Counting has started in catalonia. The polls closed an hour ago in Regional Elections that are, effectively, a referendum on independence from spain. In fact this election is happening after a referendum in october was declared illegal and the Catalan Government was sacked. Well today is close. This is coming in from the Reuters News Agency as saying after 30 of the votes counted, catalonia the socialist parties are on track for an absolute majority in the regional parliament. Secessionist parties. Turnout has been high. This is spains major newspaper highlighting voters, and many of them coming out and where they went looks crucial to the result. We have seen big keys through the day, these were from early on this morning. Reasonably long waits, completely peaceful throughout. That is worthy of note because what we saw in october, will surely remember, these pictures when the Spanish Police try to stop that referendum on independence going ahead. There were violent clashes became a Major Political issue not just in spain but across europe. We have seen none of that violence today. That referendum in october was instigated by Carlos Puidgemont the then president of catalonia, is accused of a rebellion by the Spanish Government. One of our correspondence tells us. Thats according to his team. Hes been engaged as much as he can be in the campaign to get his party the best possible result. Translation today is not a normal election day. With candidates until one candidate in xl, the institute of our country, the elections are marked by a lack of freedom of expression. But today is an important day, not just expression. But today is an important day, notjust because of the catalonia after labour because of the catalonia of the future. Everything indicates that the response of the citizens will be positive, high turnout and that is what we hopeful for the end of the day. That speak to tim wilcox in barcelona. Lets imagine those parties who want independence won a majority, do they get along . Today wa nt to majority, do they get along . Today want to work with each other . They have in the past, there have been wrangles of the last few weeks between the Deputy President of Carlos Puidgemont who is now in prison in madrid facing rebellion charges, he gave an interview in the fast 48 hours suggesting he stood his ground, stayed in spain to face the consequences which was an oblique criticism of Carlos Puidgemont who fled to brussels rather than be imprisoned here. He almost certainly would be arrested if you try to come back into spain. On the account so far, 40 of the vote so far and whats really interested of the party of ca rles puigdemont, and the pro unity Citizens Party are running neck and neck at the moment. In the past couple of minutes Carles Puigdemont has appeared on camera from brussels, big cheers where i am here for the pro separatist rally in barcelona. And all the indications are, and these are according to exit polls so far, those separatist parties could be on course to gain againfora parties could be on course to gain again for a coalition victory. They need 68 seats out of 135 to get a working majority. If that is the the case, that is terrible news for ca rles the case, that is terrible news for Carles Puigdemont who called for a return to a return to normality hoping that the independence case stays on the table even if they cant articulate that. The separatist cause continues obliquely, perhaps not in any more independent declarations of independence. But what it does mean is that madrid who said the first referendum on october the 1st was a representative of the views of all catalans, they representative of the views of all catala ns, they cannot representative of the views of all catalans, they cannot use that argument the game. It is 5 turnout of these elections, all the catalans who wanted to did vote, we heard about the silent majority who want to stay part of strain. If these predictions are right then it would seem that the majority of the parties together the coalition dont wa nt to parties together the coalition dont want to stay part of spain and the spurs up huge problems, many more competitions for madrid and europe. 2017 has blown up so many extraordinary stories. Another significant twist in the story, parties that support independence from spain may be able to form an absolute majority in the catalan parliament. We will keep you abreast of that as more and more votes are counted. That switch from barcelona to new york. Let for it. The Un General Assembly has passed a resolution calling for americas recognition ofjerusalem as israels capital to be withdrawn. 128 countries voted for it, 35 abstained and nine opposed it. The resolution was brought forward by turkey and egypt. Bear in mind the us vetoed a similar vote in the Un Security Council earlier this week. And needless to say, the american and israeli ambassadors opposed the resolution. The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very act of exercising our right as sovereign nation. We will remember it when we are called upon to once again make the Worlds Largest contribution to the world killing madrid united nations. The the united nations. The united nations. United states stated a fact. Jerusalem has been and always will be the capital of the state of israel. Those who support today revolution two resolution are like resolution are like puppets. You are puppets pulled by the strings of your palestinian puppet masters. Nikki haley said they will look at the funding they give the un