hello, you're watching afternoon live. today at 2pm: voters head to the polls in the first december election for almost a century — people are voting in 650 constituencies. police in new zealand prepare to retrieve the bodies of those killed by the white island volcano. the man who fought off the london bridge attacker with a fire extinguisher says he was prepared to die i was prepared to probably lose my life. yeah, i was. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport: it's freddie ljungberg's first european match in charge of arsenal. it's away to standard liege. arsenal need of a win or a draw to qualify for the knock—out stages of the europa league.

thanks. and we'll have all the weather. if you're stuck indoors you aren't missing much. this is the view, cloudy, murky, pretty wet in places. a lot of muddy fields if you're taking the dog for a walk later. what is in store for the weekend? i'll have all the details. thanks. also coming up — the underwater treasures of hms invincible. the 250—year—old captured french warship that revolutionised the royal navy. hello, everyone — this is afternoon live. after weeks of campaigning, voting is underway in the general election. this morning, the party leaders were out casting their ballots. it's the third election

in less than five years — and the first to be held in december for nearly a century. the first results are expected before midnight. here's our political correspondent ben wright. and a warning — his report includes some flashing images. voting at 7am. the prime minister, borisjohnson, had some canine company as he cast his ballot at this polling station in westminster. have you all got your pictures, are you all right? the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, posed for the cameras too after voting in his north london constituency. it was dawn in dumbartonshire when the liberal democrat leader, jo swinson, arrived at the polling station. while in glasgow, the snp leader nicola sturgeon cast her ballot at a community hall, one of tens of thousands across the uk. many people have already voted by post, including the brexit party leader,

nigel farage. in wales the plaid cymru leader, adam price, had a soggy walk to the polling station in carmarthenshire, as did the green party co—leader jonathan bartley in london. we are not used to wrapping up for polling day, and in the highlands voters have faced snow on their way to cast their ballot. the last december election was almost a century ago in 1923 and the most recent winter election was in 197a. the way we have voted hasn't changed much since, putting a cross on a ballot paper, but taking snaps of dogs at polling stations is a much newer election day tradition. this is the third general election in less than five years. there are 650 constituencies in total and the candidate who secures the most votes in each seat is elected to the house of commons. polling stations are open until 10pm and we will start to see results soon after that.

ben wright, bbc news, westminster. tens of thousands of polling stations are open now across england, wales, scotland and northern ireland. christian fraser has this simple guide — with what you need to do to cast your vote. it is decision day, time to cast a vote. this is what i hope will be a short but helpful guide on how to vote if you've not done it before, and what you can and cannot do once you are inside the polling station. so, they are all open and they close this evening at 10pm. remember, if you in the queue at the polling station but not inside the booth by the deadline, you will still be allowed to vote. hopefully, you will have had a polling card sent to you if you are on the electoral register. if you have lost it or it didn't arrive, you can go to the electoral commission, put in your postcode, and they will tell you where to go to vote. and it will be a public building like a school or library. you must go to the polling station assigned to you. you do not need to take your polling card with you.

when you get there, you will be checked off a list and issued with a voting paper that looks like this. take it into the voting booth, there will be a pen or pencil in there, and put a mark next to the candidate you are selecting, preferably a cross, just one. if you spoil your ballot paper by accident, and you need to get another one, they can issue that so long as you haven't put it in the box already. and if it is your wish, you can spoil their ballot paper as well, some do if they don't like any of the candidates provided. we are also asked sometimes whether you can take a selfie inside the voting booth. we do live in this age. the electoral commission urge you not to do that. they would prefer you to take a picture outside the polling station to encourage people to go and vote. the reason they say that is because there is a risk that you might reveal how other people have voted and that is punishable by a £5,000 fine or six months in prison, so, you don't want to do that. you are also not allowed to take a photo of your ballot paper.

but once you have done it and it is in the box, you can tell people, family, even tweet it, how you have voted. there you go, a very simple process, i hope that helps a little bit. one word of advice. take a brolly with you, it's going to be very wet in some parts of the country. a polling station has had to be moved in motherwell after a suspicious device was found in the early hours of this morning. officers were called to the ground floor of a block of flats, close to where people were due to vote. a controlled explosion was carried out, but police said the device was not viable. a 48—year—old man has been arrested. our results coverage starts just before polls close tonight. on tv, huw edwards and the team will be on bbc one and the bbc news channel from 9.55pm, there s full coverage online at bbc.co.uk/news and on the bbc news app, and special programmes on bbc radio 4 and radio 5 live.

there are also results programmes for listeners and viewers in scotland, wales and northern ireland. police in new zealand are launching an operation to return to white island in a few hours time, to retrieve the bodies of those killed in monday's volcanic eruption. two people who were being treated for their injuries in hospital have now died, taking the confirmed death toll to eight. until now, rescue teams have stayed away from the island because of the danger of further eruptions. shaima khalil has sent this report. eight bodies have been stuck on this island for four days. and now there is a chance that finally they could be recovered. members of new zealand's defence force will attempt to reach the volcano to get the job done. they will go on to the island, and they will make every effort to recover all of the bodies from the island. a lot has to go right

for this to work. let there be no mistake, there is not a zero risk with regard to this plan. we flew close to the island to get a sense of what it's like. the heavy plumes of smoke still billowing. a sign of how precarious this situation is. we are five nautical miles away from whakaari, or white island. there's a restriction zone around it so this is as close as we can get. there's been quite a bit of volcanic activity in the area, toxic gases, ash, tremors and of course the risk of another eruption. police have said they're quite confident they know where the bodies are. they say they are within a 200 square metre area and that technically they could go in and out and retrieve them, but it is a trade—off. the deputy police commissioner said that that would compromise the evidence that could then help them identify the bodies. but he said it was a compromise they were willing to consider if the families were willing to do

so and if it meant going in and getting the bodies out. hayden inman is among those missing on the island. his brother mark says he's frustrating that it's taking so long to get his body. red tape, bureaucracy, leadership has failed. we're trusting experts that sit behind a desk making calls based on statistics. jason hill is one of the pilots who went in and helped rescued people after the eruption. he said the bodies should have been recovered more quickly. it's been a little bit frustrating but hopefully might get something happening soon. to get those loved ones back. would you go on the island and get the bodies? definitely, 100%, yeah, without a doubt. there's been growing desperation among families who just want their loved ones back home. now, for the first time, there is hope this may happen. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, whakatane. a former prisoner who fought off

the london bridge attacker has told bbc news he was prepared to die to protect others. john crilly used a fire extinguisher to tackle usman khan, even though he thought he was wearing a suicide vest. mr crilly has been speaking to our legal correspondent, clive coleman. nearly two weeks ago, ex—offender john crilly found himself at the centre of mayhem and butchery at a prison education event at fishmongers‘ hall, where his good friend jack merritt was murdered. yeah, just a very high pitched wail — like, a scream. john saw a woman sprawled on the stairs, bleeding, then usman khan, two knives out, wearing what looked like a suicide belt. john attacked him first with a wooden lectern, then a fire extinguisher, shouting at khan to blow his belt. he said he was waiting for the police... he said he was waiting for the police? before he blew it, yeah.

i was prepared to lose my life, yeah, iwas. did it seem like he was targetting anyone in particular or any group? no, itjust seemed like anyone there was fair game. ijust assume now, he'd just seen a big target — a room full of...probably in his mind, and to a certain degree it's true, a roomful of establishment people. judges, police, security — they was all in that room. with others using makeshift weapons, john pursued kahn onto the street, spraying him with the extinguisher. within minutes, police arrived, john shouting at them to shoot khan because of the belt. they did. john's thoughts then turned to his friend jack merritt, the cambridge graduate who changed john's life, and who,

along with saskia jones, had been murdered by khan. can you tell me what he meant to you? jackjust basically meant hope. people think of you as a hero. do you think of yourself as a hero? a hero? no. jack gave up his life. he's... he would be my hero. john crilly speaking to our legal affairs correspondent, clive coleman. in india, there've been violent protests against a new bill which would fast track citizenship for immigrants from neighbouring countries — unless they are muslim. 0pposition parties say the bill is another move by the hindu nationalist bjp party to marginalise the country's 200 million muslims.

this report is from pratiksha ghildial, in delhi. anger on the streets of north—east india. the people here do not want immigrants from neighbouring countries to settle here. locals feel that their ethnic identity is under threat, and that the implementation of the new law will lead to demographic changes. but that's not the only reason this new law has divided india. rights groups are furious because the new law will not allow muslim migrants to become citizens. the government says it is not discriminatory, but aims to help minorities fleeing persecution in pakistan, afghanistan and bangladesh. all islamic countries. campaigners like these say that by excluding muslims, the government is undermining the values on which

india was founded. secularism, and religious tolerance. and that faith should not be a consideration for citizenship. many are suspicious, and see it as a tool to marginalise the muslim community. this just seems to be the framework for a hindu nation. and in general, if you've seen the last five years, the anti—muslim rhetoric has been huge. there is a large number of violent attacks going on against the community all over the world. this will put them in a further vulnerable spot. there have been heated scenes in the parliament as the government tried to defend the move. translation: this is not meant for taking away anyone‘s rights. it is to give people rights. that's the difference between a refugee and an infiltrator. but critics say this sends out a negative signal to the country's 200 million strong muslims.

clearly, you are catering to your hindu base, by telling them that this country is only for hindus. the world's largest democracy had a big heart, that it could accommodate people. right now we are coming across to the world as petty, vindictive civilisation. that's not what india stood for. there are concerns about what this means for india's secular democracy as it grapples with this complex issue of religion, citizenship and identity. pratiksha ghildial, bbc news, dehli. the court of appeal has been told that a woman — who spent £16 million in harrods over a decade — is the victim of the "most draconian and intrusive powers" ever used by british investigators. zamira hajiyeva, the wife of a bankerjailed for corruption, could lose her london mansion if she fails to explain to authorities how she could afford her spending.

our home affairs correspondent, dominic casciani sent this report. this is a really important test case at the court of appeal for the national crime agency's unexplained wealth orders powers. quite simply, this is a power which they can use to target someone they believe has benefited — or potentially benefited — from overseas corruption, and they say if you can't explain where your wealth in the uk has come from, we are having your property. and in this case, zamira hajiyeva — who denies all wrongdoing — is the target because her husband, an azerbaijan state banker, is injailfor corruption and embezzlement. she is fighting this case to hang on her mansion and the separate golf course, and today at the court of appeal her counsel said that this power was utterly draconian because her husband had been subject to an unfair trial in their native country, he couldn't come to court to defend himself, his reputation or his wife and the legitimate sources of her wealth. now, if she loses this case — and we don't expect a judgment until the new year — this will be a really important moment for the national crime agency

in its attempts to use a broad range of powers to target what it believes and suspects to be corrupt wealth in the uk. but if mrs hajiyeva wins, as she believes she has got a case here, then it's a real setback for the government. the fact that it's taken two years to get to this point actually shows how complex it is to investigate suspected corruption buried into property in the uk. in swansea — seven people have been injured and a man has been arrested after a double—decker bus crashed into a bridge. emergency services were called just after nine—thirty this morning after the bus bound for swansea university crashed into a railway bridge. south wales police have said that one person with life—threatening injuries was airlifted to hospital in cardiff. a 63—year—old man has been arrested and the bus company has launched a full investigation. you're watching afternoon live — these are our headlines: voting is under way across the country —

in the general election — it's the first to be held in december, in nearly a century. rescuers in new zealand are preparing a dangerous operation to recover bodies after the volcanic eruption on white island. a former prisoner who fought off the london bridge attacker with a fire extinguisher has told the bbc, he was prepared to die to protect others. and in sport... it's freddie ljungberg's first european match in charge of arsenal tonight, as they try to improve on the club s worst start to a season in two decades. the championship is a bubble waiting to burst according to one former chairman as more than half of the league's clubs are spending more on wages than they make in income. and ferrari say they have spoken to the six—time formula i world champion lewis hamilton about driving for them in the future. i'll be back with more on those stores after half—past 2.

the disgraced hollywood producer harvey weinstein has reached a $25 million civil settlement with dozens of women who have accused him of sexual misconduct. the money will be split between more than 30 actresses and former employees. mr weinstein is still facing sexual assault charges and will stand trial in the new year. with me is entertainment journalist caroline frost. it's journalist caroline frost. quite a complex case, bui explain it's quite a complex case, but explain what the deal does and does not do, this tentative deal. it's a rum day when some of that scale is not greeted with jubilation. most significantly, mr weinstein will not admit culpability, he will not pay the money himself, it will come from an insurance pot which will cover legal fees. all in

an insurance pot which will cover legalfees. all in all, i think an insurance pot which will cover legal fees. all in all, i think the victims who have put forward this case are pretty much feeling their hands are tied, they have effectively had the clock run down on them by powerful and wealthy league opponents, and a couple have voiced their dismay that they have run out of options and they feel justice has not been seen to be done. and that is because of what? they can't be part of the criminal trial? the criminal trial is separate, some of the criminal allegations have already collapsed so now allegations have already collapsed so now when we allegations have already collapsed so now when we come allegations have already collapsed so now when we come to january six when weinstein comes to criminal court he will only face two separate allegations of serious sexual assault, in which case he will face an imprisonment if convicted. in the meantime, some of the cases have collapsed, the expiry dates in different parts of the world, different parts of the world, different allegations made in london will have different terms from those made in california. and i think they felt it got to a point where the

people who did not accept this deal would be letting down the bigger tea m would be letting down the bigger team of women who are not all in the same financial situation and luxury of being able to sit it out and see what happens. that is a different question around group cases, who wa nts to question around group cases, who wants to settle when, who wants to have their day in court, hugely complex. personal politics between this individuals. two women have spoken out today, their lawyers have called it offensive. they said that while they accept some women will wa nt to while they accept some women will want to accept these times, they feel their day of justice want to accept these times, they feel their day ofjustice has not arrived. and it is a 47 million dollar settlement, with 25 million for the women, where does the rest go? most shockingly, 12 million will go? most shockingly, 12 million will go on legalfees go? most shockingly, 12 million will go on legal fees alone, and go? most shockingly, 12 million will go on legalfees alone, and of course ivy weinstein has dangled the prospect that he will be declaring personal bankruptcy purse there were

possibly in the next few weeks, meaning there is even less money. plus you have the prospect of more plaintiffs coming forward wanting to dip into that same pie. so you can imagine the lawyers are saying now let's grab that money while it's available. stepping back from this case and what it signifies to other cases in other people, in workplaces where they feel these practices are still a risk, the mewtwo movement was kicked off with the weinstein allegations, what about the story?! just as weinstein used his power and status to secure his position, similarly he now seems to wield great power and influence and has effectively silenced these women. it isa effectively silenced these women. it is a blanket statement which will silence them for forever. it's a

very bad moment for the movement if someone so very bad moment for the movement if someone so totemic is seem to have wriggled under the hedge and made his way through. it puts all of the emphasis now on the criminal case in january, and people will be watching that eagerly to see ifjustice is afforded to them. thank you. the third and final day of hearings is underway at the international court ofjustice in the hague, in the case against myanmar over the alleged genocide of its rohingya muslim minority. myanmar‘s civilian leader, aung san suu kyi, said military action against the rohingya — which left thousands dead — was a "necessary operation against militants". retail firms are under pressure to put less packaging around their online deliveries. now there's a new initative to make sure the box fits the size of the item — helping to cut waste and carbon emissions. 0ur correspondent emma simpson reports.

