yeah. and good protests in madrid ahead of to secession referendum in catalonia with the saying vultures will be removed.

live there in geneva don't this is sound as a live from the also coming up. if anybody out there is listening to us. we are. puerto rico urges the u.s. to speed up aid as it struggles to recover from hurricane maria. u.s. secretary of state is back in beijing wanting more from china to stop north korea's nuclear ambitions. and joining hands against racism in inequality two separate civil rights movements march in washington d.c. . well this just hours now to go until polls open in the catalonians to session referendum and spain's government has been continuing its crackdown describing the vote as a mockery of democracy it's one volunteers at polling stations could be fined more

than three hundred fifty thousand dollars a piece of already begun deploying ahead of the ballot to morrow and sealed off more than half of the schools designated as polling center officers say they will move in the spanish capital madrid thousands of people in favor of the united spain held a rally near side shows any signs of backing down whole reports now from wasilla. schools. the become a decisive political battle ground families and so-called defense committees are camping out to ensure school stay open and double as polling stations procession volunteers here in barcelona of voter information through an app these are the few square meters at stake the spot where a ballot box will be placed it's very exciting you know because it's like. so many people here are united just. with one cause in common but police are

under orders from the spanish government to a victim it isn't and shut down schools that around dorm on sunday if that happens the referendum could be in jeopardy in madrid spain foreign minister criticized the catalan all thora he's defiance we think the law guarantees the magazine. and. pushing is not democracy it's a mockery of democracy a travesty of democracy. referendum. not. democracy catalonia sprains wealthiest region it's a bit bigger than belgium its economy larger than greece or portugal has its own language and cultural identity but the issue of secession has deeply divided society. with few impartial surveys the street is the only if imperfect barometer of voter sentiment on saturday thousands turned

out in madrid demanding spain remain united. we don't agree on what catalans are doing they have no right to do what they're doing we're all spaniards catalonia is spain. police raided the catalan government's computer technology center and shut down software due to be used for the final vote tally. today we were informed that the organization of the illegal referendum suffered a blow when the facilities of the catalan government's telecommunications hold were blocked with the intention to prevent telematic voting and vote counting. referendum for a new republic or a mockery of democracy the outcome is unlikely to hang on technology all the law but on the ability of citizens to defend the ballot box in schools that have become a battle ground. zero spain. well the desire for independence

has a long history in catalonia and is driven by a mixture of economic and cultural factors the region in northeastern spain has a population of seven point five million people it also depends for twenty percent of the country's economic output and its capital barcelona is a major tourist destination catalans of their own distinct culture and identity which existed for centuries before being for the subsumed by spain in seven hundred fourteen this identity was suppressed by spain particularly under the military dictatorship of francisco franco from one nine hundred thirty nine to one nine hundred seventy five symbols such as casto human pyramids were prohibited and the catholic language was restricted but since the one nine hundred seventy nine statute of autonomy the region has gained more powers its has its own parliament police force and control over education health care and welfare policies but it's a very different story in the spanish capital madrid where the majority believe all

of spain should have a say in the country's future not just kept lands to anybody has more. it's spain's most familiar tune but neither espana has lost some of its meaning since catalonia started its drive for succession and its forthcoming referendum. on friday madrid held its 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 i want to remember to remind everybody that you know spanish sovereignty it's. not just one part of spain which is catalonia you know there's this issue would affect holy spain we want to make sure that everybody knows that you know as our boys here. i came to vote because what they do in the lone air is an outrage against the constitution against and against history

those people deserve their wars adjutants even a lot of fun oh yeah if franco was alive we would just shoot them against the wall live franco long live spain we don't want the communists welcome or nice that 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 it's 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 franco's 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 our little retiree i know for a moment the national question is when through. in a completely different way believe that i don't know referendum can be a democratic government and the example for all the nations that live secret are now in their institutions of this kind of our state not only the electorate not vote people overwhelmingly wanted catalonia to stay part of spain on sunday the question is will it still be a case of the the last time you would say well catalonia that al-jazeera madrid. the mayor puerto rico's capital someone has accused the administration of killing people through inefficiency ten days after hurricane maria devastated the u.s. territory aid is starting to reach communities in need and the white house has

appointed a three star general to oversee willy fall prey sions but carmen un 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 his small island of one hundred miles my thirty five miles i am begging. begging anyone that can hear us to save us from dying. if anybody out there is listening to us we are dying and you are killing us with the inefficiencies. and the bureaucracy.