because of what happened today. A significant comment. Here is the response from turkey. Before this meeting, our un member state threatened all the other members. We we re threatened all the other members. We were all asked to vote no or face the consequences. Some are even threatened with the Development Aid cut. Such an attitude is unacceptable. This is bullying and this will not do that. We will not be intimidated. You can be strong but this does not make you right. Nikki haley has also turned to twitter to highlight the fact that 65 countries refuse to condemn the us. Shes notjust noting the 120 devoted against the americans. I spoke to someone covering the story. This is symbolic and non binding. This is symbolic and non binding. This was a vote of protest by arab and muslim nations who wanted to make clear the International Community was against president trumps decision so they took this resolution which was similar to the Security Council resolution to the General Assembly to make that point. This was really a strong repudiation of president trumps decision, again highlighting how isolated they were. But if you look at what the United States is trying to say and i can tried to spin it, more states than expected for the folk were 21 countries did not show up including ukraine who had supported the Security Council draft what they recently Security Council draft what they rece ntly ha d Security Council draft what they recently had an arms deal with the us. Certainly, in the practical sense, the United States says that they had made an impact with these threats on the relations with countries and how they will treat israel going forward. When nikki haley said, notjust her but the israeli ambassador as well said all these countries were simply puppet on the screens of the palestinians, is not quite as clear as that . The palestinians cant say drum and 120 countries do so . Sayjump. Palestinians cant say drum and 120 countries do so . Sayjump. That wasnt a convincing argument. Its clear to state and key allies of the us that voted against them, that the status ofjerusalem us that voted against them, that the status of jerusalem is us that voted against them, that the status ofjerusalem is very clear. It is enshrined in International Law through the Security Council resolutions, ten Security Council resolutions, ten Security Council resolutions over decades with race clear to reece lyne is a final jerusalem jerusalem is a final status issue. There must be negotiations between israelis and palestinians. The us has tried to play this as their sovereign right to choose whether it that the embassy, a lot of states here disagree with that and say it is not accurate. This was the reaction of the palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to todays result. We heard from our correspondent for oui we heard from our correspondent for our english language needs. Sally nabil is also in new york. I spoke to her to gauge arab reaction to this result. The arab and muslim states, campaigned heavily to try and promote this resolution. They tried to pass through the Security Council a couple of days ago but it was vetoed by the us although it has been approved by the rest of the members. It failed in the council and they said it was going to be moved to the General Assembly, the palestinians, yemenis and the turks we re palestinians, yemenis and the turks were really keen on passing the resolution today, they criticised the us saying washington is undermining any future chances for peace and that the us is no longer an impartial mediator in the middle east peace process. The Palestinian Foreign minister spoke today at the General Assembly saying there should bea General Assembly saying there should be a new mechanism under un sponsorship to try and find a resolution for the palestinian israeli conflict, accusing the us of changing the conflict from a political one that can be resolved through negotiations toa can be resolved through negotiations to a more competent at a religious one. That can incite violence across the middle east, the turkish were quite critical of the us as well pointing out that this language of threats and intimidation would not work and it seems that the us is living on an island of its own because it is resilient to go ahead with its plans to move the embassy to eastjerusalem with its plans to move the embassy to East Jerusalem despite with its plans to move the embassy to eastjerusalem despite all the disagreements on the International Community. If we let at countries like saudi arabia and egypt, they have Close Relationships of america, how far are they going to be prepared to push this issue . This is true. Egypt in particular is one of the biggest recipients of us aid in the biggest recipients of us aid in the middle east, it receives more than 1 billion per year. It comes many in the form of military assistance. The draft resolutions we re assistance. The draft resolutions were drafted to the Security Council and then the General Assembly, did not specifically mentioned the us or president trump, it said recent decisions that might affect the demographic and legal status of jerusalem, and for this, the egyptians have been criticised severely because they did not refer specifically to trump or to the us that it seems the egyptians have not backed off. They supported the resolution today and the saudis also issued statements criticising froms decision to recognisejerusalem is the capital of israel. But they have not done more than that, it is that a condemnation. You