hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm martine croxall. today at 4: theresa may is in poland — where she expressed concern about the role of the police, after she sacked first minister of state damian green. i share the concerns that have been raised across the political spectrum about comments that were made by a former police officer and i expect that issue to be properly investigated. creditors of the struggling retailer toys r us have approved a rescue plan to prevent it going in to administration. zaghari—ratcliffe, who is jailed in iran, has been told by her lawyer that she's eligible for early release. coming up all the sport with olly and we now have it confirmed — birmingham will host the commonwealth games in 2022.m birmingham will host the commonwealth games in 2022. it is official, they have been praised for their cultural diversity and

ambitious spirit and they have been picked for the games, but they were the only option. thank you very much. all the weather this afternoon with sarah. and the run of mild weather continues? yes that's right. it is very mild even on the winter solstice. the sun is setting on the shortest day of the year, but things are remaining quiet and cloudy. all the details to the run up to christmas in about half an hour. also coming up — people buying new—build houses in england will no longer be obliged to enter leasehold agreements. we'll be analysing how the government's plans will work. hello everyone this is afternoon live, i'm martine croxall. the prime minister theresa may has called for ‘proper investigation‘ into the officer accused of making comments that led to the sacking of the first secretary of state, damian green.

the dismissal of mr green has prompted a furious backlash from some conservative mps who are angry about how confidential material gathered during a police investigation nine years ago came into the public domain. the first secretary of state was dismissed from the cabinet last night after a government inquiry found he made "inaccurate and misleading" statements about the pornography on his parliamentary office computer. in a tweet, mr green said he was overwhelmed by the support from all sides. our political correspondent ben wright reports. sacked from the cabinet and out the door. the third senior minister to leave theresa may's team in less than two months. reporter: why did you lie to the the public, mister green... this morning, damian green wasn't keen to talk, but former cabinet colleagues did, accepting mrs may had no choice but to fire, with a heavy heart, her de facto deputy and long time friend. he lied on a particular

incident, yes. i think lots of people who understand the context would appreciate why that might have happened but that doesn't make it any more acceptable. i think what this shows is that in our democracy, we hold cabinet ministers to the very highest standards of conduct. it stems back to this police raid on mister green's parliamentary office nine years ago. officers say legal pornography was found on computers. damian green's always denied it was his, but as recently as last month insisted he'd not been told about it. that wasn't true. he's now admitted the police talked to his lawyers about it in 2008 and the police raised it with him in 2013. in his resignation letter mister green said: damian green was judged to have broken the ministerial code and he had to pay the price for that,

and the prime minister, not letting a life long friendship with him interfere with calling for him to do the right thing, which was for him to resign. the concerns were aired by a former assistant commissioner of the met police bob quick and a number of people are angry. they should be investigated for misconduct in public office, that's a criminal offence. what they've done is completely wrong, it undermines trust in the police. how can any of us trust giving information to the police if senior officers leak in this way. the cabinet office investigation also examined claims from this tory activist about inappropriate behaviour by damian green. her account was said to be plausible, but there was no clear conclusion about what happened. mr green apologised for making her feel uncomfortable but denied any wrongdoing. his resignation and a consequence for an action sends a very, very clear message to young men and women who work in and around

politics to feel that if they do come forward, there is a chance there'll be consequences. damian green's departure is a personal loss for the prime minister. he was a quietly powerful member of the government, an adviser and friend to theresa may, but all tory mps seem to accept he had to go and the political damage feels limited. this morning, theresa may arrived in poland, having survived a turbulent difficult political year. but her readiness to dismiss one of her closest allies shows some steel and a determination to carry on. ben wright, bbc news, westminster. with me is our political correspondent leila nathoo. what choice did she really have? once the investigation had reported, theresa may had sought a second

opinion in addition to the cabinet office official who was tasked with looking into the claims against damian green. once it did find that damian green. once it did find that damian green. once it did find that damian green had misled the public with his denial that he knew that pornography had been found on his computer in that police raid, then she had no choice but to ask him to resign and he admitted that he had been wrong to have made those state m e nts been wrong to have made those statements in his own resignation letter. so i think this is her attempt to draw a line under this, to show that she is not afraid to dismiss one of her closest political allies when they have been found to breach the ministerial code. i think there has been a lot of attention on there has been a lot of attention on the role of the police in precipitating damian green's down fall. the inquiry focussed on claims to the pornography on a computer and

claims of inappropriate behaviour to kate maltby. but what was, that led to his down fall, was the claims around the raid on his office in 2008 and theresa may in poland was asked about what she thought of the police's role in that investigation. asl police's role in that investigation. as i said in my letter to damian, police's role in that investigation. as i said in my letterto damian, i share the concerns that have been raised about comments made by a former police officer and i expect that issue to be properly investigated, to be taken seriously and to be properly looked at. so theresa may wants the police leaks to be looked into. the metropolitan police have asked the information commissioner to look at whether any offence was committed by officer that put information into the public domain. damian green has had a lot

