this is bbc news. the headlines at 7.00pm: hundreds of thousands of people march through barcelona in a show of unity with spain and to protest against catalan independence. the prime minister calls for new measures to deal with complaints of sexual harassment against members of parliament. that's after an investigation is launched into the international trade minister mark garnier as he admits asking his secretary to buy sex toys. heathrow airport says it's confident it remains safe, after details of security procedures were found on an unencrypted memory stick. the mexican grand prix gets under way , lewis hamilton only needs a fifth place finish to be crowned world champion. and a win in new south wales brings the england women's cricket team within touching distance of the australians in the ashes. good evening and

welcome to bbc news. hundreds of thousands of people have been demonstrating in barcelona, in support of a united spain. it follows the national government's decision to take direct control of catalonia, after regional leaders voted to declare independence on friday. the sacked separatist leader carlos puigdemont, has called on his supporters to defy direct rule from madrid. but those backing a united spain, say he should go to jail. our correspondentjames reynolds is in barcelona. catalonia's pro—spain movement is emerging from its recent quiet. the afternoon in, this

anti—independence movement had its say. had its say. catalonia's pro—spain movement is emerging from its recent quiet. these are the people who want to stay inside spain. they make up around half of the population of this region, and they insist that they are both catalan and spanish. and you are catalan? i am catalan from my grandparents, my parents, and i am catalan and spanish and european. so you don't want to leave? i don't want to leave at all. catalonia is spain, these kids right. catalans are divided at this moment. this is very sad. can you get back together? yes, i would like it very much. because i love catalonia, i love spain, and i love europe. for years, these people have felt overshadowed, and overridden by pro—independence campaigners.

they now see this as their chance to change the balance of power in catalonia. this crowd celebrates the government's sacking of catalonia's pro—independence authorities. for the first time in four decades, this region is being ruled directly by madrid. what do you think about the measures the spanish government has taken? i think we have to take these measures, and we don't want to arrive to this situation, but i think we have no option. i am catalan, 100% catalan. i live in madrid. i came to demonstrate and to please keep together with spain. jail to carles puigdemont, the crowd chant. put him in prison, this woman says.

but the way all the pro—independence politicians. ears like a dictator. we will vote, so the card. there will be a vote in december, an opportunity for the side to pick leaders they want to stay in spain. so far, here, direct rule from madrid has not notably changed life in catalonia. but, at the start of the working week, will those sacked leaders return to work? we will find out how the latest developments in catalonia's declaration of independence in tomorrow's papers. our guestsjoining me

tonight are the economics commentator and author, dharshini david and the home affairs editor of the london evening standard, martin bentham. complaints of inappropriate behaviour and sexual harrassment by mps, have now led to a government minister being placed under investigation. the international trade minister mark garnier, has admitted asking his secretary to buy two sex toys, describing the incident as "good humoured high jinks". meanwhile theresa may has written to the speaker of the house of commons, asking him to look into a new system for staff, to report inappropriate behaviour. here's our political correspondent alex forsyth. in recent days, westminster has been braced for what fresh claims of impropriety. today, the trade minister was the subject of a newspaper report. it said, seven yea rs newspaper report. it said, seven years ago, used a rocketry language toa years ago, used a rocketry language to a former secretary, and once asked her to buy sex toys. mr garnier said this was taken out of

context, which did not constitute harassment. none the government was quick to act. these stories if they are true, are to be unacceptable, and the cabinet office will be conducting an investigation as to whether there has been a breach of the minced ministerial code. what i would say is that there are mums and dads who have daughters who are politics student, hoping to get a job in westminster, and they must be able to be confident that if they get thatjob, that able to be confident that if they get that job, that their daughter will not be subject to some of these behaviours that we have seen. last week, the labour mp, jarrod o'mara was a suspended after admitting to homophobic and sexist comments. the prime minister says current disciplinary procedures do not have enough teeth. she has written to the house of commons speaker, calling for a new system for the business.

