this is bbc news. the headlines at midday: the attorney general acknowledges that "very serious mistakes" over the disclosure of evidence by prosecutors have led to the collapse of recent trials in england and wales. there is a need for more training, four police officers and prosecutors. the disclosure programme is not new, it's been there since 1996, and police and prosecutors should know what they have to do. a0 people have been killed and at least 140 injured as an explosion rocks the afghan capital kabul. relief for a thousand workers at aerospace firm bombardier in belfast, as massive tariffs won't be imposed by america. three teenaged boys have been killed after a car ploughed into them in west london. a man is arrested. also in this hour: paris is on high alert for flooding. record rainfall has caused the river seine to burst its banks in one of the wettest januarys in paris in more than a century. and click investigates technologies promising to help you live longer. that's in half an hour here on bbc news.

welcome to bbc news. all current rape and sexual assault cases in england and wales are being reviewed "as a matter of urgency". the announcement from the director of public prosecutions follows the recent collapse of several high—profile trials, after vital evidence had not been shared with defence lawyers. it's believed a number of cases could be stopped as a result, as adina campbell reports. in a move seen to help rebuild trust in the justice system, every rape and sexual assault case in england and wales is now under review. the crown prosecution service has taken action after public concerns that evidence, particularly digital records,

are not being disclosed early enough to defence lawyers. 22—year—old liam allen was wrongly accused of rape and sexual assault, but his trial collapsed last month after the metropolitan police failed to disclose phone records which were vital evidence. last week, a rape charge against oxford university student oliver mears was dropped shortly before his trial when a diary which supported his case was uncovered. and danny kay, who had a rape conviction overturned after spending two years in prison, said earlier this month he felt let down by the justice system. devastating for a system that you trust to let you down like that. and i had complete faith in it. i trusted the truth would come out in trial and it didn't. earlier this week the bbc revealed the number of collapsed prosecutions

increased by 70% over the last two years. a national disclosure plan has now been published by the cps, the national police chiefs' council and the college of policing to help make improvements. adina campbell, bbc news. the attorney general for england and wales is calling for more training for police and prosecutors to deal better with rape and sexual assaults. this category of case where rape might have occurred but the parties are known to reach other is a very specific category where you don't normally have additional evidence to confirm who is right or wrong, so anything that puts what parties are saying in a particular light is important and that is why text messages and the like are so powerful and it is obvious that

prosecutors and investigators should be looking for that material. i don't deny there is a scale challenge here, some of these cases have a large amount of material but you have to look for it and where mistakes have been made when people are not looking for this material, that is inexcusable, so we need to deal with these cases but also the broader challenges it brings. are you concerned about how police are dealing with evidence available? especially through social media? i am concerned that prosecutors and police officers work together better to deal with the volume of information they have to process. it is a team effort, so there is no point police and prosecutors pointing fingers at each other, they have to resolve this issue together.

the home secretary and i have been very clear about that. and what is now happening is a joint investigation of the particular type of case that appears to have the most problems but we will also look more broadly at how disclosure can be done better, especially how we manage the large volume of electronic material that many criminal cases now involve. do police forces need more training? there is a need for training for police officers and prosecutors. the disclosure system is not new. it's been there since 1996. police and prosecutors should know what they have to do and they should be doing it. but we recognise that with the volume of information they have to process, that can be a challenge, so if we can find new ways we should look at those. but there is no substitute for asking questions, sometimes obvious questions about social media and text messaging which i think is right for police and prosecutors to look at in a very early stage in the type of place where we have

encountered problems. the attorney general, jeremy wright. at least a0 people have been killed in a huge explosion in the centre of the afghan capital, kabul. a spokesperson for the ministry of public health said more than 100 people were injured when a suicide bomb went off near the old interior ministry building. witnesses say the area was crowded at the time of the blast. the news comes a week after a major attack by the taliban on a high—profile hotel in kabul, the intercontinental, in which more than 20 people died. the prime minister has welcomed a landmark ruling by trade authorities in the us, overturning a decision to impose huge tariffs on planes which are partly built in the uk. the aerospace firm bombardier won a surprise victory in its dispute with the american company boeing about selling its passenger jets to us airlines. the wings for the planes are manufactured in belfast, as our ireland correspondent chris page reports.

