this is bbc news. i'm lucy grey. our top stories: as thousands protest in barcelona calling for spanish unity it's still not clear if catalonia will declare independence. oscar—winning film producer harvey weinstein is sacked following new information about alleged misconduct. the us vice president walks out of an american football game after some players refuse to stand for the national anthem. on the move. businesses in catalonia relocate their legal headquarters for fear of isolation if the region declares independence from spain. and it was hailed as a system to simplify tax collection across india. 100 days on, we talk to businesses who are struggling to make the change. hello and welcome to bbc news.

on the eve of a statement to the catalan parliament by the region's leader, carles puigdemont, there's continuing uncertainty about whether he'll declare independence from spain. a member of the president's party said he would give a symbolic statement that stopped short of a unilateral declaration. meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people have been on the streets of barcelona in a huge show of support for the unity of spain. but how do people feel in the country's capital? our europe correspondent james reynolds reports from madrid. spain's cities sets its own tune. it expects the rest of the country to follow. and is puzzled that one region might want to break away.”

don't understand why suddenly after all these years katter loanee is trying to get separated, but i think they don't understand or they don't have vision for what's going to happen. it's absolutely shameful. i have no words. this is total disunity in my humble opinion. i'm absolutely against separation. we're one state, and that's it. here in the restau ra nt and that's it. here in the restaurant markets, the only thing you're meant to slice is the hand. spain itself should remain in one piece —— the hand. translation: spain itself should remain in one piece -- the hand. translation: the spanish government has to take some kind of action and apart from that, there's a constitution. you can't go against it. the king leads a minority government. he often struggles to

get the country to follow him —— the prime minister. but keeping catalonia inside spain is a unifying issue here so the prime minister finds widespread support for his actions. on a day off in the park, some motorist is called for their leader to take even tougher measures against catalonia —— some madrid people —— park. against catalonia —— some madrid people -- park. you must be stronger because if catalonia goes apart from the total spain territory, the other provinces are going to do the same. translation: he should have acted sooner translation: he should have acted sooner before getting to the point of these opposes referendum. but yes, iagree, of these opposes referendum. but yes, i agree, he of these opposes referendum. but yes, iagree, he had of these opposes referendum. but yes, i agree, he had to do something, he had no choice. they can't do whatever they want. there's little call here for the prime minister to ease up. spain's capital would be happy until everyone is going in the same direction. —— won't be happy. james reynolds, bbc

news, madrid. sally is here with all the business news. strong reaction from businesses in catalonia to this? they are going in all directions at the moment, not the same direction by over the weekend more businesses in catalonia said they are taking steps to prepare in case the region does try to break away and declare independence from spain. the central government has passed a decree making it easierforfirms to move their legal headquarters away from catalonia, with companies no longer needing share holder approval. one of the country's biggest banks, sabadell, and one catalonia's largest savings banks, casha, have done just that, in an effort to make sure they continue to have access to eurozone funds in the event of a declaration of independence. and there are warnings there could be a dent on investor confidence. the ratings agency standard & poor‘s has put catalonia on watch, saying the tensions could result in it's debt rating being downgraded.

in world business report we've all be live in barcelona to get more on how businesses are adjusting, reacting and what they're planning in the light of what's going on at the moment. and it's been 100 days since india rolled out one of its biggest economic reforms in history. the country overhauled its taxation system bringing in the goods and services tax or gst, a single, unified tax across india. but many small and medium businesses are finding that the new system is not as simple as was promised, we'll be bringing you a special report. we will have more on that and other stories as well in pointy five minutes on world business report. the hollywood mogul, harvey weinstein, has been sacked from the business he founded with immediate effect. the weinstein company said the decision was taken in light of new information about misconduct. the oscar—winning producer has denied claimns of sexual harrasment but did admit he had caused a lot of pain. our correspondent in

los angeles is peter bowes. these allegations were first made public by the new york times last thursday. a very detailed account describing, as they saw it, a thorough investigation and talking to past employees, current employees, looking at e—mails and other legal documents. a long history of inappropriate behaviour towards women and the paper claimed he had reached settlements with about eight of those women. this prompted very quickly an apology and statement by mr weinstein, saying he acknowledged that he had done harm to those people he had worked with over the years and that he was taking a leave of absence to essentially get to grips with the demons that he was battling with. there was an acknowledgement in part of what he had done. however, at the same time, on the same day, he also said through his lawyer that there were mistakes in the new york times article and he was

planning to sue them. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. theresa may will give an update on the brexit negotiations when the westminster parliament returns today, telling mps that it's time for the eu to show some flexibility. the british prime minister will say that after her speech in italy last month, in which she offered some concessions, the ball is now in their court. turkey says it will stop issuing all non—immigrant visas to us citizens. the announcement came after the us embassy in turkey imposed a similar measure. last week a worker at the us consulate in istanbul was detained on suspicion of links to people involved in last year's failed coup. argentine airlines has suspended flights to the venezuelan capital, caracas. the company said it had concerns over security in venezuela because of increasing criminal violence and political uncertainty. four other airlines have taken similar action as the country experiences a severe economic and political crisis.

