this is bbc news. the headlines. tensions rise after spain begins to impose direct rule over catalonia — after politicians there declare independence. rallies calling for unity are cold the prime minister calls snap elections after dissolving the regional parliament in barcelona. the environment secretary michael gove apologises ‘unreservedly‘ for an on airjoke about disgraced movie mogul harvey weinstein. ‘warped and degrading' — jeremy corbyn says a culture which tolerates the abuse of women is thriving in westminster. the humanitarian crisis affecting almost 400,000 syrians in an eastern suburb of damascus is described as an ‘outrage‘ by the united nations. also in the next hour — the zip wiring and clubbing glasgow pensioners. the new scheme aiming to tackle loneliness and improve health among older people. the biggest match of their lives —

england's teenagers prepare to face spain in the under—17 world cup final. and spotting fake news and debunking the people in power — the people trying to sort fact from fiction — that's coming up in click at 12.30. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. spain has begun to assert direct rule over catalonia. the spanish prime minister, mariano rajoy, announced last night that madrid was taking control, after the catalan parliament voted to establish an independent republic. the region's leaders have been sacked, its parliament has been dissolved and regional elections have been called for december.

andrew plant reports. the streets of barcelona, catalonia's capital, where crowds have been celebrating through the night after the regional government here declared its independence from spain. translation: every citizen is clear about the goal. the price we will pay perhaps is expensive. but here we do things well, we work well here, and we respect everybody. si, si, si! this was the moment catalonia's government voted to declare itself an independent state. 300 miles away in madrid, spain's national government was also voting to take away catalonia's regional powers and sack its leader after refusing to recognise catalonia's independence. 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 to hold regional elections on the 21st of december. it is a confusing picture, even within catalonia itself, many people don't want to be separate from spain. the spanish government says it will now take back control. but how will that work? and what about the tens of thousands of catalonian people today who believe they're already living in a separate state, one they would argue spain no longer has any power to control? andrew plant, bbc news. joining me via webcam now from the town of sant cugat del valles just outside barcelona is pro independence supporter ernest mendoza. thank you for being with us. it is a

lovely morning for the first morning of independent catalonia, if indeed thatis of independent catalonia, if indeed that is what you have. doesn't feel like you are in a new situation? —— does it feel? we are looking forward to seeing what is next, to what the government of catalonia has to do. is there nervousness and uncertainty, maybe ill it a bit of fear about what the future might hold, given that everything appears to be so uncertain? countries that gain independence go through a similar situation that we are. there is uncertainty, but that is a lot of hope. a sense that we are going to do much better as an independent country rather than as a part of spain. the worry is not so much what

happens when we go away, it is realising what happens if we do not go away. you are in a situation where the central government has dissolved parliament, has dismissed your president, the equivalent of the prime minister, where madrid is going to be taking back control of the different parts of government, the different parts of government, the police force, the education system. the police force, the education syste m. h ow the police force, the education system. how does that work out practically? do you think fellow cata la ns practically? do you think fellow catalans will see they ignore orders from these people or will they have to go along with it while a process of mediation takes place? most of the people that i know are prepared to persist peacefully. at some point there has to be mediation. we should sit down and talk. it is in the best

interests of the european union as well. how can you control a country that no one wants you to control? it is difficult. you were celebrating last night. this is a powerful and important moment for you as a catalan. but do you have friends and collea g u es catalan. but do you have friends and colleagues and people you are close to maybe do not want catalonia to call it separately? what have you been saying to them, to reassure them, or understand how they feel?‘ good example of how things are going to be, the message of the vice president and the president, we want to bea president and the president, we want to be a country for everyone, we wa nt to to be a country for everyone, we want to be a country of freedom, of

welfare, not a country with political prisoners like spain. a lot of people not in favour of independence, the majority of people that i notice against what the spanish government has done an catalonia, beating people, imprisoning people. this is more than catalonia being independent. it is about what model of the state we want. thank you for speaking to us this morning. thank you, and hello from the republic of catalonia. of course, spain says it is not, and it is still part of spain, and that is a debate that is going to happen to be resolved one way or another in the weeks and months ahead. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn will use a speech today to warn that what he calls a ‘warped and degrading culture,‘

which tolerates abuse of women is thriving at westminster. downing street has described the allegations of sexual harassment in politics as "deeply concerning". this morning the environment secretary, michael gove, apologised for making what he said was a ‘clumsyjoke' about the disgraced hollywood producer, harvey weinstein while being interviewed on radio 4's today programme. let's have a listen to what was said. sometimes i think that coming into the studio with you is a bit like going into harvey weinstein‘s bedroom. have you got something else to see there? you just pray that you emerge with your dignity intact. you heard michael gove and former labour leader neil kinnock. let's talk to the labour mp adrian bailey, who is