it's the time of year when the online deliveries are coming thick and fast. how many of us have had this? an online purchase in an oversized box. it drives us mad and it's bad for the environment. all this wasted space means more delivery vans in our towns and cities, and the bigger the parcel the bigger the cost for retailers — so what can be done? we've come to france to see a new machine that can produce a box to fit the product. well, this machine can take a standard sheet of cardboard and can make 10 million different varieties of box to make sure we have no wasted space at all around the product that somebody is trying to send in the post to a customer. so, let's put it to the test. i've got my christmas decoration and a few other items. stefan, press the button. a cuddly toy. some toiletries. clothes.

the item is scanned to take the exact dimensions. meanwhile the box is being assembled, cardboard creased and then folded around the product. it can make and pack up to 1000 boxes every hour. hey! here it is. look at that — not much empty space. alex, how big a difference can this machine make? it's a game changer, because already the uk is the biggest e—commerce market in europe. 18% of what we buy goes online, so imagine if that doubles. there is a mountain of cardboard already. most is recycled, but campaigners say bigger changes are needed for all this internet shopping to be sustainable. as well as looking at reducing the amount of packaging, we also need to look towards different systems, different systems of getting products to people, looking at reusable packing options and also looking at decarbonising the vehicles which are used to transport the products.

this machine isn't in operationjust yet, but it is one way our everyday online purchases could eventually be made to fit the box. emma simpson, bbc news. a three—year salvage operation to save one of the most important naval vessels of the 18th century has come to an end. hms invincible sank in the solent in 1758. items recovered range from a six—tonne bow section, to small ceramic hair curlers used by the ships officers to style their wigs. duncan kennedy has more. in a tank in a warehouse in dorset, history has come ashore. these are pieces of a revolutionary vessel that sank in the solent more than 250 years ago. they belong to hms invincible, a ship that changed the face of the royal navy.

probably the most important mid—18th century ship in british waters because of her design and how that was used by the british fleet, she is a key component in the development of naval shipbuilding on the 18th century. this is invincible today in the solent where she sank. britain had captured her from the french in 1747 and her design stunned the navy. in 1979 she was discovered by a fisherman and three years ago experts realised the protective sediments were disappearing so they began an emergency operation to salvage her. this six tonne section was among the biggest items raised. but why save hms invincible at all? she changed the way the navy designed its ships. she was lower, longer and more stable than

anything we had had before. within 50 years, around half the british navy would come to look like invincible. but what other secrets has she given up? what we believe to be one of the sailor's shoes that was in this chest and we even have the buckle that goes with it. that's not all. pipes, glass bottles for brandy, and even these, ceramic hair curlers for officers' wigs. we have a really good idea now of how they lived and worked and how incredibly organised they were. everything is labelled and we find the equivalent of the broom cupboard with everything still on shelves. it shows incredible organisation of the royal navy. around 75% of invincible

still lies on the sea bed but there are no plans to raise her. the artefacts that make up her extraordinary naval story go on display next year. coming up later today — a day earlier than usual because of the election — mark kermode will be reviewing the latest cinema and home entertainment releases on the film review. that's at 5:45pm today. time for a look at the weather. we are talking snow. season snow, la ke we are talking snow. season snow, lake effect snow. this is in ontario yesterday. they can get quite a lot of snow in a short space of time, maybe 20 or 30 centimetres. this was just to the west. you can see quite significant snow. it does not seem

to impact them, but we get lots of phone calls and e—mails asking what la ke phone calls and e—mails asking what lake effect snow is. so this is buffalo, the great lakes, across north america at the moment. this time of year, relatively warm waters, but obviously the warm water rises and at this time of year we start to get this cold air coming out of canada, existing from the arctic. that bumps into the cold air, it cools, forms clouds, then it full to the ground as snow. but a lot of play in the wind direction as to where we get snow. so we can talk about significant snow across the la kes, about significant snow across the lakes, and one place, for example buffalo, they could have a lot of snow, but just to buffalo, they could have a lot of snow, butjust to the west, you could still get sunshine and blue sky. so it's really quite unusual. they are obviously used to it out there and they can cope with it, but they can cease significant snow in a

short space of time. and we are heading towards that season. any la ke heading towards that season. any lake effect snow here? we had our very own winter wonderland in northumberland this morning. and we are using the s word in the forecast, it always terrifies us a little. it will only be on higher ground and hopefully should not cause too much impact. let's look at the forecast. today we saw rain, it has been pretty miserable, but you can see the snow across the pennines, a light dusting here, some snow showers to higher ground in scotla nd snow showers to higher ground in scotland as well. but it is primarily rain moving across eastern england, into northern ireland, wales. a rather cold afternoon into eastern scotland. through the night the frontal system takes the rain into the north sea. it will be replaced by blustery showers with

gale force gusts of winds to the south—west. temperature is around five or six here. clearer skies in the north—east, a chilly start in scotland. still some rain around so there could be icy stretches. lighter winds but plenty of isobars meaning a windy day for all. it should be a brighter start, more sunshine first thing in the morning, rain in the far north—east. the weather front will organise bands of shows across northern ireland, north—west england, north wales, some heavy and the odd rumble of thunder. if you dodge the showers and keep the sunnier moments it's still not very warm. highs of five to ten. the weekend, sunny spells, blustery showers for many. the potential for some snow across the hills on saturday night into sunday morning. we still have this cold air source with low pressure never too far away. up in the far north—west

thatis far away. up in the far north—west that is where the frequent showers are likely. saturday, sunny spells, scattered blustery showers. but was the end of the day the more persistent rain moves into the south—west. a call feel to the north, four or 5 degrees, double digits in the south. as it becomes colder air through the night we could see a spell of hell snow for a time over northern england and wales. it is transient, it is moving at quite a pace. blustery showers continue the further north and west you are. one of two through the channel coast. we keep this sunny spells and scattered showers for many. temperatures still a little down on where they should be for the time of year. if you have outdoor plans, you will need to keep abreast of the forecast, it will stay on the chilly side for the next few days.

this is bbc news. our latest headlines... voting is under way across the country in the general election. it's the first to be held in december in nearly a century. rescuers in new zealand are preparing a dangerous operation to recover bodies after the volcanic eruption on white island. a former prisoner who fought off the london bridge attacker with a fire extinguisher has told

the bbc he was prepared to die to protect others. seven people have been injured and a man has been arrested after a double—decker bus crashed into a bridge in swansea. sport now on afternoon live with katie sha na han. more european football tonight, and the latest test for arsenal's interim manager. yes as this is freddie yun—berg's first european match in charge of arsenal since taking over from unai emery two weeks ago.they travel to standard liege in the europa league. arsenal are all but through, as a 5—0 defeat would see them go out of the competition. it's also a chance to improve on the club's worst start to a season in two decades. arsenal — who are one of five british teams in action tonight — go into the game on the back of an important win over west ham in the premier league on monday. that was their first in ten matches.

yunberg has spoken about how crucial this victory was to the sides‘s confidence, as the players have been under immense pressure recently. but for ljungberg, he's showing signs of enjoying life as arsenal manager and is keen for thejob. but, says that he's not preoccupied with his own future. that's not a conversation i've had with the bosses. myjob is to go from day to day, game to game, and try to help this fantastic club, and that's what i try to do. then all those decisions are up to the top dogs to do. so it will be interesting to see how long freddie stays at arsenal. there are also reports that his predecessor, unai emery has already held talks with everton to potentially become their new boss. staying with football, we have got some new stats on the price and promotions for the premier league. this is really interesting, as the championship has been described as a "bubble waiting to burst", with clubs posting record losses in a "gamble" to get promoted. as our sports news correspondent, andy swiss reports.

it is football's riches competition, but is the battle simply to reach the premier league coming at a hefty cost? when they celebrated promotion last year, they did sell spending far more than they had earned and they were not alone. figures analysed by the bbc show that championship side racked up a record £307 million in pre—tax losses. 0nly five of the 24 teams in the divisions made a profit while spending on wages exceeded revenues by 11%. one form or championship chairman believes some owners are gambling with their clubs future. it isa gambling with their clubs future. it is a billionaire pass my gamblers paradise. my worry is that when they stop putting money in in the future, who is going to be there to pick up what they have left? it is a bubble

that will burst. question us over for bob's finances have been getting louder after bury were expelled from the football league in august. this isa the football league in august. this is a stark reminder that football clu bs ca n is a stark reminder that football clubs can never be taken for granted. if the money runs out, well this is what can happen. ensuring that clubs are financially sustainable is one of the sport's biggest challenges. under the rules, championship clubs are allowed losses of £39 million over three yea rs. last losses of £39 million over three years. last season birmingham season two birmingham city was deducted points for exceeding that limit. football league says its owners are aware of economic challenges, but the rules are being reviewed. how much do they want to address the issue of losses? because it's not a revenue issue. clubs need to be worried, but it is about the environment that they are in. they

are football environment that they are in. they a re football clu bs environment that they are in. they are football clubs that may want to go as high up in the pecking order as they can. might make the challenge is to make sure they can change that premier league stream does not become a financial nightmare. bbc news. to formula 1... to formula one, as ferrari have confirmed that they've spoken to six time world champion lewis hamilton about driving for them in the future. hamilton will drive for mercedes next year, but is out of contract at the end of 20—20. he's spending his off season having some fun with moto gp legend, va—lentino rossi. ferrari have admitted that their chairman had met hamilton at a social event, which they say was totally blown out of proportion. but did also admit they were flattered that a driver like hamilton would consider racing for them. and organisers of the paris 20—24 0lympics have announced that the surfing events will take place almost ten thousand miles away in tahiti. it's a small island in the middle of the pacific and boasts some of the biggest waves on the men's circuit. now, it's not the first time we've seen such a big distance.

as the equestrian events at the 19—56 melbourne 0lympics were held in stockholm. that's all of the sport. i'll have more for you, carrie, in the next hour. thank you, katie, i look forward to it. we are going to stay with sport. we are going to stay with sport. games consoles are once again at the top of many christmas present lists. parents might worry they're a waste of time, but in the united states, playing e—sports can be a way into university. some colleges are now hosting championships with the best players offered full scholarships. here's our north america correspondent, chris buckler. in the us, college sports are big business. at the largest universities, basketball and american football are worth tens of millions of dollars. but you'll find the newest college athletes not in helmets — but in headsets. i've got you in my sights. i'm sitting here with soames, one of the 0verwatch players at harrisburg university. he's currently playing 0verwatch, which is a competitive team—based game.

coaches at this pennsylvania college watch every strike of the keyboard and move of the mouse. meet the fiercely e—sport athletes on full university scholarships. my mum, it was kind of like a sigh of relief because she was able to go, wow, all that time you wasted in your bedroom was actually for something. they are going to need to come out with their best defence. some might be cynical, but this is being presented as the latest university team sport. the tournament on the line, harrisburg! this year's collegiate tournament was even covered by the leading us sports network espn. harrisburg is your champion! it cost the equivalent of £1 million, building this training facility and fitting it out with some of the best equipment, including some of the fastest computers, and harrisburg university is spending another £1.5 million every year on coaching its teams and providing scholarships. this is a big investment for the college.

competitive video gaming that we have at harrisburg university is night and day different than casual gaming on your couch, eating doughnuts and drinking diet coke. this is not that. harrisburg is an old industrial city, but its young university is focused on the future and it believes it can use gaming to get noticed as interest grows across america. nearby, in philadelphia, a multi—million dollar e—sport stadium is being built. it will host tournaments like the recent competition in new york that attracted huge crowds to watch people playing the game fortnite. your world champion! it was viewed online all over the world and there was big prize money. as a professional at the top level, it's very cut—throat and you need to play like ten, 11, 12 hours a day,

and i don't know if i have that in me or want to do that, i'd rather have a more balanced life. one thing striking about this university team is it's all male, but that is likely to change if players are recognised and rewarded as 21st—century sports stars. chris buckler, bbc news, harrisburg. the national pharmacy association is calling for better regulation of products claiming to contain the cannabis derivative cbd. there has been a huge spike in demand, with the non—medicinal cbd now on sale in high street shops across the country, including chemists. but the body which represents hundreds of independent pharmacies says clearer information is needed. 0ur consumer correspondent colletta smith reports. it's in everything — water, drops, pills, chocolate, make—up, shampoo, tea and coffee. this isn't medicinal cannabis. it doesn't have the psychoactive

element that makes you high or have any proven medical benefit, but plenty of people think it helps them. we've tried the latte and it's very relaxing, actually. does it? do you feel different? yeah, just feel relaxed and chilled out. i had back problems and joint issues and it really helps with that. my friend who comes with me — it helps with sleep. they want to take something that's not detrimental to their health, it's not addictive, it's natural, and here it is, cbd oil. it's illegal to print any health claims on the products, so, i want to find out who is regulating the industry, who is checking the ingredients, or if there is any cbd in it at all. it tastes nice. it doesn't really taste any different from a normal latte, to be honest. this stuff is for sale in all kinds of retailers. it's in pound shops, online and now, increasingly, at local pharmacies. it's up to each individual retailer whether they stock cbd products or not, but overall more research is required and we would urge clearer guidance which makes it easy

for health care professionals, consumers and patients to make informed choices. at the moment, these products don't have authorisation from the food standards agency. to get that, manufacturers should provide detailed chemical production and safety information, but brands don't seem to be in a rush, even after repeated requests from the food standards agency. they want companies to get in touch with them with as much information as possible about this new product. but no manufacturer from this multi—million—pound industry has yet given them enough information to get authorisation. a new group representing around 20 cbd manufacturers say they are currently working towards achieving the fsa status. in the meantime, retailers and pharmacists cannot give reliable advice and customers have no guarantees that the product is safe, or, indeed, if it contains any cbd oil at all.