has hit back via twitter accusing his political rivals of telling the mayor someone to criticize him and the military he said such poor leadership ability by the mayor someone and others in puerto rico were not able to get their workers to help. well the u.s. says it's maintaining direct channels of communication with kenya in an effort to resolve tensions on the korean peninsula secretary of state next to listen is in beijing to his counterpart wang on a second trip to the chinese capital this year yes once china to increase the economic pressure on north korea over its nuclear weapons and missile program edging them with force on 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 the 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. well for more on this our reporter mike hanna joins us from d.c. hi there mike so what's the significance then of maintaining direct channels of communication with cal yang well this is the first time that it's being confirmed publicly by the trumpet ministration that there are channels with pyongyang importantly the secretary of state indicated that there's more than one channel he said a couple maybe even three channels to the north korean leadership now this is significant in that he also stressed that it is not through china in other words the u.s. has some kind of unilateral channels of its very significance in terms of the ongoing loud exchange of words we've had in recent days between the u.s. and the north korean leaders unlike the u.s. is clear on the fact that it wants more from china

yes it has the trumpet ministration policy has been from the beginning that it will ask china to exert pressure on north korea china being the closest ally and closest neighbor to north korea is in a position to be able to ensure that sanctions already in place are fully implemented this it be the criticism for a long period of time that although the u.n. security council and the u.s. recently passed unilateral sanctions they had not been fully exerted and china is in a position to ensure that the sanctions already in place and sanctions to come can be fully implemented the tillerson talks in beijing are clearly aimed at ensuring china continues what it said so far is close cooperation with the u.s. in terms of bringing some pressure to bear on north korea like how their life in washington d.c. mike thank you. still to come on the program the catalonia referendum now just

hours away we speak to the man who. is the most dangerous in europe and a special report on the nigerian army crackdown on the oil. refineries across the new shared. how i would say is a very wet weather across central parts of australia recently that wetter weather will make its way the east coast the gold coast sunshine coast rather wet over the next. when still coming in from the west southwest the direction therefore victorious the temperatures in melbourne picked up the degrees a chilly fifty eight celsius with that blustery wind for adelaide will get up to around twenty three in perth not too bad on the twenty one and august but at least

it will be try and sunny warming up as we go on monday for alison of the warm up into the southeast and colder here as well melbourne getting up to seventeen celsius but weather coming into southern parts of southeastern corner of queensland northern areas of new south wales really heavy rain over the next couple of days we need the right that's not a bad thing all of our friend going into new zealand we've got this band of cloud moving through the tasman sea that will continue to make its way further east where it's something like a really wet day for the most part hopefully it will brighten up a little bit as we go on into monday in the west sunshine coming through but the sunshine of the moment seems to pass but we have got a little more cloud coming in across the korean peninsula that will slowly but surely make its way further east for monday. one of the really special things about working for al-jazeera is that even as

a camera woman i get to have so much employed in contribution to a story i feel we cover this region better than anyone else would be foolish is you know it's very challenging given the particular because you have a lot of people that are divided on political issues we are with the people believe it tell the real story i'll just mend it is to deliver in-depth journalism we don't feel inferior to the audience across the blue. our mind of those top stories here on al-jazeera spain's government is the point lisa head of the band session vote and its catalonia region on sunday describing it as a mockery of democracy mayor partly because capital has criticized the trumpet ministrations

response to hurricane rita which devastated the u.s. territory ten days ago. u.s. says it's maintaining direct channels of communication with north korea the secretary of state rex tillerson visits china for talks. back now as that camp plan referendum we went to the heart of the region to speak with the man behind the independence movement the government of spain considers the most dangerous man john hendren sat down with catalan as president calls his wall and started by asking why catalonia should be independent. the well they see that island being the last of us but the effort to beat cotton and within spain has failed and now is the time to choose the only possible way to continue being cut and ends with dignity and equality of conditions an independent state will be honest i think that when then. the last part but only dealt with there are lots of patterns who want to vote and

