this is bbc news. i'm kasia madera. our top stories: spain imposes direct rule on catalonia, hours after its politicians vote for independence. the prime minister sacks the catalan leader, his cabinet and chief of police, vowing to restore the rule of law. translation: this independence is very sad. it causes anguish. that is what all catalans who are not for independence felt today. but catalan separatists remain defiant, saying the independence vote means they no longer fall under spanishjurisdiction. also on the programme: the father of an american muslim soldier killed in iraq, who lambasted donald trump at the democratic national convention, speaks about his unwavering faith in america. hello and welcome to bbc world news.

spain is in a state of constitutional turmoil, with the country's prime minister, mariano rajoy, announcing that he's dissolving catalonia's parliament and calling snap regional elections. it follows a vote by the catalan parliament to declare independence from spain. mr rajoy said the unprecedented imposition of direct rule was essential to "restore normality". he's also sacked catalonia's separatist leader, carles puigdemont, and his cabinet. crowds have remained in central barcelona late into the night, in a defiant show of support for independence. our first report is from our europe editor katya adler, who's in barcelona.

si, si, si. we will do our best to bring the report to you. we are just having if you technical issues. of course this isa you technical issues. of course this is a decision by the catalan parliament to declare independence. as they watched the catalan parliament finally after weeks, some here say years, of waiting, vote on separation from spain. we want the republic. do you believe it will happen today? yes. it has to be today. and today it was. all around here catala ns are singing their national anthem, the national anthem they now believe belongs to their independent republic, separate from the spanish state. there are so many questions.

what will the spanish government now do? but for now, this crowd just wants to celebrate. it's a long time we are waiting for this moment, we deserve this. lam crying! are you happy? very, very. but anxiety soon spread amongst all the euphoria as the "what next" began to weigh heavy on people's minds. a catalan republic had been declared, but not in everyone‘s name. many here don't want independence. just around the corner we found this man waving a spanish flag. translation: i'm not happy, i'm not represented, the catalan people as a whole didn't vote. translation: it's disastrous, the result of an extended manipulation which does not reflect the will of the catalan people. but nothing today was going to stop the catalan president savouring his moment in history. from the catalan parliament

he spoke of his emotions, but also of his conviction that declaring catalan independence was the right thing to do, the legitimate thing to do, he said. hardly the view of the spanish government in madrid, which is fuming. the public prosecutor here says he'll be filing charges of rebellion against the catalan president. at the very same time the catalan parliament voted on independence today, the spanish senate gave the green light to mariano rajoy‘s government to sack the catalan leadership and bring the reins of power back to madrid. this is the first time in modern spanish history that one of the country's autonomous regions has had its powers stripped away. tonight, after an emergency cabinet meeting, the spanish prime minister explained why. translation: normality

starts with law. in order to return institutional legitimacy and to give a voice to all catalans, i have now dissolved the catalan parliament in order to hold regional elections on the 21st of december. but what mr rajoy didn't explain was how he intends to impose direct madrid rule on the hundreds of thousands of catalans who reject it. tonight, independence supporters in barcelona are celebrating with abandon their brand—new republic with no power and little recognition, dancing on the edge of a precipice. katya adler, bbc news, barcelona. the decision by the catalan parliament to declare independence has been condemned by leaders across europe. the european commission president jean—claude juncker said it was important to avoid any splits in the bloc of european nations. catalonia has long had a fractious relationship with madrid —

but things have been brought to a head by the disputed independence referendum in the region earlier this month. support for a tough stance against catalan independence. many spaniards, like their government, see the move to break away as illegal. so they've begun flying the national flag here to show they're backing for a united country and for madrid's move to take control in catalonia. natividad told me the separatists should be in prison for their move. this man still hoped the crisis could be sorted so catalonia stays with spain. his friends are from all over the country. but catalan separatism has deep roots. the region's push for autonomy was a key trigger for the civil war

and general franco's repression was brutal. granting autonomy was part of spain's return to democracy. now, at least temporarily, madrid is imposing control. after securing support from the senate, spain's government moved quickly into a crisis meeting to decide its next steps. imposing direct rule over catalonia is an unprecedented move and one with unseen consequences, but at this point there seems to be little mood here in madrid for compromise. tonight the government set out its plan. the catalan parliament will be dissolved with new elections on the 21st of december. catalan ministries, that employ more than 28,000 people, will be run from madrid. the chief of police has been fired with 17,000 members of his police force now overseen by the spanish state. for now, madrid has international backing. the president of the european commission said spain had made its choice and the eu won't interfere. but on paper, the government's plan is one thing, implementing it in this climate is fraught with risk. there will be more tension