of support from friends, from mps across all sides here. there was a big sense of regret on the prime minister's behalf she had to let him go. i think there are a lot of knives out now for the police. but ultimately damian green does admit he did mislead with those statements denying that he had full knowledge of what the police found in his office in 2008. thank you. a jury at southwark crown court has unanimously found a parliamentary aide not guilty of raping a woman at the houses of parliament. 24—year—old samuel armstrong — who was the aide to the south thanet mp craig mackinlay — had denied two counts of rape and two of indecent assault. helena lee was at the court. this has been a two—week trial here at southwark crown court. samual armstrong, 2a, an assistants to the south thanet conservative mp. he

gave evidence during the trial, the accusations against him, he was facing four separate charges. two charges of raping a woman. and also two charges of sexual assault. those charges were in connection with the same woman who we can't name for legal reasons. a woman in her 20s, who also works for parliament. now, the events, the alleged events the prosecution said took place in october last year in the houses of parliament where he and this woman had sex in his boss's office. hes a lwa ys had sex in his boss's office. hes always said she consented to it, that he didn't force himself on to this woman and she wanted to have sex with him. today, here in court, he has been cleared of all of the four charges. he was asked to stand in the dock as the jury foreman read out the not guilty verdicts and he was clearly visibly upset and emotional when the charges, not

guilty charges, verdicts, were read out in court. he came outside on to the steps here and he spoke to reporters. my whole life has been turned upside down. for a year i have not sle pt turned upside down. for a year i have not slept or eaten. and i was innocent. were it not for the fact that crucial evidence was disclosed to my detense team just eight days before trial there could well have been yet another miscarriage of justice in this case. so he talked about late disclosure and we spoke to his team outside of the court here who said that they had been asking for some evidence, evidence which they didn't tell us what that evidence was, but they had been asking for evidence for the last eight or nine months, it was only eight or nine months, it was only eight days before his trial that they disclosed that evidence to them. he was clearly very upset, but he has left court now to go back home with his family. the troubled retailer toys r us has

avoided administration after the pension protection fund said it will back a restructing plan. a meeting of creditors approved the plan with more than 98% in favour. the deal could save more than 3,000 jobs in the uk. our business correspondent simon gompertz is outside a store in south london. asigh of a sigh of relief for many of the employees, if not all of them? yes that's right, outside the old kent road store in south london. it is a reprieve for toys—r—us, but it is a vindication of the strategy of the pension protection fund, which was speaking for the pension scheme of this troubled company and it had played hard ball and said it wanted £9 million out of toys—r—us to shore up £9 million out of toys—r—us to shore up the pension scheme. toys—r—us said it wouldn't pay. but it has

managed to get a similar sum paid over the next three years for the sake of 600 people in the pension scheme. there are 3,000 who work for toys—r—us. part of plan that has been approved is some of the stores will be closed — 26 out of 105. this store is one of those, so between five and 800 staff will lose their jobs across the country. probably the announcements coming in the spring. for now for customers over christmas and into the new year, it is normal trading. and it is busy here and the commitments such as paying out nor a gift card or they will fake a return —— take a return. it is business as usual at toys—r—us. it is business as usual at toys-r-us. thank you. there's a glimmer of hope for the british mother being held in an iranian prison after her case was made eligible for early release. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe is serving

a five year sentence for allegedly plotting to topple the iranian government. a little earlier, nazanin‘s husband, richard ratcliffe, spoke to emma barnett on bbc radio 5 live. yesterday, her lawyer went into to visit her in prison and was excited and said, good news, on the judiciary computer system, the data base, she has been marked as eligible for early release. before she was marked as a closed case. how are you feeling? part of me is trying not to get too hopeful. but he was hopeful and told her it is a matter of finalising paperwork and it maybe days to weeks rather than tomorrow. but definitely it feels like the end is much closer. days to weeks, that is what you're working with? part of me is hoping still perhaps christmas. that is very soon. it is very soon indeed. but it feels like

the end is very near. this is what you have talked about, christmas has been your benchmark? yes and kind of there is an extended christmas it would be great to have her back on christmas eve or boxing day and you know that is still seems possible now. huw edwards will be speaking to richard radcliffe on the the news at 5. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines: theresa may is in poland — where she expressed concern about the role of the police, after she sacked first minister of state, damian green. creditors of the struggling retailer toys—r—us have approved a rescue plan to prevent it going in to administration. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe who was jailed in iran has been told by her lawyer that she is eligible for earl y lawyer that she is eligible for earl y release. coming up:

apple confirms it deliberately slows down some models of the iphone as they age. we'll bring you the latest. in sport birmingham has been awarded the 2022 commonwealth games. they we re the 2022 commonwealth games. they were the only bidder. following manchester and glasgow as previous uk hosts. there is a blow for burnley as one player is suspended for three matches of accepting a violent conduct charge. a day after paul clement was sacked, ryan giggs said he is not in the running to ta ke said he is not in the running to take over at swansea. i'm back for an update in15 take over at swansea. i'm back for an update in 15 minutes. two men have been arrested in australia after police say a car was deliberately driven into a crowd of pedestrians in a busy street in melbourne. 1a people have been injured — several of them critically. police say the driver was a 32—year—old australian citizen of afghan origin with a history of mental health issues and drug use. a second man, who was arrested nearby, was said to be filming the incident and was carrying a bag containing knives.

