this is bbc world news today. our top stories: an apology from spain for sunday's referendum violence, but the catalan government looks to be heading towards a declaration of independence as early as next week. the row over obamaca re independence as early as next week. the row over obamacare spreads to family planning costs as donald trump gives employers the right to t trump gives employers the right to opt out on religious grounds. the president believes the freedom to practice i's faith is a fundamental right in this country and i think all of us do. a group which campaigns to abolish nuclear weapons has been awarded this year ‘s nobel peace prize. are an welcome to world news today. catalonia's president has said he plans to address the catalan parliament on tuesday. a day later

than initially planned. he may declare independence from spain. ca rles declare independence from spain. carles puigdemont was expected to address the parliament on monday. that was before spain's constitutional court suspended those proceedings. meanwhile catalonia's regional government released what it saysis regional government released what it says is the final result of the referendum, more than 90% of reported to have supported independence but it is worth bearing in mind turnout was less than 50%. we've also had the first public apologies from within the spanish government. those catala ns apologies from within the spanish government. those catalans who were injured during the police efforts to stop last sunday's referendum. this isa stop last sunday's referendum. this is a little of what was said. translation: i said this very clearly before. they were following an order, they weren't ordered to avoid an illegal vote, they were ordered to seize ballot boxes. if there were any incidents, and there

were, and if people were injured, evidently we are all sorry. the government wants to make an appeal in orderfor carles government wants to make an appeal in order for carles puigdemont to return to legality and within the legal framework. as we've always said within the respect of the law we can talk and we can have a conversation. gavin lee has spent the last week in catalonia and has this assessment of the day's developments. there is a delay potentially now for about 2k hours. four days until the catalan government calls for a declaration of independence and what that entails. we were told it was going to bea entails. we were told it was going to be a monday that parliament would meet. that carles puigdemont would make an announcement after a vote. the spanish government have said it would be against the constitution, threatening a prison sentence potentially for sedition against the

president of the parliament. now we're told there will be some kind of meeting on tuesday. the barcelona mayor says both sides should step down from the brink, negotiate between them. first carles puigdemont the catalan president should call off this immediate plan for declaration, wait a few weeks. you've got the spanish government is moving away the police forces after the violence on sunday night at the referendum. it's also worth saying, because there is one european commissioner who said he believes if events cohead next week we could end up events cohead next week we could end up in another civil war. spanish police based here have all been moved out of the hotel is because of the discomfort catalan hotel owners not wanting them. many officers say they are worried about being here. they have 30 incidents of assault or abuse because of violence of the police. they are worried about

potential increases in violence. given there is an extra delay of 2a hours, looks like tuesday will be the day will be key. president trump hasissued the day will be key. president trump has issued new rules limiting women's access to contraception. access currently provided by president 0bama's affordable care act. the new rules will allow employers and insurance companies to use religious or moral grounds to exempt themselves from providing coverage of, for example, contraceptive pills. the american civil liberties union is already suing the trump administration over this decision. speaking to reporters the white house secretary sara huckabee sanders defended mr trump ‘s decision. huckabee sanders defended mr trump 's decision. the president believes the freedom to practice i's faith is a fundamental right in this country andi a fundamental right in this country and i think all of us do. that's all today was about, the federal government should always protect that right and as long as donald trump is president he will. what would you say to the women out

there, or the families out there, who now have to pay more out of their pocket to get contraception coverage that they desire? this is a president that supports the first amendment, supports the freedom of religion. i don't understand why that should be an issue. the supreme court has validated this decision, certainly, many times over. the president, somebody who believes in the constitution, if people don't like what the constitution says, they should talk to congress about changing it. there has been strong reaction on the story on social media, the republican senator ted cruz welcomes the plan, saying, today the administration ended a policy repugnant to our country's tradition of religious freedom. a different view from democrat nancy pelosi. no woman should be subject to the whim of her employer to access the contraception that is her right. planned parenthood, women's

health organisation providing birth control, says the trump administration is taking pain at 62.4 administration is taking pain at 62.1; million women in america which they say is an acceptable. remind us. they say is an acceptable. remind us. this was a pledge made by donald trump when he was campaigning, this isn't a big surprise. absolutely, this is something women's groups have been preparing forfor some time. he issued an executive order to look at how he could expand those religious concerns, to exempt some of these companies from this. today we had the health and human services come out and talk about this new plan, saying they hadn'tjust exempt people on religious concerns but also for it being against their moral code. very striking from the

