this is bbc news. the headlines: hundreds of people are injured in a day of violence in the spanish region of catalonia as police try to prevent a referendum on independence from taking place. one of the policemen took him by the head, took off his glasses and hit him like that, here, the first one was here. the spanish prime minister thanks the police for carrying out their duties, and says most catalans did not want to participate in the vote. translation: right nowl can translation: right now i can tell you emphatically that what we found today and what you already know was that there was no independence referendum in catalonia today. french soldiers shoot dead a man who killed two women in a knife attack outside the main railway station in marseille. also in the next hour,

the prime minister says she'll review the whole system of student finance in england. but as the conservative conference opened in manchester, she faced questions over the loyalty of the foreign secretary. is he unsackable? laughter. let's be very clear about what we have here in this government. we have a government that is determined to build a country that works for everyone. and the travel show explores the longest river in the balkans, connecting four countries which just a generation ago were at war. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the spanish by minister mariano

rajoy has said the disputed referendum held in catalonia did not ta ke referendum held in catalonia did not take place. there was a day of violence and chaos on the streets. speaking in the last half—hour he said the majority of catalans did not want to take part in an illegal boat. riot police closed down nearly 100 polling stations and repeatedly charged at voters waiting outside. hundreds were injured, two seriously. it is believed the votes are being counted in secret by cata la n are being counted in secret by catalan authorities. tom berridge reports from barcelona. gunfire. spanish police, not in control. chased out of a neighbourhood in barcelona by people who wanted to vote in this region's disputed referendum. one of the policemen took him by the head, took off the glasses and then he started to kick my dad here. the first one was here. he kicked here. they are crazy. they had raided a school used

as a polling station. catalonia's regional government, which wants independence, had disobeyed the spanish government and organised today's vote. "i am 79," maria theresa told me. "i just wanted to vote in peace." these are the people facing down police. these are riot police drafted in from other parts of spain but their heavy—handed tactics today appear to be making deep divisions in this region worse. it was chaos at polling stations across catalonia. as spanish police moved to disrupt the vote. here grabbing ballot boxes inside a school. then jostling with local catalan firemen and arguing

with officers from catalonia's own regional police. spain's police in a spanish region, a foreign force today. but many did vote, savouring a precious moment. he ran catalonia's devolved government when five years ago with popular support, he began pressuring spain for a scottish style referendum. they are peaceful people trying to cast their vote and there a violent spanish state that is trying to prevent people from voting. but spain's deputy prime minister said the actions of national police were professional and proportionate. she said the regional government was irresponsible for organising an illegal vote. so this evening as people continue

to vote, tension across catalonia. the spanish government has tried today to exert its authority. but there is more hate here towards leaders in madrid now. we are yet to find out how many people have been able to vote today. the spanish government has always said it is the spanish courts telling the spanish police how to act but their strategy of physically preventing people from voting has the potential to backfire big—time. if you'd asked me whether 2a hours ago if i thought catalonia's regional government could declare independence from spain in the next couple of days without madrid's consent i would have said it was not likely. but after today's ugly scenes i think it is a very real possibility. our correspondent gavin lee has been reporting from the seat the catalan government in barcelona.

he described the mood as people there awaited the next tense developments: we have seen some of the polling stations where rubber bullets have been fired, batons used and people grabbed by the hair. this is because the police and the madrid government have said ultimately they want to make sure this vote does not take place and they say they have acted proportionately. when it comes to what has been going on, around 2000 polling stations are banned including this one here. this is an upmarket district of barcelona. what has happened, 93 of them were closed down forcibly. that is where we have seen some of these injuries. now the spanish police are saying they had nine police officers injured as well. just to show you around for a minute, we can see the size of this polling station, polling closed about 15 minutes ago. all these people in front of me and to the right as welljust through here, a huge queue around the block of people who still had not voted. the thing is many people