but police say at this stage there's no evidence of a terror link. from there — hywel griffith reports. pinned to the ground, a man arrested by the policejust a few meters from the 4x4 vehicle used to mow down pedestrians. around them, paramedics rushed to help the injured pedestrians left lying in the street. minutes earlier, the city centre was packed with commuters and christmas shoppers. the car drove towards them at speed, leaving some in a critical condition. the police say the driver was a 32—year—old australian of afghan descent with a history of mental health problems. at this time we don't have any evidence or intelligence to indicate a connection with terrorism. having said that, however, we continue to support this investigation with our counter terrorism command to ensure that there isn't that connection

and that there is no ongoing threat. eyewitnesses were left in shock. one business owner watched events unfold in front of him. he just ploughed into them without stopping. all i could hear was people hitting the front bumper and windscreen and people screaming and the only reason i think he slowed down was because of the sheer volume of people he hit. special security measures to prevent vehicle attacks have been introduced in melbourne after a similar incident in january. but nothing was able to stop the 4x4 bringing chaos to the city once again. we have seen a horrific act, an evil act, an act of cowardice perpetrated against innocent bystanders, we are all caught up in this. we are all deeply sad and deeply wounded. police are still questioning the driver and a second man arrested at the scene.

they've stressed they believe this was a one—off incident, but melbourne remains a city on high alert. hywel griffiths, bbc news. more than sixty thousand mothers or babies have been harmed by potential lapses in maternity care in england in the past two years. the bbc has learned that more than a quarter of a million incidents were logged by hospital staff between april 2015 and march 2017 — the equivalent of one mistake for every five births. our health correspondent adina campbell reports. three years ago wendy and ryan lost their baby daughter, who was still born. an nhs investigation found some maternity guidelines were not followed. something which has deeply affected the couple ever since. leaving the hospital with a box of things, instead of your baby, was just... having to leave your babely.

—— baby there you can't comprehend it. it us with at this hospital where wendy was cared for. despite saying she had concerns about her ba by‘s saying she had concerns about her baby's movement, she was sent home. but she could have been sent to another hospital with a consultant—led another hospital with a consulta nt—led unit. another hospital with a consultant—led unit. there are 1.3 births in england. nhs staff are encouraged to use a voluntary reporting scheme if they have concerns about ca re reporting scheme if they have concerns about care and since 2015 more than 275,000 incidents at maternity units have been reported. the problems included women being told to stay at home. babies being left brain—damaged. and potentially avoidable deaths. just over three quarters of the cases reported did

not cause any harm to mother or baby. but more than 60,000 did. something the government says it is hoping to reduce under new plans announced last month. there isjust too much heartache, too many appalling tragedies when these kind of things happen. we want to be the safest a nd of things happen. we want to be the safest and best maternity system in the world. the majority of births are completely safe. but what is going wrong at the moment is that when we have a tragedy, we are not learning from it nearly as effectively as we should. the royal couege effectively as we should. the royal college of midwives said staffing levels must improve. the college is concerned about the levels of midwifery staffing and they are low. we would like to think of solutions and ways of making sure we have more midwives in the future. east sussex health care trust say they have

apologised to wendy and ryan. but it is no comfort to the couple. you can't move forward. we have tried to. but we can't. it is there every day. memorieses. it is the thirst thing when i think about when i wake up thing when i think about when i wake up and the last thing i think about at night. homelessness in england — its been called a national crisis by a committee of mps with more than 9 thousand people sleeping on the streets and tens of thousands in temporary accommodation. homelessness is not just a complex problem, it can also be a hidden one. a bbc poll has found that one in ten young people across the uk has spent at least a month so—called "sofa surfing" — staying with friends because they've nowhere else to go. a thousand people aged between 16 and 25 were questioned for the survey. two—fifths said there had been at least one night where they had nowhere to call home. ian palmer reports. four years ago, dale was thrown out of home by his mother on christmas day.

he was 16 years old. on the day, ijust called a friend and went over there and that's how i ended christmas day and then, from there, it was sofa—surfing for two months, between friends and families' houses, just finding somewhere to stay while i was doing my a—levels. dale's problems began aged seven, when his father left home. he began living with his grandmother, caring for her after a stroke. but, during his gcses, she needed 24—hour assistance, so he moved back in with his mum. after being kicked out, dale says he often didn't know where he was going to spend the night while studying at school. it was very hard trying to balance worklife and personal life, because it's hard to focus on doing your schoolwork and revision during the day when you're worried where you're going to sleep at night. the poll company comres spoke to more than 1,000 people aged between 16 and 25. the study found just over 9.3% had spent the night on a friend's floor or sofa for up to a month. the most common reasons included parents being unable or unwilling to provide housing, extended family being unable to help, and splitting from a partner.