labour and conservative mps have set a clear resistant to report concerns might help. there is recognition that a change of culture is needed, and that is harder to achieve, some hope that renewed debate about sexual harassment made mac mark a turning point, so that people who felt the bodies to per up with, turning point, so that people who felt the bo accepted. up with, turning point, so that people who felt the bo accepted. mps ith, turning point, so that people who felt the bo accepted. mps say that and not be accepted. mps say that while ——... and not be accepted. mps say that while --. .. it's and not be accepted. mps say that while --... it's partly to do and not be accepted. mps say that while --. .. it's partly to do with the idea that all of these men are away from home, and it is partly to do with the fact that there were eight bars, and very long hours, and the bars were a open as long as fitting. it is partly in relation to this idea that what happens in westminster stays in westminster. it was worse, it is better now, but it's got a long way to go. claims of sexism, even stuck scandal might have dubbed this case the deckers.

public scrutiny perhaps forcing higher standards from politicians. and alex joins us now. as theresa may points out in that letter to the speaker of the house, there is already much been done including a 20 47 helpline that is helping... watches effectively saying is that she doesn't think the current procedures are robust enough if you like. at the moment, as you say, there is it 2a hour confidential helpline, to give people advice. there is actually a parliamentary standards commissioner, and bacon refined views of a the code of conduct, but mps are effectively self—imposed, so there is no across hr system. what's theresa may is saying that she thinks there should be a mediation service and a contactjulie binding greed than is —— contact shirley ——

contract binding grievance procedure. they want to see the prime minister doing more about the wider issue, across the whole of society, not just across wider issue, across the whole of society, notjust across the corridors of power of westerners. they want to know what dummer why this is going on for so long.|j think the allegations in the recent days have largely been anonymous, apart from those that have been made today, and lots of them have apart from those that have been made tod officially fits of them have apart from those that have been made tod officially complained lave apart from those that have been made tod officially complained about, not not officially complained about, not put forward as official complaint, so put forward as official complaint, soi put forward as official complaint, so i think what we are seeing plays into a culture that hasn't insisted for a long time, and that people are now realising its ultimate should not be tolerated any more. the labour leader said as much in, yesterday. he said that this kind of sexism and misogyny is not confined to one institution or sector, but is widespread across society. now, the focus is on westminster, as the prime minister and the leader of the

0pposition, and all mps are keen to be seen to act now, especially when we have the public debate, as it is, which for some people might help focus minds about what is and isn't excitable. —— acceptable. it's been reported that the bbc has suspended the radio 5live presenter george riley, following claims by a number of women, about his behaviour. he presents coverage of rugby league, snooker and darts, and is a regular voice on radio. the bbc says it can't comment on individual staff members. officials at heathrow airport are investigating after details of its security procedures were found on a memory stick in the street. the sunday mirror says information concerning the queen was on the unencrypted device as well as files on safeguards for cabinet ministers and foreign dignitaries. 0ur correspondent dan johnson is at heathrow airport. the government is changing the rules around paying child support — so parents can no longer use a legal

loophole to avoid their responsibilities. it was found in a street in west london, and taken by the chap who founded your library, where he plugged it in to see what was on it, and was able to freely access all of this sensitive security data about the airport. maps that show cctv cameras, roots that people likely queen and cabinet ministers and foreign dignitaries would take, diving into the airport, and then the routes that they would take through the tunnels to get to their place. there was data about what sort of ideas required to get into different parts of the airport, and details about tunnels that are under the terminal, under the runway, the sort of tunnels that connect the railway lines. all sorts of sensitive information, that could be really useful to anybody who was

