this is bbc world news today, i'm alpha patel. our top stories: the catalan government insists sunday's vote on independence will go ahead, despite spanish authorities raiding a communication centre and closing off polling stations. the us secretary of state — rex tillerson — says the us is in contact with north korea and looking at the possibility of talks. the british prime minister arrives for her party's conference with pressure mounting on her over the brexit negotiations. a british traitor, but a hero in russia. moscow celebrates the life of kim philby — the soviet spy from the ‘60s. hello and welcome to world news today. a controversial vote on catalonia's independence is just hours away. and the central government in spain

have been stepping up efforts to stop the vote — claiming that most voting stations have been closed. it follows a raid at the catalan government's i.t centre — to disrupt electronic voting. the vote is considered illegal by the government in spain. the national police have sealed off over a thousand schools — which are intended to be polling stations. it's prompted the president of the catalan national assembly to make this plea. translation: i want to make a plea to the police and appeal to their sense of responsibility and community. well, this was the scene in madrid earlier —

people against the vote — showing their support for a united spain. but many catalans say they are determined to vote. here's our correspondent tom burridge who is in barcelona. this is how parents and people in this part of barcelona a scene repeated across the city and across the region of catalonia, are trying to keep this school open. they hope the police cannot get in if they organise activities with their kids and some parents are sleeping at the schools overnight to try and maintain these polling stations and keep them open overnight until tomorrow morning. but other places will not be open and people will not be able to vote. there will be a vote but what will be the turnout? cata la n vote but what will be the turnout? catalan officials privately admit a low turnout will rendered the vote void but they say that if they get a significant vote turnout, they could

unilaterally declare independence from spain without the of the government. if we get that scenario, it is potentially explosive and a little bit dangerous. i've been speaking to dr ernest mendoza, a university lecturer who is at a school where his children go — he is one of the parents protecting their polling station in sant cugat del valles — outside barcelona. behind me, there is a group of people from the school, and kids, and we are spending the day during celebrations the school because we wa nt to celebrations the school because we want to keep this school open for voting tomorrow. we have been all day doing activities with that kids. it is like a rig party of democracy. schools are being used as polling

stations? yes, schools are used as polling stations. are you prepared for the police to move in? well, the police have been here a few times. i think that they have is that they are not going to do anything that causes problems, potential problems, so causes problems, potential problems, so there is a significant group of people in the school and they will not close the school. do you think this vote will go ahead on sunday?” am certain that we will vote. it would be a great loss for spain and for the people of spain and further democracy and for freedom of speech if we don't vote tomorrow, not only for catalonia but for the whole country. even for europe. we live in a european country. all the generations in europe have fought for democracy, have fought for

freedom, and not allowing the peaceful referendum to define what kind of country we want to have, it would be a real pity. can you understand why people in your country don't want this referendum to go ahead, that they wanted spain to go ahead, that they wanted spain to stay together? well, i understand they want spain to be together, that is perfectly acceptable. within the people that are surrounding me, there are people that are against us independence. that is about democracy and asking people what they want to do and to define their future. we have the right to self—determination. i understand they don't want catalonia to leave they don't want catalonia to leave the country, that is perfectly acceptable. what i don't understand is why they are opposing a referendum. us secretary of state, rex tillerson, says washington is in contact with north korea and is exploring the possibility of talks over its nuclear

and missile programmes. speaking in beijing after meeting china's president, mr tillerson said north korea had not yet stated if it was ready for dialogue. china is keen for the two sides to talk. partularly after north korean missile tests and escalating tensions between donald trump and kimjong un. our asia pacific regional editor, celia hatton, says mr tillerson‘s comments are not out of keeping with some of the things the trump administration has been saying. donald trump himself famously said on the campaign trail that he would sit down with kim jong un over a hamburger. these really aren't out of the stated policy of us engagement with north korea which is maximum pressure, maximum engagement. we have already seen the us try to push china to carry out the maximum pressure signs. the

maximum amount of sanctions on north korea to try and convince them to give up their nuclear weapons programme. but now we are going to see china really putting the screws into the added states to carry out the maximum engagement side of the process. it is not a surprise that rex tillerson shows his visit to china to really go back to that and to redirect the fact that ashington is willing to sit down and talk. china is carrying out sanctions but both china and pressure have said repeatedly they don't think sanctions will do anything good. sanctions will not achieve but the us says it wants, which is to convince kimjong us says it wants, which is to convince kim jong un to us says it wants, which is to convince kimjong unto give up his weapons programme. and what many countries have said is that diplomacy is what is going to bring down the pressure in the region, bring down the pressure on the korean peninsula. us president donald trump has attacked the mayor of the puerto rican capital, sanjuan, after her dramatic plea for help in the wake of hurricane maria. in a series of tweets,

