welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm duncan golestani. our top stories: while thousands protest in catalonia, belgium receives an arrest warrant for the independence leader, carles puigdemont. translation: with the government in jail, these elections won't be neutral, independent, or normal. first stop hawaii — president trump is on his way to asia, with north korea high on the agenda. spared jail by a militaryjudge, the american soldier who abandoned his post in afghanistan. and police in new york say they have a viable case against the disgraced hollywood producer harvey weinstein. hello.

a spanishjudge has issued an international arrest warrant for the ousted catalan leader, carles puidgemont, and four other ex—ministers. it follows the disputed independence referendum for the catalan region, which the spanish government declared illegal. mr puidgemont, who is in belgium, has insisted he is not there to evade justice. tom burridge reports. another night, another protest. this time, calls for catalan politicians to be released. these prisoners didn't commit any crime. if they take them to jail, they should take us to jail too. we only want to vote, and to be free. catalonia's former government, which they elected, is accused of rebellion. eight former catalan ministers

will spend the weekend in prison, after a judge denied them bail. and now, an arrest warrant for the former catalan president carles puigdemont. he is in brussels. tonight, on belgian tv, he described the case against him and his colleagues as exceptional and wrong. translation: this is not normal, that we face up to 30 years in prison. 30 years, because we respected the wishes of the electorate. this is not normal. it is extremely barbaric. and, in sleepy catalan villages, divisions are now often on public display. the abuse hurled atjordi, a pro—independence councillor. at the local school where a month ago he, arms crossed at the front,

led a human wall blocking spain's civil guard. it is because of that disputed referendum that his political leaders are now injail, ahead of their trial. translation: it reminds me more of a repressive state like turkey than a country of the european union. lively discussions at home, too. this family split on that key question. who is in favour of independence for catalonia? his sister is, his mum and dad are wavering. but jordi is not. "spain's laws have to be followed," he tells me, "and those who don't should be prosecuted." almost every day, a new chapter in this catalan crisis. on the horizon now, regional elections. but, with pro—independence leaders in jail, divisions below the surface are ever more entrenched. tom burridge, bbc news, in barcelona. president trump has arrived in hawaii, en route to asia. with tensions in the region

simmering, not least over north korea, the world is watching to see how mr trump handles this round of diplomacy. the president and first lady arrived on air force one in oahu in the last few hours, and have paid a visit to pearl harbour, before they travel to japan on sunday. after tokyo, it is on to south korea, followed by china, then vietnam. mr trump will round things off with a visit to the philippines. robert daly, director of the kissinger institute at the woodrow wilson centre, says mr trump will be hoping to strengthen america's trade and investment relationship with china. he is going to come home mostly with deals and some vague assurances. but he probably won't get, at least from china, any structural changes to the american trade relationship with china, which is what he really wants. xijinping just had a 19th party congress that elevated to him

into a strong position. he likes the current state of the us—china relationship. he doesn't have many asks for donald trump, and there's no particular reason he has to give him anything big. so he'll be rolling out a big, thick carpet, and what this is code for is that they think through flattering president trump they can get him to not be as hard on them, and to perhaps praise xijinping as he has in the past, for being powerful, speak about how much we respect him. they would like a purely ceremonial meeting, and they think flattery is the way to get that. our correspondent stephen mcdonnell is in tokyo, where the president will arrive on sunday morning local time. stephen, the president is visiting pearl harbor. that is an important stop for any american president, isn't it? yes, that's right. on the way to his visit here injapan, president trump is going to pearl harborfor president trump is going to pearl harbor for a president trump is going to pearl harborfor a ceremonial trip, i suppose. it is important to do that,

in the eyes of the us government, but i suspect what could be more important while he is in hawaii is his trip to camp smith, where he will be receiving a classified reefing from the us pacific command. —— classified briefing. i say classified, but we can all guess that they will be discussing north korea, and that is what is likely to permeate his trip throughout asia, especially in the initial stages. in tokyo, in seoul, and also in beijing. looking ahead towards japan, then, what do you think the japanese will be hoping to get from president trump during his stay there? well, in theory, he could be speaking about trade relations between the two countries. i don't think that that is going to be at the forefront of people's mayans. i think it is all going to be swamped by north korea. now, when it comes to north korea i think what people

injapan are looking for is a reassurance that the us has their back this neck of the woods. after all, every time that north korea fires of one of its test missiles, it goes over this country. and there is great, understandable, concern about north korea's nuclear weapons programme. so i think that while they might be talking a bit about trade, the possibility of the us japan free—trade agreement, japan wanting the us to come back to the tpp, the transpacific partnership, but as i say, it is all going to be about north korea. for example, donald trump will be also visiting a base here and meeting us troops. and when he goes to seoul he will be talking to the troops again. so it is all going to be an attempt to pull together a sort of a coalition in this area, to somehow bring north korea to bear on the question of nuclear weapons. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news: the so—called islamic state has lost control of its two remaining strongholds in iraq and syria. the syrian army says it has taken

