tonight at six — the sacking of the deputy prime minister — anger among some conservative mps about the role of police officers in the affair. —— former police officers. damian green admits making misleading statements about pornography allegations — but now theresa mayjoins mps concerns and calls for an investigation. 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 be asking where this leaves the pm's authority. also tonight: the plight of yemen's children — it's the worst humanitarian crisis in the world — we have a special report. the british citizenjailed in iran — cautious optimism after the government there says she's now eligible for early release. apple admits it deliberately slows down older iphones — but they says it's not to make you buy a new one. # we're gonna rise up! # time to take a shot!

it took broadway by storm — now the hip—hop musical hamilton is already sold out over here — we talk to the musical director. we will have sportsday on the bbc news channel with all of the latest reports, results, interviews, and features from the bbc sports centre. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. theresa may has joined several tory mps who've been questioning the conduct of the retired police officers involved in pornography allegations against her deputy, damian green. they revealed that pornographic images had been found on his commons computer nine years ago.

last night the prime minister sacked mr green after he admitted making misleading statements about the affair — though he denies viewing or downloading the images. asjohn pienaar reports the loss of damian green adds yet another challenge to what's been a year of political turmoil for the prime minister. sacked, not for a crime, sacked, not fora crime, but fora cover—up. have you let the prime minister down, mr green? he still denies behaving inappropriately towards a young journalist. denies viewing pornography in the office yea rs before. viewing pornography in the office years before. but when he denied not knowing anything about —— but when he denied knowing anything about the pornography that was the end. theresa may believes in duty, even if it means sacking her most trusted friend and cabinet, even if some mps believe that former policeman who found the pornography betrayed their

duty by going public. and if they did she says they should answer for it. i have shared the concerns that have been raised across the political spectrum about comments that were made by a former police officer. i expect that issue to be properly investigated, to be taken seriously, and to be properly looked at. but damian green's fate is settled. today he tweeted good wishes to sympathisers and he said: this was the fateful moment caught on camera nine years ago, police investigating home office leaks, raiding mr green's office. the raid was criticised but officers found pornography. when that came out mr green called it a lie, a smear. the command at the time, bob quick, is demanding a retraction, consulting his lawyers, but london's police chief has now given the disclosures

to the information commissioner. we are disappointed to see that it appears that former colleagues have put into the public domain, by the media, material they had access to as part of a confidential investigation. tory mps generally accept damian green had to go like it or not. and some do not like the way former police officers paid. they should be investigating for this. —— officers behaved. it is wrong. how can this. —— officers behaved. it is wrong. how can any this. —— officers behaved. it is wrong. how can any of us trust giving information to the police if senior officers leapt in this way? david davis warned downing street three weeks ago not to punish damian green on former officers with a grudge but he has accepted the sacking as well. the other allegations, a young journalist, kate maltby, complained about

inappropriate behaviour. the enquiry could not reach a verdict, however. on goes theresa may come her old friend and colleague missing from the picture, she needs allies at home and in europe and she has lost the closest one at all. —— on goes theresa may, her old friend and colleague. johnjoins me now from westminster. we seem to be going from one crisis to the other, where does this one leaf theresa may? no prior minister camp nou such a close colleague without feeling a loss. damian green will be missed badly by theresa may. problems ahead, no majority in the commons, brexit to deal with, a cabinet with differing ideas on post—brexit britain around the cabinet table. finding a replacement with the same authority and loyalty. with no ambition for the top job. with no ambition for the top job. with the ability to reach across differences of opinion. that would be easy and it may turn out to be impossible. theresa may will hope to move on from this. notjust the loss of damian green but the whole story about misconduct at westminster. and

