solve and help bring peace and stability to our country. he agreed in the bring smiles it's number one in a global health crisis cardiovascular disease. and right now see the hardest part is just to say we thank you for that but there is that all the same if we close that sugar and back this is a problem no this time on all disease. one day before a planned session referendum questions and spans catalonia about whether the votes will proceed and what happens next.

hello again i'm peter w. watching al-jazeera life my headquarters here in doha also coming up the un will investigate accusations of war crimes in yemen but it has had to make a lot of compromises. with an agenda stretching from trade to north korea the u.s. secretary of state has arrived in china. and we're in cox's bizarre with an update on the range of crisis. spain's catalonia region is twenty four hours away from a political confrontation bands a session referendum a shuttle to take place on sunday campaigners for a yes vote complying schools are expected to be used as polling stations but the spanish government is insisting there will be no vote it says the referendum is in . deploying police to ensure no ballots cast people in favor of

a united spain holding a rally in madrid opinion polls suggest forty percent of registered voters. want to break away let's take you live to the heart of the story our correspondent all is in barcelona for us i mean it's pretty clear neither side is actually prepared to back down here. absolutely not peter and that's led to many both politicians and people on the street describing both the central government and the regional government as two drivers in a car without brakes neither of them more willing to apply or to even look for the brake and hence they are describing this referendum as catalonia heading towards a absolute crash what's happening this morning that issue of the schools the schools have become a battleground in this fight either to have the referendum or to try and shut it down because across catalonia around two thousand schools are planned to be used as polling stations and so supporters of the secession movement do realize that in

order to get the vote they need to keep those voting stations open on the other hand the police are under orders to have them closed down just after dawn tomorrow morning and so we've seen citizens including families and their children and also neighborhood self described defense committees now starting to occupy those schools in an effort to defend them in an effort to keep them open now the spanish government says only around one hundred sixty schools have been occupied at this moment and the police have managed to shut down the others but i think as the hours go on the efforts to keep those schools will grow much stronger because quite simply if the supporters can't keep those schools open they can be you know. if those people really want independence get away what happens immediately after the vote. will that is the big unknown essentially catalonia knows.

that if there is a vote in favor of secession then that's an unwritten page of the spanish constitution what the catalonian government has said is that within forty eight hours they would go ahead with it with a declaration of independence but we also know that the spanish government will not allow that so what comes next some suggest that perhaps both sides will finally sit down and try and negotiate a political settlement to this others suggest that perhaps that will be the trigger for central government to step in with another article of the constitution and take powers away from the autonomous government of catalonia but it is in many respects the political. and i guess when people go into the polling booths it's always one of those things do they vote with the head or do they vote with their heart but when it comes to independence what about the arithmetic what about the economy could catalonia sustain being an independent state free of spain. i think if you look at the clear figures catalonia is an area

a little larger than belgium if you put its economy in the league table of european economies catalonia as economy would rank above the likes of portugal greece or finland but then there is the question of how then would it renegotiate access to the european union how would it straight deals be affected many economists that i've spoken to said that they believe that it would be an initial dip in economic power of catalonia and then after that that things would get on track but i think right now you've touched on something really key because there has been no no campaign here because the spanish government has declared this referendum illegal then it is really become an aspirational and emotional issue a lot of people focusing on well we've got our cattle and language which we're proud of we've got our capital and culture of food which we're proud of we've also got barcelona football club which a lot of people are proud of and that is driving a lot of this right now the sentiments this asked. aeration being able to stand

here and say i am in a new republic peter i think of things like clarity on those big issues they will talk to you in the future i'm sure well let's take you live for you to the other city that call was talking about because with the council on referendum fast approaching people in madrid have been rallying against the catalan referendum live pictures from madrid the as you can see a big rally is taking place in opposition to the referendum and as tony berkley discovered throughout the country the legacy of a long ago what is having a huge impact on both sides is that vote tomorrow approaches. spain's most familiar tune but either espana has lost some of its meaning since catalonia started its drive for succession and its forthcoming referendum. on friday madrid held his own referendum purely symbolic but the people here equally important the question people were asked was do you want catalonia to remain part

