good afternoon. the spanish government has begun implementing direct rule over catalonia, a day after its parliament declared independence. madrid has stripped the region of its autonomy, and the interior ministry of the national government has taken control of the regional police force. our correspondent, gavin lee, reports from barcelona, in catalonia. squashing the insurrection, the spread of headlines gci’oss the spread of headlines across spanish newspapers this morning read the same. the spanish government has opted for the so—called nuclear option to deal with catalan separatists after their proclaimation of independence yesterday. the reasons parliament has been dissolved, separatist leaders will be removed from office and elections have been called before christmas. in barcelona the clampdown didn't stop people claiming victory, partying into the night singing songs of liberation. tense moments too with

confrontations between those on both sides. it's calm here now plaza de sant jaume after it's calm here now plaza de sa nt jaume after last it's calm here now plaza de sant jaume after last night's celebrations but many on both sides are now asking exactly the same question, how does the government in madrid assert its authority here and separatists talk about protecting and defending the institutions if the spanish government tries to forcefully remove ca rles government tries to forcefully remove carles puigdemont and his separatist cabinet. i think that there are a lot of things that we haven't resolved yet from the past and today, and yesterday, was very important day. yes. translation: to throw out the government that the people elected. this is war. i lived in catalonia for 11 years, but i am from madrid. lam for 11 years, but i am from madrid. i am spanish. i'm for 11 years, but i am from madrid. lam spanish. i'm not for 11 years, but i am from madrid. i am spanish. i'm not going to stop being spanish. i have a child that was born in catalonia, but i don't wa nt was born in catalonia, but i don't want to stap him being spanish. you can't silence so many people. we are supposed to be living in a democracy and you have to listen to the

people. spain's deputy prime minister has been placed in de facto charge of catalonia and the fate of carles puigdemont, the man who regards himself as leader is unclear. it's understood he and his cabinet maybe facing charges of rebellion which carries a 30 year sentence for acting against the state. live now to madrid and our correspondent there, sarah rainsford. at what point are we going to see a test to see if madrid has power to run things in catalonia? well, when they start trying to implement their power on the grown. what we have seen so power on the grown. what we have seen so far are the moves on paper, we have seen spain, madrid here, nominate the deputy prime minister to ta ke nominate the deputy prime minister to take control of catalonia. we are expecting the leader of catalonia to make a statement shortly. those are reports coming through and he is expected to announce his position.

all sides in the crisis knowing that feelings are running high. and that this is a situation that's not without risk. we have seen protests in barcelona in recent days and catalonia and we have today seen a demonstration here in central madrid of people wrapped in the spanish flag calling for spain to stay united and coming out to express their anger with what has happened in catalonia itself. these are people who are very much opposed to cata la n people who are very much opposed to catalan independence and who are not only support what the government is doing in terms of imposing direct rule, but want them to go further. there have been a lot of calls for ca rles there have been a lot of calls for carles puigdemont, the president of catalonia, to be arrested and to be prosecuted for what's happened. so, extremely tense and extremely complex times here in spain and the path forward from here is still not clear. thank you. the environment secretary michael gove has apologised unreservedly for an on—air joke about the disgraced movie mogul, harvey weinstein.

taking part in the today programme on radio 4, which is celebrating its 60th birthday, mr gove said being interviewed byjohn humphreys was like "going into harvey weinstein‘s bedroom — you hope to emerge with your dignity intact". 0ur political correspondent, ellie price, is at westminster. ellie, never mind what he said, the timing of it is also unfortunate from his point of view because the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, is about to talk about exactly the subject of abuse at westminster? yes, that's right. those comments we re yes, that's right. those comments were made in front of a studio audience and they, along with neil kinnock, the former labour lead are appeared to laugh along with michael gove. it is fair to say the comments didn't go down very well with everyone. the first ministerfor scotland, nicola sturgeon, tweeted that women being abused and raped is not a laughing matter. his fellow tory mp, anna soubry said his