tonight we have learned that a junior minister has been cleared of misconduct. he was accused of using inappropriate language towards a parliamentary secretary and at one point, asking her to go and buy six toys. he has apologised. the pressure for higher standards at westminster, that will not stop. but big problem still lie ahead. —— sex toys. thanks very much. the international red cross says the total number of suspected cholera cases in yemen has reached one million. this is yet more evidence of the humanitarian crisis in a country caught up in a brutal war, where more than eighty per cent of the population lack food, clean water and access to health care. our correspondent nawal al—maghafi has been to the capital sanaa — and sent this report — parts of which you may find distressing. crying. this is ii—month—old abdillahi, exhausted

and beyond despair, he'sjust one of yemen's starving children. with his belly swollen from malnutrition, there are 400,000 other infants suffering just like him. once confined to rural areas, the threat of famine has now reached the capital. abdillahi's motherjamilla sits helpless at his side, she's already lost two other children to hunger. she tells me, he's all she has to live for. translation: my husband's salary used to provide for us, it would run out at the end of the month, but he would get paid. everything was ok. now, all we eat is bread and tea. all the infants here were born into this war, now in its third year. from birth, it's a struggle to survive. eight—year—old allah has just arrived and he's just been given his first proper meal in days. he's from a family with a well—paid

government job, but for over a year anyone working for the state hasn't received a salary. so the family quickly fell into poverty. too ashamed to ask their own family for help, they struggled in silence. translation: i break one piece of bread between two children and another is shared out between the rest. that's all we have. at night they ask for dinner, they cry, but i can't give them anything, so they sleep hungry. it's really heartbreaking. in yemeni culture it's shameful to go out and ask for help and i'm shocked that jamilla waited until her son was in this state before she asked her sister for money to bring him here. it makes me wonder how many more people are starving in their homes. and here's the incredible thing, whilst millions of people are starving across the country,

supermarket shelves in the capital are stocked high with food, but ordinary yemenis can no longer afford to shop here. a once busy store, now empty. much of the problem lies here, the saudi—led coalition has blocked all commercial imports from entering yemen's main ports, which has driven up the prices, and the houthi rebels are impeding the distribution of what little aid is being delivered. the un says yemen is the world's biggest humanitarian crisis, but according to its resident co—ordinator the international community is failing yemen. there is a glaring lack of pressure beyond the words. there's been words coming out of the us, there is words coming out of europe and words coming out of the uk and everywhere else, but it's not translating into a pushback on this action and the only solution is political. so the political people have to get around this table and take a real full—hearted approach at fixing this. with a lack of international

diplomacy and the war at a stalemate those at the brunt of the suffering are the vulnerable. nawalal—maghafi, bbc news, sanaa. lawyers for the british—iranian woman, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe — who's injail in iran — say she's been told by the iranian authorities that she's now eligible for early release. mrs zaghari—ratcliffe has been held for 18 months on charges of working against the iranian regime. our correspondent caroline hawley is with me now. what does this state of —— change of status mean? you can be eligible for early release. i've just spoken to her husband, richard, who has been campaigning for her release. he says everything is going in the right direction. he said the tide turned when borisjohnson went to iran earlier this month. he pushed for

the release. he was heavily criticised for complicating her case when he said she was training journalist when in fact she had been there on holiday with her daughter. since his visit there have been a number of positive signals. more phone calls from mrs zaghari—ratcliffe to her husband and more family visits. and apparently her lawyer checked on the computer system of the arabian judiciary and found out she was eligible for early release and he was excited and he told mrs zaghari—ratcliffe about this. —— iranians judiciary. told mrs zaghari—ratcliffe about this. —— iraniansjudiciary. there have been lots of ups and downs in this case. the family are more positive. but they won't celebrate until she was on a plane —— is on a plane home. the retailer, toys r us, has agreed a deal to stop the whole group closing down. creditors have agreed to a restructuring plan which will secure 2,500 jobs. but a further 800 jobs are set to be