a painting worth around £50 million may have been found inside the wall of the gallery from where it disappeared. portrait of a lady by the austrian artist gustav klimt went missing from a gallery in northern italy in 1997. now tests are being carried out on a painting which was found in a secret compartment inside the gallery wall discovered by a gardener as he cut back ivy. a lot of people suspect that that is the same painting. we will keep an eye on that story. we will keep an eye on that story. in a moment victoria is going to bring us the latest business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live... voting is under way across the country in the general election. it's the first to be held in december, in nearly a century. rescuers in new zealand are preparing a dangerous operation to recover bodies after the volcanic eruption on white island.

a former prisoner who fought off the london bridge attacker with a fire extinguisher has told the bbc he was prepared to die to protect others. hello. here are your business headlines on afternoon live. fashion retailer superdry warns of a tough christmas ahead as it reports an accounting error. it is not the first time the company has got its maths wrong. the oil company saudi aramco is now the world's most valuable company, but for how long? in its first day of trading, aramco was worth $1.9 trillion. apple, by comparison, is currently worth around 1.2 trillion. takeaways become a habit. consultants kpmg say people in britain order an average of 34 meals a year. london tops the tables, with people in the capital spending over £700 a year on takeout orders.

let's talk about aramco first. it went to be the world pass on because companyjust like went to be the world pass on because company just like that. went to be the world pass on because companyjust like that. crazy, isn't it. most people are thinking who are they? well, they are comfortably the world's biggest listed firm. the evaluation of 1.9 trillion is big enough to include google and amazon and still have a chunk of change of $200 billion for a nice little holiday or whatever you want do with it. near monopoly on oil production in sa — world's biggest exporter of oil in the world. shares started to trade more freely this week. 98% owned by the state still in one capacity or another — that huge valuation has been a long time coming. the crown prince has helped for plans as increased

foreign direct investment. this was pa rt foreign direct investment. this was part of that big plan, but it has been hampered by all sorts of things like lower oil places, climate change prices. geopolitical risk. and of course the massive diplomatic incident we had with the murder of jamaal khashoggi appeared we are going to have to keep an eye on this to see if he keeps that near trillion dollar evaluation. from when geopolitical risk to another. the year china trade. yes, you should probably tell me. because you know more about that. president trump to meet top trade advisers later. they're going to discuss if they are going to go ahead with those new round of tariffs. we think they're going to be 15% now.

this is a crucial. for the —— the second crucial time for the retailers. 0ne lady who knows an awful a lot about this is this woman. not because she is a great shopper but because she's been following the trade war story for a long time. lets speak to samira hussain in new york. how big a deal is it for shoppers? we have been following the story for 17 months. if you speak to anyone who really follows the staff, they will say look, they did not expect it to be drawn out for this long. many expected there would have been a trade agreement. fast forward to know and we could be seeing another increase in terms of tariffs. what makes this a lot more significant is as you rightly pointed out, we are

just around the corner from christmas and the items that would be impacted by this new round of taxes on these goods would be smartphones, sneakers, all kinds of consumer focused items right around christmas time. so if they do in fa ct christmas time. so if they do in fact go into effect, they could really have a significant impact on the american consumer at a very important time. he could have an impact on retailers and of course if you put it into a political context, it could have an impact on president donald trump as he enters an election year in 2020. speaking of sneakers, i could not believe that 70% of shoes sold in the united states co m e 70% of shoes sold in the united states come from china. is obviously going to be a huge deal. looking at some of the issues involved here, like intellectual property rights, these have been right at the heart of all of these issues from the beginning. have they made any headroom on any of these issues?

right, these have always been sticking points and even before this trade dispute, these have always beena trade dispute, these have always been a sticking point for the american businesses and administrations with regard to their dealings with china. has there been much movement? there has not been much movement? there has not been much encouraging words being exchanged between two sides. ultimately, us president donald trump will get an idea of how things are going from his trade advisers who he will meet with later today. he will be getting a very divergent view from his group. on the one hand, he will hear from some people who believe that you should really go ahead with these tariffs and that will really show a strong side to china that they mean business. 0n the other hand, you are going to hear from some people in that trade advisory group that will say look, we should not escalate this. we

should see a 90 day reprieve and try to get back to the negotiating table to get back to the negotiating table to resolve some of these really thorny issues that so far have not really been able to agree on just yet. that's right. thank you very much. headway, not headroom. i knew asi much. headway, not headroom. i knew as i was talking i said the wrong word but i cannot work out what it was. let's have a look at the markets. the ftse is pretty much flat. is been trading around the same level. up been trading around the same level. up halfa been trading around the same level. up half a percentage point. the dax and that cat power up a little bit. and you can see this is what is going on with ten at the moment. if you turn that around, you will get the euro to pound exchange rate. at 131 at the moment. we will keep an eye on the sterling because i'm sure thatis eye on the sterling because i'm sure that is going to be up and down over the next 24 hours. thank you,

victoria. christmas can be a lonely time for many people and the bbc has been talking to one man — terrence — who has spent every christmas day alone for 20 years. this year, as a volunteer with age uk, he will be with other people. but when it emerged that terrence didn't have a christmas tree, bbc breakfast launched an appeal to get him one. dan walker has been to see him. hello. what are you doing here? it's dan walker from the telly, nice to see you again. we made you a promise — can we come in? yeah, of course you can. do you know what we've had, terrence, an incredible reaction to you coming on. i think the real thing that really struck home was when you were mentioning how many times you've been on your own on christmas day. yes, a lad said, what used to happen, i used to around to my mother's on christmas day because i always cooked a mealfor her here and i always took the things round to her, and one day — i neverforget her saying to me — she said, do you know,

she said, without you, she said, bringing me my presents at christmas, i wouldn't have any presents, would i? and i often think about that now, you know, people on their own now don't get any presents from people. and the good news is this year you have got christmas dinner taken care of, because of your work with age uk. i have indeed, yes, i have indeed. so who are you going to go for christmas dinner with this year? i'm going to go with our nancy. she's your good friend you've been talking to through age uk. she is, yes. we'd love to do something for you. we said you didn't have a christmas tree. no. which we promised we'd sort out for you. am i allowed to go and open yourfront door? yes. ok, you stay there, terrence, we've got some people waiting for you outside. 0h, right. hello, everybody, would you like to come in? terrence, can i please introduce these lovely people who've come to see you from 0ldham college. hi, sir. we're here to decorate your tree. we've brought you're a christmas

tree to brighten your christmas. thank you! 0h, terrence. and there was one more surprise for terrence. some other students were waiting outside to sing his favourite carol. this is the 0ldham college choir, just for you. # silent night # holy night # sleep in heavenly peace # sleep in heavenly peace.# hgppy happy christmas, terrence. dan walker there, with terrence. now it's time for a look at the weather. a lot of wet weather out there. here

is the lease. yes, not quite that snowy christmas ca rd yes, not quite that snowy christmas card season after that piece. it was a bit ofa card season after that piece. it was a bit of a soggy one this afternoon. quite a lot of rain around particularly across england and wales it is moving towards the east. there is a little bit more of a wintry file in higher ground. some squally showers arriving here. double digits, but in the northeast, it isa double digits, but in the northeast, it is a cold afternoon but fewer showers. that band of rain will push its way off into the north sea, but plenty of squally showers continue to move in from the west overnight tonight. we will keep some cloud around, temperatures not falling too far. staying above freezing. the cold est far. staying above freezing. the coldest place in scotland. we can see some icy stretches as rain goes away. this weather front is going to enhance the showers into the north and west and plenty of isobars

across the chart, it will be windy. gals the first thing in the morning across the southwest. it will start off at some sunshine around, but squally showers. some with a rumble of thunder. if he mist the showers, and have some sun, it is not very warm out there. temperatures five to 10 degrees. towards the weekend that is the theme that will continue. because it will stay cold any elevation conceived the showers turn wintering. we are still under this cold air mass across the uk and low pressure never too far away. strong northwesterly winds for a time slowly easing as we go into the weekend. saturday we will start off bright with sunshine and a few showers. the odd rumble of thunder mixed in and maybe some hail. towards the end of the night we will see more heavy persistent rain. as that moves to the east, it will bump

into cold air overnight, we could see a spell of snow. hill snow across wales and northern england. something to keep in mind if you are up something to keep in mind if you are up early. that should ease away at quite a pace. then we are left with a relatively quiet theme of weather across the eastern parts of the uk. showers moving in. temperatures will bea showers moving in. temperatures will be a little bit subdued for the time of year. highs on three ten nine celsius. may be ten if we are lucky. i will be back in half

hello, you're watching afternoon live. today at 3pm: voters head to the polls in the first december election for almost a century — people are voting in 650 constituencies. police in new zealand prepare to retrieve the bodies of those killed by the white island volcano. there's been quite a bit of volcanic activity in the area, toxic gases, ash, tremors and of course the risk of another eruption. the man who fought off the london bridge attacker with a fire extinguisher says he was prepared to die. i was prepared to probably lose my life. yeah, i was. coming up on afternoon live all the sport:

it's freddie ljungberg's first european match in charge of arsenal. it's away to standard liege. arsenal need of a win or a draw to qualify for the knock—out stages of the europa league. they are all but through as a five nil defeat would see them go out of the league. if you're heading home this evening, it is wet out there. it's a drab december afternoon but things look brighter but cherie heading into the weekend. all the weekend there were details coming up. also coming up: thrown out of kilter — fears that mild autumn weather this year meant hundreds of baby hedgehogs were born too late to hibernate. hello, everyone — this is afternoon live. good afternoon. after weeks of campaigning, voting

is underway in the general election. this morning, the party leaders were out casting their ballots. it's the third election in less than five years — and the first to be held in december for nearly a century. the first results are expected before midnight. here's our political correspondent ben wright. and a warning — his report includes some flashing images. voting at 7am. the prime minister, borisjohnson, had some canine company as he cast his ballot at this polling station in westminster. have you all got your pictures, are you all right? the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, posed for the cameras too after voting in his north london constituency. it was dawn in dumbartonshire when the liberal democrat leader, jo swinson, arrived at the polling station. while in glasgow, the snp leader nicola sturgeon cast her ballot

at a community hall, one of tens of thousands across the uk. many people have already voted by post, including the brexit party leader, nigel farage. in wales the plaid cymru leader, adam price, had a soggy walk to the polling station in carmarthenshire, as did the green party co—leader jonathan bartley in london. we are not used to wrapping up for polling day, and in the highlands voters have faced snow on their way to cast their ballot. the last december election was almost a century ago in 1923 and the most recent winter election was in 1974. the way we have voted hasn't changed much since, putting a cross on a ballot paper, but taking snaps of dogs at polling stations is a much newer election day tradition. this is the third general election in less than five years. there are 650 constituencies in total and the candidate who secures the most votes in each

seat is elected to the house of commons. polling stations are open until 10pm and we will start to see results soon after that. ben wright, bbc news, westminster. tens of thousands of polling stations are open now across england, wales, scotland and northern ireland. christian fraser has this simple guide — with what you need to do to cast your vote. it is decision day, time to cast a vote. this is what i hope will be a short but helpful guide on how to vote if you've not done it before, and what you can and cannot do once you are inside the polling station. so, they are all open and they close this evening at 10pm. remember, if you in the queue at the polling station but not inside the booth by the deadline, you will still be allowed to vote. hopefully, you will have had a polling card sent to you if you are on the electoral register. if you have lost it or it didn't arrive, you can go to the electoral commission, put in your postcode, and they will tell you where to go to vote. and it will be a public building

like a school or library. you must go to the polling station assigned to you. you do not need to take your polling card with you. when you get there, you will be checked off a list and issued with a voting paper that looks like this. take it into the voting booth, there will be a pen or pencil in there, and put a mark next to the candidate you are selecting, preferably a cross, just one. if you spoil your ballot paper by accident, and you need to get another one, they can issue that so long as you haven't put it in the box already. and if it is your wish, you can spoil their ballot paper as well, some do if they don't like any of the candidates provided. we are also asked sometimes whether you can take a selfie inside the voting booth. i know...but we do live in this age. the electoral commission urge you not to do that. they would prefer you to take a picture outside the polling station to encourage people to go and vote. the reason they say that is because there is a risk that

you might reveal how other people have voted and that is punishable by a £5,000 fine or six months in prison, so, you don't want to do that. you are also not allowed to take a photo of your ballot paper. but once you have done it and it is in the box, you can tell people, family, even tweet it, how you have voted. there you go, a very simple process, i hope that helps a little bit. one word of advice. take a brolly with you, it's going to be very wet in some parts of the country. a polling station in motherwell has had to be moved after a suspicious device was found in the early hours of this morning. officers were called to the ground floor of a block of flats, close to where people were due to vote. a controlled explosion was carried out, but police said the device was not viable. a 48—year—old man has been arrested. our results coverage starts just before polls close tonight. on tv, huw edwards and the team will be on bbc one and the bbc news channel from 9.55pm, there's full coverage online

at bbc.co.uk/news and on the bbc news app, and special programmes on bbc radio 4 and radio 5 live. there are also results programmes for listeners and viewers in scotland, wales and northern ireland. police in new zealand are launching an operation to return to white island in a few hours time, to retrieve the bodies of those killed in monday's volcanic eruption. two people who were being treated for their injuries in hospital have now died, taking the confirmed death toll to eight. until now, rescue teams have stayed away from the island because of the danger of further eruptions. shaima khalil has sent this report. eight bodies have been stuck on this island for four days. and now there is a chance that finally they could be recovered. members of new zealand's defence force will attempt to reach the volcano to get the job done.