and confrontation in the coming days and weeks. it's not a question of will. at a certain point there will be an incident and that could trigger a serious confrontation and nobody knows what will happen. so despite this apparent calm, how the government handles its next move will be critical. sarah rainsford, bbc news, madrid. there is lots more analysis on our website. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. iraq's prime minister, haider al—abadi, has ordered a twenty—four hour suspension of military operations against kurdish fighters in the north of the country. baghdad ordered the offensive in response to the recent vote by kurds for their autonomous region to become an independent country. clashes between the two sides have left dozens of people dead. voting in the re—run presidential election in kenya has been postponed indefinitely. it had been due to take place in four volatile western counties

on saturday, but authorities said the safety threat to electoral workers was too great. an italian man who is hiv—positive has been sent to prison for 2h yea rs, after being found guilty of intentionally infecting thirty women through unprotected sex. the court heard valentino talluto seduced young women he met through internet dating sites for ten years after knowing he was infected. south africa's huge corruption scandal has cost it billions and it's destroying the country's international reputation. that warning from presidentjacob zuma's former finance minister came as another global company was caught up in the scandal. at the centre of the allegations is south africa's enormously wealthy gupta family. it's claimed they used their close ties to president zuma to win contracts and siphon off huge payments, claims they deny. from south africa, andrew harding reports. south africa is in trouble,

a young democracy now engulfed by a spectacular corruption scandal. at its heart, allegedly, president jacob zuma and a wealthy family, the guptas, originally from india. leaked e—mails have fuelled claims of a conspiracy to create a parallel shadow state, in order to loot on a grand scale. 0ur concern is the fact that they come into a country like ours, which is a young democracy, and essentially rob us of billions, even hundreds of billions of rands. and that's damaging our democratic project and our credibility as a country. the guptas and president zuma deny any wrongdoing, but the net is widening, fuelling public anger. global companies have become embroiled in the scandal. the british pr firm bell pottinger is already in ruins after admitting

to an inappropriate campaign on behalf of the guptas. the guptas‘ auditors, kpmg, have sacked their top management here. now comes the news that germany's software giant sap is being investigated over claims it pays multi—million dollar bribes to a gupta—linked company. scotland yard is looking at whether british banks were involved. the fbi has also begun an investigation. it's all prompting some alarming questions. is president zuma in control of the state, or is there a shadow system that is running appointments, procurements? is it a mafia state then? well, it certainly has hallmarks that appear that the accountability is completely eroded. president zuma, may we ask you a question, sir? these days, he almost

never gives interviews. hardly surprising. president zuma is under growing pressure here in south africa. for years he's been shrugging off allegations of corruption, but now international governments and foreign companies are getting involved, making it much harder for this scandal to go away. the allegations are stirring up tension within the governing anc. the chairs flying, as prominent figures warn that mr zuma is wrecking the nation. we are fast approaching that precipice, and it is zuma looting the state with his cronies, and demolishing the capacity of the state. again, mrzuma insists he has done nothing wrong, but this resilient nation is being tested. andrew harding, bbc news, south africa. stay with us on bbc news.

still to come: hidden for centuries. the 16th century painting obscuring a portrait underneath, believed to be mary queen of scots. indira gandhi, ruler of the world's largest democracy, died today. 0nly yesterday she'd spoken of dying in the service of her country and said, "i would be proud of it, every drop of my blood will contribute to the growth of this nation". after 46 years of unhappiness, these two countries have concluded a chapter of history. no more suspicion, no more fear, no more uncertainty of what each day might bring. booster ignition and liftoff of discovery, with a crew of six astronaut heroes and one american legend. well, enjoying the show is right — this is beautiful. a milestone in human history.

born today, this girl in india is the 7 billionth person on the planet. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: after catalonia declares independence, spain's prime minister announces tough new measures including sacking the catalan leader, his cabinet and chief of police and new elections. but catalan separatists say the independence vote means they no longerfall under spanishjurisdiction. the us has lifted a range of economic sanctions it imposed on sudan two decades ago. washington says the government in khartoum has made progress in the areas of counter—terrorism and human rights. so will sudan's economy now be revived ? tomi 0ladipo has been to khartoum to find out. the ghost of an industry passed

seeking a breath of new life. this factory in khartoum was once a thriving plant for edible oil, now a graveyard of sorts. it's one of many factories abandoned across sudan after us sanctions hit the country hard. local businessmen have been left counting their losses. after the sanctions there was no way to get a pass, no way to export even if you can start manufacturing, everything went down. complete or total colla pse. everything went down. complete or total collapse. these problems reflect the isolation this country has suffered. the weight of the us sanctions has left the people of sudan desperate for a turnaround. i9