which have since been deleted — he said he was disappointed in the mayor's leadership abilities. here's what she said. we are dying here. and i cannot fathom the thought that the greatest nation in the world cannot figure out the logistics for a small island of 100 miles wide by 35 miles long. iam begging, of 100 miles wide by 35 miles long. i am begging, begging anyone that can hear us to i am begging, begging anyone that can hear us to save us i am begging, begging anyone that can hear us to save us from dying. mrtrump has mr trump has responded on twitter. he says, such poor leadership... the streets have now been deleted.

mrtrump the streets have now been deleted. mr trump instead he will be going instead to puerto rico on tuesday. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news... austria's law banning face veils — such as burkhas or niqabs — will come into effect in less than two hours. the measures are seen as an attempt to counter the rise of the far—right freedom party, whose candidate narrowly lost last month's presidential vote. the ruling centrist coalition agreed to the measure injanuary. it is estimated that only 150 austrian women wear the full face veil. thousands of people have marched through the irish capital, dublin, to demand change to the country's strict abortion laws. the annual rally is the first major demonstration since the country's prime minister announced last week that ireland would hold a referendum on the issue.

protesters have clashed with the police in gothenburg in sweden at a neo—nazi rally. 20 people have been arrested. the unrest is reported to have broken out when protesters tried to deviate from the assigned route. here in the uk, the conservative party conference starts on sunday and theresa may is under renewed pressure from within the cabinet over her approach to brexit. are you looking forward to conference? the prime minister arrived in manchester earlier with her husband phillip. she's facing a new intervention on the brexit negotiations from the foreign secretary borisjohnson, who has called for a strict time limit on fully leaving the eu. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young reports. could the next few days bring unity

to the conservative party? probably not the issue of works it dominate the agenda. as they reflect on a disappointing election is odd, the promised was to do about domestic issues but her foreign secretary has other ideas. in an interview with the sun, boris johnson other ideas. in an interview with the sun, borisjohnson lays out for bread lines for brexit. he says the transition period after march 1919 shouldn't be longer than two years. the uk should not access any new rulings from brussels during that time. no payment should be made for access to the single market. there should be no shadowing of the eu after brexit, limiting eu rules to ensure free trade. let us be creative as well as practical. last week in florence, theresa may tried to move negotiations forward. mr johnson doesn't contradict her but goes further than agreed government

policy. what i want from the brexit talks and what borisjohnson wants from the brexit talk and what all of us from the brexit talk and what all of us around the cabinet want is the best possible deal for britain which secures our future outside the european union and keeps a close relationship with our current european partners. just one question! some conservatives don't go with borisjohnson‘s assertion that brexit will be great and a heated debate, ruth davidson took him on. name me one country in the world that has said it will give us a better deal if we come out of the eu? today, she told the times overoptimism of the leaving eu salespeople short. what do conservatives arriving in manchester make of borisjohnson‘s latest intervention? he is positioning himself as a spokesperson for brexit and making sure it goes through.” am not sure but boris is going the

right way forward. i like people who are charismatic and who can speak their minds so boris is certainly one of those people. what is your message to boris johnson? shush, get behind the prime minister! theresa may is struggling to get the differences over europe. something she should bejust differences over europe. something she should be just as concerned about who was trying to move in on herjob. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come... i , a ,a round—up , a round—up of the sport. this is bbc world news today, i'm alpha patel. the latest headlines: the catalan government insists the controversial vote on independence will though ahead and the government in spain says it is illegal. the us secretary of state rex tillerson says the us is in contact with north

korea and is looking at the possibility of talks. scientists in the u—s say losing the ability to smell — could be an early warning sign of dementia. almost 3,000 adults were tested as part of a long—term study involving waving so—called sniffing sticks. researchers concluded that people who couldn't identify the smell of peppermint, fish, orange, rose and leather were more than twice as likely to develop dementia — five years after. i'm nowjoined by the lead researcher professor jaya nt pinto from chicago university. thank you for being with us. tell us how significant this research is in determining if someone has dementia. well, as you know, dementia is a big problem world wide and so we need tests to identify who is at risk for dementia and we don't have very good