they will go on to the island, and they will make every effort to recover all of the bodies from the island. a lot has to go right for this to work. let there be no mistake, there is not a zero risk with regard to this plan. we flew close to the island to get a sense of what it's like. the heavy plumes of smoke still billowing. a sign of how precarious this situation is. we are five nautical miles away from whakaari, or white island. there's a restriction zone around it so this is as close as we can get. there's been quite a bit of volcanic activity in the area, toxic gases, ash, tremors and of course the risk of another eruption. police have said they're quite confident they know where the bodies are. they say they are within a 200 square metre area and that technically they could go in and out and retrieve them, but it is a trade—off. the deputy police commissioner said that that would compromise

the evidence that could then help them identify the bodies. but he said it was a compromise they were willing to consider if the families were willing to do so and if it meant going in and getting the bodies out. hayden inman is among those missing on the island. his brother says he's frustrating that it's taking so long to get his body. red tape, bureaucracy, leadership has failed. we're trusting experts that sit behind a desk making calls based on statistics. jason hill is one of the pilots who went in and helped rescued people after the eruption. he said the bodies should have been recovered more quickly. it's been a little bit frustrating but hopefully might get a something happening soon. to get those loved ones back. would you go on the island and get the bodies? definitely, 100%, yeah, without a doubt. there's been growing desperation among families who just want their loved ones back home.

now, for the first time, there is hope this may happen. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, whakatane. in swansea, seven people have been injured and a man has been arrested after a double—decker bus crashed into a bridge. emergency services were called this morning after the university bus slammed into a railway bridge. south wales police have said that one person is seriously injured and another has life—threatening injuries. david grundy from bbc wales is at the scene for us and sent us this. the emergency services were called here at around 9:40 this morning following reports a double—decker bus had struck a railway bridge. a number of people had been injured — seven people have been taken to hospital in swansea, one of those has serious injuries. another person has what has been described as life threatening injuries and has been airlifted to the university hospital of wales in cardiff. a 63—year—old man has been arrested.

now, this bus service was taking students from one end of swansea to the other, part of the university campus bus service, and the park and ride route is just around the corner. we understand from first company, the bus operator, that this bus had diverted off its normal route — this is not the normal route that the double—decker busses take — because of roadworks in the area. train services are also being disrupted, and that disruption is expected to last for most of the afternoon. a number of roads in the area are closed as well, as the investigation and recovery work gets under way. a former prisoner who fought off the london bridge attacker has told bbc news he was prepared to die to protect others. john crilly used a fire extinguisher to tackle usman khan, even though he thought he was wearing a suicide vest. mr crilly has been speaking to our legal correspondent, clive coleman. nearly two weeks ago, ex—offender john crilly found himself

at the centre of mayhem and butchery at a prison education event at fishmongers' hall, where his good friend jack merritt was murdered. yeah, just a very high pitched wail — like, a scream. john saw a woman sprawled on the stairs, bleeding, then usman khan, two knives out, wearing what looked like a suicide belt. john attacked him first with a wooden lectern, then a fire extinguisher, shouting at khan to blow his belt. he said he was waiting for the police... he said he was waiting for the police? before he blew it, yeah. i was prepared to lose my life, yeah, iwas. did it seem like he was targetting anyone in particular or any group? no, itjust seemed like anyone there was fair game. ijust assume now, he'd just seen a big target —

a room full of...probably in his mind, and to a certain degree it's true, a roomful of establishment people. judges, police, security — they was all in that room. with others using makeshift weapons, john pursued khan onto the street, spraying him with the extinguisher. within minutes, police arrived, john shouting at them to shoot khan because of the belt. they did. john's thoughts then turned to his friend jack merritt, the cambridge graduate who changed john's life, and who, along with saskia jones, had been murdered by khan. can you tell me what he meant to you? jackjust basically meant hope. people think of you as a hero. do you think of yourself as a hero? a hero?

no. jack gave up his life. he's... he would be my hero. john crilly speaking to our legal affairs correspondent, clive coleman. in india, there've been violent protests against a new bill which would fast track citizenship for immigrants from neighbouring countries — unless they are muslim. 0pposition parties say the bill is another move by the hindu nationalist bjp party to marginalise the country's 200 million muslims. this report is from pratiksha ghildial, in delhi. anger on the streets of north—east india. the people here do not want immigrants from neighbouring countries to settle here. locals feel that their ethnic identity is under threat, and that the implementation

of the new law will lead to demographic changes. but that's not the only reason this new law has divided india. rights groups are furious because the new law will not allow muslim migrants to become citizens. the government says it is not discriminatory, but aims to help minorities fleeing persecution in pakistan, afghanistan and bangladesh. all islamic countries. campaigners like these say that by excluding muslims, the government is undermining the values on which india was founded. secularism, and religious tolerance. and that faith should not be a consideration for citizenship. many are suspicious, and see it as a tool to marginalise the muslim community. this just seems to be the framework for a hindu nation. and in general, if you've seen the last five years,

the anti—muslim rhetoric has been huge. there is a large number of violent attacks going on against the community all over the world. this will put them in a further vulnerable spot. there have been heated scenes in the parliament as the government tried to defend the move. translation: this is not meant for taking away anyone's rights. it is to give people rights. that's the difference between a refugee and an infiltrator. but critics say this sends out a negative signal to the country's 200 million strong muslims. clearly, you are catering to your hindu base, by telling them that this country is only for hindus. the world's largest democracy had a big heart, that it could accommodate people. right now we are coming across to the world as petty, vindictive civilisation. that's not what india stood for. there are concerns about what this

means for india's secular democracy as it grapples with this complex issue of religion, citizenship and identity. pratiksha ghildial, bbc news, dehli. the court of appeal has been told that a woman, who spent £16 million in harrods over a decade, is the victim of the "most draconian and intrusive powers" ever used by british investigators. zamira hajiyeva, the wife of a bankerjailed for corruption, could lose her london mansion if she fails to explain to authorities how she could afford her spending. our home affairs correspondent dominic casciani sent this update. this is a really important test case at the court of appeal for the national crime agency's unexplained wealth orders powers. quite simply, this is a power which they can use to target someone they believe has benefited — or potentially benefited — from overseas corruption, and they say if you can't explain where your wealth in the uk has come from, we are having your property.

and in this case, zamira hajiyeva — who denies all wrongdoing — is the target because her husband, an azerbaijan state banker, is injailfor corruption and embezzlement. she is fighting this case to hang on her mansion and the separate golf course, and today at the court of appeal her counsel said that this power was utterly draconian because her husband had been subject to an unfair trial in their native country, he couldn't come to court to defend himself, his reputation or his wife and the legitimate sources of her wealth. now, if she loses this case — and we don't expect a judgment until the new year — this will be a really important moment for the national crime agency in its attempts to use a broad range of powers to target what it believes and suspects to be corrupt wealth in the uk. but if mrs hajiyeva wins, as she believes she has got a case here, then it's a real setback for the government. the fact that it's taken two years to get to this point actually shows how complex it is to investigate suspected corruption buried into property in the uk.

the disgraced hollywood producer harvey weinstein has reached a $25 million civil settlement with dozens of women who have accused him of sexual misconduct. the money will be split between more than 30 actors and former employees. mr weinstein is still facing criminal charges for sexual assault and will stand trial in the new year. earlier i spoke to entertainment journalist caroline frost, who said the settlement hasn't been greeted with "universal jubilation". the problem is in the detail, for a start i think perhaps most significantly, weinstein admits no culpability at all, he will not be paying the money himself, it will come from a big insurance pot which will cover legal fees and for board members including his brother with the now disbanded weinstein company. all in all i think the victims who have put forward this case are pretty much feeling their hands are

tied, they have effectively had the clock run down on them by a very powerful and wealthy legal opponent. a couple of them have voiced the fa ct a couple of them have voiced the fact that they've run out of options and they don't feeljustice has been done. and that's because they can't be part of criminal trial? the criminal trial are separate. some of the criminal allegations have already collapsed, so now when we come to january sexed when weinstein faces the criminal court, he will only face two separate allegations of serious sexual assault, in which case he will be facing imprisonment if convicted. in the meantime, some of the cases have collapsed, the expiry dates in different parts of the world, so different allegations made in london would have different terms from those made california. in i think it got to a point where they felt the people who did not accept the deal would be letting down the bigger team of women, some of whom

are not in the financial luxury of being able to sit it out and see what happens. it's a big question of group cases, who wants to settle when, who wants their day in court, hugely complex. personal politics between these individuals. two women spoke out today, their lawyers call the defensive. they said while we accept some women will want to accept some women will want to accept these terms they consider their day ofjustice has not arrived. and strikingly, it is a $47 million settlement, but 25 million for the women, where does the rest go? it's a big weinstein company part. 12 million, most shockingly, will go on legal fees alone, and part. 12 million, most shockingly, will go on legalfees alone, and of course harvey weinstein has dangled the prospect that he will declare personal bankruptcy possibly the next few weeks, which will mean there is even less money, plus you have the prospect of even more plaintiffs coming forward or wanting to dip into that same pie, so i think you can see the point of the

lawyers who are wanting to secure this deal, saying, that money is safe, let's grab it while it's available. but of course it is a bit ofa available. but of course it is a bit of a double—edged sword. available. but of course it is a bit of a double-edged sword. stepping back from this case, and what it signifies to other cases and other people in workplaces where they feel these practices are still a risk, these practices are still a risk, the #metoo movement was kicked off with harvey weinstein, where does this leave #metoo? money still talks. just as harvey weinstein used his money and status to secure his place in society, similarly now he still seems to wield great wealth and influence and has effectively silenced these women. it is a blanket settlement which will silence them forever and also exculpate weinstein and the people they claim enabled him. it is a very bad message for the rest of the #metoo movement if someone so

totemic who we thought had toppled off his perch is seen to have somehow wriggled under the hedge and somehow wriggled under the hedge and somehow made his way through. i think the only thing, it puts all the emphasis now on the criminal case in january, and case injanuary, and people will watch that eagerly to see if somehow justice is afforded to them. the third and final day of hearings is underway at the international court ofjustice in the hague, in the case against myanmar over the alleged genocide of its rohingya muslim minority. myanmar‘s civilian leader, aung san suu kyi, said military action against the rohingya which left thousands dead was a "necessary operation against militants". retail firms are under pressure to put less packaging around their online deliveries. now there's a new initative to make sure the box fits the size of the item — helping to cut waste and carbon emissions. 0ur correspondent emma simpson reports. it's the time of year when the online deliveries are coming thick and fast. how many of us have had this? an online purchase

in an oversized box. it drives us mad and it's bad for the environment. all this wasted space means more delivery vans in our towns and cities, and the bigger the parcel the bigger the cost for retailers — so what can be done? we've come to france to see a new machine that can produce a box to fit the product. well, this machine can take a standard sheet of cardboard and can make 10 million different varieties of box to make sure we have no wasted space at all around the product that somebody is trying to send in the post to a customer. so, let's put it to the test. i've got my christmas decoration and a few other items. stefan, press the button. a cuddly toy. some toiletries. clothes. the item is scanned to take the exact dimensions. meanwhile the box is being assembled, cardboard creased and then folded around the product.

it can make and pack up to 1000 boxes every hour. hey! here it is. look at that — not much empty space. alex, how big a difference can this machine make? it's a game changer, because already the uk is the biggest e—commerce market in europe. 18% of what we buy goes online, so imagine if that doubles. there is a mountain of cardboard already. most is recycled, but campaigners say bigger changes are needed for all this internet shopping to be sustainable. as well as looking at reducing the amount of packaging, we also need to look towards different systems, different systems of getting products to people, looking at reusable packing options and also looking at decarbonising the vehicles which are used to transport the products. this machine isn't in operationjust yet, but it is one way our everyday online purchases could eventually be made to fit the box. emma simpson, bbc news.

at this time of year, hedgehogs are usually fast asleep, hibernating for the winter. but not this year. there are fears that mild autumn weather meant hundreds of baby hoglets were born too late to hibernate. john maguire reports from a rescue centre in gloucester to find out what's being done to help. there we go. here he comes. so, he's had a strimmer injury, this fellow? it is an ancient species that's struggling to cope with modern life. he's healing nicely. the hedgehog population has declined by around a quarter over the past decade, but evidence can be difficult to obtain. so, the wild hogs rescue hedgehog centre in gloucestershire is building 15 of these hog boxes to gather information. so, this is the feeding station. let's take the lid off and you can talk us through what's inside. how does it work? so, this is where the hedgehogs will come in.

