is a necessity. to travel is a right for. remember that this world is a ball of ours to explore. and it's a strange thing for us to be a part. of our ways going places together. for the common belief is the journey to work with all of our means unimaginable hardship i prefer to live no because then why give the cotton to chance a good life and live in a dangerous journey through the jungle i fell on to the rails when i merely died. for our children to go to school and live because of the prank risking it all the democratic republic of congo at this time on al-jazeera is no one way of telling the story keeping is telling right and to be respectful there is great we have to get to know the person for me tells.

heading for a showdown with spain yes voters rally in barcelona and occupy schools designated as polling stations. and this is out zero live from london also coming up in the program. the u.s. health secretary resigned following a scandal over his use of private jets. baghdad says it plans to take control of the kurdish borders and bans international flights to the region. and the mystery of the embassy the u.s. pulls from cuba after a series of unexplained illicit. is preparing for a showdown with spain over sunday's secession referendum and for the last few hours

thousands of u.s. voters have been attending a massive rally in the center of barcelona spain is determined to stop them sending thousands of police officers to the region to shut down the vote even google has been ordered to delete a smartphone app that the cattle and government was using to spread information about the referendum but farmers firefighters and even students and their parents banding together to ensure that it goes ahead whole from. the fields and into the political fray. these cattle farmers are vowing to turn their tractors into barricades if police try to crack down on the referendum. we have come to the fence country and we are fighting for democratic rights on the right. as.

you can see from the reaction of many of the people with one hundred twenty zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero will drive. this is like coming thanks. the night before in the harsh light of a small square neighbors gather. this is one of many so-called defense committees grassroots groups controlled by any political party on a mission to defend the vote they are strategizing to resist police were under orders to close down schools to stop them being used as polling stations. the children will sleep in the schools to stop the police closing them down we're afraid our neighborhood could be the first target of the. marching to the same drum beat students have occupied by the university and set up their own defense committee they've been sharing practical advice on civil

disobedience tactics i don't think people. will be having us also to volunteer with different organizations to go to us and. to don't get between the dirt. and i don't think this is something you can erase. catamounts a deeply divided in the centrist party is among those opposing secession reaching a law make a lot a not all dan is concerned about the emergence of citizen defense committees during the civil war days basile and was run by private militia factions and i got to play bass and it's like the cattle on government and it's had missed. a driving a car with no brakes and heading over the precipice and crashing into all capital and this. is evening fell process session group put plans into action taking over

schools to preempt police operations to close them. it's all about the people it's all about the people it's the people one something nobody can like a poster. and a final rally process session supporters wave what they hope will become the standard of their breakaway republic. call pennell al-jazeera spain will join hundred nine has the latest from that rally in barcelona. catalans held what began as a concert and ended as a protocol rally the man speaking behind me is carlos we've him on he is the man who would be the president of the republic of catalonia and he is the man who has been pressing this referendum that's going to happen on sunday this referendum that seeks to separate catalonia from the rest of spain as this is happening the police the national police of spain have ordered the local police there known as

the mosque to shut down all of the schools here that's because their schools double as polling places well the local police have been very gentle about doing that and as we have many local students from the universities here have been occupying those schools and their goal in doing that is to keep those schools open until sunday so the. people can vote and the man speaking behind me follows the gym and says that no matter how many people actually get to vote on sunday if the majority of them says yes then he will declare independence for catalonia on tuesday and you can hear the response of the people here behind. the u.s. house search phrase resigned following a scandal over his use of private jets hours after he was criticized by president

donald trump tom price stood down after it was revealed that his trips cost almost a million dollars in tax payers money on official reports it might not and that mall top officials in the trump ministration are also facing questions. tom price may have gotten his annual flu jab but he couldn't protect himself from the president's anger donald trump give a broad hint the health and human services secretary said time in charge would soon be over it's a very fine man but we're going to we're going to make a decision sometime and i know he's resigned even though twenty four hours before he thought he could still save his job we're going to work through this and. i think we still got to the confidence of the president price faced growing criticism for his use of private flights which sometimes makes government business with his own personal agenda the cost to the taxpayer more than four hundred thousand dollars. he also made trips to europe on military jets which could take the figure to more than a million that's enough to annoy the man who wanted to dream washington swarm so i

