as leader of , as leader of catalonia has as leader of catalonia has given a defiant response to its takeover by the spanish government calling for a credit research she and —— resistant the spanish government has said it would welcome the participation of puigdemont in newark is elections. explosions of rock capital of somalia, mogadishu. at least“; people dead with many more injured. officials in the iraqi kurdistan say that the president will step down at the end of this month, just weeks after he held a controversial referendum on independence. and oil crewmembers on submarines are to undergo drugs tests. now coming up on bbc news, we have the firing line.

now, the firing line pays tribute to the skill of the freelance journalist nominated for the rory peck awards. some scenes some viewers may find disturbing. extraordinary scenes from some of the most remarkable events of the year. captured, often at great risk, and after much endeavour. who are the journalists who bring as these films? and what motivates them to tell such tories? —— stories. some of the most striking news footage we see on screen doesn't

come from mainstream media and reporters. some journalists operate independently working in places few are willing to visit to bring as some of the most important are willing to visit to bring us some of the most important these freelancers are honoured by the rory peck award named after the freelance cameraman who was killed in moscow covering the october coup in 1993. his memory lives on in the award on behalf of freelance camera crews. this year's films have been dominated by the war in syria. they've also featured conflict in washington and on the streets of la paz. first, the sony impact award for current affairs for films that

really dig into an issue. filmmaker patrick will spend months looking into sectarian cleansing in iraq. working with a reporter and producer, he spent one year winning the trust of whistleblowers and eyewitnesses, looking at the shia militia, suspected of abuse of sony iraqis. iraq is the most official as —— dangerous defect there is suspicion of the media. it is an extremely hostile group who may be guilty of war crimes. patrick

researchers, directs and shoot brilliantly. his work was impressive. it suddenly became quite chaotic here. they are accusing him of being an isis photo. we were not allowed to follow him and we don't know where he has been taken. patrick uncovered evidence of shia militia infiltrating the iraqi government and running and you network of secret prisons to torture and kill innocent people. the most gruelling scene that we filmed was when we found women in a town outside blucher had been taken back from islamic state. 615 men and boys vanished in the days following the battle. the women were in a refugee camp that was quite inaccessible. when we arrived, this enormous group of women mobbed us up they were crying. it was the first time the story

became about these women, and i thought, how has this not been a story, this huge crime had happened and had received so little coverage. people with disabilities are some of the most marginalised in bolivia. but now they are fighting for their rights. darren forshaw and violeta tracked the group of disability rights

campaigners on a 300 kilometre trek where they staged a protest in the capital. the scene is set for confrontation. this is a very dangerous moment and i think we have to protect our freedom of expression in bolivia. dan and violetta were singled out for police attention. they have all been assaulted

by police, dan was beaten by police. the judges said the story felt so fresh and not highlighting an issue none of us even knew existed —— so fresh, highlighting an issue. compelling documentary film—making at its best. the protest lasted six months but ultimately ended when two campaigners were run over by a car and the leaders threatened with long prison sentences. aleppo, 2016. opposition fighters holding the east of the city are losing their grip

as syrian forces and their allies close in. four young journalists record their final days in the city in a remarkable story that has won the impact award for current affairs. together they dodge snipers, suffered daily bombardment, and the terror of living under siege. now, scattered around the middle east, they explain the origins of the film. the group also demonstrated ingenuity and resilience

and dignity, in the face of extraordinary challenges. as the end neared, the group documented the painful transfer of civilians and fighters from rebel areas. thejudges said this is the most intimate,

gripping and moving work of these last days in aleppo. it's like a love story to their city. goodbye aleppo, winner of the impact award. next, the news feature category, for more in—depth films. every president in american history has disliked the press coverage that he got, but what is unusual is none before this has declared war in the first week. he needs an enemy. ollie lambert‘s film follows a week in washington at the beginning of donald trump's presidency.