comments perpetuated the pathetic notion that the crimes are not to be taken seriously. the environment secretary did later tweet an apology: now what makes the comments particularly awkward is the timing. just yesterday the sun newspaper reported that some female, parliamentary aides and researchers had taken to whatsapp to share stories about inappropriate behaviour by some mps. now, no formal complaints have been made. the government says it would investigate the allegations and take them seriously. this afternoon we are expecting strong language from jeremy corbyn who will talk about a warped and degrading culture which meant that sexism and misogyny is existing, but it is being allowed to thrive here at westminster. the defence secretary, sir michael fallon, has ordered the royal navy to carry out compulsory drug testing on board all of its submarines after nine

crew members on hms vigilant were dismissed for illegal drug use. vigilant is one of four submarines which carry nuclear armed trident missiles. live now to laura trant outside the ministry of defence. what more do we know? well, the defence secretary is said to given the head of the royal navy a roasting after learning that nine members of hms vigilant tested positive for illegal drugs. sir michael fallon ordered compulsory testing of all crew on board submarines. the nine servicemen have been dismissed from hms vigilant. the daily mail said they tested positive for cocaine which they lajedly took during parties in the united states when the submarine was docked while it was waiting to pick up docked while it was waiting to pick up nuclear warheads. an mod spokesperson said, "we do not tolerate drugs misuse. those found

tolerate drugs misuse. those found to have fallen short of our high standards face being discharged from service." now the submarine isn't new to controversy because these latest revelations come after claims that the captain and the second in command were both removed over allegations of having inappropriate relationships with female crew on board. 0n the aalleged affairs, a royal navy spokesperson said that an investigation is underway and any allegations of wrongdoing are taken seriously. thank you very much. now, number tenning a world cup final. mike is here to explain that. it could be the second world cup they lift in a year. spurs are finding out what it is like to play without harry kane. he

is injured. united hope to bounce back from defeat. marcus rashford going close with a free—kick. the best chance has fallen to tottenham after a mix—up in the united defence. rangers are playing their first game since sacking their manager. a fantastic free—kick from kyle lafferty. what a strike. when it comes to youth football, england are the best in the world. they're already, the under 195 european champions, the under 20s world champions, and today it's the turn of the under 17 team, to try to complete the set. more than 66,000 in the stands in the indian city of kolkata, but this england team have shown they can handle pressure. striker rhian brewster, has been their star, scoring seven goals, in the tournament so far including a hat—trick in the semi—final against brazil. you don't get to this part of a

tournament if you're relying on one oi’ tournament if you're relying on one or two players. you need to be at good level all over the pitch and tomorrow, will be no different. so, we're aware of their players, but like i said, also aware of where we think we can exploit as well and we will be ready to deliver, that's for sure. now the world heavyweight champion, anthonyjoshua, says he has no ego, and feels like, he's the challenger as he prepares to defend his titles against stand—in opponent, carlos takam, in cardiff tonight. joshua was due to face the bulgarian kubrat pulev, but he withdrew because of injury. the greatest year in the boxing career of anthonyjoshua continues. now a household name, he's known as well outside the ring as in it thanks to one night in april. he confirmed his status as one of the biggest draws.

his victory over wladimir klitschko had it all. but that famous win needs to be left to history, for now. it doesn't last forever. everything has a beginning and end. while i'm doing it, i have to remain focused. i stay hungry and focused on myjob and i will try to stay on top as long as possible. and that journey continues in cardiff. the principality stadium is getting ready to welcome joshua and 70,000 fans. there is no denying being the heavyweight champion of the world is big business. 0nly winning will keep him there. carlos ta ka m wa nts to be the first man to get the better of him. joshua has different ideas. he has been at championship level before and is here again. if you keep on knocking and knocking, sooner or later you'll get through. ijust have to keep booting him back out.