we put in a tunnel to keep the cats out because they come through and obviously a lot of them are micro—chipped as well as pets. so, they come through here, there is a microchip scanner here around this doorway, and then they come into this area where we would have food for them. we've got a camera here so we can pick up and see what they're doing, and we've got a microphone to hear them. sometimes it's quite useful to hear them, if they're coughing, that can be a sign of illness. underneath we've got weighing scales so we'll be able to keep track of their weight. and all the electronics is kept well away from the hedgehogs, nice and safe. despite the overall population decline, they've seen almost double the amount of hedgehogs here this year. the mild winter has meant hoglets have been born too late in the season and sometimes there have been second litters. the young will struggle to put on enough weight to carry them through hibernation and the winter. we've had a lot of hoglets in this year. last year, we had 186 admissions

throughout the entire year. but this year we are... the next hedgehog that comes in will be our 310th admission. so, that's a huge increase of the year before. and when we've looked at data from last year, the ones that are coming in now are quite considerably smaller. it's just getting milder and wetter. they're not hibernating for so long. so, they are waking up and maturing earlier, and actually breeding earlier. everything slows down when they hibernate, even their growth. it's all out of sync, isn't it? yes, it is. once they gain enough weight and can fend for themselves, they are micro—chipped and released. when the hog boxes come online injanuary, it will then give staff here a far clearer idea of how the hedgehogs are coping and what we can do to protect them. john maguire, bbc news, gloucestershire. coming up later today — a day earlier than usual because of the election —

mark kermode will be reviewing the latest cinema and home entertainment releases on the film review. that's at 5:45pm today. time for a look at the weather. a little bit of snow today but i'm starting with snow proper. lake effect snow in north america. really common at this time of year. basically lake effect snow can bring a short space of time, a lot of snow, and in parts of the great la kes snow, and in parts of the great lakes they had eight inches yesterday evening, unconfirmed, in just a of hours. they can cope with it, but what is it and why is it, at this time of year as we get into late fall or early winter? it is all

to do with the great lakes' water temperature, relatively warm at this time of year. but we're starting to get the cold air spilling down from canada. when it comes down from the north and bumps into the warm air and then you have the evaporation, then we see cloud forming and it falls as snow. and that is one of the reasons why it can be so extreme, because the wind direction plays quite apart, because depending on where it is blowing it can bring a lot of snow to one side of the lake, the other side can be dry and sunny. they are very used to it at this time of year, they can cope. we would probably be in complete turmoil if we had eight inches of snow! this was us this morning, very pretty stuck to the day. for some, anyway. we will see a little snow over the higher ground in the next couple of days because it is quite chilly. but rain, and it's pretty

miserable. the rain is quite widespread at the moment across england and wales. it is moving from west to east, the white stuff is the snow across the higher ground. cher was in scotland but it's not warm, three to 5 degrees at the best. a little milder in the south—west, some blustery showers now starting to show. that will be the story through the evening, most rain pushing into the north sea but plenty of blustery showers coming in from the west. gales across the south—west coast stretching up through the channel. milder here but still pretty chilly in the far north—east. that could impact with some icy stretches first thing, because the low is just clearing. tomorrow will be a windy day, the exception perhaps in eastern scotla nd exception perhaps in eastern scotland where there are lighter winds but rain first thing. elsewhere some sunshine first thing. it won't be long before we see

pretty heavy, sharp showers with hailand pretty heavy, sharp showers with hail and thunder moving on through northern ireland, north—west england and north wales as well. temperatures are similar to today, widely at around five to eight, may be double digits in the far south—west. a similar theme this weekend, for some they will be lucky, sunny spells cold. for others, blustery showers, hailand thunder, and it could turn wintry with any elevation. we are still under the influence of low pressure this weekend, the blue tones here will mean it is cold this time of year but for some we will start the weekend with some sunshine. cher was chiefly to the west but by the end of the day we see more significant rain pushing into the south—west come into wales. as it moves inland overnight it gives us the chance potentially of seeing some snow across the hills of wales and northern england. it shouldn't be an

issue, it is transient, moving quite quickly through. it should ease away on sunday. for most of us on sunday, particularly central and eastern areas, some sunshine. but still the risk of heavy blustery showers, particularly across the west coast. temperature is around three to ten. this is bbc news. our latest headlines...

voting is under way across the country in the general election. it's the first to be held in december, in nearly a century. rescuers in new zealand are preparing a dangerous operation to recover bodies after the volcanic eruption on white island. a former prisoner who fought off the london bridge attacker with a fire extinguisher has told the bbc he was prepared to die to protect others. seven people have been injured and a man has been arrested after a double—decker bus crashed into a bridge in swansea. and coming up... a salvage operation to recover parts of hms invincible — the 18th—century warship — which changed the face of the royal navy. sport now on afternoon live with katie sha na han. a big night for arsenal. it certainly is.

yes, as this is freddie ljungberg's first european match in charge of arsenal since taking over from unai emery two weeks ago. they travel to standard liege in the europa league. arsenal are all but through — as they would have to lose 5—0 to go out of the competition. it's also a chance to improve on the club's worst start to a season in two decades. arsenal — who are one of five british teams in action tonight — go into the game on the back of an important win over west ham in the premier league on monday. that was their first in ten matches. tonight's match — kicking off at an earlier time of 5:55pm — will be ljungberg's fourth game as interim boss and he admits that he's still to hold talks with the club about taking thejob full time. that's not a conversation i've had with the bosses. myjob is to go from day to day, game to game, and try to help this fantastic club, and that's what i try to do. then all those decisions are up to the top dogs to do. meanwhile... there are also reports that his predecessor, unai emery, has already held talks with everton to potentially become their new boss.

football, katie. 0ff football, katie. off the pitch, money, another headache. this is really interesting, as the championship has been described as a "bubble waiting to burst", with clubs posting record losses in a "gamble" to get promoted. it is football's riches competition, but is the battle simply to reach the premier league coming at a hefty cost? when wolves celebrated promotion last year, they did sell spending far more than they had earned and they were not alone. figures analysed by the bbc show that championship sides racked up a record £307 million in pre—tax losses. 0nly five of the 24 teams in the divisions made a profit while spending on wages exceeded revenues by 11%.

0ne former championship chairman believes some owners are gambling with their club's future. it is a billionaire's gamblers paradise. my worry is that when they stop putting money in in the future, who is going to be there to pick up what they have left? it is a bubble that will burst. questions over for football's finances have been getting louder after bury were expelled from the football league in august. this is a stark reminder that football clubs can never be taken for granted. if the money runs out, well this is what can happen. so, ensuring that clubs are financially sustainable is one of the sport's biggest challenges. under the rules, championship clubs are allowed losses of £39 million over three years. last season birmingham city was deducted points for exceeding that limit. football league says

its owners are aware of economic challenges, but the rules are being reviewed. how much do they want to address the issue of losses? because it's not a revenue issue. it isa it is a cost problem. what did they wa nt to it is a cost problem. what did they want to do about costs? clubs need to be worried, but it is about the environment that they are in. they are chasing to be in a premiership. they are chasing to be in a premiership. they are football clubs that may want to go as high up in the pecking order as they can. making sure that that dream does not become a nightmare. richard masters has been named as the premier league's new chief executive. it comes just two weeks after david pemsel resigned before starting the role following newspaper allegations about his private life. masters was the fourth person to be offered the job. he has been in temporary charge since the departure of richard scudamore in november 20—18. to formula 1, as ferrari have confirmed that they've spoken to six time world champion lewis hamilton about driving for them in the future.

hamilton will drive for mercedes next year but is out of contract at the end of 2020. ferrari have admitted that their chairman had met hamilton at a social event, which they say was totally blown out of proportion. but did also admit they were flattered that a driver like hamilton would consider racing for them. and we'll leave you with this, as organisers of the paris 2024 0lympics have announced that the surfing events will take place almost 10,000 miles away in tahiti. it's a small island in the middle of the pacific and boasts some of the biggest waves on the men's circuit. now, it's not the first time we've seen such a big distance. as the equestrian events at the 1956 melbourne 0lympics were held in stockholm. that's all of the sport. i'll have more for you in the next hour. thank you for the fun facts. we will see you later. we are going to a different kind of sports now. we are going to a different kind of sports now. games consoles are once again at the top of many christmas present lists. parents might worry they're a waste of time —

but in the united states, playing e—sports can be a way into university. some colleges are now hosting championships, with the best players offered full scholarships. here's our north america correspondent, chris buckler. in the us, college sports are big business. at the largest universities, basketball and american football are worth tens of millions of dollars. but you'll find the newest college athletes not in helmets — but in headsets. i've got you in my sights. i'm sitting here with soames, one of the 0verwatch players at harrisburg university. he's currently playing 0verwatch, which is a competitive team—based game. coaches at this pennsylvania college watch every strike of the keyboard and move of the mouse. meet the fiercely e—sport athletes on full university scholarships. my mum, it was kind of like a sigh of relief because she was able to go, wow, all that time you wasted in your bedroom was actually for something. they are going to need to come out

with their best defence. some might be cynical, but this is being presented as the latest university team sport. the tournament on the line, harrisburg! this year's collegiate tournament was even covered by the leading us sports network espn. harrisburg is your champion! it cost the equivalent of £1 million, building this training facility and fitting it out with some of the best equipment, including some of the fastest computers, and harrisburg university is spending another £1.5 million every year on coaching its teams and providing scholarships. this is a big investment for the college. competitive video gaming that we have at harrisburg university is night and day different than casual gaming on your couch, eating doughnuts and drinking diet coke. this is not that. harrisburg is an old industrial city, but its young university is focused on the future and it believes it can use gaming

to get noticed as interest grows across america. nearby, in philadelphia, a multi—million dollar e—sport stadium is being built. it will host tournaments like the recent competition in new york that attracted huge crowds to watch people playing the game fortnite. your world champion! it was viewed online all over the world and there was big prize money. as a professional at the top level, it's very cut—throat and you need to play like ten, 11, 12 hours a day, and i don't know if i have that in me or want to do that, i'd rather have a more balanced life. one thing striking about this university team is it's all male, but that is likely to change if players are recognised and rewarded as 21st—century sports stars. chris buckler, bbc news, harrisburg. interesting thought at the end

there. we will watch to see whether thatis there. we will watch to see whether that is actually true. we will watch to see whether that is actually true. a painting worth around £50 million may have been found inside the wall of the gallery from where it disappeared. portrait of a lady by the austrian artist gustav klimt went missing from a gallery in northern italy in 1997. there it is. now tests are being carried out on a painting which was found in a secret compartment inside the gallery wall — discovered by a gardener as he cut back ivy. that obviously raises as many questions as it answers. who put it there and why? lots more to come on that. lots more to come on that. sir paul mccartney has revealed that he recorded an album of christmas songs which he plays for his family every year, but is unlikely to release. speaking to bbc radio 4's world at one programme, the former beatle said he decided some years ago to make his own versions of traditional carols, because there were so few popular songs that he liked.

i would likejust something kind of traditional and simple and easy with all the good... and all of that. so actually went into my studio over a couple of years and i made one. the kids like it. now it's kind of traditional. it is something they have heard through the years, you know. and now it is the grandkids getting indoctrinated with my carols record. in the same interview... sir paul has suggested he won't stop going on tour despite the environmental impact of the travelling that's involved. he says he'll make sure he does enough to counteract the impact. it isa it is a reality, you just have to do it. i think you just have to plant a lot of trees. that is how i offset it by doing things that is going to make upfor it by doing things that is going to make up for it. if i am going to travel, that's going to involve carbon footprint. in a moment, victoria will be here to bring you all the business. but here are the

headlines first. voting is under way across the country in the general election — it's the first to be held in december in nearly a century. rescuers in new zealand are preparing a dangerous operation to recover bodies after the volcanic eruption on white island. a former prisoner who fought off the london bridge attacker with a fire extinguisher has told the bbc, he was prepared to die to protect others. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. fashion retailer superdry warns of a tough christmas ahead — as it reports an accounting error. it is not the first time the company has got its maths wrong. the oil company saudi aramco is now the world's most valuable company, but for how long? in its first day of trading, aramco was worth $1.9 trillion. apple, by comparison, is currently worth around 1.2 trillion. takeaways become a habit. consultants kpmg say people in britain order

an average of 34 meals a year. london tops the tables, with people in the capital spending over £700 a year on takeout orders. let's pick that up. that is an interesting number of. it is, are you a fan of the take out?|j interesting number of. it is, are you a fan of the take out? i don't do that much on take out, and either cook or go to a restaurant. occasionally a take away with the kids. it has become something of a habit with lots of people. their way in which we as a country are eating. it is changing. yes, some of that is because it is a bit of a treat, a ritual for a because it is a bit of a treat, a ritualfor a family, because it is a bit of a treat, a ritual for a family, that sort of thing. the number of times that we are opting for that takeaway is rising. it is interesting to see why that might be. we are spending more than ever on this. some people are spending thousands of pounds on take outs. some people in london actually

admitted that they were ordering takeout more than once a day. it sort of makes you wonder what happened. surely, just bulk order. you are paying for the delivery each time. is quite varied across the country. i suppose it is so convenient. it is. presumably if you are in the city, but less so if you are in the city, but less so if you are in the middle of wales. that only accounts for about 30% of the reason why people are ordering. a lot of the time it is because they wa nt lot of the time it is because they want a treat or they want to try a different kind of cuisine and they don't know how to cook something like that. yes, of course there are a whole host of apps this environment that we have on our mobile phones. it is easier than ever before to order what you want without having to inconvenience yourself and actually having to speak to anyone. it is changing the restau ra nt speak to anyone. it is changing the restaurant business. so there are lots of customers who are pretty

upset that they have to wait for their curry because of all the curries going out the door. yes, you do notice that sometimes.” curries going out the door. yes, you do notice that sometimes. i have to say, it is quite annoying. i have been on both sides of that fence. i should not criticise probably. another story we are looking at today. the national pharmacy association is calling for better regulation of products claiming to contain the cannabis derivative cbd. there has been a huge spike in demand, with the non—medicinal cbd now on sale in high street shops across the country, including chemists. but the body which represents hundreds of independent pharmacies says clearer information is needed. our consumer correspondent colletta smith reports. it's in everything — water, drops, pills, chocolate, make—up, shampoo, tea and coffee. this isn't medicinal cannabis. it doesn't have the psychoactive element that makes you high or have any proven medical benefit, but plenty of people think it helps them.

we've tried the latte and it's very relaxing, actually. does it? do you feel different? yeah, just feel relaxed and chilled out. i had back problems and joint issues and it really helps with that. my friend who comes with me — it helps with sleep. they want to take something that's not detrimental to their health, it's not addictive, it's natural, and here it is, cbd oil. it's illegal to print any health claims on the products, so, i want to find out who is regulating the industry, who is checking the ingredients, or if there is any cbd in it at all. it tastes nice. it doesn't really taste any different from a normal latte, to be honest. this stuff is for sale in all kinds of retailers. it's in pound shops, online and now, increasingly, at local pharmacies. it's up to each individual retailer whether they stock cbd products or not, but overall more research is required and we would urge clearer guidance which makes it easy for health care professionals, consumers and patients to make informed choices.

at the moment, these products don't have authorisation from the food standards agency. to get that, manufacturers should provide detailed chemical production and safety information, but brands don't seem to be in a rush, even after repeated requests from the food standards agency. they want companies to get in touch with them with as much information as possible about this new product. but no manufacturer from this multi—million—pound industry has yet given them enough information to get authorisation. a new group representing around 20 cbd manufacturers say they are currently working towards achieving the fsa status. in the meantime, retailers and pharmacists cannot give reliable advice and customers have no guarantees that the product is safe, or, indeed, if it contains any cbd oil at all. colletta smith, bbc news.

let's have a quick look at the markets. in the last hour, donald trump has been at his smartphone and he has been setting twitter a light for his 65 million followers. he said we are close to a deal. this is the china us trade war. he said they wa nt the china us trade war. he said they want a deal and so do we. he said that's like 45, 000 want a deal and so do we. he said that's like 45,000 times. only last week he was saying i am not bothered. i can take a deal after the election. will be elsie, because it is already having a chilling affect. —— we will see. they will be many on the phone to the white house saying hang on, we need this deal to happen. us stocks jumped, pushing the s&p 500 to a record high. so there is the dollar. if you're planning to go to new york for a bit of shopping.