workers, politicians and business leaders had feared one of bombardier‘s biggest projects would be grounded. the firm in belfast has 4000 employees and a quarter of them work on the c series jet. but the programme was under threat after boeing claimed it was unfairly subsidised because of financial help from the canadian and british governments. the authorities in washington initially proposed to impose tariffs ofjust under 300% on imports of the c series. but last night, the us international trade commission decided not to go ahead with the tariffs. the four commissioners all voted in bombardier‘s favour. workers and their representatives were surprised but very pleased. the workforce has stood squarely behind this, put their shoulder to the wheel. we've seen politicians nationally given up the ghost saying this give up the ghost saying this is something that can't be overturned, but we've demonstrated tonight the power of trade unionism globally, we worked with our

colleagues in canada and the us and this is a victory for workers tonight. the prime minister spoke abou the dispute to donald trump at the world economics summit in davos this week. theresa may tweeted she welcomed the decision as good news for british industry. people had been prepared here for bad news from across the atlantic but they are delighted with this unexpected result. after months of worry, bombardier‘s victory in this trade dispute has brought a great sense of relief. chris page, bbc news, belfast. 0ur northern ireland business correspondentjohn campbell has been telling us how the news has been received in belfast. i think there is just an overwhelming sense of relief here because a lot of the commentary around this decision was that it would just ratify those tariffs. as chris said in his package, the panel ruled unanimously that it would remove these tariffs, so there was a plan that bombardier had, if it lost, it would, through its partnership with airbus, still try to sell the planes into the united states, that would have been very

complicated and more expensive and open to fresh legal challenge but now they can get on with building these planes and selling them to their big american customer and that releases a huge weight from the shoulders of the belfast workforce. but is bombardier really out of the woods altogether? this is a company which has been through the wars. it teetered on the edge of insolvency a couple of years ago, it had to be bailed out by the state government in quebec and i was speaking to a union leader who said there is a great sense of relief, it means we can crack on with the c series, but it is still a company which is still seeking to cut costs all the time, there were redundancies announced in belfast last year, they will still go ahead, so this is a company which now has some stability for the medium—term but it still needs to secure its long—term future and sell a lot more of these planes. 0ne thinks of belfast in historical terms as a great shipbuilding place but those days presumably

are in the past now so bombardier is central for providing a lot ofjobs. it is, bombardier is at the centre of northern ireland manufacturing. it's the biggest manufacturing employer, it pays very well, it spends a lot of money on research and development, and also has very wide supply chains, notjust in northern ireland but across the whole uk, so it's hard to overemphasise just how important this company is to the northern ireland economy as a whole. the release of black cab rapist john worboys from prison has been put on temporary hold following a legal challenge by two of his victims. the 60—year—old was jailed for a minimum of eight years in 2009 for the rape and sexual assault of women in his black cab across london. lawyers representing the women were granted a stay on his release after making an urgent application to the high court. three teenaged boys have died

after being hit by a car, at a bus stop in west london. the collision, involving a black audi, happened in hayes last night. a 28—year—old man, who was inside the car, has been arrested. anisa kadri is in hayes in west london for us. what do we know about this? all morning a steady stream of people have come to lay flowers and pay their respects to the peak people who died. it's thought they were all around the age of 16 and more people have been coming this morning. we don't know the reason behind the crash, we do know a 28—year—old man has been arrested and police are not treating it as a terrorist incident. the man who was arrested was taken to hospital. there are reports coming in now that there was a fight

last night before the crash happened, they come from the staff at a petrol station just down the road and also from one person we have spoken to in the last few minutes who told us he rang 999 last night and saw a fight before the crash happened but we don't know the reason for the crash, if it was an accident or not. police are appealing for witnesses. new research suggests that plastic found in many second—hand toys could pose a risk to children's health, as it doesn't meet current safety standards. scientists tested 200 used plastic toys they found in nurseries, charity shops and homes for nine hazardous elements. 20 toys had traces of all nine elements, with some concentrations high enough to fail european standards. earlier i spoke to dr andrew turner, who was behind that research. i started by asking him what kind of toys we should be concerned about. we are talking about toys that

were manufactured before the original european toy safety directive in 1994 and looking at chemicals which have toxicity over a sustained period of time, so the risk is ingesting or exposure to small quantities of these, so you wouldn't have any immediate physical signs but the impacts that affect you later in life. i remember years ago people talked about lead in toys and pencils, we have come a long way since then but is there any evidence that people's health has been affected by this? there are studies that have shown that lead has an impact, mainly lead in petrol, but no concentration or amount of lead is safe, so we should try and minimise all possible sources of exposure.