the homeless charity key, based in leyland in lancashire, helps young people who have nowhere to live. its operations director says sofa—surfing is a hidden and growing problem. about 70% of the young people we see in our homeless drop—in have sofa—surfed, and that's often before they come to see us at key, perhaps thinking they can go home, back to their parents' houses, or that maybe it's ok in the long—term to stay with different friends or family. when they run out of options, it's often then they seek help, either from the council or directly from ourselves. charities say the government needs to improve the way it counts the number of people who are homeless. there is a really big gap between those people who are actually homeless — they have literally nowhere to live, or they are in temporary, very unsuitable accommodation — and the statistics that the government puts together, and it's really important that, if we are to tackle homelessness, the government gets its figures right because, unless it

gets its figures right, it won't persuade the treasury to make the resources available to tackle the problem. from next april, the way the government collates information about homelessness will change. it says local authorities will have a legal duty to find out more information on people in a homeless household. dale taylor gentles says, although he never had to sleep rough, he often came close to it. the 20—year—old has found somewhere to live with the help of the charity centrepoint. he is in his second year at university, studying sociology and criminology. ian palmer, bbc news. people are queuing outside polling stations in catalonia in spain, to cast their vote in the regional elections. the election is intended to resolve a stand—off between the spanish government and campaigners, who unilaterally declared catalan independence in october. the independence issue has dominated the campaign, with opinion polls suggesting it will be a close result between separatist and pro—unity camps. our correspondent tim

willcox joins us now from barcelona with the latest. tim, how many of those former regional leaders are taking part this time? well, that is the big issue here, you talk of people queueing to go into polling stations, they were this morning at 9 o'clock. but it is a working day and the numbers have thinned out. mariano rajoy said he wanted to bring stability, but these are far from normal elections, bear in mind that the leader of one of the independence parties, the former president here, carles puigdemont he is in self—imposed exile in brussels. he has been represented by a hologram. his former deputy, the leader of a republican party, he is

in prison in madrid facing charges of rebellion. he has been master minding his campaign from there. he cast his postal ballot we understand on monday. he gave an interview and asa on monday. he gave an interview and as a result of that he has been give an extra five days on this indefinite custodial sentence at the moment. because he has not been charged. we are seeing a campaign held in a very interesting, difficult context and that has been highlighted as you can imagine by the separatist leaders. on the other hand, you have the prounionist, pro—madrid parties, campaigning that independence is something that needs to be forgotten and the region is split and for the region to move on, for spain's economy to move on, people need to get behind a pro—unionist wing and the main party emerging in the last few months has

been a party called the citizens party. they only held nine or ten seats, but this time they could have the greatest number of seats, but they would need to go into coalition with others. and that same issue applies for the separatists as well. no one party is going to emerge with a knock out majority. they will need to form a coalition. there is the rub, because both sides could well find that difficult to do and it could be if neither side can do that, we will look at new elections in the new year. thank you. people buying new—build houses in england will no longer be obliged to enter leasehold agreements, the government has announced. anyone buying a flat — or a house — on a lease of longer than 21 years will also not have to pay any ground rent. leasehold have generally been used forflats in shared buildings

to make multiple ownership straightforward, but developers have been increasingly selling houses on these terms. earlier this year the department for communities and local government cited examples of: a homeowner being charged £1,500 by the free—holding company to make a small change to their family home. a family home which is now impossible to sell because the ground rent is expected to hit £10,000 a year by 2060. a homeowner who was told buying the lease would cost £2,000 but the bill came to £110,000. also i'm joined by andrew burgess, planning director at churchill retirement living, which specialises in developing purpose built apartments designed to meet the needs of older people. with me is sebastian o'kelly from leasehold knowledge partnership, part of the all party parliamentary group on leasehold reform. first of all, what impact will these changes have on providers like you? this will have a massive impact on people. there needs to be a

distinction between the behaviour and what has been carried on for many years in the retirement... problems with sound. many years in the retirement... problems with soundi many years in the retirement... problems with sound. . we are struggling to hear you. you can understand the impulse the government has to protect people from those practices we listed. yes and we support the government, but they're throwing the baby out with they're throwing the baby out with the bath water. mr burgess, i'm afraid we cannot hear you. we see that you're talking, but it is so crackly we will have to stop. can we do better with sebastian o'kelly. not everyone behaves unscrupulously. isn't this a blunt instrument? no it isn't. it is excellent news for consumers and for lease hold owners

who have been ripped off by plc householders. it is a shame andrew got cut off, he was making the point that the ground rents are essential for the viability of some developments, which we have heard before and is complete rot. ground rents are not essential to any schemes. if they were lease hold houses would be cheaper than free hold houses. but land registry data shows they have been sold for more than free hold houses. they're not an important consideration for developers. ground rents will end and that is a good thing for anybody thinking of buying a house and good news for first time buyers. but surely they will be more relu cta nt but surely they will be more reluctant if there is less money to