the row between the white house and american football players who've been kneeling during the national anthem in protest at racial injustice has resurfaced. the us vice president, mike pence, has walked out of a game in indiana because some of the players knelt. president trump tweeted tonight to say he's proud of him. andrew plant has the latest. it is called "taking a knee" — sports stars refusing to stand during the national anthem. among the fans at this nfl game, vice president mike pence, who walked out of the stadium straight to the airport, and on board a plane home. the vice president tweeted he left the game because he "would not dignify an event," he said, "that disrespects our soldiers, our flag or our national anthem". president trump also tweeted that he had asked his vice president

to leave the game if any players kneeled. it is a protest against racial injustice, started weeks ago in the nfl, but taken up by athletes elsewhere. last month a basketball team missed out on a white house dinner after players criticised president trump. commentator: lightning forward, jt brown, with a fist in the air. gestures of protest becoming commonplace across major sporting fixtures. in september, president trump had this to say.. wouldn't you love to see some of these nfl owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, "get that son a a bleep off the fiels right now. out, he's fired." tonight i'm taking a knee for america. i think this is an issue of free speech in america. so for the president of the united states and his vice president to say that this group of all players don't have the right to free speech, they shouldn't

be allowed to take this need, as their expression of their feelings, is, to me, unconstitutional. tonight i'm taking a knee for america. president trump's disapproval only seems to galvanize support for the protest, with public figures, such as stevie wonder, joining in. meanwhile, questions are being asked about whether the walkout was planned in advance, and the cost of using air force two to fly to and from the game, which some estimate could have cost up to $200,000. andrew plant, bbc news. germany's chancellor angela merkel is agreed, reportedly agreeing tighter controls on migration and she tries to form a new coalition government —— has reportedly agreed. it comes after ten hours of talk between the cdu and the csu —— csu. immigration was a big issue in the

election last month were a far right group made significant gains. we can speak to a political alice whojoins us by we can speak to a political alice who joins us by webcam from berlin. —— analyst. talk us through the background of these talks with the csu, the migrant issue a big deal in the campaign? it's all about one number, the magic number of 200,000 refugees. this is the basic line of the compromise. i would say it is a fragile compromise because they agreed on the number but they also agreed on the number but they also agreed that they don't call it an upper limit or ceiling, they call it a guideline, so it gives angela merkel more flexibility, but it gives the csu leader and number he once. he can go back to his

supporters saying that we have an influence but it isn't a cap. exactly. this is the basic line of the compromise and then it goes in toa the compromise and then it goes in to a lot of details. one aspect is the 200,000 is only limited to the humanitarian influx, only talking about asylum seekers and refugees. the usual immigration of labour forces isn't included. initially in the debate that was included, all externals coming to germany from anywhere in the world world should be limited to 200,000, now it is only to be limited to 200,000, both parties agreed on introducing a special immigration law which was a basic demand by other parties, like the greens or the ftp. is this a change of mindset from angela merkel ora change of mindset from angela merkel or a recognition of needing to address this more forcefully? or she wa nts to address this more forcefully? or she wants to form a coalition so she's saying the right things. we talked

about the will turn to four germany party coming in in this election, the far right group —— about the alternative for germany party. is this a change of mind for angela merkel? this is a change of -- saving face for both sides. everybody was ready to start the negotiations on the new coalition —— saving of face. it was the bold cpsu party that had a major dispute about this issue. —— cd su. therefore they needed to leave this on a space—saving bases and this is what happened. —— face saving. it will be indeed testing to see if these discussions will be a compromise that other smaller part partners can agree to. —— interesting to see. thanks bruma. —— thanks very much. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: lighting up the city