had their votes snatched at other stations and thought they could come here to register a second vote. what the catalan government has said is to try to make it perceptibly as legitimate as possible they are closing to everyone at eight o'clock. but a few minutes ago the last few people are walking out, because whoever was inside the centre just before eight o'clock, still got to vote. let's talk to a few people who manage to vote today. mariano rajoy, the prime minister of spain has said the vote didn't take place today. he has banked the security forces were taking action, saying there were upholding the rule of law —— thanked, and called the vote itself tariq —— mockery of the

existence of democracy and criticise the catalan leaders for holding it despite saying it was illegal. what impact will it have on his premiership? he has a difficult course to steer now because there will be great further meant in catalonia. it will probably add to the campaign for independence although polls beforehand showed the majority of catalans would not vote for independence. they were very attached to the idea of holding a referendum, though, and that's where problems come. he is upset at cata la ns problems come. he is upset at catalans who problems come. he is upset at catala ns who probably problems come. he is upset at catalans who probably would have backed staying with spain. how well supported was about? it is difficult to tell from these pictures but looks like many people are out trying. it looks like a lot of people. these are either motivated people, separatists who want independence, so there will make sure their big day has as big an impact as possible, but the votes at the moment we think are being counted in secret. one of the

regional catalan leaders has talked in terms of millions of votes. there are 5.4 million registered voters in catalonia, so if it gets millions of votes, that is a good turnout. in the consultative referendum in 2014, turnout was just over 2 million, so if they get anything approaching that when people have been warned so clearly that this is an illegal boat, they will have done well. what is the reaction from other parts of the eu? it has been wary. boris johnson, the british foreign minister, has said he is worried by the amount of violence taking place but understands it was unconstitutional. a similar line from the european parliament's leader on brexit, who said a similar thing. when are we likely to get the result? carles puigdemont, the

cata la n result? carles puigdemont, the catalan separatist leader, is due to speak in about an hour and a half, and we think there might be some results coming out around midnight local time in spain. and of course there will be other regions watching this very closely. very much so. the reaction from the bus country especially will be worth watching. they have more autonomy than the cata la ns they have more autonomy than the catalans already with tax—raising powers which the catalans don't have. it seems to me logical that if they stop short of independence that is the kind of thing they would like to negotiate, but i don't think the other regions would want to go as far as the catalans are trying to ta ke far as the catalans are trying to take it at the moment. thank you, mike sanders, bbc world service regional editor for europe. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30pm this evening in the papers. our guestsjoining me tonight are tom bergin, reuters business correspondent, and rachel cunliffe from city am. a 17—year—old girl and a 20—year—old woman have been stabbed to death

at a railway station in the south of france in what is suspected to be a militant islamist attack. soldiers on patrol in the city of marseille shot dead a man in his twenties who was armed with a knife. president macron has called the attack barbaric. our paris correspondent hugh schofield has more. it was shortly before 2:00 this afternoon on the esplanade in front of the main railway station in marseille. a man was sitting on the bench and got up and drew out a large knife from inside his coat and attacked two women. both young women, one 17 and one 20—year—old. he killed them both. translation: we are in the train station, i took out my ticket and heard a woman screaming outside. i particularly remember the women because they were the ones screaming. people were running but no one knew what was going on. military patrol was in the station and three soldiers rushed to the

scene. the man turned against them, at which point they shot him and he died shortly after. president macron said he was outraged by this "barbarous act" and his heart went out to the families and friends of victims, and he saluted soldiers and police who acted with "cool efficiency". police are treating it asa efficiency". police are treating it as a terrorist attack but there are plenty of questions about the man and his motivation. translation: the individual was killed by a soldier this afternoon. it seems this individual had several identities. i don't know any more and can't say more than that. french media report the killer was in his 20s with a police record for petty offences. if so, that fits with a steady pattern of recent attacks in france carried out by individuals who seem to have a deep hatred of french authority aggravated by exposure to islamist ideas. hugh schofield, bbc news, paris. theresa may today announced changes to the repayment of tuition fees