can get your news online at the bbc news website. Soon we will talk about apple who say they have killing down but not to make you buy a new one. The Prime Minister has said she expects the leak of information by former Police Officers , relating to pornography being found on damian greens parliamentary computer , there has been a growing backlash against the police from leaking the information. What cost damian green hisjob was lying information. What cost damian green his job was lying about not knowing that the police found pornography on his computer, the cabinet enquiry found he had been told on two occasions and since made misleading state m e nts occasions and since made misleading statements to the public about it. Green accepts that the statements we re green accepts that the statements were misleading. But many tory mps are angry about Police Behaviour over there. They express regret damian green had to go in this way. The health ministerjeremy hunt said this calls into question the conduct of police in a democracy. Others say damian greens downfall was his own doing. We are live in the bbc newsroom. There has been a high turnout of voters in catalonia in a vital election where supporters and opponents of independence from spain are battling for suprememcy. We will keep you up to date on the town. More stories from the bbc world service. The total number of suspected cholera cases in yemen has reached 1 million. The International Red cross says more than 80 of people there have little access to food, clean water and health care. That is from bbc arabic. Work has officially begun on a High Speed Railway between thailand and china. There have been numerous delays because of disagreements over the cost and the design but its happening and itll become part of a broader Train Network in south east asia. Bbc chinese. The wreck of australias first Naval Submarine has been found. It vanished in 1914 near Papua New Guinea with 35 australian and british crew on board. You may have seen a car drove into pedestrians in melbourne earlier. It wasnt a terror attack. But police say it was a deliberate attack and that the driver is a drug user with Mental Health issues. This is where it happened outside melbournes famous flinders street train station. This is the alleged driver being arrested. 19 people were injured some of them critically and one of them is a young child. This the third incident like this in melbourne this year. In january, six people were killed when a man drove a car into pedestrians. Then in september a 15 year old boy dressed in black combat gear drove dangerously down a busy street. Those incidents prompted authorities to install these concrete blocks on some roads to protect pedestrians. Hywel griffith has more on what happened today. Pinned to the ground, a man arrested by the policejust a few meters from the 4x4 vehicle used to mow down pedestrians. Around them, paramedics rushed to help the injured pedestrians left lying in the street. Minutes earlier, the city centre was packed with commuters and christmas shoppers. The car drove towards them at speed, leaving some in a critical condition. The police say the driver was a 32 year old australian of afghan descent with a history of Mental Health problems. At this time we dont have any evidence or intelligence to indicate a connection with terrorism. Having said that, however, we continue to support this investigation with our Counter Terrorism command to ensure that there isnt that connection and that there is no ongoing threat. Eyewitnesses were left in shock. One Business Owner watched events unfold in front of him. He just ploughed into them without stopping. All i could hear was people hitting the front bumper and windscreen and people screaming and the only reason i think he slowed down was because of the sheer volume of people he hit. Special security measures to prevent vehicle attacks have been introduced in melbourne after a similar incident in january. But nothing was able to stop the 4x4 bringing chaos to the city once again. We have seen a horrific act, an evil act, an act of cowardice perpetrated against innocent bystanders, we are all caught up in this. We are all deeply sad and deeply wounded. Police are still questioning the driver and a second man arrested at the scene. Theyve stressed they believe this was a one off incident, but melbourne remains a city on high alert. Hywel griffiths, bbc news. For the first time apple has admitted to deliberately slowing down iphones as they grow older. The company says its to do with battery life. Iphones use lithium ion batteries which degrade over time. Apple says that slowing the performance of the Iphone Software over time extends the life of the battery. It has put out a statement. Its long been suspected that apple builds obsolescence into their products and certainly its clear that slowing hardware has been noticed by many iphone users. This chart shows google searches for the term slow iphone. The peaks come when apple releases a new phone and a new a operating system that could lead to a noticeable lowering of performance. This poses a lot of questions. Live from new york, yogita, this is perfectly legal and apple can do what it wants with our phones . Perhaps any of us that have used are not have complained about this some point or other. Let us all, now is why it has all come out now is interesting because an iphone user tested the device and felt it was slowing down in a new battery to the same phone, tried to tactics speed and went mylan said