of brotherly love, the art exhibition that combines illumination and pedal power. this was a celebration by people who were relishing their freedom. they believe everything's going to be different from now on. they think their country will be respected in the world once more, as it used to be before slobodan milosevic took power. the dalai lama, the exiled spiritual leader of tibet, has won this year's nobel peace prize. as the parade was reaching its climax, two grenades exploded and a group of soldiersjumped from a military truck taking part in the parade and ran towards the president, firing from kalashnikov automatic rifles. after 437 years, the skeletal ribs of henry viii's tragic warship emerged. but even as divers work to buoy herup, the mary rose went through another heart—stopping drama. i want to be the people's governor. i want to represent everybody. i believe in the people of california. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: on the eve of a statement to the catalan parliament by the region's leader, there's continuing uncertainty about whether he'll declare independence from spain. the oscar—winning film producer, harvey weinstein, has been sacked from the business he founded with immediate effect. a rescue operation is under way near the bangladeshi coast where a boat, carrying rohingya muslim refugees fleeing myanmar, has capsized. at least 12 people are thought to be dead and many others are missing. coast guard officials said the boat was overloaded with about 100 people, mostly children. local media say the vessel sank due to high waves and rough weather. joining us from cox's bazar is vivian tan

who works for the un refugee agency. what can you tell us about this incident? our team is on the ground and heading there to find out more information and lend support. we we re information and lend support. we were there yesterday at that exact island to talk to locals and see if there are new arrivals. generally, there are new arrivals. generally, the weather has been a really bad, it has been raining heavily and we had the boats have decreased due to the weather. they also are travelling at night to avoid detection which makes it doubly dangerous. these people are taking grave risks to reach bangladesh. they have come so close to reaching safety only to lose their lives or stop safety only to lose their lives or sto p m ost safety only to lose their lives or stop most of the people on board

we re stop most of the people on board were children? this fits the profile of the new arrivals. we did not have the details of this boat at the moment but most of these refugees are women and children, many very desperate. on the myanmar side we hear thousands are waiting to cross but they cannot afford the boat ride. it is a situation of great desperation. what do you know about what is happening in relation to the people on this boat? again, our teams are on the way to find out what is happening and to offer support. it is the second capsizing in two weeks that we have heard of. people there refer survivors to medical support and social counselling. once we are able to

reach them, it is in a very remote area, once we can reach them we can offer that kind of support. so many people in the region in need of support now? yes, the needs are immense. it is now more organised and people who arrive on these islands take a boat to the mainland. they get supplies from the government, ngos, and then they moved to better organised states where they are given shelter and other services. we have come a long way from the initial days when it was quite chaotic. there are now more systems in place and it is clear what people's options are. thank you for talking to us. today is the launch of the second week of the 100 women challenge to try and find an innovative solution to a gender—related problem.

this week our team is in india and they'll be addressing why two—thirds of the world's illiterate adults are young girls and women. here's how their task is progressing. can ca n fewer can fewer women than men read this sentence? the simple answer is yes. almost two thirds of the world ‘s elite red adults are women. —— illiterate. ray sio that has not changed for two decades. —— a ratio. girls are less likely to attend school. 50 million primary age girls will never set foot in the classroom and over half of them, 9 million girls, live in sub—saharan africa. so why is this? girls miss school

for money reasons, including poverty, early marriage, and menstruation. however, overthe last decade, millions more girls have attended school. the every 100 girls 94 girls completed school in 2013, compared to just 83 in 2002. but older women are still far behind. out of every ten women over 65, only seven of them can read. so there is still a long way to go before we pass these tests. it has been fifty years since the death of one of world's most famous revolutionary figures — ernesto ‘che' guevara. although che was famed for his socialist ideals, today one of his children

keeps his name alive through a very different approach. he runs a private business on the island, offering motorbike tours to tourists. in cuba, will grant went for along for a ride. some of latin america's best known revolutionary icon, ernesto guevara has inherited much from his father that his strong features, his name and his passion for motorcycles. but unlike ernesto ‘che' guevara, ernesto guevara has taken a different path in life. he runs a tourism motorcycle tour company. it is named la poderosa tours. translation: it is a private company using foreign capital. it is not a new union it has been happy if the yea rs, new union it has been happy if the years, centuries, infact. new union it has been happy if the years, centuries, in fact. he gave

us years, centuries, in fact. he gave us read access to join years, centuries, in fact. he gave us read access tojoin him on a city tour of us read access tojoin him on a city tourof in us read access tojoin him on a city tour of in the capital. his company has proven a popular way to see the island. americans by age, we have never been able to come to cuba and now we can and we don't know how long that will last a zero i had to jump long that will last a zero i had to jump into this window. when obama opened up cuba, we thought we should go soon... before it changes. it took us a while and we are here now andl took us a while and we are here now and i have really enjoyed it. despite his name, ernesto guevara ernesto guevara insists he is his own man. i have ernesto guevara insists he is his own man. | have never ernesto guevara insists he is his own man. i have never used by surname own man. i have never used by surname for anything. my father would never have allowed me to act that way. as a son of a famous marxist whose the streak adorns every corner in cuba, hit as he has his critics, especially in miami,