in england and help for young people to buy homes. as the conservative conference opened in manchester, she insisted that her cabinet was united in building a country that worked for everyone, and in its approach to brexit. our political editor, laura kuenssberg reports from manchester. chanting. tory scum! the prime minister might find it hard to listen to that, let alone agree. the tory conference a magnet for discontent and fury. most of it peaceful. some distinctly not. cheering. but theresa may does think she needs to pay attention to the national mood. after labour courted votes promising to scrap university fees in england, they'll be frozen. and there's a confirmation of a rethink, too. when we set that policy, what we expected was going to happen is there would be a range, a diversity in the system. that we'd see universities perhaps offering shorter courses, that we'd see universities offering courses at fees under the maximum. that hasn't happened. we've got to look at it again.

ambitions to change policy won't matter much, though, if she can't pull her party together. stirrer—in—chief in most tory mps' minds — the foreign secretary. all ministers, though, deny they are trying to cause trouble. wait a minute, boys, i'm walking the wrong way. but the danger, they look like they are attacking each other rather than fight back public anger. the impression, well, the government doesn't quite know where it's going. there are profound doubts in tory ranks about the prime minister's ability to come back. i think this is a big opportunity for theresa may. perhaps the last opportunity for her to reset the way that people think and feel about her, post that disastrous election. so, it's a big moment.

if she doesn't deliver it, then i think of course she'll be vulnerable. i don't know why everyone pretends you can just carry on after such a disastrous election result as if nothing has happened. there isn't any unity. that's the problem. i mean, everyone keeps saying, we are all united and we're all going to have a bigger and better future. that's what politicians have got to say. it is indeed what she feels she has to say. whatever the antics of the foreign secretary. is he unsackable? laughter. look, let's be very clear about what we have here in this government. we have a government that is determined to build a country that works for everyone. whether this conference works for her, well, that's a different question. theresa may knows she needs to win her authority back. but parties arguing amongst themselves don't inspire devotion. and strong leaders know they ought to be able to close down internal fights. applause.

political parties can never completely stage—manage these conferences. as the prime minister's deputy found out this afternoon. but theresa may has been put on notice by her party. and to keep going this week, the prime minister needs to do more than put on a brave face. the headlines: the spanish prime minister banks police for holding up the law in catalonia. hundreds of people have been injured in classic clashes over the band independence referendum. a 17—year—old girl and a 20—year—old woman stabbed to death in the southern french city of marseille. the suspect was shot dead by soldiers. on the first day of the conservative party conference, theresa may says the government will look again at the old system of

student finance in england. sport now, a full round—up with damien. red bull's max verstappen has won the malaysian grand prix in a thrilling race in sapang. verstappen, who turned 20 yesterday, took control of the race after passing hamilton at the start of the fourth lap. lewis hamilton finished second, but extends his lead in the championship standings. his title rival sebastian vettel started at the back of the grid but fought his way through to take fourth. daniel ricciardo was third. liverpool missed the chance to go fourth after a frustrating 1—1 draw at newcastle. before the match, newcastle supporters showed their appreciation for former chairman freddie shepherd, the man who brought alan shearer to the club, and who died on monday aged 76. joe linski reports. it's one of the premier league's classic fixtures, two clubs who make free scoring part of the brand. they

share values and heroes. rafa benitez is popular on tyneside as he was with the reds, but the current liverpool side have problems to solve. one is theirfinishing. four of them tried to force the issue here and none scored. he wondered how. take the ball outside the box, though, and they have a man with better aim. this is why philippe coutinho is liverpool's prize asset. staggering money couldn't strip them from anfield this summer. here's the premier league's precision man. but more of those problems were to surface. liverpool scored stunning goals then that strange ones in. the ball escorted in off shins. from there neither side could find a breakthrough, again, finishing the problem. liverpool those issues outweigh the good things. they still have far to go to be contenders. away at newcastle is a tough team.