yea rs sudan desperate for a turnaround. i9 years ago a us airstrike destroyed a pharmaceutical plant on that side of the claims it contained a chemical weapons factory. this was shortly after the us imposed sanctions on sudan for alleged links to terrorism. today the state of the site is perhaps a symbol of the rebuilding of relations between the two countries. sudan remains on the list of state sponsors of terror, but for now the us is giving the sudanese government the benefit of the doubt. we want sudan to be a partner and an ally and not an adversary or a negative force. and our engagement has led in that direction. changes within the regime here have created an opportunity to see how sudan too can help the west achieved its security goals. they seized the chance of the geopolitical changes in the area, the worries of the west

from illegal immigration of the worries of the west from terrorism, the west and the americans could see that sudan could be a very good stabilising force. many students here at the university of khartoum have lived almost their entire lives and the us sanctions. the problem is not sanctions, the problem is our government, we have the problem, corruption... this campus have been one of the main sources of dissent in a country where free speech is limited. those people, the government people, they will use the benefits that come from the usa to improve themselves. the leadership now needs to show its committed to reform but the main hope here is the renewed ties with the us will help sudan emerged from the us will help sudan emerged from the shadows. tomi 0ladipo, bbc news, khartoum. before last year's us democratic national convention, few had heard of khizr khan or his son's story of service.

but after an impassioned speech that led to a public feud with donald trump, all of that changed. now he is the author of a new book, earlier my colleague, rajini vaidyanathan, sat down with mr kahn. she began by asking for his view on the recent row between president trump and the widow of one of the us soldiers who died in niger. i have been saddened by the political expediency that this sad, tragic moment which should be dignified in privacy and restraint should be the call of the day, that you extend the courtesy, condolence and dignity to the family and you provide them privacy so that they can grieve and be stronger instead of making it so public for the

purpose of political expediency. nothing else. just for that purpose. that saddens me and the behaviour of the president and his advisers had been just not right. that is not the way america treats its gold star families. let me ask you, have you even read the united states constitution? applause you turned you turned the memory of your son into a cause in a way after you spoke at the dmc, you've written a book now, khizr khan and an american family, why did you decide to go so public? 0bviously you decide to go so public? obviously you gave the convention speech but to write a whole book about it as well? we were at charlotte airport, a couple approached us, mr, mrs anne mr khan, there are so many questions we want

to ask you, why don't you write a book and answer all those questions? the thought was made by them in our mind and we discussed and we talked about how there would be a lot of exposing personal matters, our private life. but then this sentiment of being grateful to the blessings, to the goodness, to the dignity is that we have received, it would be appropriate to show the spirit of immigration, what brought us spirit of immigration, what brought us here, what has kept us here. i really passionately remember and very clearly and vividly remember that moment when i became citizen of the united states, how i entered, because the environment where i grew up, the country where i grew up, i did not have all these things, freedom of speech, freedom to express my shelf, freedom to

religion, i did not have all of that. —— myself. i went to the court room, without having these dignities, i took the oath of citizenship and a piece of paper is given to me. to the rest of the world that maybe a piece of paper but that meant so much to me. rajini vaidya nathan talking rajini vaidyanathan talking to khizr khan. nearly two months after hurricane harvey devastated houston, the city's baseball team is giving people something to cheer about. the astros levelled their world series against the dodgers, with victory in game two of the seven—game series. ahead of game three on friday, nick marshall—mccormack found out how the astros players are helping their city get back on its feet. the floodwaters had receded but the destruction left behind will take a long time to fix and forget. hurricane harvey roared through houston in august, the strongest to make landfall here in 50 years. more than 100,000 homes were damaged by ferocious winds and floods. tens of thousands are still living

with relatives or in motels with dwindling savings. that storm has probably hit houston harder than any storm ever has because this time it affected all of houston, notjust one part of it. for houston this has been a trying time but i think it has been a time where we have all come together. the baseball team, the astros, have been involved in relief and recovery effort since the moment the hurricane arrived. the players wear a houston strong badge of honour on their world series uniform. they know the morale boost a championship win would give to a city down on its knees. we're out there to carry the city. we want to give them someone to cheerfor, no matter what the cause is and we will let them know we have their backs and we know they have ours. we are trying to unite this city as a single unit. rubbish is piled up like this outside houses right across houston. the astros ace pitcher justin verlander admits that people

are really hurting right now. he's donated over $100,000 of his own money and the astros ownerjim crane and the team's foundation have donated over $4 million and counting. the players have stepped up and really want to win one for houston. we've never won the world series. we've only been in it twice. the city is behind us and everybody is helping everybody. crane is notjust helping hurricane harvey victims. he's also assisting his team's puerto rican connections affected by the recent destruction there from hurricane maria. i am thinking of them. i'm always thinking of my people in puerto rico. to be able to bring a little bit ofjoy and happiness meant a lot to me. sometimes we are disillusioned by all the money sports stars are paid. but this is a time when we should applaud a team that is giving back so generously, while trying their heart out to win the city's first world series. it would be unbelievable what would it would do to this city if they win a world series, which they are.

