this is bbc world news today. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories. spain's prime minister tells supporters in catalonia snap elections will help end what he calls "separatist havoc". translation: we want to bring back the catalonia that belongs to everyone with democracy and freedom — we will achieve this if the silent majority turns out to voice their vote. former lebanese prime minister saad hariri speaks in public for the first time since tendering his resignation in saudi arabia. he says he will soon return to lebanon. as donald trump's tour of asia takes him to the philippines, he can't resist a dig at north korea and its leader. last post plays. people across the uk mark remembrance sunday, with prince charles, rather than the queen,

taking the leading role at london's cenotaph memorial. hello and welcome to world news today. spain's prime minister says regional elections next month will help end what he called the "separatist havoc" in catalonia. mariano rajoy was addressing a campaign event during his first visit since imposing direct rule from madrid a fortnight ago. he urged those opposed to catalan independence to make sure they vote. from barcelona, the bbc‘s james reynolds sent this report. mariano rajoy came to visit the region he now runs. this was his first trip to catalonia since he deposed the local separatist administration. "your first visit for a while?" i asked him. "good," he said.

this was a busy campaign stop. translation: we want to bring back the catalonia that belongs to everyone, with democracy and freedom. we will achieve this if the silent majority turns out to voice their vote. for a short while at least, the man who ultimately rules catalonia is now here in catalonia. mariano rajoy wants to use this, his visit, to strengthen the pro—spain camp. and this is what he is up against. chanting. on saturday, tens of thousands of pro—independence campaigners took to the streets. we are people who believe in peace, we are people who believe in freedom, we are people who believe in the republic. and we will keep going on and on and on till we reach our success.

the two halves of catalonia, pro—independence and pro—spain, now begin a five—week campaign for their future. james reynolds, bbc news, barcelona. the former prime minister of lebanon saad hariri has spoken publicly for the first time since his surprise resignation eight days ago, and has told a lebanese television station that he would be returning home from saudi arabia within days. mr hariri has denied he is being held against his will. he added he was aware he had not resigned in the usual way, but he wanted to give the country what he described as "a positive shock" to alert it to the dangers it faces. iran and its lebanese ally, the militant group hezbollah, accuse saudi arabia of holding mr hariri hostage. translation: i am free here translation: lam free here in translation: i am free here in the saudi kingdom. ifi translation: i am free here in the saudi kingdom. if i wanted to leave, i could leave tomorrow. but as you

know, i have a family. don't i have a right to protect them? earlier, runners in the beirut marathon showed their support for saad hariri. carine torbey has been speaking to runners in beirut. as one of the most severe political crises in lebanon enters its second week, following the curious resignation of prime minister saad hariri, announced from the saudi capital riyadh, tens of thousands of participants in the single biggest sports event in the country ran and walked today in the streets of the capital as posters of saad hariri lined the streets of beirut. the posters read, "the prime minister". many of the participants we talked to said they are running today for the return of prime minister hariri back home. translation: i take part in the beirut marathon every year. when i heard the president making this call, we were all encouraged to take part, so of course we are running for the comeback of prime minister hariri. translation: we got used to

the prime minister running with us. we miss him in this event, and i hope he will be back with us in the next one. we love him, and we hope he will come back. the president of the republic, mr michel aoun, maintains his position not to acknowledge the resignation of mr hariri until the return of the man to lebanon, and has said that any words or actions by mr hariri cannot be considered genuine at the moment in light of the ambiguity surrounding the status of mr hariri in the saudi capital, riyadh. this comes as the tension between lebanon and saudi arabia has reached unprecedented levels over the role of the iran—backed group hezbollah in the lebanese government and in the region. the us geological survey says an earthquake but with the magnitude of