we always have an adversarial relationship and sometimes that is healthy and natural, but this is beyond adversarial. ollie paints a portrait of the press corps which covers the us president and how they respond to donald trump tearing up the rule book. it was perfectly clear walking into that briefing, that the whole battle was being waged in this tiny little bit of real estate in one corner of the white house and i set up camp for as long as i could and tried to get under the skin of the journalists who were on the front line of that war for the truth, really. the judges said ollie gives a totally different vantage point on the story that everyone else is telling. we are going to get a call soon. wow. the russia crisis is threatening to engulf the white house, at the last minute, sean spicer‘s daily briefing

is cancelled and donald trump announces his first solo press conference as president of the united states. to actually see it play out, where very professional, thoughtful truth telling journalists were being mercilessly attacked for trying to do theirjob and try to tell the truth, that felt like a very serious issue and i wanted people to really feel, notjust understand, but really feel how serious that was. quiet, quiet. i don't have to do that, i don't have to tell you what i'm going to do in north korea —— quiet, quiet. eventually you will get tired of asking that question. we keep doing ourjob. no one became a reporter to be loved. if you wants to go after us, that's his decision. i'm not sure that's a smart long—term decision for building support in the country. the next finalist is a shocking

expose of the torture of innocent iraqis. award—winning photojournalist ali arkady was embedded with an elite iraqi army unit, he was planning on making a film celebrating their exploits on the battlefield, but he discovered a much darker side to their story. they ignore a crying mother and her children. you are scaring the children, she says, they take the husband outside and begin to beat him. claiming he and his wife once helped isis. and it gets worse. the very next day, the camera was present when the unit prepared

to torture this man, a sheep herder whose teenage son was suspected of working for isis. as a senior officer gives the directions, when i tell you to kick, he says, you let him go. they closed the curtains and would not allow ali arkady to continue filming the ugly scene. at first ali arkady felt conflicted and he admits he obeyed commands by the unit's officers to strike detainees. but the more he saw, he realised he had to tell a different story. i did not have any option, to try to stop this violence, but i thought, in another way, i can, i try in the future to stop what these forces are doing for the civilians. and if i can get more evidence, approval, that i can show, maybe we can stop what they did.

now in hiding following death threats to his family, he says his film has already produced results. the judges described his film as ground—breaking journalism. they said ali arkady could not challenge what he saw, but all he could do was shoot the material and get it back. the winner of the news features award was olivier sarbil‘s film.

these are 12 children of saddam's iraq, now in the battle to save iraq. he lived alongside a unit of the iraqi special forces for five weeks as they pushed into isis territory. thejudges praised its raw emotion and authentic life, bringing us incredible footage and intimate insights into the real life in the city. to get the footage, he first had to win the trust of the soldiers he was with. for two weeks ijust sit, sleep, eat, with those guys, and tried to get their trust, tried to get some understanding, to a point where i would be invisible and the camera would be invisible. as a former french soldier, olivier sarbil had combat experience but as a freelance journalist

who was on his own with no support network. i had no—one with me. i did not have a fixer or a translator, and the commander of the unit spoke a bit of english but most of the men spoke arabic. but day after day they got to know me and we build trust between us and they wanted me to stay with them. but he also had to trust them with his own life. i knew they were well trained. i would not have been in bed with, maybe, the regular army. i knew those guys were good and well equipped and i trusted them. he was keen to show another side to life on the front line. i wanted to be a bit more intimate with those guys. i wanted to have a chance

to know them better. i was very surprised to see how much they were confident with me and how much they would let me film them in any kind of circumstances. but danger and death are never far away. the battle for mosul, winner of the news feature award, and finally, the news category, awarded for films that capture the immediacy of a story. the attack happened shortly after dawn. the conflict in syria has set new standards in the horrors of war. the makers of this film recorded

scenes that are deeply disturbing, be warned, this footage of a chemical weapon attack is upsetting. adam was one of the first to arrive, but he was himself knocked unconscious by the gas. one of the survivors describes the moment the gas hit him. translation: i fell down and could not feel a thing, i was lying on the ground and my hands were hitting the ground and then i fainted, it was as if i was hitting myself, i had no control and i could not see anything with my eyes. the victims are moved to a nearby hospital where he continues to film, as danger still lurks what suddenly

there is panic as news comes in of more fighter jets heading that way. a localjournalist is in the middle of delivering a report. the scenes were so shocking that at first he froze. the judges said this work is chronicling a war crime, to be unflinching and keep your head in a situation like that is so impressive. most were treated