but he always remains open for his fans. in his own words, a man of the people, always finding time to give something back. i do it because that's who i am, and ifight because that's what i do. so i know how to separate what i do. thejob, the belt does not represent me, it goes out, my coach goes out. all i have in there is my gum protector and my gloves. that's what i am focused on. and he will, as he always does, with a smile on his face. that's all the sport for now. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. hello.

you're watching the bbc news channel. so spain has begun implementing direct rule over catalonia, a day after its parliament declared independence. spain's deputy prime minister is taking over the roles of the catalan president and his deputy. i'm joined now via webcam by raphael minder author of the book "the struggle for catalonia" and spain correspondent for "the new york times". thank you for being with us. did you ever think it would get to this stage, this declaration of independence and this stripping of the autonomy of catalonia or did you think somehow they would find a compromise before it got to that?|j did compromise before it got to that?” did expect a compromise. it has been a very tense situation for two months. in the end these are

politicians on both sides and i did expect them to do politics. and politics is about talking, and they never really did that. that is stunning. they forged ahead on parallel tracks and this is what we have got. you now have the world's news country declaring itself, but unlike most countries, it does not control its borders, its police, its education, its finance. can it really call itself a country? you can call yourself what you want. but you cannot be a state if you don't even have control over your own government, let alone your taxes, borders, anything else. the police as of today is under the control of madrid. this was always high in the sky, the gap between declaring independence and turning that into

real statehood is massive and it requires months at least of hard work to put in place in situations of the state. none of that is in place here. it is the opposite. we have the return to a situation that catalonia new a0 years ago when it did not have any autonomous regional powers and many people feel that is really a n powers and many people feel that is really an own goal. it is interesting you talk about a0 years ago, that was the end of the dictatorship of general franco and the phalangist party that ran spain and removed what autonomy catalonia had. how much is the shadow of these yea rs had. how much is the shadow of these years still hanging over spain? how much is there a sense of unfinished business and all of this? it is there. it has been used by both

sides. we have heard incredible accusations in the last few weeks. the catalan separatists are continually referring to madrid, whatever action they take, as proof of the franco authoritarianism, we have also had members of the conservative party in madrid calling the catalans conservative party in madrid calling the catala ns now conservative party in madrid calling the catalans now azeez, which is out of line —— calling the catalans nazis. the transition from dictatorship to democracy in 1979, it was a patchwork in terms of establishing other things including what kind of federal structure, or not federal structure, spain had. what kind of federal structure, or not federalstructure, spain had. in many ways the result was a system where regions were given a lot of powers but not within an established

federal constitution. that has a lwa ys federal constitution. that has always created tensions at different points in the last a0 years. regions have asked for more powers than what they got and every time they do, the other 16 regions say, me also. we have a situation where most politicians on both sides of this debate recognise that the deal of 1978 was very good, very important, but perhaps was not the final deal. there is now an agreement that the prime minister of spain will have a commission of enquiry into the constitution, that process would ta ke constitution, that process would take some time. in the meantime do you think that both madrid and barcelona will hold off any kind of meaningful compromise? is this something that will stretch for months? that is anyone's guess. the

most important part of the message yesterday, or the most surprising from the prime minister, is that he is hoping to put this to be had within 55 days. he has called elections for the 21st on the basis that he will win the elections, or at least unionist parties will win them for him, and by that stage catalonia will be back to what he calls normality. that is a big bet. it might turn out to be the right one. there is a awareness that overall things are not turning out that great, prosperity that was promised as turning more into an exodus of companies, more than 1600 companies have now relocated outside catalonia. we do not know how strong the persistence will be once madrid moves on and what the capacity of the separatists as to regroup what

has been in losing two beaks. thank you. let's hear more now about the rising controversy about sexual harassment allegations involving male mps. let's speak to chi 0nwurah, the labour mp for newcastle central. she's in our newcastle studio. the obvious place to start is with what hewitt leaderjeremy corbyn plans to see later today about a culture of tolerance of the abuse of women, whether it is harassment, or more serious sexual assault at westminster. is he right about that? westminster. is he right about that? westminster has the classic ingredients for sexual harassment. disparity of power. a large number