who accuse him of double standards by running a capitalist venture on a communist island. the criticism is not something that bothers him.|j communist island. the criticism is not something that bothers him. i am the co—ordinator because i like doing this. it is my idea to start doing this. it is my idea to start doing tourism white motorbike. nothing more. it has been to do with whether it is socialist or s. on the 50th anniversary of his father's death, he admits the surname has sometimes been a difficult cross to bear. still, he is happy to simply focus on what interests him most — seeing cuba by motorbike. let's head to philadelphia now — and what's being described as the largest public art project in the us for a decade. one of the city's major thoroughfares is celebrating its centenary. an artist from china — who helped organise the opening and closing ceremonies

at the beijing olympics — has found an unusual way to mark the event. tim allman explains. the city of brotherly love... bicycle bells ring ..lit up like never before. one of the main streets of philadelphia celebrating its centennial. so a special exhibit. dozens of pedal—powered cabs strung up with 1000 chinese lanterns. but this art is notjust for looking, it is for riding as well. it is phenomenal to see it at night. nostalgic feelings and childhood magic. talking to people, and say, well, it's art. this isn't art, it's moving, yes, it is a very special kind. all of this is the work of cai guo-qiang who based the designs on lanterns he played with as a child. every one of them, handmade in his hometown in fujian province then carefully shipped across the pacific. some of them are more traditional shapes. also some of them are aliens and panda bears and stars, sushi. cai guo-qiang says the lanterns

were an extension of his dreams, an opportunity for people of different races to meet and exchange feelings. a night sky illuminated like fireflies. tim allman, bbc news. a reminder of our top story: signs of the catalan government will hold back from immediately declaring independence from spain, eight days after holding a controversial referendum. the catalan president will make a symbolic statement next week stopping short of declaring independence. —— next tuesday. hello, once again the weekend has been marked by relatively benign

conditions for most areas. and at its best we saw decent spells of sunshine boosting the temperatures to around about 17 or 18 degrees. but there's no escaping the fact that, in some spots, there was quite a bit of cloud around as well. and for some the odd bit and piece of rain. that's pretty much how we start the new day on monday. not a shock to the system as you step out — temperatures for the most part in double figures. a lot of cloud around. probably at its thickest perhaps across parts of scotland. weak weather fronts here, just dragging cloud and rain, from west to east to many areas. northern ireland perhaps a little bit drier, just a fraction brighter. certainly as we come south of the border, the greater part of england and wales is dry. bright at best, probably, maybe the odd hint of sunshine. that won't be the case across parts of the far south of wales and south—west england. the air is moister here, the cloud sitting very low in the atmosphere,

and there could be some drizzly rain on breeze as well. i'm hopeful that that situation will improve as the day really gets going. i think brighter skies too, eventually, getting into parts of wales, the north of england and certainly for scotland, after that rather dismal start. northern ireland, i have not forgotten you, it's just that you started off quite bright and then the cloud fills in, with rain into many areas by around about teatime and early evening and that is exactly the moment at which wales and the republic of ireland will clash horns in a crucial world cup qualifying match, in wales. overnight, there will be quite a bit of rain across the northern half of britain. that same weather front though, as it moves into the southern half of britain, is not much more than a band of cloud, with the odd spot of rain, perhaps. brighter skies follow on behind, though no too many isobars there. so that turns out to be a decent afternoon for many spots, save for this north—western quarter, where we are seeing the first signs of a wet night and a pretty wet and windy day too, as these weather fronts pile in from the atlantic. some heavy rain on the western hills of scotland,

across the cumbrian fells, top end of the pennines, eventually down into the welsh mountains. ahead of it, the cloud just fills in but you stay dry for the greater part of the day. behind it, things begin to improve. certainly dries out and that is the shape of things to come, for many of us through thursday. still a little bit breezy perhaps but a lot of dry weather around and some brightness as well. that all comes to us thanks to this albeit transient ridge of high pressure. because it's elbowed aside by the next set of weather fronts coming in from the atlantic. notice again, we have a number of isobars there so we finish the week, perhaps for many, with a combination of wet and windy weather. this is bbc news, the headlines: there's continuing uncertainty about whether the leader of the catalonian region will declare independence from spain. on sunday, hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in barcelona against separation from spain. one of the most powerful men in hollywood, the film producer harvey weinstein, has been sacked from the business he helped to set up following allegations of sexual harassment. he's been dismissed with immediate effect.

the us vice president mike pence has been accused of staging a publicity stunt when he walked out of a national football league match after some players knelt during the national anthem. president trump congratulated mr pence. a rescue operation is under way near the bangladeshi coast where a boat carrying rohingya muslim refugees fleeing myanmar has capsized. at least 12 people are thought to be dead and many others