welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: thousands protest in catalonia, as eight regional leaders are held in custody on charges of rebellion and sedition. new details emerge about the killing of four american servicemen in niger. we have a special report from the battlefield. as the site of the new york terror attack reopens, federal investigators question the suspect. and donald trump prepares for his first presidential tour of asia, with the shadow of a rising china looming large. hello. spain's constitutional crisis has ramped up, with thousands of people in catalonia protesting at the detention of eight regional government ministers, sacked over their bid for independence.

they're accused of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds. the high court in madrid is also seeking the arrest of catalonia's ousted leader carles puidgemont. he's in brussels and says he won't return until he and his colleagues are guaranteed a fair trial. this report from the bbc‘s tom burridge. in the police vans are eight men and women who a week ago ran the government of catalonia. now, taken toa government of catalonia. now, taken to a prison in madrid. they face serious charges, including rebellion against the spanish state. a judge denied them bail. as the news filtered through, their supporters gathered outside the regional parliament in barcelona. angry... and in shock. the government they

elected now behind bars. can you believe it, in a democratic country, that these things happen? that we can go back to the dark times again? we don't understand. we are very, very sad, deeply sad, deeply sad, and terrified. it reads political prisoners. madrid argues it has no influence over today's decision taken in the courts, but these activists and people across catalonia are sympathetic to the cause, and they say that claim is absurd. they were summoned to the high court of spain because they organised a disputed referendum which led to a unilateral declaration of independence by their parties in the regional parliament. why are you here? their former leader, carles puidgemont, still in

brussels, did not turn up to what he claims is a political trial. translation: the spanish government decision to imprison the vice president and the cabinet members of the legitimate government of catalonia elected on september the 27th is a very grave mistake. it is a grave attack on democracy. many people across spain and here in catalonia are also outraged, but are pro—independence politicians the ones who have pushed things so far? she says they flouted the law is and is so worried she might move abroad. so, a new chapter to this catalan crisis. and every day under the surface here, decisions more entrenched. new details have emerged

about the killing of four american special forces and four local troops in the west african country of niger last month. among those who died was army sergeant la david johnson, whose widow recently accused president trump of treating her insensitively during a condolence call. cbs reporter, deborah patta, has been to the site of the attack in tongo tongo the village of tongo tongo is so remote, the nigerian escorts had trouble finding the road to get there. this is where the 12 member american team and 30 nigerian soldiers stopped to get supplies. this village told us he saw four armed men on motorcycles approached the us convoy. he was so nervous he walked 35 miles to speak to us at another location. translation: we thought if it is just a few terrorists the soldiers can kill them easily, but we did not know

there were so many more of them waiting nearby. it was a trap. 0nce the islamic state fighters had lured the islamic state fighters had lured the troops away from the village, numbers multiplied, and suddenly they were under attack. you can still see the ebola cases left over from the intense shooting. the burnt out school, empty boxes of ammunition, that is all that is left. he told us there were at least 60 attackers armed with machine—guns and rocket propelled grenade. the fighting lasted over two hours. when it was over, he said he saw the bodies of three american soldiers slumped near their vehicle. all three were stripped of their uniforms. but it would be two days before children from the village discovered the fourth body of army sergeant la david johnson about half a mile away. it is still not clear howjohnson got separated from the rest. this soldier would only talk

of reconcile identity. he had been stripped of his uniform, he told us. his hands were tied and they had shot him in the head. the pentagon would not comment. there is still some confusion over why this american team had their mission extended and what exactly their assignment was. but either way, it meant they camped out overnight in dangerous territory, and that might have alerted the extremist to where they were. cbs news for bbc news, niger. let's ta ke let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. president donald trump has named jerome powell as his pick to lead the federal reserve. the multi—millionaire currently serves as a member of the bank's board and will replace current chairjanet yellen, whose term finishes in february. twitter is investigating how president trump's account was deactivated for 11 minutes. it's blaming human error. the downtime doesn't seem to have phased him. he was back online tweeting about tax cuts to his more than 41

million followers soon after. asylum seekers who are refusing to leave an australian detention centre in papua new guinea say they're digging into the ground to find water three days after the manus island camp officially closed. the 600 men there say they're afraid they'll be attacked if they leave the camp. a trove of artworks which was hoarded by the son of hitler's art dealer, hildebrand gurlitt, have gone on public display at the museum of fine arts in switzerland. the pieces were discovered in 2012 after the son's apartment was searched in a tax inquiry. two days since the truck attack on new york city that killed eight people and the bike path where the victims were mown down has just reopened. the suspect, sayfullo saipov has been speaking to investigators about how he planned the attack for a year beforehand. and lawyers have been looking closely at president trump's outspoken comments that saipov should be sent to guantanamo and deserves the death penalty. from new york, the bbc‘s nick bryant. the flags were at half—mast, but