collect and therefore they will choose not to build as many properties at a time when we are in crises? you can tell that to the chief executive of one of the companies who is in line to get a bonus of £100 million, that his profitability is going to be affected. i'm sorry this isjust going to create a hollow laugh for anybody who knows anything about the house—building sector. they have been taking asked for a ride. refuelled a surge in house building through the help to buy scheme, taxpayers have been underwriting 20% of first—time buyers' mortgages and developers have remunerated themselves accordingly. sorry, create proper houses, sell them, don't create complex financial arrangements under people's homes — sell them and go away. where does this leave people who are already in a leasehold property? this is the really painful question. we estimate that 100,000 owners are stuck in

properties with very onerous ground re nt properties with very onerous ground rent terms, where the ground went doubles every ten years. those properties are completely unsellable. we know that nationwide and hsbc are not lending mortgages on these properties. we are consta ntly on these properties. we are constantly contacted by people whose sales have fallen through and they desperately need assistance. it has been raised in a commons debate which is in fact taking place now and in fact the housing minister is just concluding his speech and it has been raised by a number of mps, who are concerned about this. it needs sorting out. people who bought these hold houses should be offered these hold houses should be offered the freeholds of these houses at the prices that originally was suggested they could have them for, and the leasehold flat owners need their leases to be changed from a doubling the ground rents to something connected with inflation, so that at least the properties can be sold. at the moment we've got 100,000 people who cannot sell their properties. there is a range of human reasons why some people might need to move,

and they're absolutely stuck through fio and they're absolutely stuck through no fault of their own. they have been sold a pup. i think we have got andrew black. thank you for persevering with us, i don't know whether you could hear sebastian coe kelly but he was saying the idea that these properties are not going to be profitable any more if you can't charge ground rent is a nonsense and that there is plenty of money to be made from the profits being made by construction firms?|j fundamentally being made by construction firms?” fundamentally disagree with him. what has happened here is that the government have carried out a broad brush approach, penalising retirement developers like as, when we're paying the price for activities carried out by some of the volume house—builders. a modest ground rent being a feature of retirement homes and it has been such for over 30 years and there is

no reason why that should not continue. what is the ground went for, people can understand what a service charge is for, it is for maintaining the property, but what isa maintaining the property, but what is a ground rent for? it is an investment vehicle which allows us to... it ensures that we are more competitive in the land market and we can bring forward more properties. the unintended consequence of this is that although we've had a government saying it wishes to build more houses, this will actually slow down housing delivery. it is interesting that the prime minister made it our number one priority and i really do think the government needs to reconsider its approach in respect of retirement house—building. we have more and more older people, an ageing population and this is a real kick in the teeth to the industry. thank you. it is time for a look at

the weather forecast, with sarah. and it is the winter solstice?! that's right. the shortest day of the year and the sun is setting on the year and the sun is setting on the shortest day of the year. this was taken by one of our weather watchers in lyme regis earlier run. the sun setting on the shortest day of the year. and if we look at the sunset times across the uk, it has been varying between around three o'clock and around four o'clock, giving us around eight hours of daylight, which we saw today. as the days get a bit longer we will start to see the evenings drawing out but the mornings continued to be darker for a little bit of longer, until january, after which the mornings will start to get lighter as well. elsewhere across the world, it varies. six hours in oslo, anchorage in alaska, five hours, one spot in

norway north of the arctic circle, they have been in darkness for 2h hours today. and they get a full day of light in the summer. but it, so it compensates. but the mild weather is not feeling very christmassy at all at the moment. yes, temperatures have been above—average, and that theme continues over the next few days. we have got this front draped across the country, which has brought us a cloudy day. outbreaks of rain across northern ireland and england and wales, too. the front slips southwards tonight and we will see patchy rain with it. a lot of cloud moving in from the west. for most of us it is a frost free start to the day tomorrow. let's take a look at friday morning if you're heading out. it's going to be quite gloomy morning which a lot of low cloud and hill fog across wales. trier i think towards the

south—east, but there could still be some misty and murky patches. in northern ireland it is a mild, cloudy start. for many places through the day, it's another cloudy, grey day, especially around coasts and hills across the western half of the uk. that's where we will have all of that low cloud. temperatures certainly still mild at about 11—12 for many of us in. high pressure is still very much in charge as we head into the weekend, but your notice this weather front to the north which is going to be pretty stubborn throughout the weekend and into christmas day. much of the country having a dry day on saturday, a bit of a breeze which will help to break up the cloud, and again temperatures in double figures, pretty mild. this is

christmas eve and it looks like we will have some rain across northern ireland and some persistent rain across the western half of scotland, which could bring some flooding problems. this is christmas day, some fairly heavy and persistent rain again across scotland, flooding possible, potential disruption to travel. a little bit of snow across far north of scotland, but for most of us, no sign of a white wrist must. we will keep you up—to—date with the latest forecast on our website. you're watching bbc news. our main headlines... theresa may says she's concerned about the role of the police in the sacking of first minister of state damian green just the prime minister made the comments ata summit