of spain because you want to remember to remind everybody that you know spanish sovereignty it's you know should be decided by all spaniards not just one part of spain which is. you know these this is your would affect holy spain we want to make sure that everybody knows that you know you have here you have to say well you know what that's you live in i came to vote because what they do in the lone air is an outrage against the constitution against spain and against history those people deserve the worst adjectives even a lot of fun oh yeah if franco was alive we would just shoot them against the wall live franco lives by him we don't want the communists well. that's an extreme view but there are still many in spain who think former military leader francisco franco was a hero and not a villain through the tranquil countryside north of madrid is the valley of the fall and a monument created to remember those killed in the civil war. it was built by

political prisoners and is where franco is buried if there's anything that symbolizes the divisions in spanish society this place is supposed to commemorate the dead on both sides of the civil war but for many it's a monument to the fascist victory and the defeat of the republicans many of whom were catalan. many on spain's left believe that frank his legacy lives on in every aspect of spanish life from the judiciary to politics and they support the catalans right for self-determination we have a lot of retiree i know frank. so the national question is being treated in accompli the way we believe that catalonia referendum can be a democratic key and an example for all the nations that lives in it are now on the institution of this kind of state. in madrid vote people overwhelmingly wanted catalonia to stay part of spain but on sunday the question is will it still

be a case of be the last spaniard or will it be farewell catalonia tony bertie al-jazeera madrid. tensions are increasing between the kurdish leadership in northern iraq and its neighbors after monday's secession vote there iraq says it's coordinating with iran and turkey to take control of borders of ministered by the semi autonomous kurdish regional government kurdish leaders have refused to give up control of border posts to baghdad it's part of a campaign to pressure the kurds to cancel the result of the vote in which ninety two percent of the people there voted in favor of a split from iraq the government in baghdad says the vote was unconstitutional the u.s. which is supporting kurdish led forces fighting isis all in neighboring syria says it does not recognize the vote as being legitimate the u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson said the u.s. supports a quote united federal iraq and international airlines of stop landing at airports in the region after a request from the government in baghdad now the city of kirkuk in northern iraq

has some of the biggest oil reserves in the country for decades there have been disagreements about who should control it peshmerga units loyal to the kurdish regional government patrolled the city but coax inclusion in the vote on monday angered baghdad as charles stratford now explains the kurdish peshmerga to control of kirkuk after the iraqi army fled in islip pensive in two thousand and fourteen but there's never been agreement between the kurdish regional government ok argy and the federal government in baghdad about who should be in control here and benefit most from the areas vast oil wealth. kirkuk at an eighty percent turnout in the referendum on kurdish the session the day after the vote the iraqi parliament asked prime minister hyderabadi to send troops into kurdish controlled disputed areas like kirkuk and take back control of the oil fields because as governor of

kirkuk hopes he doesn't heed to parliament's demand prime minister about he has made it clear that force is not. how he will approach this thing. and i agree with him and we don't expect a force to be used but of course there are people maybe not under his control who may try to do this parliament earlier this month voted to remove mr karim but he has refused to go and anything that's comes against me for my patriotic position. it's it's an honor for me many kurds call kirkuk their jerusalem but there are also turkomans arabs and christians here too there are also hundreds of thousands of arabs that have arrived here in recent years fleeing i saw and they feel very let down by the baghdad government there's also considerable opposition amongst the arabs and the turkmen about any idea with

respect to kirkuk being part of a future independent kurdish state the vast majority of turkmen and arabs who have lived in kirkuk for generations boycotted the referendum this if you to the area and the borders of k r g is not a clear and this specially care. will be. space officer try going between arab be owned by that and maybe be a war about kirkuk the way to solve this a problem is not independency and the referendum the way it is. the two thousand and five constitution stipulates that the federal government send seventeen percent of the federal budget to the kayla g. every year. still sending the money in two thousand and fifteen. and