plotting something sinister here at the airport. they have emphasised there has been no security breach. the man who found it handed to the sunday mirror, and they alerted the airport. there is now an investigation that... how that data was downloaded, why was taken away from the airport, and crucially, why it wasn't encrypted to it secure. you mention, lots of embarrassing questions need to be asked, how is this information used, what is it used four, who is in charge of that kind of security? well, there is a huge security operation here at heathrow, and the busiest airport in europe, obviously the biggest airport in the country, and it is surrounded by different security measures, not just the surrounded by different security measures, notjust the cameras, we have only got to come here and set up have only got to come here and set upatv have only got to come here and set up a tv camera and your pounced on by armed police. it is one of the most sensitive and secure sites that we have, so this will be seen as an

embarrassing lapse in security, this is the sort of high—level detail thatis is the sort of high—level detail that is shared amongst the airport authorities, and police, and special branch is when they are planning the visit of the queen, but also, routine day to day information about the sort of id that different members of staff have, and the timing and details of security patrols around the edge airport perimeter. a lot of information on this memory stick of different kinds, the creed question will be, who downloaded it, what were they doing with it, did they have a lawful rights to download that information and ticket away from the airport, and if they did, then why‘d they not take more measures to make sure that it was secure. even just losing a members restate like that is bad enough, but to not have the sensitive information protected, that will be seen as a security lapse. they are trying to get to the bottom of what who was responsible and why they were doing this.

the government is changing the rules around paying child support — so parents can no longer use a legal loophole to avoid their responsibilities. people have been able to avoid payments by putting their money in a joint account with a new partner. the department for work and pensions says it hopes the change will lead to nearly 400,000 pounds a year in additional child maintenance being collected. we arejoined by we are joined by our correspondence. how did this new poll workers mike under new laws that will be brought m, under new laws that will be brought in, parents will no longer be able to use legal loopholes to avoid paying child maintenance. what has currently happened, in some cases is that parents are able to take money from an bank accounts that can be purely from that one parent. some people are cheating the system, and getting around that by having a joint account. earlier this year, the bbc obtained figures that said that 1.2 million people are over ah owed child maintenance. that is the

uk backlog of the 8p in uncollected payments. some experts do not believe that in practice this will make much difference, but that includes the divorce and family lawyer. i personally don't think will work, it will be to expand to e nforce. will work, it will be to expand to enforce. naturally, people are going to say that the money is mine, and proving otherwise, when there are so many ways to get around it, it's going to be nigh on impossible. i totally accept that a lot more has totally accept that a lot more has to be done, to stop what we call serial offenders, that keep avoiding paying child support, and one thing that we are at the lower end of the scale, but it is actually very wealthy people getting away with book is —— very wealthy people getting away with it, because they are 7—point. getting away with it, because they are 7-point. gingerbread is if --

because they are 7—point. gingerbread is a charity that has been campaigning about islington issue. the government is saying that there are safeguards in place. those include, money will only be taken from thejoint include, money will only be taken from the joint account, that is when in paying parent does not have an account on their own, or there is not enough money in their account. another safeguard is that only funds belonging to that parent will actually be deducted. laura, thank you for that. thousands of drivers are breaking the law by driving their diesel cars without pollution filters, experts have told bbc five live investigates. nearly 2,000 cars have been found without filters since 2014, but it's thought the number is much higher. it is illegal to drive without them

but many cars which have had the filters removed go unnoticed during mot tests. the driver and vehicle standards agency says it plans to improve the tests next year. you can do and the visual inspection of the vehicle, but increasingly, garages are getting quite good at dealing the unit back up, so it is ha rd to dealing the unit back up, so it is hard to see on a very cursory crop plants. beyond that, you're looking at some sophisticated omissions detecting equipment to detect that the filter has been removed. you say removed, is this a case where the filters are fitted to stand new vocals, they have to be replaced after a time, and that it is simply saving money not replace them as mike yes, there is the question of saving money, typically over £1000, but also, there are other benefits of removing the filter, potentially in terms of vehicle performance, vehicle fuel economy. so, there is a