in our birmingham studio. he is calling for the party to take a tougher approach on harassment. i don't know if you have heard that until now but it illustrates how this is a subject people are talking about but they don't know how to talk about. absolutely. it demonstrates that the unpleasantness of this sort of activity is not appreciated by many people, notjust in the public generally, but within the labour party. it is time that we did adopt what the labour party has promised, the zero tolerance approach to any sort of harassment, particularly sexual harassment. you do not think that is happening at the moment? presumably the labour party like other organisations has formal policies about harassment and how to deal with that? yes, they do, and the labour party only this week published a circular to go out to

all constituency labour parties, which was headed, zero tolerance to sexual harassment. my own experience locally has been that when i have proper evidence of sexual harassment by, in one case, a leading local councillor, the labour party has declined to suspend that person, and delayed any sort of action. 0nly very recently, as a result of media pressure on them, have they actually done anything whatsoever to address theissues done anything whatsoever to address the issues that i put before them. we cannot get into the detail of allegations about the person you are talking about because we are not in a position to reflect all the parties and different claims being made but at westminster, which is whatjeremy corbyn is talking about his speech in aviemore today, you have been a member of parliament,

ely place betty boothroyd speaker, you have been near a long time. what is your impression? is there a warped culture at work in the corridors of westminster in terms of the relationship between some politicians and some of those who work for them? i cannot give any specific personal examples, because i have not come across any. however, i have not come across any. however, i have had information given to me, from a particularly female members of staff and labour mps, that would underline that the comments that are being made byjeremy corbyn. underline that the comments that are being made by jeremy corbyn. thank you. let's speak to the green party peer, baronessjones, who is in dorset. let me ask you before we talk about

the culture at westminster about what you'd need of the rather crass joke, for that she has had to apologise, that michael gove delivered this morning? it is com pletely delivered this morning? it is completely unacceptable. to be fair to michael gove he did apologise immediately. he understood that was a ridiculous thing to say. at the same time, listening to the clip was illuminating because quite a lot of people joined illuminating because quite a lot of peoplejoined in on illuminating because quite a lot of people joined in on that. illuminating because quite a lot of peoplejoined in on that. nick robinson rete did that. neil kinnock extended the joke. robinson rete did that. neil kinnock extended thejoke. a robinson rete did that. neil kinnock extended the joke. a lot of people we re extended the joke. a lot of people were laughing. some of that might have been shocked laughter but it does demonstrate that people still joke about sexual assault and rape and there is nothing funny about it. 0ne and there is nothing funny about it. one of the things that struck me as we seem to be in a situation where on the one hand we will use the

strongest possible language about it, and on the other hand we will make light of it, not quite in the same breath, but in a short space of time. why do we struggle to talk about these things in a rational way? it is embedded deep in our culture that men get away with an awful lot of things, because they did not mean any harm, it wasjust a joke. we have gone past that now intellectually but we still get stuck in a groove, laughing about these things. great, it happens to women, it happens to men as well, it isa women, it happens to men as well, it is a scarring and horrible experience that many people never get over. the sooner that we understand that, the sooner our culture will catch up. jeremy corbyn today saying, he walked and degraded culture, absolutely, and time we learned better. perhaps this incident will send out some very

strong signals to all the people who do make these jokes, strong signals to all the people who do make thesejokes, so strong signals to all the people who do make these jokes, so that we can perhaps have a better culture generally. women experience harassment and male sexual assault quite often on a daily basis whether it is on the tube or in the office and at is time everybody realised it can't go on. in terms of what has happened at westminster, this week we have had the case of the suspension because of allegations because of language that was used several years ago, and accusation of things more recently. we are not just talking about attitudes that may be to do with generations, we are not just may be to do with generations, we are notjust talking about older male mps potentially, we are talking about people across generations, who may be struggle with how they deal with people of the opposite sex. may be struggle with how they deal with people of the opposite sexlj have never understood why it is manly tojoke have never understood why it is manly to joke about women. i never