a three—year salvage operation to save one of the most important naval vessels of the 18th century has come to an end. hms invincible sank in the solent in 1758. items recovered range from a six—tonne bow section, to small ceramic hair curlers used by the ships officers to style their wigs. duncan kennedy has more. vanity applied in 1758, clearly. in a tank in a warehouse in dorset, history has come ashore. these are pieces of a revolutionary vessel that sank in the solent more than 250 years ago. they belong to hms invincible, a ship that changed the face of the royal navy. probably the most important mid—18th century ship in british waters because of her design and how that was used by the british fleet, she is a key component in the development of naval shipbuilding on the 18th century.

this is invincible today in the solent where she sank. britain had captured her from the french in 1747 and her design stunned the navy. in 1979 she was discovered by a fisherman and three years ago experts realised the protective sediments were disappearing so they began an emergency operation to salvage her. this six tonne section was among the biggest items raised. but why save hms invincible at all? she changed the way the navy designed its ships. she was lower, longer and more stable than anything we had had before. within 50 years, around half the british navy would come to look like invincible.

but what other secrets has she given up? ..what we believe to be one of the sailor's shoes that was in this chest and we even have the buckle that goes with it. that's not all. pipes, glass bottles for brandy, and even these, ceramic hair curlers for officers' wigs. we have a really good idea now of how they lived and worked and how incredibly organised they were. everything is labelled and we find the equivalent of the broom cupboard with everything still on shelves. it shows incredible organisation of the royal navy. around 75% of invincible still lies on the sea bed but there are no plans to raise her. the artefacts that make up her extraordinary naval story go on display next year. duncan kennedy, bbc news.

i look forward to that. it's an election tradition... dogs centre stage as their owners go to vote. hashtag #dogsatpollingstations has been trending as social media users share pictures of their ‘pawlitical‘ companions. it is a rescue dog.

sit, sit! sit down. stay right there, stay. stay there. stay. where is your happy face? sit. where is your happy face? your paw, your paw. good boy.

so, if you have a dog and you have not given it a while, you know where you can go to. you can post her picture. you can post her picture. now it's time for a look at the weather with louise. hello there. certainly been a cloudy thursday and there's been some rain around so far this morning. the rain is going to slowly ease its way off to the east, but you can see how extensive it's been across england and wales with a little bit of wintriness to higher ground across the north of england and also across the mountains of scotland. now here it will stay on the cool side with just three to five degrees at the very best. but as the bulk of rain shifts this way east, slightly milder the conditions, a brighter afternoon in the southwest, with highs of ten or 11. the bulk of the rain will push

off into the north sea during the nighttime period, leaving a trail of blustery showers being blown in from the west. gale force gusts of winds across the extreme southwest and here, not quite as cold. around, six degrees to start friday morning, but a chilly start in the east of scotland. maybe some icy stretches around as well. now, we're still going to see that low pressure just influencing eastern scotland for a time first thing on friday morning. lighter winds here, but plenty of blustery winds from the northwest elsewhere. so it starts off grey and wet across eastern scotland. sunshine and blustery showers, the order of the day elsewhere. some of those showers across northern ireland into north wales could be heavy with the odd rumble of thunder. 10 degrees, the highest values in the southwest. but generally we're looking at highs of around five to eight celsius into the weekend. we're still under this influence of low pressure up into the far north and it still stays on the cool side, generally across the country. milder yellows trying to creep back in from the south. so here, we could see double

figures if we're lucky, but it will be a slightly brighter start to the day. blustery showers, any of those showers as they develop could be heavy with the odd rumble of thunder. they're likely to push in across western fringes. four or five degrees in the far north, nine to 11 further south. now, as that wet weather from the west pushes its way steadily inland overnight saturday into sunday, there is the potential perhaps for further hill snow, particularly across north wales and northern england. we'll need to keep an eye on that one. but that air moves through quite readily. a showery day. and the forecast for sunday showers most widely, the further north and west you are. but nowhere immune. top temperatures of around five to ten degrees. that's how it's looking. just to summarise the weekend, then for you, a little more detail, sunny spells and blustery showers for many, but there's a chance of some snow on the hills.

hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm carrie gracie. today at 4pm... voters head to the polls in the first december election for almost a century — people are voting in 650 constituencies. police in new zealand prepare to retrieve the bodies of those killed by the white island volcano. there's been quite a bit of volcanic activity in the area — toxic gases, ash, tremors and of course the risk of another eruption. lawyers for some of the women who've accused the hollywood producer, harvey weinstein, of sexual misconduct say they've agreed a settlement worth $25 million. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport... and it is freddie ljungberg's first

european march in charge of arsenal. it isa european march in charge of arsenal. it is a way to standard liege. arsenal need a draw or a win to go through to the next stage. thanks, and we'll bejoining you for a full update just after half—past. louise has all the weather. thanks. there is a lot of cloud around, outbreaks of rain. it will stay with us outbreaks of rain. it will stay with us for the rest of the day but what is in store for the weekend? i will have the details coming up later. also coming up... thrown out of kilter — fears that mild autumn weather this year meant hundreds of baby hedgehogs were born too late to hibernate.

hell, everyone, this is afternoon live. i'm carrie gracie. after weeks of campaigning, voting is under way in the general election. this morning, the party leaders were out casting their ballots. it's the third election in less than five years, and the first to be held in december for nearly a century. the first results are expected before midnight. here's our political correspondent ben wright — and a warning his report includes some flashing images. voting began at seven o'clock this morning. the prime minister, borisjohnson, had some canine company as he cast his ballot at this polling station in westminster. have you all got your pictures, are you all right? thank you. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, posed for the cameras too after voting in his north london constituency. it was dawn in scotland when the liberal democrat leader, jo swinson, arrived at the polling station in her constituency. while in glasgow, the snp leader

nicola sturgeon cast her ballot at a community hall, one of tens of thousands of polling stations across the uk. many people have already voted by post, including the brexit party leader, nigel farage. in wales, plaid cymru leader, adam price, had a soggy walk to the polling station in carmarthenshire... morning. ..as did the green party co—leader jonathan bartley in london. we are not used to wrapping up for polling day, and in the highlands voters have faced snow on their way to cast their ballot. the last december election was almost a century ago, in 1923, and the most recent winter election was in 1974. the way we have voted hasn't changed much since — putting a cross on a ballot paper, but taking snaps of dogs at polling stations is a much newer election—day tradition. this is the third general election in less than five years. there are 650 constituencies in total and the candidate

who secures the most votes in each seat is elected to the house of commons. polling stations are open until ten o'clock this evening and we will start to see results soon after that. ben wright, bbc news, westminster. tens of thousands of polling stations are open now across england, wales, scotland and northern ireland. christian fraser has this simple guide with what you need to do to cast your vote. it is decision day, time to cast a vote. this is what i hope will be a short but helpful guide on how to vote if you've not done it before, and what you can and cannot do once you are inside the polling station. so, they are all open and they close this evening at 10pm. remember, if you are in the queue at the polling station but not inside the booth by the deadline, you will still be allowed to vote. hopefully, you will have had a polling card sent to you if you are on the electoral register. if you have lost it or it didn't arrive, you can go

to the electoral commission, put in your postcode, and they will tell you where to go to vote. and it will be a public building like a school or library. you must go to the polling station assigned to you. you do not need to take your polling card with you. when you get there, you will be checked off a list and issued with a voting paper that looks like this. take it into the voting booth, there will be a pen or pencil in there, and put a mark next to the candidate you are selecting, preferably a cross, just one. if you spoil your ballot paper by accident, and you need to get another one, they can issue that so long as you haven't put it in the box already. and if it is your wish, you can spoil their ballot paper as well, some do if they don't like any of the candidates provided. we are also asked sometimes whether you can take a selfie inside the voting booth. we do live in this age. the electoral commission urge you not to do that. they would prefer you to take a picture outside the polling station to encourage people to go and vote. the reason they say

that is because there is a risk that you might reveal how other people have voted and that is punishable by a £5,000 fine or six months in prison, so, you don't want to do that. you are also not allowed to take a photo of your ballot paper. but once you have done it and it is in the box, you can tell people, family, even tweet it, how you have voted. there you go, a very simple process, i hope that helps a little bit. one word of advice. take a brolly with you, it's going to be very wet in some parts of the country. a polling station in motherwell has had to be moved after a suspicious device was found in the early hours of this morning. officers were called to the ground floor of a block of flats, close to where people were due to vote. a controlled explosion was carried out, but police said the device was not viable. a 40—year—old man has been arrested. our results coverage starts just

before polls close tonight. on tv, huw edwards and the team will be on bbc one, and the bbc news channel from 9.55pm. there's full coverage online at bbc.co.uk/news and on the bbc news app, and special programmes on bbc radio 4 and radio 5 live. there are also results programmes for listeners and viewers in scotland, wales and northern ireland. police in new zealand are launching an operation to return to white island in a few hours' time to retrieve the bodies of those killed in monday's volcanic eruption. two people who were being treated for their injuries in hospital have now died, taking the confirmed death toll to eight. until now, rescue teams have stayed away from the island because of the danger of further eruptions. shaima khalil has sent this report. eight bodies have been stuck on this island since monday's eruption. and now there is a chance that finally they could be recovered.

members of new zealand's defence force will attempt to reach the volcano to get the job done. they will go on to the island, and they will make every effort to recover all of the bodies from the island. a lot has to go right for this to work. let there be no mistake, there is not a zero risk with regard to this plan. we flew close to the island to get a sense of what it's like. the heavy plumes of smoke still billowing. a sign of how precarious this situation is. we are five nautical miles away from whakaari, or white island. there's a restriction zone around it, so this is as close as we can get. there's been quite a bit of volcanic activity in the area — toxic gases, ash, tremors and of course the risk of another eruption. police have said they're quite confident they know where the bodies are. they say they are within a 200—square metre area. the deputy police commissioner said

that, technically, they can go in, get the bodies and get out quickly, but it's a trade—off. the compromise here is that this could mean that they lose evidence that would help them to identify those bodies. but he said it was a trade—off that he, the police and the families would consider if it meant recovering the bodies. tour guide hayden inman is among those missing on the island. his brother says he's frustrated that it's taking so long to get his body. red tape, bureaucracy, leadership has failed. we're trusting experts that sit behind a desk making calls based on statistics. jason hill is one of the pilots who went in and helped rescued people after the eruption. he says the bodies should have been recovered more quickly. it's been a little bit frustrating but hopefully we might get something happening soon to get those loved ones back. would you go on the island and get the bodies? definitely, 100%, yeah, without a doubt.

there's been growing desperation among families who just want their loved ones home. now, for the first time, there is hope this may happen. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, whakatane. in swansea, eight people have been injured and a man has been arrested after a double—decker bus crashed into a bridge. emergency services were called this morning after the university bus slammed into a railway bridge. south wales police have said that one person is seriously injured and another has life—threatening injuries. david grundy from bbc wales is at the scene for us and sent us this update. the emergency services were called here at around 9:40 this morning following reports a double—decker bus had struck a railway bridge. a number of people had been injured — seven people have been taken to hospital in swansea,

one of those has serious injuries. another person has what has been described as life—threatening injuries and has been airlifted to the university hospital of wales in cardiff. a 63—year—old man has been arrested. now, this bus service was taking students from one end of swansea to the other, part of the university campus bus service, and the park and ride route is just around the corner. we understand from first cymru, the bus operator, that this bus had diverted off its normal route — this is not the normal route that the double—decker busses take — because of roadworks in the area. train services are also being disrupted, and that disruption is expected to last for most of the afternoon. a number of roads in the area are closed as well, as the investigation and recovery work gets under way. the court of appeal has been told that a woman,

who spent £16—million in harrods over a decade, is the victim of the "most draconian and intrusive powers" ever used by british investigators. zamira hajiyeva, the wife of a bankerjailed for corruption, could lose her london mansion if she fails to explain to authorities how she could afford her spending. our home affairs correspondent, dominic casciani has more details please explain more. this is the most important test case so far, they really knew power of the crime agency. it allows investigators to identify people who have property, largely in london and the south—east, and say, you know that million pounds of money that has been invested in our country, we do not know where that has come from camp, can you explain yourself? if they cannot give a legitimate source for where that wealth has come from in the uk, then the nca can try to seize the property, it is effectively property that has been paid for through suspected corruption. the first target of this

power, zamira hajiyeva, she is the wife of a banker from azerbaijan, who is serving a long sentence for embezzlement in his home country. she owns a £15 million home here, and she is fighting to hold onto that and other properties in the face of this unprecedented legal action. her counsel today told the court of appeal that in effect she has been denied the right to property —— properly defend herself because her husband simply can't come to london and provide evidence in court of the legitimate sources of his wealth. that means that she has been denied justice and been subjected to this draconian power because she has no means to explain how she has become so wealthy. this afternoon, jonathan hall, the qc for the national crime agency, he said this is a really simple question for the court, all we are asking them to do, including the lord chief justice, is to require zamira haj iyeva to justice, is to require zamira hajiyeva to explain where her wealth came from, how did she afford this property? how did she afford the

golf course "death to traitors, freedom for britain" how on earth is she so rich that you can spend £15 million in harrods? he she can spend £15 million in harrods? he said the vague claims that her husband was some kind of fridge freezer magnet in his own country were compatible to suggest he was the alan sugar of the white goods world and he said it was wholly implausible. the nca wa nts a nswers. was wholly implausible. the nca wants answers. they will be a judgment on this case in the new year. whateverjudgment, judgment on this case in the new year. whatever judgment, it judgment on this case in the new year. whateverjudgment, it will set the precedent for how future unexplained wealth orders will be handled, and there is an awful lot riding on this case, because investigators believe there are billions of billions of pounds of suspected corrupted stolen money laundered through property in london and the south—east which they should be able to start recovering. we will look forward to hearing the outcome of that with interest. thank you. a former prisoner who fought off the london bridge attacker has told bbc news he was prepared to die to protect others.