the game opens and you can maybe use the situation. we scored a wonderful goal and created wonderful chances, not all of them were shots on target because we shot the ball over the goal even when it was empty, and that's the situation. everton were booed off after their fourth defeat in five premier league games. ronald koeman‘s side beaten 1—0 by burnley, jeff hendrick scoring the only goal of the game. it's burnley‘s best start to the top flight season in 44 years. i can't complain today about my players. i think we showed the right attitude, we showed really that commitment, that aggression, or what we need to play to win the game. we had big chances in the beginning, then the game will be totally different. you know if you analyse your opponent today, if you go down

in the score, that's really tough. arsenal completed a routine to— big jockey frankie dettori has won europe's richest horse race for a record fifth time. he rode the favourite enable to victory in the prix de l‘arc de triomphe title. it was a dominant performance from dettori and enable who led right from the start in chantilly. thejohn gosden trained philly was odds on with some bookmakers before the race. 25 to one cloth of stars came in second just ahead of ulysses ridden byjim crowley. ireland's paul dunne shot a nine under—par 61 on the final day of the british masters to hold off rory mcilroy and win his first european tour title. despite carding his lowest round of the season, mcilroy was unable to surpass the world number 192 and looks on course for only the second winless season of his career. dunne was in a five—way tie for second heading into the final round but carded seven birdies

and an eagle to win by three strokes on twenty—under—par at close house. he sealed victory in style with this chip—in on the 18th. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. more now on polls closing across catalonia after a day of violence and chaos on the streetsas the region held an independence vote that the spanish state had declared illegal. catalan officials say more than 450 people have been injured in clashes with riot police who had tried to stop the ballot from taking place. we might be able to show you pictures on the streets of catalonia this evening. the central government in madrid, led of course by prime minister mariano rajoy, regarded it as an illegal referendum and said it shouldn't have been taking place and set the police the task of trying to

close as many polling stations as they could. we understand around 100 we re they could. we understand around 100 were closed. the prime minister has speaking to that —— spoken to the nation on television tonight saying there was no referendum in catalonia, that it was a strategy against legality and democracy. joining me now from barcelona is raphael minder, spain and portugal correspondent for the new york times. thank you very much forjoining us this evening. what did you see out and about on the streets today? well, thank you for having me. it was a very weird day. i started very early at 5am. was a very weird day. i started very early at sam. the catalan police we re early at sam. the catalan police were under orders to close all polling stations at 6am. 6am when passed without any problem, the police came that they didn't do anything, they just took police came that they didn't do anything, theyjust took note of what was going on, then came 9am, the actual opening time of the polling stations, and then essentially riot police from the

national police and the military police of spain moved in. they didn't move in on all the stations, they moved in on some of them, dozens they moved in on some of them, d oze ns of they moved in on some of them, dozens of them, and that of course proved a very difficult task for them. the stations had been occupied overnight precisely to stop the police, and inevitably things went wrong in several places. by now, by the end of what was a very chaotic and messy day of voting, we had two parallel things going on, huge queues outside a lot of polling stations, very orderly, people singing, chanting, looking forward to their vote, and in other places, we had the usage of truncheons and rubber bullets to disperse voters. the prime minister has thanked the

police for carrying out their duties, but from the tactics you saw, was it justified, duties, but from the tactics you saw, was itjustified, the way the police behaved? well, i think it's just very messy and ugly pictures that spain leaves today for anyone watching on the bbc or anywhere else. this democratic country, not that old in terms of its post—franco democracy, today had people going to vote, and i have to say, people went to vote and that no point did i see evidence or read about any incidents where they turned violent themselves, being can confronted by riot police you expect maybe in a football stadium but not in a polling station. so i think this halfway approach of trying to repress in some places while allowing in others will probably end up allowing in others will probably end up having a voting result. i don't

quite get it. it creates a very ugly image that the government should have avoided, while not actually stopping, fully, the referendum. thank you very much for talking to us. we have a translator and political communications consultant who is also a presenter for barcelona city fm. his programme was suspended during the campaign. he has voted today and joins us from barcelona. thank you forjoining us. do you mind telling us which way you voted ? do you mind telling us which way you voted? first of all, my programme wasn't suspended because of the campaign. i decided to stop doing the programme to dedicate my time to the programme to dedicate my time to the campaign. thank you for the correction. how did you vote today?

