this is bbc news. i'm julian worricker. the headlines at 11: a day after the forced resignation of damien green from the cabinet, the woman who alleged he made inappropriate advances speaks to the bbc. kate maltby, a former conservative party activist, says she passed on concerns about mr green to downing street in 2016. i was not seeking a resignation. i never called for his resignation, not as an mp or a minster. i was expecting an apology. parties in favour of an independent catalonia are on course to win more than half the popular vote in regional elections. the un's general assembly votes in favour of a resolution rejecting the us decision to recognise jerusalem as israel's capital. also in the next hour, we'll be reviewing the morning papers.

digbyjones, former trade minister and henry bonsu, broadcaster and campaigner will be looking at stories including the times. and apple, the tech giant, admits that its iphones are deliberately designed to work less quickly as they get older. good evening, and welcome to bbc news. a day after the forced resignation of damien green from the cabinet, the woman who alleged he made inappropriate advances has spoken tonight to the bbc. kate maltby says she passed her concerns on to downing street in 2016. ms maltby, who was found to be a plausible witness by an official inquiry, said the culture in downing street needed to change. and tonight, number 10 said that everyone should be able to work

in politics without fear or harassment. our political editor, laura kuenssberg, has this exclusive report which contains flash photography from the start. damian green's fall from grace began not with claims about the police or pawn but with a woman decades hisjunior. have you let the prime minister down, mr green? these complaints about one of the most powerful men in the country prompted the investigation which removed him from office. kate maltby, journalist and activist, whose account of inappropriate advances towards her by damien green was found to be plausible, if not conclusively proven by cabinet official, sue gray. her aim, to expose the broader concerns, not mr green. i wrote about the problem of sexual harassment in westminster because i knew it was a persistent problem, but i also knew of similar

experiences with many other people in westminster across all parties. umm, but what i was not seeking was a resignation, i've never called for damian green's resignation, either as an mp or as a minister. frankly, what i was expecting was an apology. the daily telegraph blogger, kate maltby. mr green did apologise yesterday, but said he doesn't recognise her account of events. miss maltby is well—known in tory circles and has never hidden being a friendly contact of mr green. but until now, she's never publicly said her concerns about his behaviour led her to tell one of theresa may's team. last year, before he was promoted to become first secretary of state. i was able to give the inquiry a lot of evidence, written evidence, that i'd complained frequently and consistently and contemporaneously. so, umm, i knew that, really, i was believed. the reason that i didn't tell many

people about the first encounter, the encounter at which i felt that political mentorship, or even a job in the conservative party, was being offered at the same time as a sexual suggestion, the reason i didn't tell many people then, except my parents, is i wondered if it was a one—off and eventually i spoke to a very senior and long—serving aide of theresa may. you gave evidence to the official inquiry. that as far as you're concerned, number ten was aware that there was an issue with damian green's behaviour towards women? i gave evidence to the inquiry that as soon as i sat down with sue gray that, to the best of my knowledge, downing street was aware. this whole story has been about power imbalances. this whole story is about power. damien green became a very, very powerful person. i was aware that there seemed to be improper... there seemed to be an improper mixing of mentorship and sexual advance within the

conservative party. in his case, i was aware that he was the deputy prime minister, and i was aware that number 10 knew about it. what would you say to some of our viewers who might be thinking, hang on a minute, this young woman was sending texts to this man, she met him for a drink in a bar, this isjust the rough and tumble of what goes on. we are not wilting flowers. i've always been able to stand up for myself. so i haven't done this so much to complain about my own terrible treatment by damien green so much as to try and change the culture. it is, i mean this is something, the rough—and—tumble of westminster as you put it, it's a highly sexualised environment, it's a highly deceitful environment, it's problematic in many ways. there's a lot that goes on there that we alljust put up with.

but we shouldn't have too. and i have the resources to stand up and say we should not. her riposte to those who claim she went public for her own advantage? i'm sure my career has been damaged by this. it was a calculated loss because i think there's something more important at stake here. if you saw damien green now, what would you say to him? i never want to see him again. downing street flatly denies the prime minister knew. a number ten source said this. yet this winter's revelations have already changed both of their lives for good. laura kuenssberg, bbc news,

westminster. our political correspondent, emma vardy, is in westminster. where do you think her comments take this? it is certainly a significant new claim by her. it is the first time she has said publicly number 10 had been told about concerns over damien green's behaviour, they were told as early as last year before being promoted to first secretary of state. the de facto deputy prime minister. this will call in to question who knew what and when? and how seriously misconduct allegations we re how seriously misconduct allegations were taken how seriously misconduct allegations were ta ken across how seriously misconduct allegations were taken across westminster? of course, it goes to be very hard, really, of why kate says she was