baghdad has since accused the kayleigh ji of not sharing the oil wealth but any fighting here could jeopardize the battle against mycelium her around fifty kilometers southwest of kirkuk. who control was kirkuk was at the heart of the referendum on kurdish independence you could say they will fight anyone who tries to take it from them. that al-jazeera will bill. the united nations has agreed to start an independent investigation into human rights abuses by old sides in the war in yemen it's a compromise between western powers and arab nations including saudi arabia and follows weeks of intense negotiations allegations have been made against everyone involved in this conflict since twenty fifteen government forces backed by a saudi led coalition have been fighting with the rebels supported by iran. and the by the let the matter with the complex circumstances that yemen is going through requires from the council and the international community support so the government

can fulfill its obligations with regards to human rights the yemeni government has always expressed its determination to cooperate with the u.n. in order to promote and protect human rights in the u.s. envoy to the u.n. in geneva says he's pleased member countries voted unanimously for that investigation. yes the international community faces several urgent tasks in yemen including the protection safety and security of civilians as well as expanding humanitarian access and relief in response to the rise of infectious diseases possibility of famine and growing water scarcity yemen currently is plagued by the world's worst humanitarian congo crisis which has put twenty point seven million people in need of humanitarian assistance and has led to more than seven hundred thirty thousand suspected cases of cholera. the u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson is holding top level talks in china over the tensions with north korea specifically of course to fit with the korean peninsula

it is mr tillerson second trip to beijing this year aimed of tightening an economic squeeze on north korea over its nuclear weapons program the u.s. sees china which is pyongyang's main ally as vital in forcing kim jong retreat from his nuclear weapons ambitions adrian brown has more now from beijing. well with tensions on the korean peninsula still at a very dangerous level rarely have relations between china and the united states mattered as much as they do now rex tillerson had been due to arrive in beijing on friday night but his visit was delayed because of mechanical problems with his plane on saturday he had a brief audience with president xi jinping that is significant because china's president doesn't always grant an audience to visiting dignitaries from overseas that's a measure of the importance they place on rex tillerson presence in china and also of the importance they place on president donald trump visiting china in november

that was confirmed by the white house at the weekend both china and the united states have a very different approach as to how to deal with north korea rex tillerson wants to make sure that china delivers on its promise to fully implement united nations sanctions against north korea for its part china says it's backing a whole slew of new sanctions against north korea for instance on sunday it will begin limiting the export of oil to north korea on friday it announced it was shutting down all north korean businesses in china in three months time the same applies to north korean chinese joint ventures so in a sense north korea in a strange way is bringing china and the united states closer together still to come here on al-jazeera if anybody out there is listening to us we are dying. the u.s.

to speed up the recovery efforts after hurricane maria. also ahead tech giants could soon face new tax rules in europe we'll have the details and tell you what. very heavy rain making its way out to southeastern parts of china but the northern areas pad has been lost a clear and dry ice and quiet winds coming through hail light winds and that has allowed some frost to develop across the colorado for example some very chilly conditions temperatures dipping below freezing first frost of the season coming through a little bit of snow too over the high crowd of the mountains in the north of japan the rain coming in as we go on through the next couple of days so that will change things here we go with that wetter weather as you can see for sunday largely fine

and dry temperatures into the low to mid twenty's but that rain will set in this week go on through monday and tuesday as well and that will possibly some localized flooding into western parts of japan for the korean peninsula you can follow that right back into eastern parts of china join that right out there just to the north of shanghai shanghai should be last we find in try on sunday. some warmth of the right setting in as we go on into monday but a thirty four hong kong about sticky thirty three with the possibility some clouds and drying plenty of rain across southeast asia once again into the philippines those showers there for borneo and staying very disturbed for much of thailand. the coca plant has long been a pillar of bolivia's traditions but its use in illegal drugs today is threatening the nation's culture number yet most adora jews are involved because they received