the prime minister made the comments at a summit in poland.” the prime minister made the comments at a summit in poland. i share the concerns being raised across the political spectrum of comments that we re political spectrum of comments that were made by a former police officer, and i expect that issue to be properly investigated and to be taken seriously. the retailer toys—r—us has avoided going into administration. a deal has been struck between the company and one of its largest creditors. the company employs about 3000 people in the uk. the family of a british iranian woman imprisoned in iran say she may now be available for early release. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe was arrested in 2016 during a holiday and accused of being a spy. a man has been arrested in the australian city of melbourne after he drove into a crowd at a busy junction injuring at least 1a people. police have called it a deliberate act but say there is no evidence it was terror related. the bbc has learned that tens of thousands of mothers and babies in england were harmed by lapses in

maternity care in the past two yea rs. maternity care in the past two years. ina maternity care in the past two years. in a moment, as birmingham is announced as the host city of the 2022 commonwealth games, we'll be getting reaction from the city. sport now, with olly foster, and no crying over spilt milk in manchester? absolutely not. this was dominating the news agenda last week, all the fallout from the manchester derby at old trafford, manchester derby at old trafford, manchester city beating manchester united. there was an altercation outside the dressing rooms, lots of claims and counterclaims and speculation about what actually happened. the manchester city coach mikel arteta got a cut to his head, milk was thrown, apparently, from the manchester city dressing room towards jose mourinho, the manchester city dressing room towardsjose mourinho, who took umbrage at the apparently excessive celebrations from the away dressing room. the fa stepped in and asked

both clubs for their observations, as they put it jack gave received the observations at the fa have decided, probably because neither clu b decided, probably because neither club gave that much information, to ta ke club gave that much information, to take no action whatsoever. so, it's never happened to of course not! but we will keep referring to it, no doubt! finally, birmingham being given the nod for the commonwealth games? yeah, they were the only bidders, though. they saw off liverpool, that was the most competitive part of his bidding process. they got the vital government support that they needed and so birmingham went forward to the commonwealth games federation at the commonwealth games federation at the end of september and hit that deadline. the federation bought a little bit more time because they we re little bit more time because they were the only city to come forward for 2022. there had been a couple of others but they did not come up with any official bid, so there was

absolutely no suspense about today's announcement in birmingham, when they were officially given games. it was supposed to be durban but they simply could not afford it so birmingham stepped in and bailed out the federation. they gave the guarantees and they got a budget of £750 million. it's something the city has wanted and needed for many years. it will be more than a billion people watching 70 different nations and territories here, it will be an extraordinary opportunity for the city and the broader region to showcase its self to the world and to develop all sorts of new links with the commonwealth at a point in time when we will be leaving europe and the relationships with our commonwealth partners will be so much more important. a couple of other football lines for you this afternoon. burnley‘s james tarkowski is going to get an unwanted break over christmas. he has accepted a

charge of violent conduct by the fa and he is suspended for three matches. video evidence was used after officials failed to see him elbowing glenn murray off the ball over the weekend. he'll miss the games against spurs, manchester united and huddersfield. but he will be available to face liverpool on new year's day. the burnley manager had criticised his player after the game but now he says some blame should be attached to murray. the reason we are a bit surprised is because you can clearly see glenn murray grab his hand. so, i would suggest an action causes a reaction. we put that to the panel but they decided that it should not be reduced. i think then that opens up what i think has got to be looked at, because that incident can't be seeing the same as some of the incidents we see, and therefore a three—game ban, i think that has to change, because i think it is a

retaliation to an action. ryan giggs was one of the favourites to take over at swansea but he has ruled himself out, a day after paul clement was sacked at the liberty stadium. the manchester united legend was assistant at old trafford after louis van gaal and had a brief ca reta ker after louis van gaal and had a brief caretaker role. he was considered for the swansea role last year but thejob was given for the swansea role last year but the job was given to bob radley, for the swansea role last year but thejob was given to bob radley, who lasted less than three months. that's the sport for now. now, on afternoon live, let's go nationwide and see what's happening around the country and our daily visit to bbc newsrooms around the uk. an all sporty theme today. nick owen from midlands today is in birmingham, the city which has been announced as the host of the commonwealth games in 2022. and i

will be speaking to alex lovell of points west in bristol about bristol city's incredible win last night against manchester united. first of all, nico in, this announcement, we all, nico in, this announcement, we all knew it was coming but what was the atmosphere like? there was a sense of hushed anticipation, really, at the academyjust around the corner from the alexander stadium in birmingham, which will be the focus of the games. the teenagers were called together for a special assembly this morning and there wasjubilation special assembly this morning and there was jubilation amongst everyone, as it was confirmed by the president of the commonwealth games federation... birmingham 2022 will put on a truly spectacular festival of sports, community and culture. i hope when the streets are packed and the stadium full and the crowds are cheering and visitors are arriving from all over the world, we will all rememberand be from all over the world, we will all remember and be proud from all over the world, we will all rememberand be proud of from all over the world, we will all remember and be proud of the journey