to create what i would call a democratic tsunami and people will see the world will see in them and that it is their secret plan for how to carry this out and can you tell us about it i'll go into them and the rest of us but you know we don't know what the plans of this state are to stop their friend whom they've kept them on the ropes so we have no obligation to publicise how are we going to organize they were a friend they've got to say i will take that to mean yes there is a secret plan and no you can't tell me about it. on the front lines of this quiet revolution our children young people out in the streets and there are thousands of police in the street there's the potential for violence if it gets ugly what will you tell them what we tell their parents. and. there is no buy ins so if someone has these temptation they will be doing themselves no favor they will be doing democracy no favor no one will accept or. want

how do you evaluate the response of spain who have this but you know the spanish government has almost acted like a pyromaniac it has been putting boots on the fire it's been acting totally responsibly. of spanish but the if you say what a genuine spanish would burn everything it's kind of to go it's mostly for everyone to feel happy within the state of the parties must but you know and if you don't succeed. you face some pretty serious consequences with the spanish government they have accused the organizers of this referendum of crimes including sedition which comes with a penalty of up to fifteen years in prison are you willing to face that. we accept full responsibility but it would be very very responsible from the response to a political aspirations to be a prison sentence it the very severe mistake and they would have to live with the consequences. i'm not screaming at them i'm not responsible for sedition based

carlos pushed him on president of catalonia thank you for talking to us here you're welcome not this crisis where you can see john higgins full interview with calls putin won't talk to al-jazeera at twenty two thirty that's in just a few minutes time following the news that thousands of people gathered in washington on saturday to protest against racism and place. in the u.s. they want change and more done to help overcome the challenges faced by minority communities has more from washington d.c. . a march to the federal department of justice several thousand people saying that's exactly what they're looking for justice you do it because you die otherwise and we refuse to die and we refuse to be enslaved again. valerie castiel came halfway across the country to

participate her son fell lando was shot and killed by a police officer last year in the state of minnesota that latino officer geronimo yeah nez was recently acquitted of all charges. it happened these gas. no accountability no responsibility. in. this demonstration is actually to merge protests in march for racial justice and the march for black women drawing attention more specifically to issues facing minority women in a nation that has a majority white population were marching for our lives we're marching for our health we're marching for our for our sanity and we're marching for liberation marches like they and similar mark has planted ten other cities around the country come as the u.s. is struggling over aggressions of race and racism black social issues being

publicly debated here in this very much social media all of it is playing by tweets from the white house and controversial symbolic displays in the nation's sports arena. it is a time of national division american football players staging controversial pre-game demonstrations tweeted condemnation from the president anger from some fans. white supremacist displaying nazi symbols this summer an opposing protester killed and a tepid response from the white house scrawled slurs found this week targeting african-american students at a military prep school and if you can't. treat someone from another race or a different color stand with dignity and respect then you need to get out there is anger on the streets but diversity as well and hope says one march organizer on the street where we live when we live with one another we love each other and this is

an opportunity to express that being an opportunity to sound off taken by thousands of americans alex offer al-jazeera washington d.c. . at least fifty people have been arrested in the swedish city of gold during a demonstration held by a far right anti semitic group members of the nordic resistance movement found with kind thoughts with came to demonstrate to see through fireworks and several other people enjoy it turkey's president reject tayyip erdogan has said the kurdish authorities will pay the price for holding their controversial success of secession referendum on monday iraqi kurds overwhelmingly back from iraq and that vote. then out forming an independent state in northern iraq in the country that opening a wound in the region and twisting the knife ignoring this fact will do no good neither to us nor to our kurdish brothers in iraq or of

a party. well the inclusion of the city of kirkuk in northern iraq in monday's vote has also angered baghdad it has some of the biggest oil reserves in the country charles stratfor reports from erbil the kurdish peshmerga to control the kill cookoff to 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 hydrilla party to send troops into kurdish controlled disputed areas like kirkuk and take back control of the oil fields and the kurdish governor of kirkuk coachella body doesn't heed to parliament's demand prime minister about

he has made it clear that force is not how you 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 were to the area and the borders of k r g is not the clear and the specially kid. will be. spirit of the throw going between would be owned by god and may be be a war about. the way to solve this a problem is not the independence you're under in front of the world is the outlook two thousand and five constitution stipulates that the federal government sends seventeen percent of the federal budget to the calle g. every year. it stops sending the money in two thousand and fifteen. and back that has since accused the k r g of not sharing the oil wealth but any fighting