people have asked about the dangers of some of these toys, they're not necessarily dangerous handling them, it is when you chew or mouth them and so on, so especially younger children. what would your advice be to parents, old bits of kit, best to throw them out? it depends what it's used for and the age of the child. the ones to look out for are older ones which are brightly coloured red or yellow, they tend to contain cadmium, a known carcinogen. 0lder figures like dinosaurs or animals tend to have a thin layer of plastic paint which is hazardous, and also black plastics, more recently too, they tend to be recycled from electronic waste which contains all sorts of nasty chemicals, so look out but bear in mind it is mouthing or chewing

which is a hazard, not necessarily handling them. the headlines on bbc news: the attorney general has acknowledged that serious mistakes by prosecutors have led to the colla pse by prosecutors have led to the collapse of trials for sexual assault in england and wales. 40 people have been killed and more than 100 injured as an explosion rocks the afghan capital kabul. there is relief for a thousand workers at aerospace firm bombardier as massive tariffs will not now be imposed by the us authorities. let's return to that bombing attacks in afghanistan. let's go live to kabul for the latest with asif marouf from the bbc‘s afghan service. run through what we know about what

happened today. we know so far that a blast happened near the old building of the interior ministry and 40 dead, 140 wounded so far confirmed. we are awaiting in the next are for a press conference by someone next are for a press conference by someone from the interior ministry to give further details, but so far, the taliban sent a statement to the media claiming they are behind the attack and they are targeting the afg ha n attack and they are targeting the afghan police but the casualties are coming to the hospitals and are mostly civilians who were in the area because it was a very populated area because it was a very populated area and our public hospital which

has huge damage in the area the blast happened in front of it. a number of diplomatic missions and government departments are also on the road, which was highly guarded by police, but they cheated the czech bombs by using an ambulance filled with bomb and ammunitions. and this comes after a series of incidents in the past week or so. and this comes after a series of incidents in the past week or som the past few weeks we witnessed 15 members of the un council in kabul to assess the situation and then there were more complications regarding the peace and fighting intensified by the americans and the afg ha n intensified by the americans and the afghan operations, the americans

announced a number of new war planes to come to the field for the war against the insurgency and that taliban, and also into dave's statement that taliban say the attack was... i'm sorry, we have lost the line there to asif marouf, our correspondent in kabul, but even taught us up to date, 40 people killed in that bomb attack, 140 injured. residents in paris are bracing themselves for further disruption this morning, as flooding in the city is expected to reach its peak. some of the wettest january weather in more than a century saw the river seine rise to more than five metres above its normal level yesterday. stefan levy reports. days of heavy rain in the french capital have left the city on high alert. roads, usually filled with paris traffic, are now devoid of cars and submerged in water.

forecasters say the river seine's water levels could rise further over the weekend, to 6 metres, just shy of the 6.2 metre peak injune 2016, which led to two deaths and injured dozens more. a city usually bustling with tourists admiring all paris has to offer, the rising river levels themselves now the attraction. this statue of a crimean soldier zouave has been used to alert locals to rising water levels for more than 150 years. by midday friday, the water was up to his thighs. in the southern suburb of villeneuve—le—roi, river police have been helping families flee their homes. translation: in the four years i've lived here, twice it has flooded. it's a big deal. i have two children. it's traumatising. experts say the river could stay high throughout next week, especially if more rain falls. and with increasingly unpredictable weather comes a sense of uncertainty for people in paris

as to when the waters will return. stefan levy, bbc news. kevin connolly is in the french capital on a bridge over the seine. the rigour is swollen and it is surging through paris this weekend. these sightseeing boats that normally take tourists on cruises are tied up because with the river at these levels, they don't fit under the bridges of paris. it has been raining relentlessly in france, it is only rained this much in the december and january period for three times in the last 100 years and you can see normally where it is safe to walk, a river has taken over the banks here. just on the wall beside us is a marker that shows you

the highest flood in the history of this city, 1910. we will know by the end of this weekend weather this year will join end of this weekend weather this year willjoin that year in the record books. the prime minister of ireland has told the bbc that he will campaign for the country's ban on abortion to be liberalised. a referendum will ta ke be liberalised. a referendum will take place this summer on whether to appeal —— repeal a constitutional amendment that effectively bans terminations. several of the richest and most influential men in saudi arabia have been released after paying large sums of money to the authorities. they were detained as part of an anti—corruption sweep that began in november. meanwhile, saudi billionaire prince alwaleed bin talal, who was also detained in the crackdown, says he too expects to be cleared of wrongdoing and released. 0fficials

officials in cape town are urging people to limit flushing their toilets to conserve water as the city battles a severe drought. water supplies are due to run out in early april after three years of low rainfall. residents are advised to limit charring to twice a week and save water as if their lives depend on it. the entire us gymnastics board is to resign because of its handling of the sex abuse scandal involving the former team doctor, larry nassar. the country's 0lympic committee had threatened to strip the organisation of its powers if the directors failed to stand down. nassar has been given a prison sentence of up to 175 years for abusing more than 150 female gymnasts. peter bowes reports. as larry nassar begins to what amounts to a life sentence, the fallout from the abuse scandal has been swift and decisive. the entire board of usa gymnastics has gone and there have been other resignations too. mark hollis was the athletic