peacefully on the floor. as distraught relatives look on powerless to help. news award finalist chernov was another freelancer who spent time in mosul with the iraqi special forces will stop this was an urban warfare fought one street at a time. —— time in mosul with the iraqi special forces. —— this was an urban warfare fought one street at a time. a former aid worker and award—winning photographer, the he has covered other conflicts, and working alone without the local language, he is aware of the risks this kind ofjournalism involves. you try to understand how far you can go, and how far you need to go to show what is really going on, it is a constant search and balance between the safety and

what you need to do. everyone who goes to war, i think they realise that danger is imminent, and there is an away you can escape danger, when showing the reality of war. thejudges praised his camerawork. all of his images are captured so clearly and cleanly, sharp as a pen, he has a real photographer's eye. every sequence is a vignette and shot after shot gives the complete story without narration. it feels like a paradox to me. every cameraman tries to make their shots as beautiful as possible. but to show the reality of war, the brutality of everything that is going on, it contradicts our wish to make the shot beautiful. so that is a struggle.

that is where the gets cameraman stuck. how to show the reality of war, but also make the shot appealing, because when you make the shot appealing the viewer starts accepting the war and that is the contrary of what we are trying to do. tender words for a child that can't find its own. the winner of the news award is about life in the last functioning hospital in aleppo,

and it was shot by waad al kateab, a marketing student at aleppo university before she picked up a camera to become a journalist. this woman is the only adult left of three families whose apartment was obliterated by russian or syrian bombs. she comes across a neighbour, this teenage boy used to live upstairs. the baby boy he is holding is his little brother, one month old. his face is the only restful thing in this bedlam. but this is the sleep of the dead. he was suffocated in the ruins. currently in hiding, we are unable to show pictures of waad. the most interesting thing for me was the hospital, and when i turned the camera on i was just focusing on showing the ward, the suffering

and what is happening inside aleppo. maybe the ward will show the al—assad crimes of the regime against the civilians there. it is all still in my mind. i couldn't forget anything happened from the first moment until the end. a nurse leads in a brother and sister. they go from room to room. we don't know their names and they don't know yet if they are orphans. the judges said in waad's work, you are in the midst of the event, and she uses techniques which reach out and move people. not one shot is fired, but waad

shows us the terror of war. brother and sister are still waiting for news of their mother. exhausted beyond words, by a life beyond description. inside aleppo: the last hospital, winner of the news award. that is it for this year's edition of the firing line, year in which the human cost of the war in syria and the bitter battle against against islamic state militants defined the rory peck awards. goodbye. hello. hello there. good morning. gusty westerly winds

are being replaced by a northerly wind overnight and into sunday, our aircoming down wind overnight and into sunday, our air coming down from the arctic. much colder air coming, but the promise of more sunshine. there are skies across northern parts of the uk dropping temperatures. further south, more cloud and a little uk dropping temperatures. further sou‘ or more cloud and a little uk dropping temperatures. further sou‘ or drizzle loud and a little uk dropping temperatures. further sou‘ or drizzle around d a little uk dropping temperatures. further sou‘ or drizzle around south le uk dropping temperatures. further sou‘ or drizzle around south wales rain or drizzle around south wales and southern thing. and southern england first thing. this should clear all this should clear away last of all from the far south—west later in the morning, then some good spells of sunshine. if you showers running down those north sea coasts, where the wind will be strongest and it will feel quite a bit colder in the north—east of england and north—east scotland, to bed with yesterday. not so bad towards the south—west, where the winds are lighter and there is sunshine. but a frosty start on monday morning, particularly in the countryside. we will gradually turn milder into the week, as westerly winds will bring in more cloud and a little rain. this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. thousands call for spanish unity — at a mass rally in madrid. but catalonia's sacked leader vows

to resist direct rule. a gun battle has been taking place inside a mogadishu hotel between somali security forces and al—shabaab militants — after two bomb blasts outside leave more than a dozen dead. cricket returns to pakistan — nine years after a terror attack forced the national team to play abroad. mixed dancing, make—up — and the first marriage. a new reality for raqqa after islamic state.