this is bbc news. the headlines at 11pm: the couple from birmingham found guilty of preparing acts of terrorism — the wife had urged the husband to kill people for her. in barcelona, supporters of independence demand immediate elections, but their hopes are dashed by the catalan president. a sharp fall in demand for new cars in the uk leads to a slump in car production. and on newsnight, is it possible we will be taking on holidays in saudi arabia before long? it sounds far—fetched but it's actually the vision of the saudi crown prince. he is keen for change but we will asked the extremely conservative state can reform itself. good evening, welcome to bbc news.

a woman from birmingham, who bought her husband a combat knife that he planned to use in a terror attack, has been found guilty of preparing an act of terrorism. madihah taheer, who's 21, had expressed her support for the islamic state group on social media, but she told woolwich crown court that she hadn't known what the knife was for, as our home affairs correspondent dominic casciani reports. wrestled to the ground by armed police, a birmingham man setting out to kill. this was the man arrested, ummariyat mirza. he wanted to rampage in his home city. now convicted alongside his wife, madihah taheer, and his sister, zainub, who encouraged them both. mirza was obsessed with knives and replica guns. he wanted to fight in syria but then turned his attention to home. his pregnant wife bought him this combat knife on her credit card and he trained on this

martial arts dummy. mirza's attack plan wasn't fully formed when he was arrested but he has admitted preparing an act of terrorism by researching targets, including a synagogue and this raf careers office in the city. it is one of seven foiled plots so far this year. typical of the kinds of terrorist threat we are now seeing in the united kingdom. small groups of individuals, or in this case family members, or it could equally have been friends, sharing very explicit extremist material, being inspired by other attacks they have seen either in the united kingdom or abroad. taheer told the jury she wanted to escape her abusive father. she fell in love with mirza and he brainwashed her into supporting the so—called islamic state. as their wedding approached, taheer messaged her boyfriend, saying, "i want you to kill people for me. i have a list." mirza said, "the day of the marriage i will kill them all. give me the list." her reply: "you can't have it until you put a ring on it."

radicalisation experts say her conviction is symptomatic of the new role that some women now play. what we have seen is a woman who seems to be in control, she is confident. she is not someone who is going to stand there but she is actively encouraging. so i think that needs to be borne in mind in terms of a shift in gender roles. the jury concluded madihah taheer was no naive young woman. she was her husband's willing partner in crime. she had wanted a hero, like the painting she placed on her facebook profile, and she found him and now they both face jail. dominic casciani, bbc news. the political crisis surrounding the future of catalonia has reached breaking point on the eve of a vote in the spanish parliament. senators are expected to vote tomorrow to impose direct rule on catalonia following the recent referendum on independence which the spanish government considered unlawful. our europe editor katya adler reports from barcelona.

hope and excitement filled this barcelona square this morning as on so many mornings during the catalan crisis. the independence—minded crowd once again arching and chanting its way towards the catalan government building, believing, after many weeks of waiting, the catalan leader inside now had a dramatic announcement to make. until he didn't. after more than an hour of waiting, in the end it was a no—show. the catalan leader never turned up to make his much anticipated declaration. the press are leaving and outside on the streets catalans are none the wiser as to what their future holds. now i feel very very angry because i want an answer of someone. who is going to tell me something about this because i'm very very confused. there followed hours

of more confusion. the catalan leader had a difficult decision to make — declare unilateral independence and incur the wrath of the spanish government or back down, call regional elections instead and face mutiny in his own political ranks. finally, with catala ns for and against independence hanging on his every word, he opted for neither, blaming the spanish government. translation: my responsibility as president of catalonia was to exhaust all the options available. what we need is de—escalation and dialogue. but once again i have not had a satisfactory reply from the spanish government. 300 miles away in madrid, the spanish government was unimpressed. it is ploughing ahead with a vote tomorrow here in the spanish senate to unravel catalonia's autonomous powers. we came here to meet a senator from the governing popular party.

translation: launching article 155 of the constitution, which will affect catalonia's autonomy, is the last resort. it's the only way to restore legality, tolerance, democracy and economic stability to catalonia. this is all the fault of the catalan president. this is one of the most dramatic moments in modern spanish history. never before has a government here moved to strip the autonomous powers of one of spain's regions. the spanish prime minister will be sitting here and most of the senators in this room belong to his party so we know he will win the vote but what we don't know is what impact that will have not just on catalonia but on spain as a whole. back in barcelona tonight, with the possibility of an independence declaration still in the air, the catalan leader was hounded by the press.

his regional administration and the spanish government are on a collision course. tomorrow promises to be an explosive day in spain. there's been a sharp fall in demand for new cars in the uk, which has led to a slump in production. some manufacturers are blaming the uncertainty about britain's future trading relationship with the european union. the society of motor manufacturers and traders say plans to improve air quality have also contributed to the trend. some 300,000 people leave theirjobs every year because of mental health problems, according to a report commissioned by the government. senior police officers have warned they're facing increasing demands, because of the number of incidents involving people with mental health issues, as our social affairs correspondent, alison holt, reports. a met police rapid response team heads to an emergency call that'sjust come in.