administration. we've seen the backlash pretty quickly, groups coming out and saying this is an attack on women who don't support the president's plan. we heard from the president's plan. we heard from the american congress of obstetricians and gynaecologists, who say this undermine the best interest of their patients, that it was turning the clock back on women's health. very strong reaction to this. we've already had our first lawsuit from the american civil liberties union. is this going to happen? is there a chance this may not end up as law? i think the trump administration is going to face lawsuits on several fronts. the aclu, their argument is this is against equal protection, that is codified in the constitution. they represent service unions whose employees could lose their access to free birth control. you have the

california attorney general saying he's going to go after the administration. it's certainly going to cause a headache, whether this goes all the way to the supreme court will have to see. we have the white house spokesperson sarah huckabee sanders referring to a case in 2014. a different case, a company of christian religion, they challenged on being able to sue against this mandate, saying it was against this mandate, saying it was against religious liberty. the supreme court said they could go ahead and do this. this overall issue, it'll be interesting to see how it plays out in the courts, we expect several lawsuits. we'll look out for that. for the time being, thank you very much as always. an anti nuclear arms group as won the annual nobel peace prize with the awarding committee in oslo saying the risk from such weapons is at an all—time high. the international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons, ican short, say they are related by

the honour. paul adams reports. this is the fifth time the nobel committee has rewarded a group campaigning against nuclear weapons. for an organisation that's only been around ten years and has a relatively low profile, it's a big boost. we can abolish nuclear weapons. the norwegian nobel committee has decided to award the nobel peace prize for 2017 to the international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons. ican. the organisation is receiving the award for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons. more than 60 years after the world's first dreadful display of nuclear power, the nobel committee says the risks are once again growing. this year's series of provocative

moves by north korea the most obvious and troubling example. ican brings together hundreds of non—governmental groups around the world. their efforts rewarded this summer with the first legally binding agreement outlawing nuclear weapons. 122 countries have signed on. none of the nuclear powers. it's long—term work. getting rid of nuclear weapons isn't going to happen overnight. the treaty is meant to make it harder to justify nuclear weapons, to make it uncomfortable for states to continue with status quo, to put more pressure on them. that isn't going to happen overnight, of course. they will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. it is notjust the weapons themselves. the group says fiery rhetoric could lead to what it calls unspeakable horror. some will question the feasibility

of ridding the world of all nuclear weapons, but the nobel committee says this is a good moment to revitalise that debate. paul adams, bbc news. as an organisation wins a prize for its commitment to nuclear disarmament the deal to end iran's nuclear programme could be scrapped by donald trump who has indicated he may reject the agreement. his comments have put him at odds with the rest of the international community from what —— who wants to keep the deal in place. notable dissenters include russia and the european union. it is a nonproliferation deal endorsed by the un security council. it is working, delivering, as verified by the international agency for atomic energy and so it is a long—term solution to the nuclear issue, which gives all sides the necessary assurances they need and we expect all sides to stick to their commitments under the current deal.

i've been speaking to our bbc persian correspondent. he explains why donald trump want out of the deal. you think it's a bad agreement, he said it several times before. —— he thinks it is. he has said iran has gone against the spirit of the nuclear agreement. i presume he's referring to iran's ballistic missile programme and the ballistic missile programme and the ballistic missile programme the un security council enshrine that nuclear programme in that security council resolution. it has said its calls on iran not to carry out activities to do with ballistic missile is, just calls on iran not

to do it. iran has been doing this but iran says these are not ballistic missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. there is debate on that. president trump has focused on that, saying that this is against the spirit of the agreement and he wants to re—negotiate as far asi and he wants to re—negotiate as far as i know this agreement and the iranians are adamantly against. we expect an announcement on thursday, we've heard from the iraqi nuclear chief, who says this deal is not negotiable. that's right. they've spent years to negotiate this. everyone else, apart from the us, is happy with this agreement. european powers, the european union, china, russia, are all on board. they are adamant this nuclear deal should survive. they've been very active. a p pa re ntly survive. they've been very active. apparently in the last few days ambassadors from the eu and britain, france, germany, they've been going to congress in washington to talk to

senators, trying to get across that as far as europe and european powers are concerned, this deal has to survive. this deal a good deal. and it averts the problem of uran attaining a nuclear weapons. —— iran. the hardliners in congress have other ideas. much more still to come including a tropical storm which has killed at least 20 people as it blows to central america. it's picking up speed as it heads towards louisiana. after 45 years of division, germany is one. in berlin, a million germans celebrate the rebirth of europe's biggest and richest nation. you are watching bbc news. the main