raising these allegations. —— the very heart. she says she wanted to challenge the behaviour that was being tolerated around westminster. as you heard on the report, number 10 as you heard on the report, number io flatly denied theresa may knew about any concerns about damien green before she made him de facto deputy prime minister. you have to remember, it wasn't kate's allegations that led to his sacking, in the end it was because he was shown to have lied about the fact he knew about police claims they found pornography on his computer when they came forward and leaked that information. but it was kate's accusations that set these chain of events information leading to damien green being stepped down. this is not the end of it. theresa may is

trying to draw a line under it to move forward, but there are other enquiries yet to deliver conclusions, on the labour side for example, we can hear about those in the new year. yes, her claim is significant. this raises a question over whether number 10 knew about concerns over damien green's behaviour much earlier than perhaps previously thought. thank you very much. there's been a record turnout in elections in the spanish region of catalonia, where voters are choosing between those parties which back independence and those who want to remain part of spain. with most of the votes counted, the pro independence parties appear to be on course for a majority in the region's parliament. it was dissolved earlier this year, for unlawfully declaring a breakaway in the country's worst political crisis in decades. our correspondent, james reynolds, is in barcelona, and there is some flash photography in his report. my colleague, tim willcox, is in barcelona.

how does it look? it looks like a big defeat for rajoy. bear in mind the illegal referendum showed a 90% majority in favour of leaving spain, according to separatists, a turnout of under 50%. that led to direct rule under article 155. there have been calls for the prime minister to restore normality. he was betting on the silent majority coming out in force and smashing, or according to him, decapitate, the separatist movement. that does not appear to have happened. nothing seems to have changed in the last 2—3 months. according to the projections, with 82% turnout, it seems the separatist groups will be able to form a

majority, a coalition, in the regional parliament, which means theirfight for regional parliament, which means their fight for independence will continue. quite how madrid will react to that news is going to be extremely interesting, because madrid, of course, said the push for independence was illegal, and that has created this whole constitutional crisis in the first race. there are some significant leaders behind bars, not in spain, at all. that is right, the former president has been put into exile. he is saying the results are not negotiable. the people of catalonia have voted. madrid has made this election open to everyone. the results speak for themselves. he has been giving those comments. his former deputy, the leader of the

other big republican movement here, he is in prison in madrid facing up to 30 years in prison for charges of rebellion and sedition. so, it is a mess. it is as complicated as ever. and we now understand that, in fact, the regional parliament might not meet until the first week in january toa meet until the first week in january to a lack a new speaker to go through the formation of any new alliance. —— elect. this crisis in spain, for rajoy, continues. a 44—year—old man has been arrested after stabbing a 30—year—old woman in skipton. we have the latest. information is only just

information is onlyjust coming to light about what happened. it was 330 in the afternoon when a 30—year—old woman was stabbed in a supermarket in skipton. we are told the suspect was initially detained by members of the public and staff at the supermarket, but despite the effort of medics, the woman ultimately died of her injuries. her family have been told. floral tributes have already started to appear at the scene. skipton is of course a relatively small market town. people in the area have described their shock that something happened like this in a peaceful community. a 44—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. north yorkshire police have said anyone who has seen anything should talk to them. a police cordoned remains in skipton this evening. thank you. the united nations general assembly has overwhelmingly backed a resolution calling on the united states

to reverse its decision to recognise jerusalem as the capital of israel. 128 countries, including the uk, voted to reject donald trump's recent announcement, while nine voted against the resolution, which is non—binding. the united states had warned there will be consequences for those nations that challenged its new policy. we will remember it when we are called upon to once again make the world's largest contribution to the un. and we will remember it when so many countries come calling on us, as they so often do, to pay even more and to use oui’ as they so often do, to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit. america will put our embassy in jerusalem. that their benefit. america will put our embassy injerusalem. that is what the american people want us to do and it is the right thing to do. this is a non—binding vote. what is

the significance of what you have witnessed? i think it is twofold. you had a strong repudiation of president trump's decision to recognise jerusalem as israel's capital from the international community. this was a protest vote after the us used their veto to block a legally binding security council resolution covering much of the same ground on monday. but it was also the international community, really, rebuking president trump for his america first foreign policy. this focus or has gone to be a high—stakes debate, but at the fact that they threaten to cut funding from countries raised the stakes. you had country after country saying that this was bullying, blackmail, it showed the us‘s arrogance, that it showed the us‘s arrogance, that it was unethical. you had key us allies really, kind of, not really