ones right now. because the sense of smell is closely related to the central nervous system, we thought it might be a good indicator of future rain problems. tell us why someone's boss of smell is linked to dementia. one thing that will follow from this research is that we know the sense of smell, as it declines, really indicates future health problems. connecting the two dots of what is the mechanism between those two things is something we will be working on now and many other researchers are working on worldwide. is there something specific about these specific smells, peppermint, orange, mint? is it something in particular smell in general? it is not in general. we thought it was feasible to test these in people's homes. people all of the united states were interviewed in their homes so those

five odours are representative of a full 16 battery of odours used in a clinical test. do full 16 battery of odours used in a clinicaltest. do you full 16 battery of odours used in a clinical test. do you think they should be included in clinical testing when determining whether someone has dementia?” testing when determining whether someone has dementia? i think it is too early to say that. i think this can be one sensory system that clinicians can use as part of a range of tests and examinations that can be used to identify people who are at risk. it is estimated 50 million people live with dementia around the world. that figure is only likely to rise. give us a sense of how big a fight there is in terms of how big a fight there is in terms of getting on top of this issue. well, i mean, there is a huge amount of research going into this worldwide. they have been major drug and pennies that have poured millions and billions of dollars into drugs to treat various forms of

dementia, alzheimer's in particular. many of those trials have failed because perhaps because they are treating the pool when the disease process is too late. if we could start treating people earlier, intervening earlier, then maybe we would have better success. this test might be one way of identifying people at risk so those people could be tested for interventions. so, where do you go from here western mark we are going to look at the mechanisms of this. we want to see if we can make smart testing easier so that clinicians could test much more easily. we all know you can go to the eye doctor and get an eye test, you can get a hearing test, and we want to be able to have easy access to smart testing for general practitioners worldwide. thank you very much. let's get some sports for

you. we start with football — manchester city are top of the premier league table on goal difference after a 1—0 win against chelsea at stamford bridge. pep guardiola's men were without striker sergio aguero, who sustained rib injuries in a car crash in amsterdam on thursday. they didn't seem to miss him. a goalfrom kevin de bruyne against his former club in the second half was enough to fend off the champions. unbeaten manchester united put four past the struggling we have to options, complain about what happened or try, even with the players we have. and that is what we did. isaid players we have. and that is what we did. i said yesterday and today to the players that we came here to try to winds, doesn't matter what happened, we know how difficult it is, we know how complicated it is. it is my first time as a manager that i was able to winds here.

unbeaten manchester united put four past the struggling crystal palace at old trafford. juan mata scoring their first goal within 3 minutes. maroune fellaini then netted twice before romelu lukaku got a late fourth — his 11th goal in 10 games. so the defeat leaves palace firmly rooted at the bottom of the table, winless and goalless in the league after 7 games. spurs are up to third after a 4—0 win over huddersfield. harry kane scored two goals, taking his tally to 13 goals in his last eight games. he scored either side of ben davies, as spurs made it 3—0 inside the opening 25 minutes. moussa sissoko added a fourth late on to complete the rout. those goals from kane means he now equals cristiano ronaldo's premier league goal record. every game i've played, it is nice, renata was more of a winner when he was in the premier league, he is one of the best lads in our generation.

when you've got stats like this and you up being compared to them players, it is great for me personally. i tried to use the good energy and the good companies from other people to help me improve and get better and better. elsewhere in the day's seven premier league games... bournemouth v leicester was goalless peter crouch scored the winnerfor stoke against southampton watford came from behind to draw 2—all at west brom and west ham beat swansea injury time to earn a valuable three points. three fans have been seriously injured after a barrier collapsed at the front of a stand during a ligue1 match in france this saturday. at least 18 people were hurt in the incident, which occurred in the 16th minute of amiens‘ game with lille at the stade de la licorne. a barrier in front of the away section buckled as fans celebrated a goal, and dozens fell about one and a half metres onto the pitch. the match was abandoned and the stadium evacuated. engine problems for sebastian vettel means he'll start at the back of the grid for sunday's malaysian grand prix — with lewis hamilton