got that. i don't know if men are frightened of women perhaps an sort the need to diminish us in some way. it is not generational. it is still carrying on. if you go to any pub you will hear jokes carrying on. if you go to any pub you will hearjokes about harassment of women. personally, at the house of women. personally, at the house of lords i don't experience that sort of harassment anymore but i do hear stories about it and it strikes me that we are approaching the point in society where it will be taught a week and acceptable, and other men already pull up men who are saying such things, but it will become not acceptable, even in the pub, in the men's locker room, it will not be funny any more. at westminster, and it may different situation in the house of lords, but in the house of commons, mps are self—employed, they employ directly the researchers and other people who work for them. that

makes it difficult for parliament as an institution to have an enforcea ble an institution to have an enforceable code of conduct in the way that an individual workplace can. it is difficult if people don't belong to a june and who can protect them and support them. and there is this power imbalance. but you are employing someone you are more powerful than the art and this is at the root of sexual assault, of rape, where one person feels more powerful than the other and mix the other person effect. it is difficult to regulate but if we can have an excellent whistle—blower system of some sort, so that if one woman does not feel she can step forward, she tells somebody who can step forward on her behalf and explain what is going on. something has to be done and quite honestly it is not only the political parties who have to act, but also the authorities within parliament so that they make it easy for women or men to report such harassment. baroness jones, green

party here, thank you. the environment secretary michael gove has apologised unreservedly for an on yourjoke about disgraced movie mogul harvey weinstein. jeremy corbyn will today warned that a culture which tolerates abuse of women is thriving at westminster. the humanitarian crisis affecting almost 400,000 people in an eastern suburb of damascus has been described by the united nations as an outrage. the area of eastern ghouta is the last part of the syrian capital under siege by the government. there's been an increase in military attacks, and earlier this week unicef said almost 1,200 children were suffering from malnutrition. 0ur middle east correspondent, lina sinjab, reports from beirut. the main meal of the day.

a few spoons of yogurt and two loaves of bread. feeding a family of seven is a daily struggle. the mother who was covering her face for safety says that is all she can afford for the day. the kids keep saying they are hungry, she says. my heart is broken. there is nothing i can do. this is seven—year—old mustafa, and he is most in need of food in the family. weighing only ten kilograms, he, like hundreds of children in the region of ghouta, is malnourished. his elder sister can't even go to school. translation: i am ten years old and in year one, i should be in yearfour. we can't eat or drink and we tell our mother day

and night that we are hungry. our situation is very bad, my father doesn't have the money. my brother was well and had chubby hands and now he is very thin. night and day we say we are hungry. my mother says god helps us, we don't have the money to bring you food. this is the main reason behind their suffering. the war grinds on. government warplanes continue to target ghouta. there are at least 350,000 civilians still trapped there and in need of food. the area has been under siege forfour years. this was the last aid convoy to enter the area last month. it is hard to tell when the next one will come.

these children are not in hospital because they are injured, but because they are malnourished. the un says there are over 1,200 children suffering, and the numbers are rising. translation: many children are fainting, suffering headaches, blurred vision, depression. all because of a lack of essential food. we can only help so many, we don't have the medicines. mustafa and his siblings are trying to live a normal life but with the siege continuing he is unlikely to recover soon. nine sailors from a nuclear missile submarine have been dismissed from the royal navy after failing drug tests. the ministry of defence confirmed the dismissals from hms vigilant, one of four submarines that carry the trident nuclear deterrent.

according to the daily mail, the men are alleged to have taken cocaine. a royal navy spokesperson said it does not tolerate drugs misuse. england face spain in the final of the under 17's world cup this afternoon. the side made it to the final after a hat—trick from liverpool's rhian brewster against brazil earlier in the week. he's on course to become the tournament's top goal scorer. our correspondent, rahul tandon is in kolkata, where the final is taking place. he's been telling us the level of interest in india has been enourmous. you can see people already streaming towards the stadium. we are expecting more than 66,000 but they could have sold 150,000 tickets for this match. the people here are having england flags painted on theirfaces. a few with a spanish one as well. a big moment for india, an even bigger one for this england under 17 team. the under 20 team are already world champions. can they join them?