taking to the threat and supporting this resolution. amongst some of washington's sharpest critics. do you think there were any minds changed in america's favour what was said today? it is interesting. on the one hand, it backfired. canada was going to vote against this measure and changed to an abstention because one diplomat told me, they didn't like the tone that he united states used. it did have a small impact on influencing other states to. ukraine, for example, had supported the resolution, they didn't even show up today so that you will remember that they recently gotan arms you will remember that they recently got an arms deal with the united states and certainly there were other state that were concerned about this affecting the relationship with president trump. so it certainly did affect a view to members. as i say, overwhelming

majority of the international community and the general assembly sending a sharp message to president trump. the headlines on bbc news: the woman who accused one of the prime minister's closest allies, damian green, of inappropriate advances has told the bbc that she spoke to a senior downing street aide about his behaviour last year. in the spanish region of catalonia, pro—separatist parties are on course to win a majority in regional elections, with nearly all votes counted. the un's general assembly votes in favour of a resolution rejecting the us decision to recognise jerusalem as israel's capital. let's have a quick look at some of the front pages. metro devotes its entire front page to the engagement photo of prince harry and meghan merkel. the paper wishes its readers a merry kissmass. the i claims that the health secretary, jeremy hunt,

wants to take over as deputy prime minister following the departure of damian green. the express headlines details of what it's calling a breakthrough on alzheimers. the financial times shows an image of nikki haley, the us ambassador to the un, who has warned that the us will not forget countries who voted against its decision to recognise jerusalem as israel's capital. the daily mirror leads with a report about an alleged russian spy who visited number 10 as part of a ukrainian delegation. the telegraph features claims from borisjohnson that damian green was the victim of a vendetta by retired met police officers. the times has a similar story, alongside another picture of the recently—engaged royal couple. and the guardian says that tens of thousands of nhs patients will have their surgeries cancelled this winter to help avoid a crisis across the health service. well, our business correspondent simon gompertz says everybody involved in the talks,

realting to toys r us seems satisfied with the outcome. it isa it is a reprieve for toys r us, also a vindication of a strategy of the pension protection fund. in playing ha rd ball pension protection fund. in playing hardball and pension protection fund. in playing hard ball and insisting pension protection fund. in playing hardball and insisting on getting millions of pounds up front to try and close the shortfall in the companies pension schemes up with what has happened is to make things. you being intense talks between the company and the pension protection fund and that has ended up with a compromise whereby they will get the money that they want, but paid by toys r us over the next three years. 0nce toys r us over the next three years. once that was agreed upon they could put the rescue deal that they had been working on to creditors and that past by 98% of the vote. what

it means, is that some of the stores will close. this is one of them on 0ld kent road in london. 36 out of 105 will shut their doors from next spring and that means that out of the 3200 jobs, 500- 800 will spring and that means that out of the 3200 jobs, 500— 800 will still go. for customers, what this means is that trading carries on as normal. it has been busy today with business shoppers picking advantage of the discount. for the moment, all of the discount. for the moment, all of those things like gift cards and promises, replacements if you are not happy with what you have bought, they will carry on as normal for the moment as well. that was simon, talking about the rescue deal that was put forward by toys r us today. a brief look at some of the day's other other news stories. an investigation has cleared the international trade minister mark garnier of breaching the ministerial code,

after it was alleged he asked a member of his staff to go into a sex shop for him. downing street has said theresa may believes a ‘line should be drawn‘ under the matter. an mp‘s aide has been cleared of raping a woman after they had sex in the mp‘s westminster office. 2a year—old sam armstrong, who worked for the conservative mp craig mackinlay, was found not guilty at southwark crown court after a two—week trial. a ukrainian government interpreter, who visited downing street and met theresa may, has been arrested in kiev and accused of being a russian spy. reports say stanislav yezhov had been under surveillance for several months and was present at numerous high level meetings. apple has confirmed the suspicions of many iphone owners by revealing that it deliberately slows down some models of the iphone as they age. the company says this is to prolong their life because the performance of the batteries diminishes over time. our technology correspondent rory cellan—jones reports. they're expensive devices which have made apple the world's most

valuable company. but after a couple of years, many iphone users say there's one thing they begin to notice. what have you noticed as your iphone gets older? it slows down and the battery goes. the battery life goes and it's slightly slower. the phone doesn't last that long and you have to update it. now apple has admitted that it does act to slow down some older models like the iphone 6s released two years ago, but it says that's not, as some suspect, to persuade people to rush out and buy new phones. apple says this move is all about making older versions of the iphone work more reliably. as the battery ages there's a risk, particularly in colder weather, that the phone suddenly shuts down without warning. the software update is designed to stop that happening

by making everything runjust a little more slowly. but the software update in question happened last year. apple put out its statement only after this technology analyst identified what was going on with older phones. so i think apple could have been a lot more transparent. it would have great had apple been straightforward and upfront about this and said your battery is old, we are going to have to do things to ensure that you get good battery life out of your phone. i think if apple had been upfront and transparent from the get go this wouldn't be quite the uproar that it is today. the solution is to replace the battery, rather than the whole phone, but now that they are built in that's nothing like as simple or as cheap as it used to be. rory cellan—jones, bbc news. the government has granted special protection for the place in leicester where the remains of king richard the third were discovered. the amazing find put leicester in the global spotlight and finally solved the mystery of where the king had been buried. now the medieval site will be protected for future generations. amy harris reports.