it back so while some have made fortunes many others have suffered at the hands of this multi-billion dollar industry me maddi my mother was strangled to kamal and brutally come with a power because as you describe who are the winners and losers of this illicit trade snow of the andes at this time. you're watching al-jazeera live from doha our top stories so far today supporters of catalonia has a vote on secession spain occupying schools that will act as polling stations the central government in madrid says the poll is illegal and it will avoid police to

block the ballots. iraq is coordinating with iran and turkey to take over control of borders currently managed by the kurdish regional government kurdish leaders have refused to hand over responsibility for border crossings following monday's secession referendum. and the u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson is holding talks in china over tensions on the korean peninsula the u.s. wants china to put pressure on kim jong un to retreat from his nuclear arms and missile program. hundreds of ranger refugees have crossed into bangladesh lining up to receive aid at the call to prolong camp bangladeshis have mobilized to help some of the hof a million people have escape the violence now in the unmarked the un refugee agency and the governments have been providing food and of relief services done via child has more from the rehab and trauma center for children in cox's bazar invented it. the mineral directors it up crossed over to bangladesh for the matter of one month out of time two hundred eighty isn't children according to aid agencies and going

to the government in among them one hundred thousand children one of. this is something called child friendly space this was set up by bangladesh crack the want largest and you know and also with the help of unicef what you see is children has got to play corner that drawing corner and reading corner they also have music on are the children to be quite happy out here now out of danger in the street they get counseling from the professional counseling people there also in a place where dad given free mats and lines sometimes fifty six of this kind of among the new and old refugee camps six of them are old the rest are new now if there's me and my refuges are unable to go back to me on my wedding yes to come like this and they sent us like this are badly needed to really have a lot of this children who are highly traumatized by what they're facing on the other side of the border in the u.s. to combine with this government aid agency has to mentally prepare to set up

institution like this to help the children cope with the trauma of their face while coming to bangladesh and what the faced in myanmar. now the u.s. health secretary has resigned over a controversy involving his use of at least four hundred thousand dollars of taxpayers' money on private jets tom price was president donald trump's choice to lead the movement to get rid of obamacare is an official from washington. 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 time in charge would soon be over 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 medically 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 the 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 bosco uproot flights to various parts of the u.s. costing fifty eight thousand dollars questions are being asked about the treasury secretary steven lucian's travel and requesting a government plane for his european honeymoon i think they're doing it because the example is set from the top with 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 price's resignation is another high profile friday departure from the white house is now lost more than a dozen senior staff in just nine months alan fischer washington. wildfires in southern california are spreading and forcing evacuations a video has emerged of fires burning dangerously close to homes in the city of lombok flames and heavy smoke or clouded the horizon there firefighters say up to one hundred homes are across nearly forty one thousand wildfires have scorched almost twenty five thousand square kilometers in the u.s. so far this year the mayor of puerto rico's capital sana'a has accused the trumpet ministration of killing people through inefficiency ten days after hurricane maria devastated this u.s. territory aid is beginning to reach communities in need and the white house has appointed a three star general to oversee relief operations but common ulan cruz says it's not happening quickly enough. we are dying here. and

not cannot fathom. the thought that the greatest nation in the world cannot figure out the logistics for in small island of one hundred miles of my thirty five miles long i am begging begging anyone that can hear us to save us from a dying if anybody out there is listening to us we are dying. and you are killing us with the inefficiencies. and the bureaucracy. there is about reports now from not and he took. in the central mountains of. when he was one of the worst hit areas by hurricane the eye of the storm passed

right through this part of the island. in the course of my says she cannot help but cry when she things of everything she's lost. however. i cry for what happened for what we lost but brenda is not alone many here are struggling to recover from the hurricane people tell us that this area used to be filled with green trees but as you can see there's not many left in fact many of the houses in this area were completely blown away this for example is the only standing left from this house. that we cover a efforts are underway all around the island the electricity grid was destroyed so the island is currently dependent on generators. the hurricane was so strong that destroyed the old posts the new posts nothing survived we are all doing what we can to get the island moving again. at the town's shelter there are more than one