of very powerful men, generally. and a large number of much less powerful woman, generally, researchers or officers. some of my colleagues have spoken about their experiences of sexual harassment. i have never been sexually harassed in parliament but iam aware sexually harassed in parliament but i am aware that researchers, often starting off their career, who have spoken to me about being made to feel very uncomfortable in certain circumstances. remember that parliament has nine bars and a lot of late—night sittings. there is certainly the environment there sexual harassment. it is not clear enough that it should not be tolerated, i would agree withjeremy corbyn that that message is not one

that comes across every day in parliament. you mention researchers but were you surprised by this report that they were using a messaging app in order to share tips and advice about some colleagues, people not to be in a taxi with on your own, that kind of thing.” people not to be in a taxi with on your own, that kind of thing. i am not surprised by that. i know that people are sharing that without using technology so it doesn't surprise me they are using technology to share it more effectively. i know that through the union as well that is being shared. what i would call four, and my colleague the shadow secretary of state for equalities is calling for isa state for equalities is calling for is a proper human resources function in parliament. i have worked in the

private sector and the public sector andi private sector and the public sector and i have never been in an environment which had less clear human resource processors or support. sorry to interrupt, the parliamentary authorities say, the problem is that mps are self—employed, they then in turn employ researchers or assistance, and in turn of the legal situation we are in a weaker position in terms of enforcing some of these rules or any kind of formal code of conduct. it is true that as an mp it is like running a small business and small businesses lack support in terms of human resources. whatever the legal position, in terms of offering the support, offering a route of whistle—blowing, offering advice, we should be able to do something more in that respect, whilst the mps

themselves are held accountable in a legal sense, just giving the support their soul that this can be reported, as well as being cheered on apps, maybe we can have a more open discussion where those who have power are able to respond to some of the concerns that are being expressed. i think that parliament has a lot to do to make itself a more secure environment for women, but generally for those who don't have power. thank you. the humanitarian crisis affecting almost a00,000 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 eastern 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. 0ur 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. earlier i spoke to doctor mounir hakimi — a syrian surgeon and chairman of the syria relief charity. he told me families

in the country are so desperate they are struggling to feed their children. those people who have survived the bomb and air strikes now are being killed in a different way which is starvation. it is so difficult to explain that 70% of the a00,000 people who are under siege are families who have children under five years old. those families are struggling, as the report mentioned, to feed their children. it has cost about $500 to feed a family of five for a month. however, the average income of the family there is $90. the cost of the baby milk has trebled. it is about $22 for one box. that is if they have access to it. to ghouta and despite having access on different occasions,

the amount of food that has been delivered wouldn't cover the whole families that need it. what then do you think is the most urgent priority if access can be negotiated, if some kind of humanitarian operation can be mounted? what is going to be the most useful aspect? to get nutrition and food and proper food, not only rice. those children have been out of the proper diet, meat, protein, the milk that will stop the children from dying. so we need as a priority our children, women and elderly over 60 years old. they are the people we need to help. also we need to support the local hospitals, stop targeting these hospitals.

these malnutrition people are turning up to the hospital but doctors are unable to help them because they don't have the appropriate medication to treat those struggling children. let me ask you finally what are the consequences if children don't get that? if they can survive but they don't get the kind of nutrition they need? what does that mean to them in future life? well, they are counted as disabled children because they will have muscle weakness, fatigue, their brain will not be able to think in a normal way. they will not be able to progress and develop. to have a normal life like any child has the right for. the prime minister, theresa may, has called on all companies to reveal the difference between what they pay male and female staff saying "sustained action" was needed to tackle the issue. companies with more than 250

employees have to publish gender pay gap data from april next year. now, mrs may is urging smaller firms to do the same. the latest figures show on average men are paid almost a fifth more than women. 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. 0ur 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 enormous. 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? confirming he's 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