lost and there'll be some store closures. the people of catalonia in northeast spain have been voting in regional elections to choose a new parliament. the central government in madrid dissolved the previous administration after it organised an illegal referendum in october and declared independence. our correspondent, james reynolds, is live in barcelona for us. how likely is this to end the political crisis? not many people here think it will end, simply because the divisions are too deep to vanish with a single vote. but i think this election will a nswer vote. but i think this election will answer an important question, which side has greater numbers, pro—independent or pro—spain? after months of crisis, the people of catalonia, all of them, got to vote. no one, it seems, wanted to miss out. in october's disputed independence referendum this polling station was a scene of chaos, the spanish police used force to confiscate ballot boxes. by contrast, this election is organised and orderly, everyone

is getting the chance to vote. for some, this is a chance to get even. spanish police violence in october has turned marta into a pro—independence voter. translation: i want them to listen to us out there in the world. for them to listen to us in spain, in europe. for them to know that the catalan people and catalan sentiment exists and that we've been forgotten. we've been treated like nobodies. in barcelona's old city, families queued to vote. these three sisters split two to one in favour of pro—independence parties. "we haven't tried to convince one another", amena admitted. retired maintenance manjordi wants catalonia to become a republic. raquel said that she was voting forfreedom from spain. marta says she wants deposed pro—independence leader carles puigdemont to return.

but in working—class districts, many voters take the opposite view. translation: if they want independence, they should look for an island and go there, there is spain. catalonia is spain. translation: i want to see a government that is anti—independence because i believe that if the others win our economy will get worse. this election may reveal catalonia's divisions, but it won't bring them to an end. james reynolds, bbc news, barcelona. the time is coming up to quarter past six. our top story this evening... damian green admits making misleading statements about pornography allegations but now theresa mayjoins mps' concerns and calls for an investigation. and still to come...

the host of the 2022 commonwealth games will be birmingham! celebrations in the midlands — we'll hear from the bid team on what they're calling an early christmas present. coming up in the next 15 minutes on sportsday. .. swansea's search for a new manager won't include ryan giggs — the manchester united legend has ruled himself out of the running. now, homelessness blights the lives of tens of thousands of people in britain and only yesterday mps called it a national crisis. some of those affected so called ‘sofa surfers' who move from friend to friend to keep off the streets don't even register in the official statistics. so bbc news has commissioned a poll to discover the scale of the problem, particularly among young people. it found that almost one in ten 16 to 25—year—olds questioned sofa surfed for over a month

and that more than a quarter have done it for over a week. our social affairs correspondent michael buchanan has this special report on britain's young hidden homeless. time passes slowly if you are homeless. for some, most time passes slowly if you are homeless. forsome, most days time passes slowly if you are homeless. for some, most days are spent waiting and hoping, waiting for the phone to ring, hoping they will have a bed tonight. is there anything else we could look at possibly? all right, thank you. sun ‘s local council paid for a room for a few nights as temperatures fell below zero, but with nights becoming warmer his prospects have called. i'm ringing up regarding the room. with the council withdrawing support, the 23—year—old who has spent time in prison and suffers

from mental health problems desperately searches for somewhere to sleep. don't know whether i'm coming or going, i don't know where i will sleep from night tonight. i mightfind i will sleep from night tonight. i might find somewhere i can stay for a few days, then after that it's doing it all again. unlike some, ian knows he has a roof over his head tonight and, thanks to this charity, food in his cupboards. three weeks ina food in his cupboards. three weeks in a friend's flat means sofa surfing is over for now. his in a friend's flat means sofa surfing is overfor now. his next task is to get a job but it won't be easy. looking for a job with no address is really difficult. not only that, with sofa surfing it is difficult to keep your hygiene up, looking smart, it is difficult. sofa surfing mainly affects young men and asa surfing mainly affects young men and as a poll suggests falling out with pa rents as a poll suggests falling out with parents is the main reason. our main drive is to get people back in touch