headlines this hour: an apology from spain for sunday's referendum violence. the catalan government looks to be heading towards a declaration of independence as early as next week. a group campaigning to abolish nuclear weapons has been awarded this year's nobel peace prize. it's been a tough couple of days for the british by minister theresa may. first her speech to her party conference was marred by a coughing fit and a series of other mishaps. now there are signs of u nrest mishaps. now there are signs of unrest may be growing in her conservative party over her future as leader. the former chairman of the party, grant shapps, went public this morning with his view there should be a leadership contest, saying around 30 members of parliament agreed with him. the point is the country needs

leadership that this time in particular. —— at this time. the lead up over the summer has shown it's not going to happen. i'm afraid i think it is time that we have a leadership election. now. or i think it is time that we have a leadership election. now. 0rat least let's set up a timetable. publicly at least many mps and ministers are rallying around the prime minister. she spoke to journalists later today insisting she is not going to resign. what the country needs is calm leadership, that's what i'm providing with the full support of my cabinet. and next week i'm going to be updating mps on my florence speech, which has given real momentum to the brexit talks. i'll also be introducing a draft bill to cap energy prices, which was to ordinary working families from being ripped off. i've been speaking with iain watson and i asked him about the veracity of the claims by the conservative party chairman that around 30 members of parliament

wa nted around 30 members of parliament wanted a change in leadership. it's difficult to absolutely verify those claims. within the rules of the conservative party, you need 15% of the members of parliament, 48 of them to have no confidence in the prime minister in order to trigger a leadership contest. levels of dissent are below the levels required to oust her. the bigger problem is as soon as her leadership becomes centre stage after a difficult week at her annual conference, as soon as difficult week at her annual conference, as soon as these questions are raised, what has been said can't be answered, the doubts may linger and we can her position. i was certainly struck by a session in the european parliament this week, some of the politicians said, who do we talk to about brexit, is it the chancellor philip hammond, is it the chancellor philip hammond, is it theresa may, borisjohnson the foreign secretary? anything seem to undermine her 30 might make brexit

negotiations, crucial negotiations, more difficult for her. in the short term it doesn't look like grant shapps, former chairman, has enough support to see her off during the course of these negotiations. in fa ct, course of these negotiations. in fact, the fact they are going on is one of the many factors which is beginning to rally the troops around her. they say whatever you think of theresa may, the timing would be u nfortu nate if we theresa may, the timing would be unfortunate if we were to launch into a leadership contest at the moment. iain watson reporting. oil and gas companies have shut their operations and begun to evacuate staff in the gulf of mexico as tropical storm mate is getting closer. the storm has killed at least 20 people in central america and could become a hurricane by the time it hits the united states. —— nate. jamie mitchell reports. deadly floods, mudslides, destruction. seems all too familiar this hurricane season. but this time

central american countries spared the worst of hurricane irma and hurricane harvey have been in the firing line. honduras, costa rica and nicaragua. translation: the flood has taken away almost everything these people had in their homes. they had breakfast this morning but have not had lunch or dinner because they've lost everything. aid agencies say the succession of major storms this year has prompted them to consider expanding their provision for such events. one of the lessons might be we need to look at preparedness scenarios and planning, look at scenarios and planning, look at scenarios that take into account we'll see more storms, they will be more ferocious. forecasters predict that what is now a tropical storm churning north could strengthen into a hurricane as it heads for mexico and the us. making it the third major storm to hit southern us states within two months. storm

surge watches have been issued for alabama, mississippi and louisiana, which bore the brunt of hurricane katrina. it should be all right here, but i lost my boat in katrina, i denouement to lose it again. louisiana has declared a state of emergency, ordering people to evacuate coastal areas. because the waters in the gulf of mexico remain extremely one, there is potential for the storm to intensify very quickly. landfall is expected early sunday morning. either as a strong tropical storm or weak category one hurricane. texas, florida, puerto rico and many caribbean islands are still reeling from hurricane harvey, hurricane irma and maria. hurricane seasonis hurricane irma and maria. hurricane season is far from hurricane irma and maria. hurricane season is farfrom over. for many, the end of november can't come soon enough. let's get all the sports news with lizzie.

a busy night of football in an ultimate round of world cup qualifying matches and a good night so qualifying matches and a good night so farfor wales qualifying matches and a good night so far for wales and the republic of ireland. wales are one step closer to reaching russia next year after beating georgia for the first time. thom lawrence of derby scoring the only goal in their victory in till bluesy. it's the first time wales have won without gareth bale for four years. —— tilblisi. wales are just behind serbia in group d. serbia currently losing in austria. ireland are two goals up to moldova in dublin. the group is farfrom done. those matches have got around ten minutes left on the clock. we'll have more for you later on bbc news. the final match between wales and ireland on monday will be huge for both sides. second place doesn't guarantee a play—off. there are only eight play—off places and 90 groups.