what has been striking about the new york attack is how quickly the city has settled back into the rhythms of everyday life. the bike path where cyclists were mowed down has reopened. scattered with a few bunches of flowers, if history is with the marks of where the pick—up truck crashed into them. —— it is trees. this is a city of incessant motion, and life goes on. shackled and ina motion, and life goes on. shackled and in a wheelchair in court, sayfullo saipov, the suspect, has been charged with federal offences which could bring the death penalty. waving his rights, he spoke freely, and said he chose halloween for his attack because the street to be more crowded. he also wanted to display the flags of islamic state in his rented truck but thought it would

draw attention to himself. he also intended to continue his high—speed drive in lower manhattan as far as brooklyn bridge. a security camera ca ptu red brooklyn bridge. a security camera captured him as he rented the vehicle in newjersey. he decided to use a truck two months ago and had hired one previously to practise completing turns. the indications right now i that he acted alone.“ this inspired? did he get this off the internet? 0r this inspired? did he get this off the internet? or the communicating with islamic state officials? was directed? was a part of a plan? at this point, we see nothing to show other people were involved. in a series of tweets, donald trump said he would love to send sayfullo saipov to guantanamo bay but that process would take longer than the federal system. he added there is also something appropriate about keeping him in the home of the horrible crime he committed. it should move fast. death penalty!

donald trump is not concerned with influencing the trial, labelling the usjustice influencing the trial, labelling the us justice system a laughing stock. nick bryant, bbc news, new york. just an update from twitter on the story about the twitter account of donald trump been off—line for ii minutes, they said through the investigation they learned it was done by a twitter customer support employee who did this on his last day. we are conduct in, twitter says, a full internal review. more on that, i suspect, to come. britain has a new defence secretary following the resignation of sir michael fallon who stood down saying his conduct had "fallen short" of the required standards after allegations of inappropriate behaviour. he's the first politician to resign following recent claims of sexual harassment at the houses of parliament.

but as our political editor, laura kuenssberg, reports, some conservative party mps aren't impressed by his replacement. nervously waiting at the ministry of defence. he looked a bit fretful too, as he waited across the road at number 10. is it time to clean out the stables, defence secretary? before long, gavin williamson emerged with the top brass. to take a proud walk across whitehall into one of the biggestjobs in government. he's never worked in a government department before, though. it's a privilege to be able to step into this role. and what's so amazing is to have so many first—rate, world—renowned people to be working with. and the armed services are the greatest pride of our nation. until today, he was in charge of party discipline. last month, he described his approach. i don't much like the stick. but it is amazing what can be achieved with a sharpened carrot. less time for cheesy

local mp pictures. instead of managing his constituency and 315 tory mps, he's in charge of about 200,000 staff and £36 billion. part of a rising tory generation and a yorkshireman to boot. and here's his replacement, julian smith, the new tory arm—twister in chief. one of gavin williamson's compadres, who seems to have inherited his tarantula. yes, the giant spider the former chief whip kept on his desk. is it time to clean out the stables, ms mcvey? the new number two, esther mcvey, who says she'll add this to the mix. hopefully, i can bring maybe a feminine touch to the whip's office and work with all my colleagues. the logic of gavin williamson's move over there is simple, he's a good operator and theresa may trusts him.

but the push—back has been fierce. 0ne senior tory told me he's abandoned his post at a crucial time. 0ne minister suggested that he has outplayed number 10, saying theresa may is so weak, she has allowed him to appoint himself. and one former minister said this shows that the government is in the grip of a bunch of boys. as ever, in politics, the irony is rich. the man who was in charge of making sure that mps behave has found himself in a plum newjob because one of his colleagues did not. and all the parties are readying themselves in case they have to defend their side from more potential allegations of bad behaviour. the foreign secretary, known for his interesting private life, said today he had nothing to hide. thank you, foreign secretary. number 10 acknowledges that everyone has to do more to protect staff and victims at westminster. but there are calls for wholesale change. we've seen bullying allegations

that've happened between members of staff, we've seen allegations of sexual impropriety between elected members and others, and this is all about power. it's who holds that power and how they use it that sets the course. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. still to come. meeting our new cousins. scientists discover a previously unknown species of great ape. the israeli prime minister, yitzhak rabin, the architect of the middle east peace process, has been assassinated. a 27—year—old jewish man has been arrested, and an extremistjewish organisation has claimed responsibility for the killing. at polling booths throughout the country, they voted on a historic day for australia. as the results came in, it was clear. the monarchy would survive. of the american hostages, there was no sign. they are being held

somewhere inside the compound, and student leaders have threatened that should the americans attempt rescue, they will all die. this mission has surpassed all expectations. voyager one is now the most distant man—made object anywhere in the universe, and itjust seems to keep on going. tonight, we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of ourarms, or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: spain's constitutional crisis has ramped up, with thousands of people in catalonia protesting at the detention of eight regional government ministers, sacked over their bid for independence. new details have emerged about the killing of four american special forces in the west african country of niger, last month.