can brewster score more goals to take them to victory? probably the best young player in the world. the signs are good. they thrashed brazil 3—1 on wednesday. but they are up against the spanish team who beat them in the european championship. england fans are hoping it will not go that far. they will have a lot of support, lots of premier league t—shirts around me. man city fans, arsenal fans. all supporting england. the biggest football match in the world today and you can see the people of india turning out to watch it. they're all pretty excited about it. it might surprise people that a match involving two countries thousands of miles away should call such excitement. i think this is an important moment because people don't understand how big football is in india. everybody thinks that this is a country that is obsessed with cricket but as you can see, they love their football as well. the fifa boss said yesterday,

cricket move over, football is the future. if you want to catch the match tune into bbc two at half past three this afternoon when we will have coverage. the winner of the royal institute of british architects‘ most prestigious award — the stirling prize — will be announced next tuesday. the nominations to become britain‘s best new building 2017 include a rejuvenated seaside pier on the south coast of england, a london housing development and an extension to the british museum. today, we look at the city of glasgow college by reiach & hall architects and michael laird architects. this is a world—class learning facility and what you see here is actually technical and professional education on an immense scale. the college wanted a building that

exuded quality and ambition and aspiration for their students, we have put a building of scale, of character, of quality. they walk in and say, wow, this is a place i want to be part of. the building is special, it is located at a high point in the city, that vocational training is raised to the same level as any institution within the city. the new building is a new once—in—a—lifetime opportunity for the college to transform the way we teach and the way the students learn. we previously operated out of 11 quite dated buildings across the city. these new campus buildings and this one in particular brought together a hugely diverse curriculum, hugely diverse communities into two state—of—the—art campus sites. a really brilliant transformation

for staff and students. all the nominated buildings are on the bbc arts website. you can find out the results live on tuesday at nine o‘clock. dancing at a glasgow bay club are not necessarily activities that you would associate with pictures but the scheme... our reporter has been to find out more. not for the faint—hearted. this is maybe not what you would expect as a typical pensioner‘s date out that it is about experiencing new adventures. it is 70—year—old helen‘s first time on a zip wire. adventures. it is 70—year—old helen's first time on a zip wirem is very exciting stop i am going to

ta ke is very exciting stop i am going to take all the information and the experience and tell my grandkids. they will hardly believe me that i am doing this. i am willing to give ita am doing this. i am willing to give it a go. am doing this. i am willing to give ita go. i am doing this. i am willing to give it a go. i want to challenge myself. irene wants to conquer her fears.|j have made it. i am glad i did it this occupational therapist came up with the idea. holistic benefits, benefits to physical health, mental health, social health, meeting other people. it is feeding everybody's souls. people that are doing it, people that are watching, it is also reducing ageism in our society.

people that are watching, it is also reducing ageism in our societym zip wire is not your thing, how about this? monday morning, cathy is getting ready to go dancing. she has dementia, herfamily getting ready to go dancing. she has dementia, her family see getting ready to go dancing. she has dementia, herfamily see it getting ready to go dancing. she has dementia, her family see it can getting ready to go dancing. she has dementia, herfamily see it can make her feel very lonely. it is a change from the house, this same routine, day in, day out. you need to get a break. this is a disco with a difference. held during the day in a real nightclub. instead of cocktails but as tea, sandwiches and great company. do you come here often? yes, i come here to enjoy the fun with the girls. are you enjoying yourself? yes, i always enjoy it. everyone having fun at there are serious reasons behind it. what was it dylan thomas said about

not going gentle into that good night? here is the weather. windy for all with deals across scotla nd windy for all with deals across scotland and northern england. more cloud along west facing coast. more shelter in eastern areas. there could be some sunshine. some warmth. underneath the cloud and the drizzly rain it is more disappointing. through the night that weather front bringing the rain steadily south perhaps fingerling across the south—west first thing in the morning. the skies on a chilly start in scotland. that is the theme is he moved into sunday. lighter winds coming from the north. that could bring showers down the north sea coast. that will lead into the

potential for a frosty start on monday morning. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines. the spanish government has taken charge of catalonia‘s administration, a day after the region‘s parliament declared independence from spain. the environment secretary michael gove has apologised "unreservedly" for an on—airjoke he made on bbc radio 4‘s today programme about disgraced movie mogul harvey weinstein. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn will say later that mps who sexually harass women must be held to account. in a speech, mr corbyn is expected to condemn a culture "where the abuse of women has often been accepted and normalised". sport now, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. details of the under 17 world cup final. good afternoon lots of

football ahead, first of all the premier league action about to kick off, second against third as manchester united and spurs that to narrow the gap on leaders manchester city. united fans will be pleased to see striker marcus rashford hearfit to partner romelu lukaku upfront, arriving a few moments ago at old trafford. as for spurs, it is son who has been chosen to replace the injured harry kane, as cheekily suggested by pep guardiola being a one—man team. suggested by pep guardiola being a one-man team. jailing a season, you cannot play well all the time, you cannot play well all the time, you cannot win all the time, not be lucky all the time