back the city of deir al—zour, while the iraqi town of al-qaim has been captured by government forces. iraqi soldiers say they have also driven is from the last border post it held between the two countries. malta has observed a day of mourning for the funeral of the murdered anti—corruption campaigner daphne ca ruana galizia. the blogger, who had made allegations of corruption against leading politicians, was killed by a car bomb last month. the french footballer patrice evra, who plays for marseille, has been suspended after he kicked one of his own fans. the france international, who was a substitute in a europa league game in portugal, was sent off after he aimed a kick at the head of one of his club's supporters, before the match had even started. european football's governing body, uefa, has charged evra with violent conduct. the us soldier bowe bergdahl, who pleaded guilty to abandoning his

post while serving in afghanistan, has been spared a jail sentence by a militaryjudge. bergdahl has instead been given a dishonourable discharge, had his rank reduced to private, and will have to pay a $10,000 fine. president trump, who had previously suggested that bergdahl should be executed, reacted immediately on twitter, calling the sentence a complete and total disgrace to our country and to our military. during the trial, bergdahl‘s lawyers argued that he had several mental health conditions and should not face prison. his lawyer, eugene fidel, spoke to reporters outside the court. in american society as a whole, we are not at the point yet where all stigma that has traditionally attached to mental hygiene and mental health issues has been dissipated. if this case leads to renewed

attention to that, that will be a really wonderful byproduct, won't it? journalist sig christenson covers military and veterans' affairs in san antonio, where bowe bergdahl was based. thank you so much forjoining us here on bbc news. it really does seem that there is a split in our bowe bergdahl is viewed. some see him asa bowe bergdahl is viewed. some see him as a victim, others a villain. what is the view that today? him as a victim, others a villain. what is the view that today7m him as a victim, others a villain. what is the view that today? it is as divided as it has ever been. i have not had time to look at social media too much. i have been looking this evening, and i am very disturbed by what i have been seeing. people have assumed that bowe bergdahl is guilty of treason, that he went over to the enemy. they wa nt that he went over to the enemy. they want the death penalty. this case

had nothing to do with any of those things. what was the defence's argument for him not serving a prison sentence? well, that is the fa ct prison sentence? well, that is the fact that bowe bergdahl has really had a hard time of it as a prisoner. but there is no evidence that he actually deserved it, outside of leaving his post for one day. he was ca ptu red leaving his post for one day. he was captured immediately, and the way this works, in the trial, in this proceeding, is that the court accepted the view that he deserted for one day. in the law, you are usually not listed as a deserter for 30 days. that is what it takes for you to become a desert in the us. army. so that is not the problem here. i think a larger problem is that it became a very politicised issue after the rose garden statement that barack 0bama had with his parents. and his supervisor also

said that he had served honourably. well, as we have seen, he really had not served honourably. that is not at issue any more. the disputed issueis at issue any more. the disputed issue is what kind of punishment he deserves, and the judge issue is what kind of punishment he deserves, and thejudge had heard a lot of evidence. and the biggest piece of it, apparently, was president trump's comments during the campaign. ok, thank you very much forjoining us. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: it is a pink piece of presley pop history, and this cadillac is coming up for sale. 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 our arms, or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the belgian prosecutor's office says it has received an international arrest warrant issued by spain for the ousted catalan

leader carles puigdemont and four other ex—ministers. president trump has begun a tour of the asia—pacific region. air force one touched down in hawaii for the president's first stop on what's set to be his longest foreign trip so far. one of the argentine survivors of the new york terror attack has spoken of his long friendship with those who died, and says he hopes "love conquers hate." vigils have been held across the city for the victims of the truck attack which killed eight people and injured a dozen others on halloween. an uzbek immigrant is facing federal terrorism charges. five argentine friends, celebrating the 30th anniversary of their college graduation, were among the dead. three others in the group survived. translation: we will have to live

with this pain that will always be with this pain that will always be with us. but we go on convinced that the way to confront this world is the way to confront this world is the way to confront this world is the way we learn from when we were kids, in our homes and schools. it is what brought us to this city. in the name of those feelings, which are also values and a way of life, we wa nt are also values and a way of life, we want to make a bet. love conquers hate. that life should come before death. for ourfriends, hate. that life should come before death. for our friends, families, ask and for the whole world. —— us and. meanwhile security has been increased across new york ahead of the city's annual marathon. police drills have been carried out in lower manhattan, as well as on the brooklyn bridge. more than 50,000 runners and hundreds of thousands of spectators are expected at the event on sunday. the governing conservative party in britain has suspended one of its members of parliament because of what it called "serious allegations." charlie elphicke says he's not aware of what the allegations are, and denies any wrongdoing.