started here at birmingham academy. briefly, what has the reaction been like in the city? a mixture of excitement and relief, really. it has been odds—on for ages, seemingly endless delay while they were stacking up the figures but there is real relief now. i was at a lunch just now with a load of well—known birmingham figures including the likes of jasper carrott, and they're all delighted. i think it will be an inspiration for many young athletes, many of whom seemed to be at this school this morning, thinking they're going to be in with a chance of competing in the games. the economy will be boosted by £1 billion, loads of good news, a real feel—good factor. billion, loads of good news, a real feel-good factor. alex lovell, tell us feel-good factor. alex lovell, tell us what happened on the pitch with bristol city last night? honestly, christmas came early and notjust for birmingham but for the bristol city fans as well. they beat manchester united in the league cup

quarterfinal, with a fantastic goal from local lad joe bryan which put them in the lead. man u quickly equalised and then in the most dramatic way possible, in the 93rd minute, korey smith scored and became a hero. city came giant killers and they are now in the semifinals against premier league leaders manchester city home and away. korey smith was very sweet, he'sjust had a baby and he says he hasn't really slept at all overnight probably because of that and the baby i'm sure! and it was really funny, lee johnson, the baby i'm sure! and it was really funny, leejohnson, the manager, was so excited he ran down the pitch and grabbed ball boy and swung swung him round because he said he just needed to hug somebody. it was the second most popular thing trending on twitter around the world, and just a huge event for bristol. really exciting. and the fans was no reaction? bonkers, really. the best way is to have a listen to them

themselves... i've got no words, it was unbelievable. you always hope but you never think it will actually happen. fabulous, tremendous. what a game, what a result. it was perfect, right at the end like that, come on! those boys done us proud today, bristol city, one team in bristol! they were pretty happy, weren't they? alex lavelle and nick owen, thank you forjoining us. and if you would like to see more on any of those stories, you can access them via the bbc iplayer. and a reminder, we go nationwide every weekday afternoon at half past four here on afternoon live. now, have

you realised recently that your iphone has been running a bit slow maybe? well, apple have now confirm to the suspicion that it does deliberately slow down some aspects of the iphone as they age. so, they had to have their arms twisted to admit this? well, it was found out by some people from a website called geekbench who do lots of front tests on speed of mobile phones. they noticed that some models of iphone appeared to slow down when the battery was of a certain age, and apple has now admitted that it did do that to prolong the life of the devices on the iphone 6, six s and the iphone seven as well, deliberately slowing down when the battery gets older. how do they do it and what can you do to stop them doing it? the lithium-ion batteries

in mobile phones, their performance degrades over their lifetime. two yea rs degrades over their lifetime. two years after you've got a phone, they no longer hold their charge as well as they used to edit the other thing is, an old artery can't deliver co nsta nt is, an old artery can't deliver constant power in the wake it used to, so it might deliver slightly too much power or not enough, and that can damage the components. as a manufacturer you've got a choice, you can either shucked off the phone to protect it if you've got one of those power surges, and with an old battery in there, we've probably all experienced that, it was at 20% and then it's just turned experienced that, it was at 20% and then it'sjust turned off... that's because it is protecting itself. the other option is that you put less stress on the battery by reducing the power demand, so make the phone run slower so it will not need as much power. but that has a trade—off, because then the phone is running slower, and people have noticed. change the battery? you can, if you take it active apple store, it costs 50 quid or more here

in the uk, so not cheap. you can do it at home but it is a bit of an undertaking and you will void your warranty. some breaking news to bring you now. we have a statement from no 10 regarding allegations of sexual misconduct. the prime minister had asked the cabinet office to look into these allegations regarding mark carney amp, parliamentary undersecretary of state at the department for frayed, primarily considering his behaviour asa primarily considering his behaviour as a minister. and also hearing evidence about a time before he was appointed to government. the cabinet office have concluded that there is no evidence that mark garnier‘s conduct as a minister since 2016 breached the expected standards of behaviour and therefore he did not break the ministerial code. cabinet office also took evidence in relation to an incident before he

was a minister, between mark garnier and a member of his parliamentary constituency staff. they've also concluded that there was no dispute about the facts of the incident but about the facts of the incident but a difference of interpretation between the parties, and the member of staff in mark garnier‘s office was distressed by what had occurred. we're told mark garnier has apologised unreservedly to the individual and that there was no intention to cause any distress, and on that basis the prime minister considers a line should be drawn under that matter. in a moment, the business news with susannah. first, a look at the headlines. theresa may is in poland, where she expressed concern about the role of the police after she sacked first minister of state damian green. creditors of toys—r—us have approved a rescue plan to prevent it going into administration. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, who is jailed in iran, has been told by her lawyer that she is eligible for early