president trump leaves for his first official trip to asia on friday. the agenda during his five—country tour will be dominated by the risk of conflict over north korea's nuclear weapons programme. but behind that crisis is an underlying struggle for strategic dominance in asia between washington and beijing. 0ur china editor carrie gracie reports. a game where the past is america but the future maybe china. big stars are moving here for the money and the eyeballs. there are almost as many chinese shooting hoops as there are americans on the planet. translation: the united states is still the one to beat, and it will take china time to catch up, but basketball is our national sport now and you can play anywhere. the rules of basketball are one thing, but the rules of the global power club are another.

china's resisted american lectures on open markets and democracy. it's winning its own way. "america first," warned candidate trump. we can't continue to allow china to rape our country, and that's what they're doing. but when president trump played host in april, he needed china's help on north korea. there were no trade sanctions. he called president xi a good friend. we're going to have a very, very great relationship and i look very much forward to it. xijinping has lots of friends, though. party comrades, applauding his promise that china will build a first—class military and move to centre stage. this is the generation who'll have to make that dream come true. explaining the map of asia from a chinese point of view. since world war ii, the us navy's

patrolled these contested seas, but china's pressing its claim. and rivalry is growing. i think president xi and president trump should better communicate and try to compromise, so, maybe in this case, lots of the security problems can be solved or at least decreased. i do think there will be more rivalry but there also will be more opportunities, artificial intelligence and many high—tech areas that need the co—operation between china and the united states. i do not completely agree with you. if we look back to history, we will see that a lot of wars have originated from economic conflicts. china's history has seen many great powers rise and fall, and it builds its us strategy brick by careful brick. president trump's visit is an important moment for china. the host will do nothing

to antagonise his guest, but he has less reason than any recent chinese leader to bow to american demands. president xi believes the united states is in steep decline, and china, rising, in a power game to define our century. carrie gracie, bbc news, on the great wall of china. ahead of president trump's asia tour, his national security advisor has been laying out the president's views on north korea. general mcmaster says the world is "running out of time" on stopping the nuclear crisis and that the united states is prepared to defend itself if needed. north korea is a threat to the entire world so all nations of the world must do more to counter that threat. that is happening at the president recognised as we are running out of time and will ask all

nations to do more. in particular, the president will call on all responsible nations, especially those with the most influence over north korea, to isolate the north korean regime economically and politically. more than 700 civilians died in execution—style killings by islamic state militants, during the battle for the iraqi city of mosul, according to the un. the group also allegedly used citizens as human shields. the un says they must be held accountable and also called for an investigation into alleged violations by iraqi forces. the first major exhibition looking back at the work of malian photographer malick sidibe has opened in paris. he died last year, and is best known for his black and white photos of bamako night life in post—independence mali. but his studio portraits of the west african country's fashionable youth are also much admired. mayenijones reports. malian photographer, malick sidibe, has won numerous international prizes.

however, this is the first major retrospective of his work. translation: malick sidibe is mostly known for his nightlife pictures but he was also a studio photographer, as well as taking pictures of young people on the banks of the niger river. so for the first time, we've put together his nightlife pictures, the niger river pictures, his studio portraits, all his archives. 270 pictures altogether. alongside sidibe's photographs, separate artworks have been commissioned from congolese painterjp mika. and from a ghanaian sculptor, paa joe, whose work is inspired by his country's tradition of personalised coffins. malick sidibe's first exhibition outside of bali took place here at the cartier foundation almost 22 years ago.

since then he has become one of africa's best—known artists. capturing the joy and the freedom of mali's youth after independence. at a time of social and political turbulence, both in europe and in africa, that sense of optimism is needed more than ever. malick sidibe's work incorporated malian youth into the global trends in music and fashion of the 60s, creating a dialogue between his country and the wider world. and for manlian filmmaker and academic, manthia diawara, this explains why his workers had all global appeal than that of other african photographers from the same period. malick sidibe is a war photographer, that is the crucial difference. his 60s is the people of barbados's their 60s. people in johannesburg, it is their 60s. people in rio dejaneiro, it is their 60s. people in new york, it's their 60s. people in london it is their 60s. that is what was crucial.