the move follows the publication of a new code of conduct for elected representatives in the wake of sexual harassment allegations. john pienaar reports. could the scandal of alleged misconduct in politics get much worse? it just has. it's emered tory mp charlie elphicke has been suspended from the party at westminster and allegations have been referred to the police. he denies any wrongdoing and said the media heard of his suspension before he did. at this stage, no more detail is known but the allegations against mr elphicke fall within the scope of the unfolding controversy about mps' behaviour. it won't be the last chapter of the story. step by step, one by one, in one party then another, and today a young labour activist with more allegations of sexual misconduct in politics. her story isjust added to the crisis unlike anything else westminster has seen. ava etemadzadeh tells of a labour mp 50 years her senior, kelvin hopkins, who she says subjected her as a labour—supporting student to inappropriate treatment again and again. the first happened on campus,

and he hugged me very tightly and rubbed himself against me. he made me feel extremely uncomfortable and it was a revolting act. the second incident was in parliament when i went to have a conversation with him and he told me that, "let's not talk about politics, do you have a boyfriend?" he also mentioned that — he also said that if nobody was in his office he would have taken me there. i was absolutely shocked. there were calls she didn't answer and then came the uncomfortable text messages. i'm an "attractive, lovely young woman" and a man "would be lucky to have me as a lover" and if he was young... but he's not. kelvin hopkins was reprimanded two years ago after she complained, yet he was made a shadow cabinet minister when jeremy corbyn was facing a party mutiny

and needed allies lastjune. now the story has come out and he has been suspended from the party. there's an investigation and tonight he's denying any wrongdoing. he said in a statement: he said she'd thanked him in a text today, jeremy corbyn was in no mood to defend his position as leader in the whole affair. thank you for coming to my road, goodbye. reporter: were you aware of the allegations against him, my corbyn, before you promoted him to the shadow cabinet? no word from him or his office but he knew about the reprimand and some if not all the detail and promoted kelvin hopkins anyway. corbyn: goodbye! but some in labour's ranks want to hear more. she said she was satisfied with the way in which the chief whip at the time managed the situation but horrified to then see the mp

in question promoted. i think it's a fair question as to how that happened and it is one that only the leadership can answer. i don't know i would have promoted him. i know the victim felt a bit bereft by his promotion. expect more allegations. labour mp clive lewis is under investigation for allegedly touching a labour activist inappropriately during a party event. he says it's all untrue. i'm completely refuting the allegation, it didn't happen the way this person is describing it. i think it's right and proper that they and others have the ability to be able to complain about these situations and situations that happen like that in a way that leaves them feeling confident about the process but i think we will find a number of these allegations simply aren't going to stack up and from my point of view this clearly is one of them. as for the tories, reports say cabinet minister andrea leadsom accused sir michael fallon before he resigned after allegations of misconduct six years ago, he denies it and downing street said she never called for him to go.

theresa may has produced a tory code of conduct with complaints hotline and an independent figure to help cases. tories accept action's needed. it's very important all political parties have codes of conduct where they set out the standards that should be expected of people who are in elected office and who are in public life. no one here is arguing with that but new safeguards for people in parties and in parliament won't banish the dark clouds hanging over politics. the fear that every day could bring a new scandal and another crisis. meanwhile, police in new york say they have a viable case against the hollywood producer, harvey weinstein. officers made the statement at a news conference about the actress paz de la huerta's claim that mr weinstein raped her twice in 2010. dozens of women have come forward since october to accuse the 65—year—old of sexual misconduct. he has denied all allegations of non—consensual sex. for more on this i'm joined

by our correspondent david willis. these allegations against harvey weinstein just these allegations against harvey weinsteinjust keep these allegations against harvey weinstein just keep mounting? yes, and the new york leased apartment say they have what they call details and credible narrative as sue and alleged double rape by harvey weinstein in bold in an actress at her apartment back in 2010. —— in new york police department. this follows a call by the woman herself, apparently, to a hotline set up either new york police department. detectives said today that they have managed to corroborate this woman's account and they are now pressing ahead with a few to possible criminal charges of crimp —— of harvey weinstein. any response from

his people? just that denial that we already had, that unequivocal denial of any nonconsensual sex. that was put out in a statement issued by harvey weinstein as these allegations started to mount towards the end of last month. harvey weinstein, as well as new york, he is also under investigation in los angeles, in beverly hills, and in london, in connection with alleged sexual assaults. turning to another actor and theatre director, kevin spacey, more allegations about him in the last would it for hours? what can you tell us? absolutely. and like ripples in a pond, the whole harvey weinstein saga has set in train allegations against many prominent people, notjust in the worlds of entertainment, but also in journalism and politics and finance and so on. one of the more high profile names, that of kevin spacey.