was disappointed because i didn't like it because that actually or otherwise price offered to write a personal check for the cost of a seat on the private jets and he promised to fly only commercial in future it wasn't enough three other senior trump officials are facing questions about their travel and must know be increasingly nervous interior secretary ryan zinke he took a private jet from las vegas to his home in montana at the taxpayer's expense the cost twelve thousand dollars and environmental protection agency boss corporate took flights to various parts of the u.s. costing fifty eight thousand dollars questions are being asked about the treasury secretary steven munitions travel and requesting a government plane for those european honeymoon i think they're doing it because the example is that from the top donald trump violating ethics norms on a daily basis and so i think other people think we don't really need to worry about the ethics rules and that appearances really don't matter prices resignation is another high profile friday departure from the trump white house is no loss more than a dozen senior staff in just nine months alan fischer washington. the united states

government has ordered sixty percent of its embassy staff from the cuban capital or have it said to be because of quote specific attacks on u.s. diplomats some of which have taken place in cuban hotels also used by american tourists the embassy is now expected to stop processing visas in issue a new travel warning well the u.s. first became suspicious in late two thousand and sixteen when several embassy employees in havana reported mysterious health problems twenty one staff of so far been affected the most recent just last month with symptoms ranging from dizziness to permanent hearing loss u.s. officials initially said they suspected some sort of sound weapon at the cuban government has always denied any involvement and says u.s. decision to put staff will affect relations between the two countries but to call him has more now on the attack. what happened here the beginning of an international mystery an american diplomat says while in bed in this hotel he heard

a strong annoying hum only in that spot later he and twenty others would be diagnosed with a variety of symptoms from hearing loss to traumatic brain injuries some heard a noise others did not it's like something out of a spy mystery the name's bone. james bond ok maybe not that sophisticated still hollywood has had its share of sonic weapons. invisible wave stuff the incredible hold. even put iron man on ice. so what hollywood thinks out of weapons can do they really do that find out we came here to the university of maryland to ask an expert they would have known if you have a sonic weapon that causes hearing loss you know you were exposed to it there is no missing doctor d.d.a. do pray says it's easy to cause hearing loss with sound if you turned on the speaker in his lab he says i would be completely deaf pretty quickly the kind of

sound that i use for the. would be just a few minutes. yes from so yes two minutes in and forever and morning you know that but he says to make that kind of sound you would need something like this military project he worked at called the mother of all speakers the size of a truck can't hide that in a hotel room because he would be next to impossible to have those kind of sounds be directed at only a few people right we're talking about in for cells they will shake the whole building if you're inside a building he says alter sound can cause that kind of damage but there is a reason it has to be pressed up against the body it doesn't travel well so that's probably not it the bottom line sound can be a weapon but he doesn't think it is the likely culprit in cuba meaning this international mystery continues but with real world consequences. al-jazeera colleges. here is a ministration is appointed a senior general to oversee military relief operations in puerto rico after the

devastation caused by her c'mere aid agencies they're still struggling to get help to those who desperately need it to as a post sent this update from the capital san juan. we're here at this convention center in san juan where an emergency coordination center has been created for federal government supported with no californians about what is needed on the ground and on the ground the situation is desperate for many people here in puerto rico there's still no water no electricity there's no lines of fuel fuel that is not only needed for vehicles but also for generators for generators that are being used in people's houses but also. hospitals for example showing there's been conflicting reports about what's exactly going on on the ground it's evil and complaining that not enough aid is being distributed and while the local government that everything that has a right here to puerto rico has been distributed the federal government the state that they have sent here everything that the local authorities requested so of

course people on the ground are saying that much more it's needed to deal with the current crisis what makes the situation even worse that there are still some areas around the island that have been off limits because of road blocks among other things and that's why so far the united states military has concentrated on opening airports for example for example i'm blocking roads that were concentrating on saving lives that's what they say now three star general that is in charge of this whole operation they're saying that they're moving there they're moving their priorities to on ground operations and that's when supposedly vital resources i'm going to be distributed around the island are still to come in the program twenty two killed or injured in a russian stampede in india's commercial capital of mumbai. and around the world in eighty minutes the rocket its greatest take you anywhere on a. little bit. hello