release, according to her mp. here are your business headlines. the practice of sending leaseholds on new—build homes is to be banned by the government. communities secretary sajid javid made the announcement and said there will be some exceptions with shared ownership. use of such leaseholds have shot up in recent years and developers have used them to push up ground rents. the us has ruled that canada's bombardier ground rents. the us has ruled that ca nada's bombardier received government subsidies to sell gets below cost in the us and it is likely to lead to steep tariffs. it follows a petition from rival american company boeing. the conflict has the potential to lead tojob conflict has the potential to lead to job losses conflict has the potential to lead tojob losses in northern ireland. bombardier says it is deeply disappointed by the decision. the number of cars built in the uk last month fell 46% compared with a year

earlier, driven by a decline in domestic demand. —— fell 4.6%. a report said output in the domestic fell by 20% as a result of brexit uncertainty and other factors. fell by 20% as a result of brexit uncertainty and otherfactors. a fell by 20% as a result of brexit uncertainty and other factors. a few stories on the move today, toys—r—us first of all? yeah, just days before christmas they have avoided collapsing, after it came to an agreement with its creditors to restructure the business. and it did that by vowing to put more money into its pension fund, which is in deficit. the pension protection fund wa nted deficit. the pension protection fund wanted it to put in around $9 million immediately and it said it could not do that so now there is an agreement that those payments will be staggered over the next three yea rs. be staggered over the next three years. it seems that for now, those jobs are ok but there will be some

closures starting from next spring, which are likely to affect around 800 people. and shell entering the utility market for the first time? yes, this would make it the direct energy providerfor yes, this would make it the direct energy provider for 825,000 yes, this would make it the direct energy providerfor 825,000 british homes. it says it really wants to build the position of first utility. at the moment first utility is the seventh largest provider in the uk, and of course shell reckons it can compete with the big six and says it is well—positioned to do so. we're expecting perhaps that it would like to ta ke expecting perhaps that it would like to take advantage of the 5 million customers on its forecourts. and briefly, some house—builders saying that they're going to be affected by these plans over leases? yes, and that has affected the share price of some house—builders today. we can speak to richard dunbar now. first of all, toys—r—us, just before christmas, relief for employees and

customers are doing it is good news, the pension fund had considerable control in these debates about where this was heading. they've used that control well and acted in the interests of their members. it looks like they have reached an accommodation at it looks like they're going to get through the volu nta ry they're going to get through the voluntary arrangement here and the company will continue to be able to trade, although as you say there will bejob trade, although as you say there will be job losses attached. what do you make of shell buying first utility? it is very interesting. it is the first time they've come into the domestic market. it's been a market that's been filled with controversy from customers, regulators and politicians, with a the government announcing price caps earlier in the year. so, it is interesting that a big player like this wishes to get in and add more competition to the market, and i think it adds an interesting dynamic to it. and mccarthy and stone, the

retirement home builder, shares have fallen 10% after this announcement about leaseholds — do you think they've been treated fairly?m about leaseholds — do you think they've been treated fairly? it is interesting, mccarthy and stone put forward a special case on behalf of the retirement market. they're feeling was that the ground rents being paid by their customers, or the owners of the flats, were paying actually for maintenance of these developments and it was for their own benefit and the benefit of the company as well. so, it is a larger pa rt of company as well. so, it is a larger part of the revenues for mccarthy and stone than it is for the other big house—builders like parsimony and berkley group. hence the fall in the share price, but obviously the arguments they put forward were not listened to and the share price reacted accordingly. thank you. a quick look at the markets before we go the ftse—100 has hit another record high. we will have to see

what happens tomorrow, with energy firms on the front foot. thank you very much. that's it from your afternoon live team for today. next it's the bbc news at six five, with huw edwards. let's have a look at the weather. winter solstice today, the weather. winter solstice today, the shortest day of the year. we've got some drizzly rain across parts of northern england and northern ireland this evening. it will be pushing into wales, too. mostly dry tonight across the south—east. mild in most places, but scotland could have a sharp frost. there will be some mist and fog tomorrow, drizzly rain in the south and west will ease away. it will continue to be murky across western areas. a bit more brightness tomorrow further east across the country. temperatures between 9—1012. saturday, some heavy rain across the far north—west of scotland. that's going to be more important moving on into christmas,

with potentially disruptive rain in the north—west of scotland. moving into christmas, things are staying mild and cloudy and breezy. there could be some potentially heavy rain towards the north. today at five: after the sacking of damian green, some conservative mps demand action against former police officers for the way they handled the case. the former first secretary of state was accused of making misleading statements about pornography found on his office computer nine years ago, now the police handling will be investigated. i share the concerns that have been raised across the political spectrum about comments that were made by a former police officer and i expect that issue to be properly investigated. we'll have the latest on the repercussions from mr green's departure, he was one of theresa may's closest colleagues in government. the other main stories on bbc news at five:

lawyers for the british—iranian woman, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, who's injail in iran, say she's eligible for early release. we'll be speaking to her husband.