king richard iii's remains were found ina king richard iii's remains were found in a leicester council car park, which centuries before was a mediaeval monastery. remarkably, the greyfriars site has survived as the city developed around it and now its remains are in the spotlight. rented government protection on the advice of historic england. a very few of these are scheduled and protected in this way. in town and city centres. primarily because often the sites have been built upon, so the assessment and designation of it isn't the right to manage it. what isn't the right to manage it. what is incredibly unusual here is that the site has remained relatively open since the mediaeval period and has not been encumbered by modern—day development. has not been encumbered by modern-day development. the protection means that what is below the ground not just

protection means that what is below the ground notjust here but across the ground notjust here but across the whole greyfriars site will be carefully looked after for centuries to come. a recognition of le i ceste r‘s to come. a recognition of leicester's important part in this country ‘s history. leicester's important part in this country 's history. the usual planning processes are still in place with the council, there is an additional layer of permission required to build on the site, especially if that involves digging. of course it involves protection, but also prominence to leicester and its rich 2000 years of history and thatis its rich 2000 years of history and that is very important for preserving what is here but also telling the world about it. richard iii's remains in our light at leicester cathedral and with his original burial site nearby now protected, the story of the king in the car park which has captivated the car park which has captivated the world can continue to be told. let's bring you the weather now. 0n the shortest day of the year,

there was an absence of sunshine, you will see the pictures to see what i mean. in north yorkshire on the coast, we had this great, flat and featureless sky. it is very quiet weather at the moment, also very mild and that is because we have the jetstream very mild and that is because we have thejetstream driving further to the north of the uk, keeping cold airat bayfor to the north of the uk, keeping cold air at bay for the time being. in the mild airwe air at bay for the time being. in the mild air we see a lot of cloud around. it has been very gloomy, a lot of low cloud around, particularly eight bank sort of day around the hills and it stays that way overnight with more rain and drizzle is in way from northern ireland and england. it will be a bit colder in scotland, where we have clearer skies in northern scotla nd have clearer skies in northern scotland in particular. otherwise, and this blanket of low cloud temperatures 9— 10 degrees, a mild night. a dull and then start to the day on friday, that rain and drizzle

eases away into the continent. indeed a cloud in a lift, in, allowing skies to brighton, but essentially a cloudy day. drizzle in the north—west of scotland, a chance of is sunshine in the north—east of scotland. 11 or 12 degrees. saturday sees stronger wind across the northern half, that helped to break up northern half, that helped to break up the clout to the east of the hills, but in the north—west of scotla nd hills, but in the north—west of scotland and northern ireland there will be rain gathering and further south, cloudy and mild, high pressure a cross south, cloudy and mild, high pressure across the southern parts of the uk. lower pressure to the north keeps these milder atlantic winds going and this conveyor belt of rain on the weather front keeps going as well and it moves a bit further south into scotland, perhaps northern ireland. some rain adding up northern ireland. some rain adding up over the hills that could lead to localised flooding and drizzle around weston hills and coast in england and wales where it will be windy but again my old. then we see

that rain getting together on christmas day. will it be a white one? if you are in the mountains in the north of scotland you could see snow but otherwise it is raining this topic coming into northern ireland, quite dull and windy across england and wales. again it will be mild, highs of ten or 11 degrees. hello. this is bbc news. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment. first, the headlines. a day after the forced resignation of damien green from the cabinet, the woman who alleged he made inappropriate advances speaks to the bbc. kate maltby, a former conservative party activist, says she passed on concerns about mr green to downing street in 2016. in the spanish region of catalonia, pro—separatist parties are on course to win a majority in regional elections with nearly all votes counted. the un's general assembly votes in favour of a resolution rejecting the us decision to recognise jerusalem as israel's capital. in the spanish region of catalonia, pro—separatist parties are on course to win a majority in regional elections with nearly all votes counted.

the un's general assembly votes in favour of a resolution rejecting the us decision to recognise jerusalem as israel's capital. the retailer, toys r us, avoids collapse in the uk after agreeing to put more money into its pension fund. my my guest is one of the most successful crime writers ever.