7.2 has hit the border area between northern iraq and iran. the quake hit 103 kilometres southeast of the city of sulaymaniyah in iraqi kurdistan. there are reports on social media of it being felt as far away as lebanon and turkey. these are pictures from iraqi networks showing some of the damage. iranian state television says some villages have been damaged and that six people have been killed. president trump has resumed his war of words with north korea over their nuclear weapons programme. pyongyang insulted mr trump and insisted it wouldn't stop its nuclear build—up. the president, who's touring asia, responded with an insulting tweet of his own. this new spat comes as the us navy sailed a powerful carrier air group into the sea of japan off the korean peninsula. rupert wingfield—hayes reports from the uss abraham lincoln. sailing together off the coast of korea today, three american supercarriers. swooping low over them, a pair of b—i bombers. on the right is the theodore roosevelt. on the left, the nimitz.

and leading them, the ronald reagan. on board, these ships carry more than 200 combat aircraft. the launches and recoveries continue around the clock. we can sustain 24—hour operations for extended period of time, however with more than one carrier that length of time goes out indefinitely, quite frankly, when we get to three. in other words, there is enough combat power here off the coast of korea to go to war. the last time anything like this was seen in the western pacific was ten years ago — here off the korean peninsula, no one can really remember. this is a raw expression of america's military muscle, and for president trump, it is a message being sent to pyongyang that if it doesn't come to the negotiating table this is potentially what it faces. but as so often with president trump, the message can very suddenly change, and it did today in vietnam.

taking to twitter, the us president sounded hurt, after pyongyang called him "an ageing lunatic". "why would kim jong—un insult me by calling me old," he wrote, "when i would never call him short and fat? "oh, well, i try so hard to be his friend — and maybe someday that will happen!" in hanoi he was asked, "did he really mean he now wants to be friends?" see if i think anything's possibility... strange things happen in life — that might be a strange thing to happen, but it's certainly a possibility. back on board the ronald reagan, they're practising night landings. this is flying at its very hardest. there is no doubting the skills of these pilots, but there are many doubts about the strategy their commander—in—chief is using with north korea. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, on board the uss ronald reagan, the sea ofjapan.

let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. iran has dismissed bahrain‘s allegation that it was behind an explosion that targeted an oil pipeline near the bahraini capital, manama. the foreign ministry in tehran described the accusation as baseless and childish. turkey has described as ludicrous reports that former white house aide michael flynn was part of a plot to help forcibly remove a muslim cleric to turkey, in exchange for millions of dollars. the turkish embassy in washington said the allegations were groundless. a former cia director had revealed an alleged $15 million plan to remove cleric fethullah gulen, who turkey blames for the failed coup of 2016. a senior un official has accused myanmar military of using sexual violence against the rohingya population. the special representative on sexual violence in conflicts, pramila patten, visited rohingya women and girls who have sought refuge in bangladesh.

she alleged that myanmar‘s armed forces have used sexual violence as a calculated tool of terror, and she will raise the issue at the international criminal court. the husband of nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe — the british woman imprisoned in iran on charges of spying — says she is "on the verge of a nervous breakdown". in a statement, richard ratcliffe said he had spoken to foreign secretary boris johnson, who had expressed deep sorrow at her suffering. it comes as the uk government faces further criticism over its handling of the case. our political correspondent eleanor garnier reports. jailed in iran, separated from her family for allegedly trying to bring down the government. but nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe's family has always maintained she'd been on holiday. now another government minister is facing accusations of a blunder after appearing to cast doubt on what the mother of one had been up to. what was she doing in iran? i don't know. i want to stress that there is no reason why nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe

should be in prison in iran so far as any of us know. those remarks directly contradict what the foreign secretary said earlier this week. the uk government has no doubt that she was on holiday in iran when she was arrested last year, and that was the sole purpose of her visit. it was a statement borisjohnson had been forced to make to clarify his previous comments that mrs zaghari—ratcliffe had been teaching journalists in iran, remarks that caused concern that her sentence might be extended. today, michael gove attempted to shift the attention. if the iranian judiciary want to use the words of a democrat to justify an unjustifiable decision, it's our responsibility to call them out. let's not play their game. mrs zaghari—ratcliffe's husband and the foreign secretary spoke for the first time today.