john crilly used a fire extinguisher to tackle usman khan, even though he thought he was wearing a suicide vest. clive coleman. nearly two weeks ago, ex—offenderjohn crilly found himself at the centre of mayhem and butchery at a prison education event at fishmongers' hall, where his good friend jack merritt was murdered. yeah, just a very high pitched wail — like, a scream. john saw a woman sprawled on the stairs, bleeding, then usman khan, two knives out, wearing what looked like a suicide belt. john attacked him first with a wooden lectern, then a fire extinguisher, shouting at khan to blow his belt. he said he was waiting for the police... he said he was waiting for the police? before he blew it, yeah. i was prepared to lose my life, yeah, iwas. did it seem like he was targetting anyone in particular or any group?

no, itjust seemed like anyone there was fair game. ijust assume now, he'd just seen a big target — a room full of...probably in his mind, and to a certain degree it's true, a room full of establishment people. judges, police, security — they was all in that room. with others using makeshift weapons, john pursued kahn onto the street, spraying him with the extinguisher. within minutes, police arrived, john shouting at them to shoot khan because of the belt. they did. john's thoughts then turned to his friend jack merritt, the cambridge graduate who changed john's life, and who, along with saskia jones, had been murdered by khan. can you tell me what he meant to you? jackjust basically meant hope.

people think of you as a hero. do you think of yourself as a hero? a hero? no. jack gave up his life. he's... he would be my hero. john crilly speaking to our legal affairs correspondent, clive coleman. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines... voting is under way — across the country — in the general election. it's the first to be held in december, in nearly a century. rescuers in new zealand are preparing a dangerous operation to recover bodies after the volcanic eruption on white island. a former prisoner who fought off the london bridge attacker

with a fire extinguisher has told the bbc, he was prepared to die to protect others. it is freddie ljungberg's first european match in charge of arsenal tonight. they are trying to improve on the club's worst season in two decades. the championship contains clu bs decades. the championship contains clubs and it has a leak ready to burst. that is according to the former wigan chairman dave whelan. and ferrari have spoken to the six—time world champion lewis hamilton about driving for them in the future. i will be back with more of those stories just after 4:30pm. the disgraced hollywood producer, harvey weinstein, has reached a $25 million civil settlement with dozens of women who have

accused him of sexual misconduct. the money will be split between more than 30 actors and former employees. mr weinstein is still facing criminal charges for sexual assault and will stand trial in the new year. earlier i spoke to entertainment journalist caroline frost, who said the settlement hasn't been greeted with "universal jubilation". the problem is in the detail, for a start i think perhaps most significantly, weinstein admits no culpability at all, he will not be paying the money himself, it will come from a big insurance pot which will cover legal fees and for board members including his brother with the now disbanded weinstein company. all in all, i think the victims who have put forward this case are pretty much feeling their hands are tied, they have effectively had the clock run down on them by a very powerful and wealthy legal opponent. a couple of them have voiced the fact that they've run out of options and they don't feel justice has been done. and that's because they can't be part of the criminal trial? the criminal trial is separate.

some of the criminal allegations have already collapsed, so now when we come to january 6 when weinstein faces the criminal court, he will only face two separate allegations of serious sexual assault, in which case he will be facing imprisonment if convicted. in the meantime, some of the cases have collapsed, the expiry dates in different parts of the world, so different allegations made in london would have different terms from those made california. i think it got to a point where they felt the people who did not accept the deal would be letting down the bigger team of women, some of whom are not in the financial luxury of being able to sit it out and see what happens. it's a tricky question of group cases, who wants to settle when, who wants their day in court, hugely complex. personal politics between these individuals.

two women spoke out today, their lawyers called it offensive. they said while we accept some women will want to accept these terms, they consider their day ofjustice has not arrived. and strikingly, it is a $47 million settlement, but 25 million for the women, where does the rest go? it's a big weinstein company pot. 12 million, most shockingly, will go on legal fees alone, and of course harvey weinstein has dangled the prospect that he will declare personal bankruptcy, possibly in the next few weeks, which will mean there is even less money, plus you have the prospect of even more plaintiffs coming forward all wanting to dip into that same pie, so i think you can see the point of the lawyers who are wanting to secure this deal, saying, that money is safe, let's grab it while it's available. but of course it is a bit of a double—edged sword. stepping back from this case, and what it signifies to other cases and other people in workplaces where they feel these practices are still a risk, the #metoo movement was kicked off

with harvey weinstein, where does this leave #metoo? money still talks. just as harvey weinstein used his money and status to secure his place in society, similarly now he still seems to wield great wealth and influence and has effectively silenced these women. it is a blanket settlement which will silence them forever and also exculpate weinstein and the people they claim enabled him. it is a very bad message for the rest of the #metoo movement if someone so totemic, who we thought had toppled off his perch, is seen to have somehow wriggled under the hedge and somehow made his way through. i think the only thing, it puts all the emphasis now on the criminal case injanuary, and people will watch that eagerly to see if somehowjustice is afforded to them. the third and final day of hearings is underway at the international court

ofjustice in the hague, in the case against myanmar over the alleged genocide of its rohingya muslim minority. myanmar s civilian leader, aung san suu kyi, said military action against the rohingya — which left thousands dead — was a ‘necessary operation against militants'. the national pharmacy association is calling for better regulation of products claiming to contain the cannabis derivative cbd. there has been a huge spike in demand, with the non—medicinal cbd now on sale in high street shops across the country, including chemists. but the body which represents hundreds of independent pharmacies says clearer information is needed. our consumer correspondent colletta smith reports... it's in everything — water, drops, pills,

chocolate, make—up, shampoo, tea and coffee. this isn't medicinal cannabis. it doesn't have the psychoactive element that makes you high or have any proven medical benefit, but plenty of people think it helps them. we've tried the latte and it's very relaxing, actually. does it? do you feel different? yeah, just feel relaxed and chilled out. i had back problems and joint issues and it really helps with that. my friend who comes with me — it helps with sleep. they want to take something that's not detrimental to their health, it's not addictive, it's natural, and here it is, cbd oil. it's illegal to print any health claims on the products, so, i want to find out who is regulating the industry, who is checking the ingredients, or if there is any cbd in it at all. it tastes nice. it doesn't really taste any different from a normal latte, to be honest. this stuff is for sale in all kinds of retailers. it's in pound shops, online and now, increasingly, at local pharmacies. it's up to each individual retailer whether they stock cbd products or not, but overall more research is required and we would urge clearer guidance which makes it easy

for health care professionals, consumers and patients to make informed choices. at the moment, these products don't have authorisation from the food standards agency. to get that, manufacturers should provide detailed chemical production and safety information, but brands don't seem to be in a rush, even after repeated requests from the food standards agency. they want companies to get in touch with them with as much information as possible about this new product. but no manufacturer from this multi—million—pound industry has yet given them enough information to get authorisation. a new group representing around 20 cbd manufacturers say they are currently working towards achieving the fsa status. in the meantime, retailers and pharmacists cannot give reliable advice and customers have no guarantees that the product is safe, or, indeed, if it contains any cbd oil at all.

staff at a scrap metal dealer who found around twenty thousand pounds in an old safe are going to donate the money to charity. the cash has been held by police since it was found at sackers, near ipswich in april. since nobody has come forward to claim the money, it's going to two local hospices. whenever voters go to the polls it's their dogs that take centre stage as they accompany their owners to polling stations across the country. in an election tradition, the hashtag #dogsatpollingstations of their ‘pawlitical‘ companions.

it is a rescue dog. i used to do volunteering back in ireland and fell in love. walking, walking, walking. he just loves walking. can't even say the word. sit, sit!

sit down. stay right there, stay. stay there. stay. where is your happy face? sit. where is your happy face? he is very protective, very loving. his bark is a lot louder than his bite. so he scares off a lot of delivery men. he isjust a big softy. your paw, your paw. good boy. you would not catch my dog sitting

there quietly, he would be shouting his head off! now it's time for a look at the weather with louise. hello, a very bleak day, cloud and rain, particularly across england and wales. a wintriness of a higher ground, scattered showers in scotland, too. as we go through the rest of the day, it stays cold in scotland, three, up to 5 degrees. the rain easing through england, brightening for the south—west, highs of ten or 11. that area of low pressure pushes into the north sea but may linger across the east of scotland, could be chilly here as well, icy stretches first thing in the morning, loads of around 13 degrees. five or six further south and west. we start tomorrow with the rain easing from the east of scotland, brighter start elsewhere, when they were fit, but it is a case of sunny spells and scattered showers for the afternoon. some showers for the afternoon. some showers will be heavy with the odd rumble of thunder and most of these

are across the north and west. top ta ntra are across the north and west. top tantra is likely of between five and 10 degrees. —— top temperatures likely. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. voting is underway across the country in the general election — it's the first to be held in december in nearly a century. rescuers in new zealand are preparing a dangerous operation to recover bodies after the volcanic eruption on white island. a former prisoner who fought off the london bridge attacker with a fire extinguisher has told the bbc he was prepared to die to protect others.

eight people have been injured — two seriously — and another has life—threatening injuries after a double—decker bus crashed into a bridge in swansea. one man has been arrested. sport now on afternoon live with katie sha na han. we will talk about the wagers bubble and football? as new figures have shown that clubs in the championship are posted record losses in a gamble to reach the premier league. one of those people saying that is a former wigan chairman david sharpe who says the championship is a bubble waiting to burst. analysis from bbc radio 5 live, the accountants deloitte and football experts found the

championship sides recorded pre—tax losses of £307 million for the 2017-18 losses of £307 million for the 2017—18 season and the research found that more than half of the clu bs a re found that more than half of the clubs are spending more on wages than they make in income. the football league says they have set up football league says they have set upa football league says they have set up a working group of clubs. here is david sharpe, the former chairman of wigan athletic... nobody is thinking about the worst case scenario, if you get there, fair play. there is ple nty of you get there, fair play. there is plenty of other teams that will get there! and it is worrying it is a bubble that will burst. waiting to burst. but it will burst. unless something dramatic changes. do not predict the figures will be even higher. one thing clubs try for getting into the big—time european

action. arsenal in action tonight. they are expected to win? and freddie ljungberg, his first european match in charge of arsenal since taking over from european match in charge of arsenal since taking overfrom unai emery two weeks ago so they travel to standard liege in the europa league and arsenal are all but through and they would have to lose 5—0 to go out of the competition. also a chance for arsenal to improve on the clu b chance for arsenal to improve on the club was my first start of a season in two decades. the club you're one of five british teams in action tonight go into the game on the back ofan important tonight go into the game on the back of an important win over west ham in the premier league and that was their first the premier league and that was theirfirst in 10 the premier league and that was their first in 10 matches and two nights match kicks off at the earlier time of 5:55pm and this will be his first —— for this game as interim boss and he admits there are still to hold talks about taking the job full—time. still to hold talks about taking the job full-time. that is not a conversation i have had with the bosses, myjob is to go from day—to—day and game to game and try to help this fantastic club and that

is what i try to do. and then all those decisions are up to the top dogs. celtic, rangers, wolves and manchester united are all in action as well tonight. united have already qualified for the knockout stages, but need to draw against dutch side, az alkmaar, at old trafford tonight to guarantee top after a tough start to the season, ole gunnar solskjaer‘s side have had a real turnaround in form of late with back—to—back wins over tottenham and manchester city. and the united boss says he always knew his players had that quality in them. results, that is always the proof in the end. but inside we have always believed what we are doing and it is going to be ups and downs, we have said that as well but we are on the right track. because i see these boys every single day in training. and what the attitude and their skills and the quality they have got soi skills and the quality they have got so i have not been worried.

richard masters has been named as the premier league's new chief executive. it comes just two weeks after david pemsel resigned before starting the role following newspaper allegations about his private life. masters was the fourth person to be offered the job. he has been in temporary charge since the departure of richard scudamore in november 2018. to formula 1, and ferrari have confirmed that they've spoken to six—time world champion lewis hamilton about driving for them in the future. hamilton will drive for mercedes next year, but is out of contract at the end of 2020. ferrari have admitted that their chairman had met hamilton at a social event, which they say was totally blown out of proportion. but did also admit they were flattered that a driver like hamilton would consider racing for them. and we'll leave you with this, as organisers of the paris 2024 olympics have announced that the surfing events will take place almost 10,000 miles away in tahiti. it's a small island in the middle of the pacific and boasts some of the biggest waves

on the men's circuit. now, it's not the first time we've seen such a big distance, as the equestrian events at the 1956 melbourne olympics were held in stockholm. that's all of the sport. there's of course more on all these stories on the bbc sport website. bye for now. the lowest point on earth's continents has been discovered, at the base of a large ice stream in eastern antarctica. the bottom of the trench beneath denman glacier is more than two miles below sea level. only the great ocean trenches go deeper. i'm joined by professor peter fretwell. an extraordinary idea at how very deep this is and it is effectively a canyon, right? it is a canyon, about 62 kilometres long and 90 kilometres wide with very deep.

and how did you discover this? well, we have used new methods to look beneath the ice, over the icecaps of antarctica, to study the shape and topography of the rocky bed underneath the ice caps. we have used physical driven models as well as radio echo sounding to remap the bed beneath antarctica. and this is important not just in bed beneath antarctica. and this is important notjust in terms of finding where it is deepest but also it is going to allow you to see the ridges on the slopes which will predict or enable you to predict more effectively the effects of climate change? absolutely. scientists are worried about antarctica melting and contributing to sea levels around the world and places we are most worried about are the deep canyons and glaciers which reach the ocean because it is warm, deep water around antarctica which

is most effective at melting the ice and knowing the shape of these gray seal troughs and canyons is really important if we are to predict how much ice we will lose from antarctica. so this deepest canyon on land that we started the conversation with by talking about, there is a big glazier in that canyon, effectively? no sign of that melting at this point? not at this point, there has been a little bit of melt but it has not really melted greatly at the moment. other glaziers around the coastline like the pine island glacier are retreating rapidly. as the waters around antarctica warm, it could be that we get warmer waters infiltrating this glazier as well in the same thing starts to happen. going back to the ridges on the slopes, i suppose if a glacier is

built behind a ridge, hopefully the ridge of the actual land as opposed to the ice will act as a wall in a way to stop it from melting? yes, as we said, it is the deep troughs and ca nyo ns we said, it is the deep troughs and canyons which are really sceptical —— susceptible and if there is a barrier at the base of that canyon, then the warm water which in antarctica is around the coastline is warmer the deeper you go down into the seas so it will not... the warm water will be unable to penetrate under the iceca ps. congratulations on advancing the sum of human knowledge in such a way. thank you forjoining us. retail firms are under pressure to put less packaging around their online deliveries. now there's a new initative to make sure the box fits the size of the item — helping to cut waste and carbon emissions. our correspondent emma simpson reports. it's the time of year when the online deliveries

are coming thick and fast. how many of us have had this? an online purchase in an oversized box. it drives us mad and it's bad for the environment. all this wasted space means more delivery vans in our towns and cities, and the bigger the parcel the bigger the cost for retailers — so what can be done? we've come to france to see a new machine that can produce a box to fit the product. well, this machine can take a standard sheet of cardboard and can make 10 million different varieties of box to make sure we have no wasted space at all around the product that somebody is trying to send in the post to a customer. so, let's put it to the test. i've got my christmas decoration and a few other items. stefan, press the button. a cuddly toy. some toiletries. clothes. the item is scanned to take the exact dimensions.