this is our second mental health call for tonight. it's our second call of the night. we haven't dealt with anything elsem, apart from two mental health calls already. we spent four shifts with front line officers, as they dealt with 999 calls. the address has come back before to a male who has suicidal thoughts. you don't have to spend long with the emergency services to realise just how many of their calls involve people with mental health issues in some way or another. hello, police. officers have been called in by neighbours, worried by a man who is shouting and swearing. are you ok? can we just come in and have a chat? he doesn't want them to come into his flat and is clearly very agitated. stop shouting, please, we're not shouting at you, we're checking you're 0k. local residents are also upset. we can't do anything more.

listen, i'm sorry, we can't — we couldn't get in his house, there's nothing we can do. it is becoming unbearable. the man has a history of mental health problems and they don't feel he gets the help he needs. this is a catalogue of really, really serious incidences where he is a danger to himself and a danger to other people. and as they talk, the man comes back on to his doorstep worried about what's going on. right, so this isjust going to antagonise the situation even more now, isn't it? yeah, and we're antagonised. it's hard to deal with when you have both parties at you. you are just trying to help everybody out as much as you can. and by day, there's no let—up either. the met estimates it gets a call involving mental health every five minutes. officers are on their way to what at first appears to be a domestic dispute. in fact, the woman has a history of self—harm and her ex—partner is worried.

hello, can we come in? she's reopened old cuts, hasn't taken her medication and is in floods of tears. do you want a cuddle? come here. come on. sobs she won't go to hospital but her former partner says he'll stay with her. really she needs help from a doctor, she needs to see a counsellor, we're not trained in that area. we are not trained counsellors but we try. we do a lot of counselling in our own way, we try. worried by the increasing number of such calls, the met now works more closely with health services. of course this is a concern but that's why we're working with ourfriends in health. that's why we're looking for different solutions, different ways of working so that we can get the person in crisis to the care they need, as quickly and efficiently as possible. and that means back on the street where officers were dealing

with the man who's ill and upset neighbours, they can now call in a mental health nurse. she's able to see how he's doing and arrange for another professional to see him in the morning. for now, at least, it takes the pressure out of this situation. alison holt, bbc news. 11 people have been arrested in one of the biggest—ever operations against people—smuggling in the uk. 200 officers took part in overnight raids in london, birmingham, and gateshead. 0ther arrests were made simultaneously in other eu countries. a man who was arrested as part of an investigation into the banned far—right group national action has been charged with encouragement to commit murder. the bbc understands that the charge relates to the labour mp, rosie cooper.

christopher lythgoe, who's 31 and from warrington in cheshire, is one of six men charged with being members of national action. a university student has been cleared of a terrorism offence after a manual called ‘the anarchist cookbook‘ with instructions for making bombs was found under his bed. joshua walker, who's 27, was detained last december , after he returned from helping kurdish forces fighting is in syria. he told birmingham crown court he'd printed the document for a role—playing game. a senior white house official has said president trump has ordered the release of secret documents about the assassination of presidentjfk but he has reportedly held some key papers back. the killing in november 1963 has been the subject of endless conspiracy theories but experts warned not to expect in a dramatic revelations from the thousands of documents which are being made public. lines from the well—known world war

1 poem ‘in flanders fields' have been spelled out in clusters of poppies across the uk and northern france, as part of this year's poppy appeal. the poem was written by canadian army doctorjohn mccrae in 1915, after the funeral of a friend in ypres, and is one of the most famous of a group of poems composed by those witnessing the horrors of the first world war. locations include totemic places including the white cliffs of dover, the beach at dunkirk, and the national memrorial arboretum in staffordshire. that's a summary of the news, newsday is coming up at midnight — now on bbc news it's time for newsnight with evan davis. the scene this evening outside the catalonian parliament in barcelona. supporters of independence brace themselves for battle. without quite knowing when, where or what form the battle will take. translation: at this moment, mr puigdemont, you are putting

a generation injeopardy. tomorrow rests on your shoulders. tomorrow come two crunch votes, the spanish will decide whether to take control of catalonia, catalonia will decide whether to declare itself independent. the country stands on the brink of a showdown. we'll ask if there's a way back from constitutional conflict. something's up in saudi arabia. is it really possible that we'll be holidaying there, on the red sea coast by the end of the next decade? the saudi crown prince has outlined big plans to beat back the forces of conservatism and to take the kingdom into a new era of normality. we'll ask if the saudi prince's plan is ever likely to succeed. and are our universities a bastion of left wing remoaners, and if so, does it matter? the daily mail's stephen

glover takes it up with a professor of philosophy. hello. after a day of some confusion in catalonia, spain this evening stands on the brink of a serious clash between region and nation. after some dithering, the catalan president carles puigdemont decided not to call an election. instead, he said the catalan parliament will decide on whether independence should be declared. the vote is expected to happen tomorrow. meanwhile in madrid, the spanish senate will also vote on whether to invoke article 155, allowing the national government to take control of catalonia. a test of strength may follow, who will the police in catalonia obey?