again there are reports the big red rock in the middle of australia has had once again three months worth of rain in one day and took about twenty two millimeters of rain but it's a dry place and you can see where it came from this cloud here result of a cold front that sort of stalled in turn to something a circulation which is still there on saturday so for the heart of australia a bit more right if you stand into what was a near record breaking heat in southwestern queensland that's gone now to be replaced by no doubt welcome rain head of it is still some warmth in brisbane but nothing beyond it and even britain's warmth goes as that frontal system moves into the heart of queen's and on sunday leaving behind sunshine not much will sunny fifty or so in melbourne better in perth twenty all in permanent sunshine at least

for a couple of days in new zealand recipient of what normally comes out of australia and yes you can see the link there the last fronts gone through and i suggest at least one day of sunshine where would you like it by saturday got to get some showers here i think but basically it's a sunny day for north and south and fifteen degrees as an average it can't last for long i'm afraid sunday's none too good to cliff and also and it looks wet. the world's fastest growing. labor market can that business model clear the regulation road block. the fact. at this time.

it would get him out of the top stories here on al-jazeera and thousands of us voters have been attending a massive rally in the center of. sunday's controversial secession reference. the u.s. house prices resigned following a scandal every is use of private jets. the united states government has ordered sixty percent of its staff in cuba to leave its embassy in the capital. the iraqi kurds are feeling the fallout from necessary referendum on monday the u.s. secretary of state has called for calm and an end to the threats of reciprocal actions

and in a phone call the french president emmanuel micro as prime minister to avoid all escalation this after iraq's defense ministry reiterated that it plans to take control of the borders of the kurdish region in coordination with iran and with turkey well the government is also hold to the international flights there in an effort to get monday secession vote no on to reports from. the last passengers to catch a plane before to close up the airspace to international flights over dick. for him. it's been cutting short of a kitchen that was two years in the coming. it was the first time his two year old son born in new york visited the home and he says he didn't feel safe transiting through baghdad. the measure was taken by the central government in baghdad after the kurds went

ahead with their referendum against. iran as the first to close its airspace to the kurdish region a few days ago. this airport. for a period of three months only. approved. anyone else wanting to travel from here. will have to transit through one of the domestic airports outside of the kurdish region or they can travel around. the rest of iraq by land but some drivers told us they have avoided going south because they felt unwelcome iraq's government says it's. the whole country to preserve its unity and kurdish authorities replied that they won't hand over any

border controls to baghdad. i mean. a lot of people you know. and you have a big number. right now. prime minister he said the closure of the airspace was not meant to starve. but people. don't agree he traveled from sweden to take part in the referendum. this decision is wrong. just the referendum but through legal ways. again the future doesn't look good. the kurdish region is landlocked turkey iran has threatened to also close their border crossings and many kurds are now bracing themselves for what their leader described as collective punishment but at that

hammy al-jazeera arabic. government airstrikes have hit towns and villages in northern syria killing more than fifty people and wounding dozens more at least thirty people were killed in a wave of strikes from various parts of india problems warplanes also targeted hamma and a leper provinces where syrian a russian troops are battling opposition fighters on thursday the russian and turkish leaders agreed to push for the creation of a deescalation zone in italy to help end the civil war five civilians have died in yemen in an airstrike by the saudi led coalition six others were injured in the attack in the town of inside a province sources told odds are that the airstrike targeted a vehicle carrying workers heading to a water project where the united nations is going to set up a group to examine all human rights violations committed in the war in yemen the un human rights council said it hopes to identify those responsible for possible crimes yemeni delegation said that except for the resolution that was passed in

a compromise between western powers and arab countries. the international committee of the red cross says all the warring parties in yemen are using disproportionate force which is that excessive civilian casualties it's also why the color isn't the only outbreak the country could suffer and it's calling on all sides to open sign airport to commercial flights for essential aid supplies go to situation from a humanitarian standpoint is a catastrophe we have we have something which is close to a million cases of suspected kolarov maybe by the end of the year and but this is i told you it's only possibly do an external illness.