meanwhile the box is being assembled, cardboard creased and then folded around the product. it can make and pack up to 1000 boxes every hour. hey! here it is. look at that — not much empty space. alex, how big a difference can this machine make? it's a game changer, because already the uk is the biggest e—commerce market in europe. 18% of what we buy goes online, so imagine if that doubles. there is a mountain of cardboard already. most is recycled, but campaigners say bigger changes are needed for all this internet shopping to be sustainable. as well as looking at reducing the amount of packaging, we also need to look towards different systems, different systems of getting products to people, looking at reusable packing options and also looking at decarbonising the vehicles which are used to transport the products. this machine isn't in operationjust yet, but it is one way our everyday

online purchases could eventually be made to fit the box. emma simpson, bbc news. the idea that parakeets were introduced to the uk byjimi hendrix has been discredited by scientists. according to a study published in the journal of zoology, the spread of the birds has nothing to do with the psychedelic guitarist or other romantic theories. dr sally faulkner is one of the paper researchers and a lecturer at queen mary university and shejoins me now. that is not the only weird terry? thejimi hendrix that is not the only weird terry? the jimi hendrix it that is not the only weird terry? thejimi hendrix it was one of them at the african queen theory, the kind of crashed through the roof... tell me? the other one was some aircraft material had fallen off an aeroplane and it had hit a big aviary. we also have the hypothesis

that the storm in the 80s knocked out a lot of aviaries and birds escape that way so i am apologising for ruining anybodychristmas for anybody who wanted to believe the jimi hendrix terry, i would love that to true but we don't have the evidence to back that up. the story was he deliberately released para keets was he deliberately released parakeets in carna by was he deliberately released parakeets in carnaby street? he released two parakeets in the name of peace, is the story i heard, but we have no evidence to fight in a way you have disproved, how did you disprove all of these wild theories and how did you kind of form a more solid scientific view on where the para keets solid scientific view on where the parakeets have come from? i use geographic profiling, an established method in criminology used to catch serial killers and are serial rapists and arsonists so it uses the locations of the crime so that might be where the arson happened or the body was found and it creates a probability surface of how likely it is that the criminal live or have an

anchor point in a particular location so these are sources so we find sources associated with the crimes and we use that model in biology so we can find sources of diseases or elusive animals in the jungle or a rare —— where poachers are living based on the location of the poaching. in the case of invasive species are locations where people are seeing these animals is essentially the crime, what we call the crime, and we use the model and produce a surface which says how likely it is that the source comes from a particular area so when we have the hypotheses that we are testing they just have the hypotheses that we are testing theyjust don't come up very high, it is very unlikely... if it was related tojimi hendrix you would expect lots of sightings around carna by would expect lots of sightings around carnaby in central london in the months and years following that? not even lots of sightings but geographically we expect the sightings in a particular place and the model indicates that carnaby street was a source or the street nearby. it is none of those but what is the explanation? we find multiple

sources and locations where people we think, have been releasing para keets we think, have been releasing parakeets and this can be for a number of reasons. it is quite common for people to release pets into the wild, that is something people do but also they could have escaped from aviaries and we also had the national archives where we are looking into the parrot flu and historical headlines etc and there isa historical headlines etc and there is a huge case of parrot flu back in the 50s and people got really panicked so people will have had these birds as pets and got panicked and thought the bird will do them some harm so they effectively were told to get rid of the birds because it would cause damage. there is no climate change connection to any of this? orto climate change connection to any of this? or to the survival of para keets ? this? or to the survival of parakeets? potentially for survival because as a climate changes, these animals might be moving in response to that. but regards these hypotheses, climate change, i don't think is anything to do with it. thank you very much. thank you for putting a straight on all of that!

the cop25 climate summit is drawing to a close in madrid, with the campaigner greta thunberg due to speak later. the newly named time person of the year is the most visible figurehead of a campaign that now spans the globe and ensures that the climate crisis rarely leaves the headlines. although her fellow campaigners believe that this is the only way to avert the danger it presents, the constant message of fear is leading some to experience what's being called "climate anxiety". ben morris went to bath, in the west of england, to hear more. bath university in the south—west of england is putting on a special series of events aimed at getting students and staff involved in the environmental debate. it says that the defence is accused of... as well as political theatre in which a cow is on trial and a whole host of other events, there is a serious conversation being heard about the phenomenon of climate anxiety. it is the anticipation and fear

and anxiety we feel in anticipation of the environment and disaster. it feels very similar to other anxieties but this is very specific to environmental and social collapse. this is a climate cafe, an informal discussion aimed at exploring climate anxiety. these students are worried about making plans for the future, getting married and having children. they say the constant stream of negative news stories worsens the condition. i try to avoid watching the news most of the time because i feel like it is very difficult to take on board everything that is going on. it is anxiety based on the fact that the future is at risk. people might not be using plastic straws but there is not any significant shift. earlier this year people in western iceland marked the country's first ever loss of a glacier to climate change by holding a public funeral. for caroline, this is a rational

human response to loss. whether it's losing a loved one or a habitat, from the maldives to bangladesh, the advice she offers is the same. find community and share your feelings and concerns. then collectively you can take action. you are not alone. we all need to develop the emotional resilience to face the future that is coming our way. for many the problem is immediate. climate anxiety is just another aspect of the crisis we are facing. in a moment we'll get the latest business news. first, a look at the headlines on afternoon live... voting is under way across the country in the general election — it's the first to be held in december in nearly a century. rescuers in new zealand are preparing a dangerous operation to recover bodies after the volcanic eruption on white island. a former prisoner who fought off the london bridge attacker

with a fire extinguisher has told the bbc he was prepared to die to protect others. here's your business headlines on afternoon live... fashion retailer superdry warns of a tough christmas ahead as it reports an accounting error. it is not the first time the company has got its maths wrong. the oil company saudi aramco is now the world's most valuable company, but for how long? are tipped $2 trillion in the second day of trading. apple is worth something like 1.2 trillion. takeaways become a habit. consultants kpmg say people in britain order an average of 34 meals a year. london tops the tables, with people in the capital spending over £700 a year on takeout orders.

he did not mention hangover days which in the christmas party season is relevant to some of us and it is doing quite well on the bbc website. absolutely right. it is only performing marginally better than the myth dispelled thejimi hendrix is responsible for the london population of parakeets. we are talking with flexible working conditions and a lot of this is driven by the new millennialjobs market. people are looking for working from home as much as i can, self regulating leave, and hangover days, effectively calling a spade a spade so rather than calling up your boss and pretending to cough over the christmas period, you can legitimately in some agencies, and this is happening across the country, you can call up to say i am using this card, my hangover day, and the protagonist of the story on the online site is ellie, 19 years

old, and working at a digital marketing agency and your boss is saying that this policy for this company is doing very well. it promotes loyalty and it promotes honesty and so far it has not been abused by the members of staff stop we'll see whether or not that record is maintained over christmas. how many hangover days are they allowed? so far she has taken two any year, which is not bad. i don't know if we're honest, how many people in the newsroom could say the same? i am sure you have a completely unblemished record when it comes to hangover days! ijust unblemished record when it comes to hangover days! i just old! what about the state of retail plc? retail britain? very much the christmas season is upon us and it is an important time of year for retailers. they have had a torrid time on the high street and we have had an update today from dixons carphone and also superdry and now the of which paint a particularly

pleasa nt the of which paint a particularly pleasant picture of what is going on in different ends of the market. still very tough to get people to walk into the local high street shop and get them to part with any money so for superdry, there is also an accounting mix—up, or error, but dixons carphone has also got poor performance going on in the mobile division as well which is not spell good news. the shares were up so let's speak to the investment director for fidelity international. why are these shares rising? for both companies, superdry and dixons carphone, it is all about the turnaround story. their focus on turning around the prospects of both companies and we can talk about superdry for a companies and we can talk about superdry fora minute, companies and we can talk about superdry for a minute, we have the honour return in april after heavy boardroom battles and a lot of criticism that superdry has gone

backwards and that it had expanded its retail range too much and had become a dad fashion statement. it is focusing on who these jackets. at the same, with dixons carphone, focusing on the core market and for both companies they are struggling with the same that all retailers struggling with. falling footfall on the high street. the competition from online competitors and the heavy discounting and the fact that we don't do shopping any more by going out, we do it from the comfort of the sofa. it is really interesting. there are definitely trends emerging when it comes to the picture on the high street. another thing that seems to be defying gravity at the minute on the opposite direction is the shares at saudi aramco, the massive oil company that launched its shares this week and they are up by another 10%. what is supporting this

valuation? the oil price itself is not particularly buoyant at the moment. that is right and saudi aramco, the size towards the five biggest oil companies combined — bp, shell, exxon mobile, and total and the reason it has risen 10% since being floated and this was the biggest rotation in history, bigger than ali ba ba biggest rotation in history, bigger than ali baba a few years ago and it means that saudi aramco is a largest listed company in the world, bigger than apple. why is it going up? because the saudi kingdom is encouraging retailers and local companies and wealthy investors to invest in them shares and it is a key pillar of the saudi prince mohamed's strategy to reduce the reliance of the saudi kingdom on oil and the plan is to use those reve nu es to and the plan is to use those revenues to invest into other industries are. interesting city -- to see if that works. thanks very much. a lot of the investors are

mom—and—pop investors and saudi aramco but also institutional investors so it is still 98% owned by the kingdom but technically it is not. a quick look at the markets out us stocks in particular arejumping. we have seen global hives across the board the markets, very much lifted bya board the markets, very much lifted by a single tweet, donald trump, saying that he is very close to a deal with china when it comes to ta riffs deal with china when it comes to tariffs on those talents coming in on sunday on a range of goods that will be about $156 billion worth of goods. fingers crossed! we shall see. thank you, victoria. at this time of year, hedgehogs are usually fast asleep, hibernating for the winter. but not this year. there are fears that mild autumn weather meant hundreds of baby hoglets were born too late to hibernate. john maguire reports from a rescue centre in gloucester to find out what's being done to help. there we go.

here he comes. so, he's had a strimmer injury, this fellow? it is an ancient species that's struggling to cope with modern life. he's healing nicely. the hedgehog population has declined by around a quarter over the past decade, but evidence can be difficult to obtain. so, the wild hogs rescue hedgehog centre in gloucestershire is building 15 of these hog boxes to gather information. so, this is the feeding station. let's take the lid off and you can talk us through what's inside. how does it work? so, this is where the hedgehogs will come in. we put in a tunnel to keep the cats out because they come through and obviously a lot of them are micro—chipped as well as pets. so, they come through here, there is a microchip scanner here around this doorway, and then they come into this area where we would have food for them. we've got a camera here so we can pick up and see what they're doing, and we've got a microphone to hear them. sometimes it's quite useful to hear them, if they're coughing,

that can be a sign of illness. underneath we've got weighing scales so we'll be able to keep track of their weight. and all the electronics is kept well away from the hedgehogs, nice and safe. despite the overall population decline, they've seen almost double the amount of hedgehogs here this year. the mild winter has meant hoglets have been born too late in the season and sometimes there have been second litters. the young will struggle to put on enough weight to carry them through hibernation and the winter. we've had a lot of hoglets in this year. last year, we had 186 admissions throughout the entire year. but this year we are... the next hedgehog that comes in will be our 310th admission. so, that's a huge increase of the year before. and when we've looked at data from last year, the ones that are coming in now are quite considerably smaller. it's just getting milder and wetter. they're not hibernating for so long.

so, they are waking up and maturing earlier, and actually breeding earlier. everything slows down when they hibernate, even their growth. it's all out of sync, isn't it? yes, it is. once they gain enough weight and can fend for themselves, they are micro—chipped and released. when the hog boxes come online injanuary, it will then give staff here a far clearer idea of how the hedgehogs are coping and what we can do to protect them. john maguire, bbc news, gloucestershire. now it's time for a look at the weather. a rather bleak december day for many and a lot of glide around with outbreaks of rain so far today, particularly across england and wales and some winteriness for higher ground and a few scattered showers with a wintry flavour in scotland. as we go through the rest of the day, it stays cold in scotland, 3—5d and the rain is

easing through eastern england and slowly brightening for the south—west with highs of 10 or 11. that area of low pressure pushes into the north sea but it might linger across eastern scotland and here it could be chilly as well so some icy stretches first thing in the morning and overnight lows of around 1—3d. five or six further south and west. we start tomorrow with the rain easing from eastern scotla nd with the rain easing from eastern scotland and the brighter start elsewhere, windy with it and a case of sunny spells and scattered showers as we go into the afternoon. some showers heavy with the odd rumble of thunder and most of those across the far north and west. top temperatures are likely of the 5-10d.

know the headlines at five — voters head to the polls in the general election. it's the first december election for almost a century — people are voting in 650 constituencies. it's the third election in five years — the first results are expected around midnight. also coming up... the man who fought off the london bridge attacker with a fire extinguisher tells the bbc he was prepared to die. police in new zealand try to retrieve the bodies of those killed by the white island volcano. there's been quite a bit of volcanic activity in the area — toxic gases, ash, tremors and of course the risk of another eruption. a salvage operation to recover parts of hms invincible — the eighteenth—century warship which changed the face of the royal navy.