these are some of the other selected scores for you this evening. spain on their way to ceiling altercation in group g, beating albania 3—0. iceland on their way to a big win in turkey, they lead a very tight group i. on the day it was announced ben stokes will be travelling to australia with the rest of the ashes squad just yet, the ecb have admitted they've had to find three other england players regarding an off pitch incident. stokes is still being investigated after being arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm during a night out in bristol month. the ecb are yet to decide if the all—rounder will play any part in the ashes series, though they've awarded him a central contract. jonny bairstow, jake ball and liam plunkett have all been fined for unprofessional conduct relating to an unconnected offence following the same one—day match against the west indies in bristol. amid the uncertainty over

ben stokes, steven finn has been called up to the ashes squad as an extra bowler. you'll stay in australia for the full five match series. days after it appeared birmingham was the only city in line to host the 2022 commonwealth games, the bidding time has been extended. it can be made until the end of november after the games committee said birmingham's application was not fully compliant. the city was the only bidder before the original deadline last saturday. time for golf. tommy fleetwood has broken the course record at carnoustie, scoring 63 on his second round at the alfred dunhill links championship to claim a share of the halfway lead. he's an 11 under par alongside defending champion tyrrell hatton. rory mcilroy‘s chances of ending his frustrating year on a whim are very slim. he's 11 shots back. that's all the sport for now. let's remind you of our top story.

those events in spain. spain has apologised for sunday's referendum violence. as you can see, the cata la n violence. as you can see, the catalan government looks to be heading towards a declaration of independence as early as next week. the spanish government representative in catalonia apologising to all of those injured during the efforts made by police to stop that independence referendum from going ahead will stop the cata la n from going ahead will stop the catalan government has been blamed for holding an illegal folk. we expect some kind of declaration on tuesday. we continue to monitor that. lots more on the website. if you'd like to you can get in touch with me and some of the team on social media. thanks very much for watching. goodbye. after a couple of days of sunshine

the breeze is picking up and blowing in more cloud. notjust cloud, also outbreaks of rain. it's been affecting scotland and northern ireland, this rain. it will push its way into england and wales but it'll be light and patchy, showers following behind. lots of cloud overnight as well as freshening winds. a mild night than last night. the restart, quite dull across southern england. rain may linger in the far south—west. rain coming back over the irish sea, lots of showers to the north in scotland and northern ireland. easing later allowing more sunshine for eastern scotla nd allowing more sunshine for eastern scotland and north east england. perhaps a glimmer of sunshine in the south with temperatures up to 16 or 17 degrees. sunday, mild enough start. lots of cloud on the scene. a few nuisance showers. particularly across scotland. a little watery

sunshine at times and temperatures on sunday similar to those on saturday. please welcome your host for the night, sophie hagan! ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your host for tonight sofie hagen. applause welcome to bbc 0uch! storytelling live. oh, just to answer your question. denmark. see, there we go. that's happening in the face, yeah. that's where i'm from and that's why i speak like this. i can't help it. welcome, welcome, this is such a fun night. this is one of my favourite gigs in the world. the people we're going to see tonight have either mental health issues or some kind of disability, and the reason why i'm here i have all of the mental health issues. are you ready to see the first storyteller? cheering yes, give it up for angela clarke. cheering so, i was at a posh hotel and i decided to treat myself to a lovely indulgent massage.

i had one of those therapists who is named something ethereal or calming like melody or summer. 0r zinfandel blush. and she told me that she would be using an aromatherapy oil mix of lavender picked by organically trained squirrels. laughter and mixed with mermaid tears. there were flickering scented candles. and music that sounded a lot like whales humping. i forgot to mention a vital fact to the therapist. i'm one of the estimated 8 million people in the uk who have an invisible disability.

i have a condition so rare even i can't say it properly. we will call it eds3. it's a chronic condition which amongst other things means i injure easily. those who have eds, a lot of them don't have any complications at all. they're just a bit super flexible. whereas i got chronic fatigue, frequent dislocations, mobility issues. there were no tales when i was a kid. apart from the fact that i could put my feet over my head and scratch my nose with my toes. and i could dislocate my little finger and pop it back in. it wasn't until my 20s that things started to go awry. first my knees hurt. then my feet. then my ankles stopped working. then my legs stopped working. i had to go around clinging onto walls and people to move around the place. huge bruises would appear from nowhere. this lasted for about six years. first of all they thought it was arthritis, then they thought it was multiple sclerosis.

then they thought it was fibromyalgia. it was arthritis again. then they thought it was lupus. i have to say, all of these long words have been really great for my scrabble scores. and when they finally ran out of things to check for there was only one option left.