several men have come forward to claim that they were sexually assaulted by the hollywood star, on assaulted by the hollywood star, on a couple of occasions, when they we re a couple of occasions, when they were just 1a years of age. kevin spacey issued an urge the —— early apology to one alleged victim, and he is thought to currently be undergoing therapy for this. david willis, thank you. the streets of the us city of houston came to a standstill on friday as hundreds of thousands of people welcomed their world series—winning baseball team back home. it's the first time the astros have taken the title, and it seemed like the entire city wanted to come out and say thank you. the team has not decided whether to accept the customary invitation to the white house to meet president trump. if you have ever wanted to own whitney houston's grand

piano or jackie kennedy's nightgown or perhaps even a painting by frank sinatra, well, you're in luck. an auction is due to take place where all of those things are up for sale. the star item is a special car which had a very special owner. tim allman explains. elvis aaron presley, an icon of the 20th century, the king of rock ‘n' roll. # it's a long, lonely highway when you're travelling all alone...# but a king needs to travel in style and this pink cadillac was as cool as it got in 1957. for 30 years it sat in a museum but now you could own it. as far as any of his automobiles have ever been made available with that type of provenance, i have not seen one in a very, very, very long time. so dollar—wise, that's the question of the hour. it could be $100,000, it could be $2 millions. you just never know, that's the beauty of auctions

so we'll see what happens. other items up for grabs include a grand piano given as a gift to whitney houston by her husband, bobby brown, and a nightgown that once belonged to jackie kennedy onassis. what is so exciting for people is, you know, not only their connection to these people — the icons that they love — but also the fact that they tragically passed and we lost them so early, so this is just that opportunity to own a little piece of them, you know, and have something that was so close to them, close to us, because we love them so much. the biggest seller is expected to be elvis's pink cadillac but if you do not happen to have $2 million burning a hole in your back pocket, this jar containing some of his hair might be a little cheaper. tim allman, bbc news. feel free to let me know which item you would like by getting in touch on twitter. i am @duncangolestani. stay with us on bbc news.

hello once again. the weekend is upon us, let us see if the weather is going to fit in with your plans, whatever they may be. the weekend certainly turning colder eventually across all parts of the british isles. eventually many of us will get to sunny spells and showers, but for some we'll have to contend with a rather wet start to the weekend, especially so across england and wales because yes we have the weather front getting in across scotland and northern ireland, but i suspect it's this cloud coming in from the south that will be the thing that many of you notice first up as the two weather systems combine to produce just a lot of rain across a good part of england and wales to start off the day. especially here concentrated down through lincolnshire, east anglia and into the east midlands, parts of the south—east and away across the channel. further to the west, the rain becoming a wee bit more patchy and you've really got to get up into scotland or northern ireland to see a brighter start to the day, a glorious start i would have thought in the eastern side of scotland but from the word go,

showers aplenty in northern and western parts of scotland and into the western side of northern ireland. slowly, oh, so slowly, as we get on through the morning towards lunchtime, into the early part of the afternoon, yes, it will be that late until we see the last of that persistent rain getting towards the east anglia coast and getting away from kent. with somewhat brighter skies following in towards the midlands and across the south—west as well, where we will keep a peppering of showers for a good portion of the evening, so if you've got plans for bonfires and fireworks, across many northern and western parts, you'll have to contend with quite a noticeable wind, so safety first of course, and the peppering of showers, drier i would think further east and this is how we start sunday. the showers there in northern and western parts but you get the sense there are fewer of them. if you're holding off with your firework plans until sunday evening, many more of you i think will be dry by this stage although there will be a few showers flirting with the eastern shores.

underneath the clearing skies, a widespread frost to start the new day on monday, certainly in the countryside, but there is a sign of a change. after that dry enough start for many parts of the british isles, eventually we”ll bring weather systems in from the atlantic so it's a combination not only of wet weather but also quite windy weather getting into northern and western scotland through northern ireland. generally speaking the further south and east you are the drier, finer and brighter the day will be. this is bbc news. the headlines: belgium has received an international arrest warrant issued by spain for the ousted catalan leader, carles puigdemont, and four other ex—ministers. they are accused of rebellion and sedition. a belgian prosecutor will study the document before deciding whether to pass it to an investigativejudge. president trump has begun a tour of the asia—pacific region

with a first stop in hawaii. it will be mr trump's longest foreign trip so far, with visits to japan, china, vietnam and the philippines. during the tour, he is expected to unveil a new american strategy for trade and security in the region. president trump has expressed outrage at a decision by an american military court to spare a soldier, bowe bergdahl, from prison, after he admitted deserting his post in afghanistan and was captured by the taliban. in a tweet, mr trump said the sentence of dishonourable discharge was a disgrace. now on bbc news, it is time for the week in parliament.