lot of incentive to do this. when the cars are rolling off the production line, they are coming off clea n, production line, they are coming off clean, so in this case, new manufacturers are delivering clean ca res, manufacturers are delivering clean cares, but users have this incentive to re m ove cares, but users have this incentive to remove them later on. that is, presumably the issue here, how you create a situation in which either the filters aren't removed, all if they have been removed, they can actually spot it, and people have to correct that, which presumably, the business to do that is the mot? yes, the obvious there is absolutely as that. what will be acquired is a better system in moore ‘s sophisticated of government in garages to pick up when the filter has been removed. 0ther garages to pick up when the filter has been removed. other ideas ——... there are fairly dramatic statistics given for the number of people who are killed because of air pollution

in this country, and we're talking thousands and thousands of people. there lies a shortened, if nothing else, by the state of the error in certain parts of the uk. is it possible to make a direct link, between this, the removal of filters, and the effect on people help? think there is a very good body of health evidence now that links these particle emissions to health problems and incidence of heart cancer and other respiratory problems. in essence, moving a filter from problems. in essence, moving a filterfrom a diesel problems. in essence, moving a filter from a diesel vehicle takes ca i’s filter from a diesel vehicle takes cars back to diesels of 20 years ago, with those characteristic puffs of blacksmith out of the exhaust pipe. all of the progress, to virtually eliminate particle emissions, that you see on modern cars, can be completely undone, back 20 years, and back to the levels of health effects of them. in terms of

the future, everybody is talking about an increased use of electric cars, we have had the scandal over the omissions testing on diesel vehicles, but what is your assessment on how long we are going to have to live with this problem? 0n the particle site, which is one of the filters about, there are with them better surveillance, better mot ts, them better surveillance, better mot ‘s, more spot checking by the regulators, randomly taking cars of the road and inspecting them, there isa the road and inspecting them, there is a solution reasonably soon. the other emissions of the diesel gate scandal, that is going to take longer. there is new regular nation, but there is a long way to go. the regulations are becoming slowly. there will be a question of compliance because reducing those emissions is very extensive. a powerful storm has hit central

europe. hundreds of thousands of people are without electricity in both czech republic and poland. strong winds of nearly 140 kilometres an hour have led to problems across central europe. they have been the cause of human tragedy too. in the czech republic, falling trees proved all too deadly for one woman in the forest, and an elderly man in the street. strong winds have helped it traffic in dozens of ra i lwa ys helped it traffic in dozens of railways and important - a railways and important roads. a state—run power company says hundreds of thousands of households in czech republic have been left without power, largely because of fallen trees. the tree has full in

the direction of where it has fallen, and it did not fall on the house, so it cause less damage. in the north of the country, the wind caused a wooden orthodox church to topple over, while some rivers have reached their highest flood alert levels. germany has also been affected, railway operator has cited significant damage. services have been spent on monday. the storm has caused flooding in hamburg, where waters rose up around the city's historic fish market. a 63—year—old man drowned at a campsite in lower saxony. in poland, almost... continuous rains had been the cause

of heavy flooding, a warning issued by weather forecasters say that polish people should stand by for further flooding. itv has ended the contract of one of coronation street's main actors following an internal inquiry. bruno langley, who plays todd grimshaw in the soap, is no longer part of the cast according to an itv statement. the sunday mirror has reported that mr langley was dismissed after allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman in a club. mr langley has confirmed he has left the show, and says he will make a further statement when he is able to do so. police are appealing for information after a suspected acid attack on a group of doormen in salford. officers were called to the white hotel nightclub in the early hours of this morning after a man, who had earlier been asked to leave the club, returned with a knife and threw an unknown liquid at door staff. two men are currently in hospital receiving treatment for burns. their injuries are not said to be life—threatening. a 15—year—old boy is in a critical condition in hospital afterfalling