taking pole position. the german had been quicker than his title rival all weekend but needed an engine change towards the end of final practice. hamilton had been struggling for pace but was able to light up the timesheet at the right moment and will start first ahead of vettel‘s team—mate kimi raikkonen and red bull's max verstappen. as the row over standing for the national anthem in the us continues — world sprint champion justin gatlin is the latest sportsman to speak out — insisting he won't take the knee in protest this weekend. gatlin, who won the 100 metres in the world championships in august in london expressed mixed emotions over the issue as his father had been in the military. however, he said he's not against the protests and supports highlighting issues of racial injustice. i'm going to stand up. i am not saying that if i take the knee or if i stand saying that if i take the knee or if

istand up, saying that if i take the knee or if i stand up, i'm saying that if i take the knee or if istand up, i'm not forthe saying that if i take the knee or if i stand up, i'm not for the protest oriam i stand up, i'm not for the protest or i am against it. it isjust i stand up, i'm not for the protest or i am against it. it is just that at the end of the day, i understand what it takes for the military but i also understand what it takes to be also understand what it takes to be a citizen in the united states and have equal rights. you won't be taking the knee? at this point in time, i don't wink so. a new exhibition has opened in moscow — honouring the life and work of the british double—agent, kim philby. after being discovered as a soviet spy in 1963 and escape to moscow, philby was condemned as a traitor in britain. but for the soviets, he was a hugely valuable asset for three decades. for his own country, kim philby is a traitor but in pressure, he is a hero. his life is on display here, along with a glimpse of its home

life. his widow was at the opening, greeted by the head of the intelligence agency in pressure, the successor of the kgb. he is legendary man, an outstanding spy, a man who did much for the vicjury over fascism in the second world war and contributed to the fight for justice, peace and freedom. he is honoured for handing over a huge number of classified documents from british and american intelligence, one describing an attack on hitler's life, revealed here for the first time. it is over half a century since philby was exposed and escaped to moscow. where you impact the third man? no, iwas to moscow. where you impact the third man? no, i was not. to moscow. where you impact the third man? no, iwas not. even longerfrom this third man? no, iwas not. even longer from this virtuoso performance where he denied it. his

story is being revived and retold here just as story is being revived and retold herejust as modern pressure story is being revived and retold here just as modern pressure and the west are locked in what is being called the new cold war. he should not be regarded as a traitor because he never betrayed anyone. he was a thing alone, on his beliefs. the double agent retained those beliefs to the end. in one document here, he hopes to see the red flag flying over buckingham palace and the white house. instead, three years after his death in moscow, the ussr fell apart. a man who divides opinion. that's it from me and the team. goodbye. it is typical autumn fair over the next few days. winds, sunshine.

clearer skies for a while, northern ireland, northern england and especially in scotland, seeing the temperatures dropping away before rain arrives in northern ireland. some rain coming across england and wales, warm and muggy, a range of temperatures and a touch of frost in the grampians. sunshine in the north—east of scotland, it may well bright an north—east of scotland, it may well brightan app north—east of scotland, it may well bright an app across england and wales but on the whole, a lot of cloud. rain heaviest in northern ireland first thing in the morning. sunshine returns to northern ireland in the afternoon. later to western scotland. despite all the cloud and a chance of rain across england and wales, it is a warm and muggy feel. the rain will move away and skies will attempt to clear and the temperatures will drop. we will see

the back of the warm and muggy air and replace it with clearer skies and replace it with clearer skies and colder air. this is monday's picture. we will focus on this low— pressure picture. we will focus on this low—pressure in a moment, that is what is left of hurricane maria. the winds will be stronger on monday. 50 or 60 mph. 70 mph across the central belt of scotland. together with this windy weather, severe gallows, —— survey gales. temperatures will be lower and it will be a much chillier feel, particular in the windy conditions. the winds right tuesday, still northwesterly, but not as strong and many places will be dry with some sunshine, fewer showers

around in the north. typically, the north—westerly winds ease and high—pressure tries to building across the uk but will be flattened by the slope pressure, bringing rain to the north—west. this is bbc world news, the headlines. the government in catalonia is insisting that sunday's vote on independence will still go ahead. this is despite spanish authorities closing off polling stations and raiding a communication centre that was due to count the votes. on a brief visit to china the american secretary of state, rex tillerson, has said washington is in direct contact with north korea and wants to start a dialogue over its nuclear and missile programmes. the british prime minister — theresa may — has arrived for her party's annual conference. but she is under renewed pressure from within her own cabinet over her approach to brexit. scientists say losing the ability to

smell could be