other hosts tojoin in and improve their skills. it is a real community. the food industry is very saturated, there is a lot of competition out there for places for people to spend money, are you deliberately targeting non—city areas where there isn't that variety of choice? we have a lot of hosts in cities, but our immediate strategy was to look at rural areas where

there isn't the choice and some areas where maybe the community of the pub has closed or the post office has closed and really it is the people in the heart of the neighbourhood that are the heart of community. so putting people around tables in rural areas is a great way to bring neighbours together. thank you very much. very interesting and best of luck with the business. thank you. in a moment we will look through the business pages with david. but here is how you can in touch with us. the business live page has analysis from our team around the globe. we want to hear from you. get involved on the bbc‘s business live web page. you can find us on twitter and

facebook. what you need to do, when you need to do it. let's see what other stories are being talked about on social media. david buik isjoining us again to discuss. facebook is rolling out facial recognition software, that means you can be tagged in a photo and if somebody puts up a photo of you, you will know about it. i'm not the right person to answer! because i find any personal thing, i find facebook intrusive, if you saw the people from facebook and google before the culture secretary committee the other day, they said there are 500 million tweets or placements per day. it is going to be impossible to actually keep full

control of it, however facebook wants to say you have to sign up for it. i think a couple of country won't do. japan and canada. i think for the young, providing it doesn't go across the line, where they have this problem of criminalology, i think it is fun, i don't want to be a killjoy, but i think the controls need to be there and i do sound very fuddy—duddy, but i have a fearfulness about social media which has got to a level of hysteria and hatred, which i unhelpful. if it is donein hatred, which i unhelpful. if it is done in good faith fantastic. important to roll out. it is not going to happen in the eu and canada. and you need to opt in. it has been part of social media

platform for some time. as you say, there are concerns, a lot of people would agree with you. we started off with skype, this is a much better development in terms of quality. now a story that was chosen not with you in mind, david. iwondered a story that was chosen not with you in mind, david. i wondered when you sent it to me, but there you are. in mind, david. i wondered when you sent it to me, but there you arem just caught our eye, eating salad can just caught our eye, eating salad ca n stave just caught our eye, eating salad can stave off dementia. it follows the bbc's excellent pieces about older people, starting off with fergus walsh getting hammered by an 84—year—old woman in a race. yesterday i think it with was the ladies doing their dancing. absolutely wonderful. in their 705. and maybe there is hope for me, because i eat 5alad pretty much

every day. the medical profession ha5 every day. the medical profession has done so much work on this kind of thing. this i research from chicago saying eating salad can help stave off dementia and reduce your brain age by eleven years. amazing. so eat your greens. quickly at the start of the programme we tweeted out asking if people were surprised that apple was outstanding its hand sets when you update the software. we have had a lot of tweets. 0ne says, all phone companies do that. 0ne says after updates it may force the ca pas pi. capacity. that's it from business live today. todayis

today is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year and we're not going to see a great deal of sunshine today for most of us it is cloudy, misty and murky. but it is still mild. this is the weather front responsible for the misty and murkiness with some fog and rain affecting the north—west of england and the north midlands. to the north—east some brighter skies. but it is chillier here. the milder weather is to the south of the front. temperatures in double figures, but a lot of cloud. a lot of mist around and some drizzle affecting west wales and north—west england. hill fog for the pennines. to the east some brighter skies. but chillier here. temperatures about 6 or 7. chillier here. temperatures about 6 or7. a dry

chillier here. temperatures about 6 or 7. a dry start in northern ireland. you will see some rain spreading in. the rain will continue tonight in the north. another band of rain spreads into the south—west. a lot of cloud and that cloud sitting over the hills, giving fog. mild again. temperatures eight to 10 celsius. but chillier in the far north of scotland. the clearer skies will translate into sunshine, particularly in north—east scotland on friday and some sunshine in eastern england. but friday is a dry day, but again a lot of cloud, some hill fog, some mist and those temperatures once again up in double figures. the weekend, on saturday, we have this area of high pressure that will keep things benign. but this front across the far north will move south and the isobars coming closer together so, breezier on

saturday. rain spreading south across scotland. drier for many. saturday. rain spreading south across scotland. drierfor many. if anything more brightness. the cloud not as lowe on saturday. for christmas eve, rain in the north, a few showers in wales, the south west and a lot of dry weather. lots of cloud around. but a bit of brightness. temperatures still up in double figures. staying mild up to christmas. a lot of cloud. rain in the north. and that takes us right up the north. and that takes us right up to christmas day. hello, it's 9.00. i'm victoria derbyshire. welcome to the programme. theresa may sacks her closest political ally and deputy, damian green, after a government inquiry found he made "inaccurate and misleading" statements about pornography on his office computer. as damian green is forced to go, he says he's done nothing wrong and doesn't recognise the claims of

inappropriate behaviour and regrets being asked to quit. we'll get reaction through the morning. plus — kaci sullivan from missouri gave birth five years ago, and then began to transition to become a man. last month he gave birth again. we'll speak to him in his first broadcast interview here in the uk. i finally had a cae5arean 5ection at about 2.00pm yesterday, so baby is not quite 24—hour is old, yet.