hundred people left homeless they have lost everything they own the city's mayor has played a crucial role in organizing relief efforts private donations are purring in but more is still needed. we desperately need his water to continue providing people here with what they need we have some food clothes for them and now we need to see how we help them to get their lives back together what about was struggling before two consecutive storms hit the island heavily in debt with high levels of poverty local authorities say they need help because we have three four and five million of american citizens in need right now so we will need our fellow of the federal government to recovery program this will take years it'll be in the position we were before the recovery effort will probably take months people like that in the course may say they're bracing themselves for

a long struggle. the leader of columbia's last rebel group has ordered his fighters to stand on ahead of a historic cease fire beginning on sunday nicolas rodriguez posted a reveal on lying committing the national liberation army to honoring the deal the e l n began peace talks with the government in february after the disarmament of the much bigger fark rebel organization. tech giants could soon face new tax rules within europe after e.u. leaders held talks at a digital summit in estonia but it wasn't just tech on the agenda the future of the block was also up for discussion rory chalons has more now from the a stunning capital tallinn. there seems to be a fresh wind of decisiveness flowing through the european union and you could feel that here at the digital summit in tallinn we had an announcement of a new cyber security agency to be created next month and a hearing for a complaint that are being brought by france germany spain and italy that tech

giants like google and amazon are not paying their fair share of tax in the countries where their services are being bought and consumed we are of the opinion that in the digital sector. texts has to be played where you do stoop mute online or butte off like. this we don't have to be done to commission. next year for the new unfair and effective tech solution that provides legal certainty i'm to level playing field for all and as for the bigger picture a reform vision for the european union well written speeches from both the manual macro and the french president and john claude younker have lit a bit of a fire and the european council's president donald tusk certainly has a busy two weeks ahead of him talking to other leaders essentially trying to create

a practical roadmap for making those reform plans happen and they during the next two weeks. all member states. those consultations. present a very concrete working plan with a number of decisions that need to be taken by their leaders in the next year or so aside from the headache of bricks it which says will need a miracle for talks to be able to move to the second phase that does seem to be a feeling in the european union the perhaps a decade's worth of crisis management stagnation can be left in the past. recapping our top story so far the supporters of a united spain are holding a rally in madrid on the eve of the session referendum in catalonia the spanish foreign minister has called the catalan

a mockery of democracy and the central government says it will deploy police to block the ballot. iraq is coordinating with iran and turkey to take over control of borders managed by the kurdish regional government leaders have refused to hand over responsibility for border crossings after monday's session poll there baghdad was the result of that vote and now. the un has agreed to start an independent investigation into human rights abuses by all sides in the yemeni war it comes as another saudi low coalition air strike killed five and injured six others inside a province yemen's u.n. envoy says his government will cooperate with the investigation. in a little hundred by the with the motor we had you move in the complex circumstances that yemen is going through requires from the council and the international community support so the government can fulfill its obligations with regards to human rights the yemeni government has always expressed its determination to cooperate with the u.n. in order to promote and protect human rights the u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson is holding top level talks in china over the

tensions on the korean peninsula the u.s. wants china to put pressure on kim jong un to retreat from his nuclear and missile programs hundreds of ranger refugees have crossed into bangladesh a lining up to receive aid at the code to prolong camp there bangladeshis have mobilized themselves to help some of the half a million people with escape the violence and nehemiah the un refugee agency and the governments have been providing food and other relief. government airstrikes have killed more than forty five people and wounded dozens more in northern syria at least twenty five people died in the province of lib fighter jets also targeted at hama and aleppo provinces where syrian and russian forces are battling opposition fighters on thursday the leaders of russia and turkey agreed to secure so-called deescalation zones and to help end the civil war. the us health secretary has quit after spending at least four hundred thousand dollars of taxpayers' money on private jets tom price was president from choice to get rid of obamacare lots

more news on the website al-jazeera dot com i'll see you soon i'll see in about ninety seconds inside story is next. iraq war has international airlines to stop flying into its kurdish region follows monday's votes on secession which passed with overwhelming support those who backed that's pressure forced the regional government to cancel the result or will it backfire this is inside story.