here could jeopardize the battle against mycelium how we shop around fifty kilometers southwest of kirkuk. who controls kill cook was at the heart of the referendum on kurdish independence. the kurds say they will fight everyone who tries to take it from them john strafford al jazeera well up to twenty eight people have been killed in airstrikes in the rebel held at the province of syria u.k. based syrian observatory for human rights says that four children were amongst the dead but they've not been able to verify whether the strikes were carried out by the syrian government or its main ally russia hundreds of a hinge or refugees who've crossed into bangladesh a lining up to receive aid at the caput along camp that's just along the border bangladesh is a mobilized to help some of the half a million people who escaped the violence in the unmarked united nations refugee agency in the government of providing food water and medical aid. as seems and

pirates in all which nigeria are costing the government at least a billion dollars in lost revenue every month at the dietary an army says it's launching a crackdown reports from the nation delta. well the hunt for pirates in oil fields in the creeks of nigeria's delta it's hard and dangerous work. as we approach a base we were being watched all the way but the military hardware is enough deterrent. than they all feel or set on fire a strategy to stop us from getting close these suspects however lucky today. it. is three months after their base was destroyed by the army it's being rebuilt while all is refined and the talk of pipes lead to a nearby oil well for a way crude is diverted this is what remains of an illegal refinery after

a raid by the nigerian army hundreds like these have been destroyed in the past few months thieves refine oil here after breaking in and siphoning from oil pipelines and wells across the region another bombed out refinery is trying to get back into business a few kilometers from here this company has been destroyed before. it was considered they are trying to revive it which means that we still have to conduct here to put it out of use completely again the biggest threat to nigeria's all supply and economy on to the us all the use. it's a well connected orders of the buy just send ships or transport the crude in large quantities every ship or seized filled with petroleum products for years the pirates have made these waterways unsafe and bled the nigerian economy. now their army has new equipment and personnel. it's

a sure force which commanders hope will deter criminals. it's planned in that aspect to bring about. the. next night raids as well as to protect the sovereignty of. territorial integrity the government's new offensive isn't welcome with everyone not just the pirates but i am very very concerned if firm new troops are deployed into the region that's all it's not going to be with more people. government leaders say the crackdown is necessary to stop criminal activities protect lives in nigeria's largest natural as it. were to trieste al-jazeera in the niger delta. before we go and look again at those main headlines here on al-jazeera just hours

now to go until polls open in the catalog me and secession referendum and spain's government has been continuing its crackdown describing the vote as a mockery of democracy it's one volunteers of polling stations could be fined more than three hundred fifty thousand dollars apiece have already begun deploying ahead of the ballot and sealed off more than half of the schools designated as polling centers the mayor of puerto rico's capital someone has accused the trump administration of killing people through inefficiency ten days after hurricane maria devastated the u.s. territory we are dying here and not cannot fathom the thought that the greatest nation in the world cannot figure out what just six four is small island of a hundred miles my thirty five miles. u.s. says it's maintaining direct channels of communication with north korea secretary

of state rex tillerson is in beijing meeting his counterpart wangi on a second trip to the chinese capital this year yes wants china to increase the economic pressure on north korea over its nuclear weapons. thousands of people have been gathering in washington d.c. to protest against racism and police brutality in the u.s. two rallies were held the march for racial justice and the march for black women organizers are calling for an end to what they say is systemic racism. at least fifty people have been arrested in the swedish city of gold somebody joining a demonstration by a far right and group members of the nordic resistance movement form of counter demonstrators from police officer and several other people were injured. up to twenty eight people have been killed in airstrikes in the rebel held if the province of syria u.k. based group the syrian observatory for human life said the four children were among the dead but they've not been able to verify whether the strikes were carried out

by the syrian government or its main ally. that's all for now next up talked to al jazeera speaks to the kaplan leader ahead of tomorrow's secession referendum thanks very much for your company to see. documentaries that open your eyes at this time on al-jazeera. when we. leave you with your. catalonia prepares to hold a storage referendum on whether to split from spain we have come to catalonia to speak to the man behind that independence movement catalonia president.