from a bridge at the trafford shopping centre in manchester. police have released four of five teenagers that were arrested in connection with the incident which happened from a covered walkway yesterday evening. it's originally thought there may have been an altercation in the group, but police believe this is no longer the case. a 16—year—old boy has died after a suspected drugs overdose at a halloween rave in north wales. north wales police say he is believed to have taken ecstasy—type tablets described as pink, square shaped with the rolls royce rr symbol on one side and 200mg on the other. they have also urged anyone with information to come forward as the investigation at a very early stage. it may be one of the world's most advanced economies, but america has historically high numbers of people who can't read and write. illiteracy levels are more than 8%, nearly double the rate in the uk. that's 16 million people who can't read and write, with many having gone

through the education system. aleem maqbool reports now, from kentucky. michaeljohnson said not being able to read left an out cast. the literacy levels in the usa are almost double what they are here. it affected his ability to do even the simplest of tasks at work. my employer told me to go... i wouldn't even know how to locate that box, because i didn't have the skills to read the letters of the box. it's not that michael didn't go to school, he did, but what he faced decades ago still affects so many children in america today. right across this country there are an astonishing number of people who go right through the school system, without ever learning to read.

there are now more than 16 million american adults who are functionally illiterate. a proportion of the population that compares badly to other developed nations, but why? there is huge inequality when it comes to education standards in america. rich districts and poor ones often have startling differences in school was also is. —— in school resources. for peggy, who is learning to read to help her children, there were other factors too. what stopped you from learning to read? my parents and the schools. they didn't want to help me do my learning. so, they sent me away, and they thought that would help, but it didn't. it is a common complaint here that the system does not deal well with those who need a little extra help. i think sometimes we soften our expectations, and think that that is doing a service to the child. but, in reality, what we are doing is, while it might build up their self—esteem for a little

while, it does really hit them later. for this day in america, someone's economic background, which can mean race, and learning to faculties can play such a massive part in whether they get left behind. nicola sturgeon is to apologise on behalf of the scottish government to gay men convicted of now—abolished sexual offences. the first minister will make her statement next week to coincide with new legislation to grant automatic pardons to those affected. the law will also allow the removal of such crimes from criminal records. catriona renton reports. until 1981, all sexual activity between men was a criminal offence in scotland. the law was then changed to decriminalise sex between men over the age of 21. in england, that law was changed in 1967. but it took another 20 years for the age of consent to be reduced to 16.

last month, the first minister, nicola sturgeon, announced a new bill that would automatically pardon all men, alive and dead, convicted of these crimes. she will publish this and make an apology at holyrood on the 7th of november on behalf of the scottish government for the treatment of homosexual men under previous governments. by offering you this ring... gay marriage became legal in scotland in 2014. but looking to the past, the scottish government said the new bill will give justice to those criminalised simply because of who they loved. those who have convictions will also be able to apply to have them removed from central records. in england and wales, there is no automatic pardon, except for those who died before february this year. those who are living will receive a pardon after their convictions have been deleted because the secretary of state is satisfied that the conduct is no longer criminal. catriona renton, bbc news. allegations of mysterious attacks

on american diplomats in cuba are a "political manipulation" aimed at undermining relations, according to the cuban foreign minister. on a visit to washington, bruno rodriguez denied any such attacks had taken place. a number of workers at the us embassy in havana fell ill, reportedly as a result of covert sonic devices. julia macfarlane reports the headlines on bbc news: more than 20 american citizens ported symptoms that officials suggest may have come from some sort of sonic weapon. cuba has dismissed these claims as unfounded and full. the so—called attacks are unjust. whatever the type of attack,

whatever the incident, it is com pletely whatever the incident, it is completely false. late last year, american staff started suffering from headaches, dizziness and hearing loss. while the us has not formally accused cuba of carrying out any attacks, president of trump said last week that have anna was responsible. they did some bad things. as well as withdrawing their staff in havana, americans expelled 17 cuban diplomat in washington. cuba since that was the wrong decision and has made it harder to serve their citizens in the us. the us government made a baseless, shallow, hasty and unacceptable decision to expel 17 of our officials. this has a negative impact on our consular services, and makes it