the rising of availability of cheap colour photography led to falling demand for malick sidibe's services in bamako but he continues to inspire young photographers today, particularly in the world of fashion. this exhibition's curators hope he will continue to inspire the generations to come. mayenijones, bbc news, paris. a new species of great ape has been discovered by an international team of scientists. the tapanuli orangutan — found in the dense forests of sumatra in indonesia is now the third confirmed species of orangutan — and only the seventh non—human great ape. 0ur science reporter victoria gill has the story. the remote mountain forests of sumatra are home to some of our closest ape relatives. and a small population here, first discovered just 20 years ago, has been hiding a scientific secret. this is the tapanuli orangutan, a species new to science. until now, it was thought

that there were just two distinct species of orangutan, sumatran and bornean, like this big male here. but this new study shows that there are actually three — a tiny population has been hidden away and isolated by hundreds of thousands of years of evolution. early dna analysis suggested these animals were peculiar compared to the other sumatran apes. so, scientists embarked on a detailed study examining what they ate, and their unique calls. years of painstaking genetic comparisons enabled scientists to reconstruct the animals' evolutionary history. the final piece of the puzzle, though, was tiny but consistent differences between the sumatran and this, the tapanuli orangutan‘s skull. it's an amazing breakthrough, i think. there's only seven, if we exclude ourselves, great ape species.

so, adding one to that very small list is spectacular. withjust 800 known individuals, this species will go straight onto the critically endangered list. logging, mining and plans for a hydroelectric damn already pose a threat to its habitat. the hope is that adding this ape to the biology textbooks will help to ensure its survival. victoria gill, bbc news. the main news again: spain's constitutional crisis has ramped up. thousands protesting. misuse of public funds, sedition and other charges have been laid against eight ministers. hello. thursday turned out to be a day

of mixed weather fortunes right across the british isles. for some, the morning fog became the afternoon fog. it really didn't get away from some spots, especially in the somerset levels. first thing on friday, a coolish start, despite the extensive cloud. but it's the fog again that will be concentrating my mind and should be on your mind too across the southern counties of england, especially for that morning rush—hour. bbc local radio will keep you right up—to—date with the worst of the conditions, which could stretch from the eastern side of devon, through the west country, central and southern england and into parts of the south—east. from wales to the midlands to east anglia, more cloudy and maybe a spot of rain. dry weather for the most part as we get into the north of england, much of northern ireland and the eastern side of scotland. drift further towards the north and west in scotland, a new set of weather fronts coming in, with cloud, wind and rain making very slow progress through the day. much of the fog will lift away through the morning as more cloud comes down towards the southern counties.

we may find the odd glimpse of sunshine coming through. temperatures as you see for most in double figures. one or two sheltered spots in the east of scotland, despite the brightness, will be stuck at 9—10 degrees or so. 0vernight this is where we see quite a dramatic change. the weather front is making itself felt in scotland and northern ireland, but we have more cloud and a real developing situation here, with the rain becoming quite widespread in england and wales as we start the weekend. the weekend of course is one forfireworks and bonfires perhaps, but it's turning colder eventually and there will be a mixture of sunny spells and showers and it will take time before we get rid of these weather fronts, which will bring in a fair amount of cloud and rain widely to start off saturday across the greater part of england and wales. maybe the far south of scotland too. further north and west, a mixture of sunny spells and showers and a north—westerly and a chilly one at that.

that will take time before it works its way down into the south—eastern quarter of the british isles and don't hold me to that exact timing of that rain getting away from the coast of east anglia and kent. it could be 2—3 hours perhaps later than that. but eventually i think the colder air will win out. sunday looks to be more straightforward, with a mixture of sunny spells and blustery showers. especially in northern and western parts. a high of ii. this is bbc news. the headlines: tens of thousands of catalans have protested outside the regional parliament in barcelona and in other towns against the detention of eight ousted catalan government ministers. a spanishjudge said they had to be detained because they might otherwise leave the country or destroy evidence. new details have emerged about the killing of four american special forces and four local troops in the west african country of niger last month. among those who died was army sergeant la david johnson, whose widow recently accused president trump of treating her insensitively during a condolence call.

it's two days since the truck attack on new york city that killed eight people, and the bike path where the victims were mown down has just reopened. the suspect, sayfullo saipov, has been speaking to investigators about how he planned the attack for a year beforehand. he's appeared in federal court. now on bbc news, thursday in parliament.