it is back on our home field now, so we got it. an unfinished portrait believed to be of mary queen of scots has been found hidden underneath another sixteenth century painting. the bbc‘s tim allman has more. surjohn maitland was lord chancellor of scotland in the late 16th century. this portrait of him was by the dutch pater adrian vance, court painter to king james. but when the searchers x—rayed this painting, this was what they found underneath. a ghostlike image believed to be of scotland's format queen. i was quite shocked to discover a woman's face looking at me and then i realised having grown up me and then i realised having grown up in scotland that i thought it was mary queen of scots and i was so excited i ran up three flights of

stairs to show it to my mentor. mary was forced to abdicate in 1567 and was forced to abdicate in 1567 and was held prisoner by her cousin, lisbon first, for nearly 20 years before her final execution. lisbon first, for nearly 20 years before herfinal execution. a heroin for some, a villain for others. the fa ct we for some, a villain for others. the fact we have to think about is mary's execution —— elizabeth the first. she was executed in 1587. to display a portrait of mary would have been quite a dangerous decision. since the portrait of sir john maitland is so valuable in and of itself, the painting will never be stripped back. the image of mary queen of shops will never be restored. her face always queen of shops will never be restored. herface always hidden away from history. tim allman, bbc news. extraordinary discovery! lots more on our website. if you want to get in touch with us here at bbc world news, you can do so on social media.

i'm @bbckasiamadera on twitter. goodbye. hello. the weekend is looking chilly and blustery, particularly across northern britain. it's not going to be windy across the entire weekend but saturday especially blustery across scotland and northern england, across the pennines will touch gale force at times. on top of that we have a lot of cloud heading our way, so it's certainly not looking sunny across the north. the best of the sunshine is expected further south. in the short term we've got clearer skies across southern areas where we have a high pressure, and you can see quite a few isobars already there across scotland so the winds are strengthening. here are the temperatures first thing on saturday. pretty much the same across the country but the night, the following nights will be colder. saturday dawns on a bright note across many southern and central as well as eastern areas, but through the course of the morning into the afternoon, the clouds will be thickening and the winds will be strengthening. there will be some spots

of rain around as well. the strongest gusts will be around the pennines towards the east of the pennines as well, approaching 40—50mph over the tops. the wind will not be anywhere near as strong in the south and there will be sunshine around, if you live in the southern part of the uk, this is lunchtime, the weather does not look bad at all. you will see fine weather on saturday, it just won't be everywhere. many western and northern areas will be shrouded in cloud and it will feel coolest here, although the temperatures not too bad, averaging around 1a degrees across the uk. the wind will peak late in the afternoon. it will still remain windy through the course of the saturday night and then there will be a change in the wind direction. look at that. the wind will tend to ease across the uk so on sunday it will not be anywhere near as windy and there is more sunshine on the way. a few sprinkles, a few showers there across the north—east

of scotland and down into east anglia. on balance, a lovely day. cooler temperatures into single figures across scotland and northern england. stormy on sunday across many western and central parts of europe. a huge area of low pressure sending cold wind from the north. we're underneath a high pressure so a big contrast between east and west. the wind will fall light on sunday into monday. the sky will clear and we are in for a chilly one. temperatures in towns and cities on monday morning will be around three degrees across the northern half of the uk, a little less cold in the south. certainly, outside of town, cold enough for a touch of frost. it is expected to be the coldest night of the autumn so far. sunday night into monday. and then by tuesday the temperatures should start recovering again. this is bbc news, the headlines: the spanish prime minister, mariano rajoy, has sacked the catalan leader, carles puigdemont, his cabinet and the director—general of police after catalonia formally declared independence from spain. mr rajoy has announced elections in the autonomous region for december the 21st.

the authorities in kenya have indefinitely postponed voting in the re—run presidential election, which had been due to take place in four volatile western counties on saturday. officials said the safety threat to electoral workers was too great. several people were killed during polling on thursday. an italian man who is hiv positive has been jailed for 2h years after being found guilty of intentionally infecting thirty women through unprotected sex. valentino talluto seduced young women he met through internet dating sites. now on bbc news, it's time for click.