with theirfamilies, drive is to get people back in touch with their families, that would be oui’ with their families, that would be our first port of call to go back to pa rents our first port of call to go back to parents and say it's not that easy, they won't get a flat straightaway, your child could be left on the streets and negotiate with them. moving back in with his mother was never an option for 20—year—old dale. living in close quarters, our relationship gradually got worse and had a snowball effect, gradually getting worse and worse until christmas day on 2014 when we had a massive argument, she kicked me out andi massive argument, she kicked me out and i became homeless. he normally would have gone to his gran‘s, but she had gone to a home, suffering dementia, so he relied on friends from school. it's extremely stressful because nobody really enjoy his a—levels, i didn't anyway, and it's really hard to balance personal life and work life. it's

ha rd to personal life and work life. it's hard to focus on revision and schoolwork when you don't know where you will be sleeping at night. did you will be sleeping at night. did you sometimes go into school that morning knowing you wouldn't have anywhere to sleep at night? that was often the case, yes. dale prevailed, he's now renting a flat in his second year at university. as we left, sam was facing a night on the streets but hours later a friend called to offer his sofa. relief tonight but tomorrow the search for shelter begins again. michael buchanan, bbc news. it's something people with older apple smartphones have long suspected — their devices slow down with age. now apple has confirmed that it's done deliberately on its older iphone models. but why do they do it? here's our technology correspondent, rory cellan—jones. is this about selling more iphones? that's what a lot of people have a lwa ys that's what a lot of people have

always suspected, planned obsolescence. apple says that's not the case, it's about managing the performance of all iphones, where their lithium batteries get gradually less effective. in cold weather their phones can shut down without warning so what they are doing through a software update is gradually lowering the performance of the phone, putting less strain on it so the battery is less effective than doesn't shut down. it seems a good enough explanation but a lot of people are not impressed it has taken apple more than a year to come clea n taken apple more than a year to come clean about this. thank you. official photographs of prince harry and his american bride—to—be, meghan markle, have been released by kensington palace to mark their engagement. an intimate black and white portrait of the couple and a more formal image of them holding hands were taken by fashion and celebrity photographer alexi lubomirski earlier this week at frogmore house in windsor. birmingham has been confirmed as host of the 2022 commonwealth games. the city's bid was the only one submitted by the september deadline. with an estimated budget of £750 million,

it will be the most expensive sports event in britain since the london 2012 olympics. our sports editor dan roan reports. the host of the 2022 commonwealth games will be... birmingham. the host of the 2022 commonwealth games will be... birminghamm the host of the 2022 commonwealth games will be... birmingham. it may not have been sport's best kept secret but whispers the moment they had been waiting for, an assembly to rememberfor local had been waiting for, an assembly to remember for local schoolchildren this morning with official confirmation their city would be staging its first global sports event. the man in charge of the movement told me they had found an ideal host. i think birmingham will bring diversity, it will bring a journey over the next four years of working with the host city to run the game is right, run it for the people, by the people. birmingham beat liverpool to be the candidate

after original choice durban was stripped of the choice for financial difficulties but no other rivals emerged. come 2022, this stadium will host the finest athletes. for people like heather painting, it is added motivation. —— paton. people like heather painting, it is added motivation. -- paton. to compete here in 2022 is a massive goal of mine. organisers insist the games will transform venues like this and help regenerate this part of birmingham with the athletes‘ village creating 1000 homes. 11 days of sporting action will cost three quarters of £1 billion to stage, the most expensive sport events to be held in britain since london 2012, and a quarter of that total has to be raised by local authorities. the huge cost overruns at london‘s olympic stadium have cast a shadow over the record, and hotel tax with visitors paying a small fee is now

being considered. opinion is very mixed about it, some people are excited about the event coming, it‘s good news for birmingham, others are worried about the effect on council services which are not at a great standard at the moment, and also concerned about the disruption in the local community. how will you go about making sure it represents good value? we are very confident today that with their support, they are saying this is good value for money for the british taxpayer because we are expecting to get the investment back and more. the success of glasgow‘s commonwealth games helps secure written‘s reputation as a sporting host, now it is birmingham‘s turn, and to prove its worth it. it was a smash hit on broadway now the hip—hop musical about one of the men who helped to create america as an independent nation opens in london tonight. ‘hamilton‘ is the story of a poor