i voted yes. why? i think catalonia could do a lot better for itself outside the spanish state. this has been an issue for centuries, and it has come to a head over the last few yea rs has come to a head over the last few years and months in particular, and...i years and months in particular, and... iwon‘t years and months in particular, and... i won't even mention what has happened today. the prime minister has been on television and said cata la ns has been on television and said catala ns have been has been on television and said catalans have been fooled into taking part in an illegal vote. how likely is it that whatever the result, the catalan authorities would dare to separate from spain given that that is the view of a large majority of the rest of the country? the rest of which country? spain. yes, but we are talking about the citizens of catalonia, who may

have taken the decision, we don't have taken the decision, we don't have the result yet, but they may have the result yet, but they may have decided to become independent. ina have decided to become independent. in a referendum that was not legally binding? a referendum that wasn't accepted binding? a referendum that wasn't a cce pted by binding? a referendum that wasn't accepted by the spanish government. and the rest of the eu also take that view. the eu follows the opinion of one of its member states. it isa opinion of one of its member states. it is a state club, isn't it, so they are going to take the side of their colleague in the club. but isn't that a club that catalonia would want to belong to should it separate from the rest of spain? well, we'd have to negotiate that. we'd have to see whether europe would want us or not. maybe they wouldn't want us. how do you see

spain and catalonia progressing in the next few weeks and months given the next few weeks and months given the scenes we have had out on the streets of the region today where police violence has left, according to catalan authorities, over 700 people injured? well, i don't see how the relationship between catalonia and spain can carry on, or rather the spanish and the catalan government can carry on, without mariano rajoy‘s falling. in other words, i think the best... if spain really wa nts words, i think the best... if spain really wants to convince the cata la ns to really wants to convince the catala ns to stay really wants to convince the catalans to stay on in spain, the first thing that has to happen is that mariano rajoy has two. white we will see, as you say, what happens with the results, we are due to hear from the catalan leader carles puigdemont and a couple of hours. thank you for talking to us on bbc

news. my pleasure. the low—cost travel company, monarch has been granted a 24—hour extension to its license to sell package holidays. it means travellers who book with the firm until midnight tonight will be covered for their trips. the airline is understood to be in talks to sell part or all of its short—haul operation, as marc ashdown reports. it's probably the most important bit of small print in any holiday package deal — atol protected — the government scheme that ensures that if a travel operator goes bust, you get a refund if you have booked ahead. if you are already abroad, you can get home. for 1,300 operators it is a licence which is routinely renewed every year at the civil aviation authority. not so for monarch, which last night saw its licence extended forjust 24 hours due to concerns over its finances. an air travel organiser‘s licence is not actually necessary for a lot of the flying that monarch does, however, it is very symbolic. and if the civil aviation authority isn't convinced

about an airline's finances enough to renew its atol, that sends an immediate signal to prospective passengers. do we really want to book with this airline? and, more immediately, to suppliers, who will say, we will not give you credit for a tank full of fuel, we need cash. for now monarch can still sell package deals and flights, but looking at its website, some prices have quadrupled overnight. look this one from london gatwick to barcelona. yesterday it was just £30. today it's gone up to £132. and with some competitors still selling seats at dirt cheap prices, monarch is in effect pricing itself out of selling any more tickets. monarch may have been around since the 1960s, but it's a small player in an increasingly squeezed short—haul market. due to terrorism and government warnings, there are fewer holidays to egypt and turkey, which were key monarch routes. the weak pound continues to shrink profits,