director at michigan state university when nassar worked there. he and another official have decided to quit. it's been an absolute honour to guide the athletic department for the last decade. that being said, today i'm announcing my retirement. i'm not running away from anything, i'm running towards something. comfort, compassion and understanding for the survivors in our community. togetherness, time and love for my family. there's been reports that michigan state university and usa gymnastics knew of the abuse claims but failed to take action. they've both denied there was a cover—up. with several investigations into abuse in us sport now under way, the recriminations are onlyjust beginning. peter bowes, bbc news. a series of unseen photos and letters from one of adolf hitler's most loyal

followers are being put up for auction today. the chilling images of deputy fuhrer rudolf hess were taken in a berlin prison, where he spent 40 years before taking his own life. duncan kennedy reports. in front, but also right behind adolf hitler. there was no more loyal a nazi than rudolf hess. he was deputy fuhrer. in may 1941, he flew a solo flight to scotland, seemingly to try to negotiate peace between britain and germany. he spent the rest of the war in custody. in 1947, he ended up in berlin's spandau prison, destined for a life of incarcerated oblivion. but now these unseen photos of his time in spandau have surfaced. they show an elderly man, shorn of his influence. most likely taken in the 1980s, the photos form part of a new auction.

and also include this card, with pictures of his son and a cryptic reference, written by hess, containing a brief mention of england. here we see a man who is deputy fuhrer, an incredibly powerful man within the third reich. and he is reduced to asking the prison administration for a lighter coat, a writing table. it really gives us a fascinating insight into the man. rudolf hess hanged himself in spandau in 1987, at the age of 93. these photos capture him in his final years, a life of humiliation and solitude for the man in whom hitler had put so much trust. duncan kennedy, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. hello. some rather gloomy weather prospects for the british isles this weekend. this

for the british isles this weekend. is the big massii working this is the big massive cloud working its way across us at the moment, wearing green at the moment, especially for the south—east of england, elsewhere it should become drier, still drizzly for the northwest and wales, quite a few showers getting carried into scotland. the weather front of into the continent this evening, drier but a bit chilly towards the end of the evening but in the small hours, in piles more cloud, a mild end to the night but misty and murky with more rain heading into scotland and northern ireland. grey and wet prospects for scotland and northern ireland on monday, further south drier but still with a lot of cloud but it will be a mild day, temperatures of 12 or 13 degrees. this is bbc news.

our latest headlines: the attorney general has acknowledged that serious mistakes have loads to the collapse of recent rape trials in england and wales. 63 people have been killed more than 100 injured as an explosion the afg ha n 100 injured as an explosion the afghan capital. it comes a week after a major taliban attack on a high—profile hotel in which more than 20 people died. there is relief for a thousand workers at aerospace firm bombardier, as massive tariffs will not now be imposed by the us authorities. the prime minister has welcomed the landmark ruling. the release of serial sex attacker, john worboys, has been put on hold. it comes after two of his victims won the first stage of a legal challenge. three teenage boys have died after being hit by a car, at a bus stop in west london. the collision involved a black audi. a 28 year—old man, who was inside the car, has been arrested. paris is on high alert for flooding.

record rainfall has caused the river seine to burst its banks, in one of the wettest januarys in paris in more than a century. hundreds of homes have been evacuated, and tunnels and roads have been sealed off. sport now, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's mike bushell. we have got tennis, fa cup... caroline wozniacki is the australian open champion. she won herfirst grand slam title, beating simona halep in the final this morning. she lea ps halep in the final this morning. she leaps over her in the rankings to be number one in the world. james burford was watching. the eyes of the world trained on its two best players. neither had won grand slam before. a wrong about to be set right. the 15,000 before. a wrong about to be set right. the 15, 000 spectators before. a wrong about to be set right. the 15,000 spectators packed inside the rod laver arena were

treated to hitting of the highest order. it took a tie—break to decide the first set. sometimes i'd within your opponent wins points, sometimes just brute force. —— outwitting. while the quality of the tennis was enough to make the head spin halep called for the doctor, suffering from dizziness. she started finding the lines and before long she had a set point. simona halep, known for herfighting spirit, set point. simona halep, known for her fighting spirit, levelling the match. but just when her fighting spirit, levelling the match. butjust when she thought she had the advantage, her opponent's on battling attitude came to the fore, wozniacki setting up championship point. with their first grand slam title and world number one ranking at stake it came down to this. the new world number one becomes the first player from denmark to win one of the big four singles titles in the open era. you can see what it means to. ben stokes has been snapped up this morning for nearly £1.4 millions, in the auction of players, for the indian premier league. he's been bought by

the rajasthan royals.