immigrant from the caribbean, who arrives in new york on the eve of the american revolution, and goes on to become the country‘s first treasury secretary. our arts editor will gompertz met the musical‘s creator, lin—manuel miranda. # put a pencil to his temple, connected it to his brain...# here is hamilton‘s creator, lin—manuel miranda, at the white house poetry slam in 2009, performing what would become the opening number of his musical about america‘s founding fathers. six years later it opened in new york and became an instant classic. # what‘s your name, man? # alexander hamilton # his name is alexander hamilton and now it‘s in london, as is a few days the man behind the show, and now it‘s in london, as is for a few days the man behind the show, who‘s been compared to... well... are you the 21st—century shakespeare? not even close! no, shakespeare wrote a mind altering amount of dramas and comedies and sonnets, worked with other playwrights. i‘ve written two musicals,

so let‘s everybody chill out. # i‘m past patiently waiting! # i‘m passionately smashin‘ every expectation i recognised in the story of hamilton the story of so many immigrants who are coming to the united states today. and so i used the music that i love to tell the story. a lot has been made of a multiracial cast. this is a story of america then told by america now. we‘re going to use every tool at our disposal to eliminate the distance between a modern audience and something that happened 200 somewhat years ago. the casting is part of that, and casting it to look like the way our country looks eliminates distance. when george washington is a young man of colour and he‘s running for his life, suddenly you‘re not filled with images of washington standing like this, crossing the delaware, he‘s not invincible any more.

it‘s suddenly these are real people. how nervous were you about bringing this show to the uk? i was not nervous at all. what i was very excited for was the reaction to king george iii in the shadow of buckingham palace. i mean we‘re really right up the street, so the only change made in that direction is we have tarted up his outfit quite a bit. george iii might have lost america but he steals this show every night. maybe the family in the big house he bought around the corner will make a royal appointment to see it. will gompertz, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here‘s sarah keith lucas. the sun has set on the winter solstice so we‘ve had the shortest day of the year. it was a mild and cloudy day with brighter spells. this is how the sunset in lyme regis

in dorset. as we had through the next couple of days, that theme is going to continue, still mild, cloudy and breezy too. we have a weather front draped across central parts of the country through this evening and overnight, bringing rain across northern ireland and northern england. through tonight as that eases southwards and eastwards, wet weather across wales and the south—west of england as well. with the clearer skies we could see a touch of frost across scotland but frost free elsewhere with a lot of low cloud, drizzle and hill fog. that sums up the weather tomorrow, a cloudy sort of day with hill fog across northern and western parts of the country. further east, glimmers of brightness. of perhaps the country. further east, glimmers of perhaps some brightness sunshine coming through. moving into the weekend, and a quick look ahead towards christmas, we are keeping high pressure in charge towards the

south but further north this frontal system becomes more of a player through christmas eve and christmas day. during saturday it will produce some wet weather across the north and west of scotland. quite breezy here too. elsewhere pretty cloudy and grey, the best of brightness to the east of higher ground. a quick look ahead towards christmas eve, we still have the weather front in the north producing rain across northern ireland, it could be quite persistent, potentially causing disruption with localised flooding across parts of scotland, and a similar day on christmas day. thank you. that‘s all from the bbc news at six so it‘s goodbye from me and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines... theresa may says there must be a proper investigation into former police officers who revealed that pornography was found on damian green‘s parliamentary computers in 2008. mr green was sacked from the government after he admitted making misleading statements about the affair. the international trade minister mark garnier is to continue in post

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. the international trade minister mark garnier is to continue in post after a cabinet office investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour found that he did not break the ministerial code. the united nations general assembly has voted in favour of a non—binding resolution, rejecting the us decision to recognise jerusalem as israel‘s capital. the husband of the british—iranian woman, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, who‘s injail in iran accused of spying, says she‘s been