they've agreed to meet within a couple of weeks. but the family's local mp is calling for resignations. it is the job of the british government to protect british citizens. if they make matters worse for my constituent, they need to realise that they are unfit for office and michael gove and borisjohnson, who are meant to be the leading lights in the government, have got to resign. with more calls for senior ministers to go, the pressure is growing on the prime minister to get a grip on her cabinet. there have been two resignations in the space of a week and one of her closest allies is under investigation. all this while the government is embroiled in the brexit negotiations. for now, the focus for the foreign secretary, and of course mrs zaghari—ratcliffe's husband, must be to get her home as soon as possible. eleanor garnier, bbc news,

westminster. ceremonies have taken place across the uk to mark remembrance sunday, with the traditional two—minute silence observed at 11 o'clock. veterans, politicians and members of the royal family attended a service at the cenotaph in central london. this year prince charles led the tributes. he laid a wreath on behalf of the queen as she watched on from a nearby balcony. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. it is, there is little doubt, the way things will increasingly be. for the first time in her reign, the queen took place on the balcony overlooking the cenotaph. still presiding as head of state, but in a way which recognises her advancing years. beside her on the balcony was her husband, the duke of edinburgh. below on whitehall, the prince of wales led other senior members of the royal family to their positions at the cenotaph, in readiness for ii

o'clock and the start of the national two—minute silence. big ben chimes. bugles play last post. in whitehall, after the sounding of the last post, the prince of wales laid the queen's wreath on behalf of the united kingdom and the commonwealth in memory of all those who lost their lives in the world wars and other more recent conflicts. and then, on a morning which had been damp and cold, the veterans who had been waiting in their columns began their tribute, marching past

the cenotaph to lay their wreaths. very few of those on parade now have memories of the second world war. that generation has passed the obligation to remember to its successors — to men like bill speakman, who won the victoria cross in korea, and johnson beharry, awarded the vc in iraq. and to the many thousands of other servicemen and women who today remembered those who never came home from war. nicholas witchell, bbc news. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come, the latest sports news, including the world cup qualifiers. berliners from east and west came to

make the first attempts to destroy the structure itself. it is keeping the structure itself. it is keeping the candidate's name always in the public eye that counts. success or failure depends on public display and on the local campaign headquarters and the heavy routine work of their women volunteers. yasser arafat, who dominated the palestinian cause for so long, has died. the palestinian authority has declared a state of mourning for the leader who symbolised his people's hopes the independent statehood. in the wake of the colombian volcano disaster, rescue teams are trying to reach thousands of survivors who manage to clamber onto rooftops and trees above the sea of mud. after 17 years of discussion, the result was greeted with an outburst ofjoy, and result was greeted with an outburst of joy, and ministers result was greeted with an outburst ofjoy, and ministers who had long felt tolerated among the ranks of clergy suddenly felt welcomed. this is bbc world news today. i'm reged ahmad. the latest headlines. visiting catalonia, spain's prime minister urges what he called the silent majority

to fill the ballot boxes with hope at next month's snap election. lebanon's prime minister, saad hariri, says he resigned in saudi arabia to protect himself and will return home "in days". and as president trump offers to be a mediator over the south china sea, he actors agitator with north korea, trading fresh barbs with kim jong un. syrian and iraqi forces are engaged in battles to retake the last strongholds of so—called islamic state, after the decisive victory recently in raqqa, the former capital of the miltants' self—declared caliphate. nearly 250,000 people fled the city during the military offensive by syrian groups to recapture it. ahmed is one of them. this is his story. my house was hit.

my whole family were inside. the air strike didn't differentiate between is militants and my family. i tried to help. i managed to pull my wife from under the rubble. but i was not able to save my son. and my little boy, mohammed. we arrived at the meeting place. there were about 300 of us. we got to a crossroads

on the way out of the city. we could see the opposition troops on the other side. we started walking towards them. suddenly, a landmine explodes. i go deaf. there are body parts flying around me. a doctor shouted, take him to the operating theatre. we need to amputate his legs. i hear that, and i pass out. i wake up three days later. thank god i'm still alive. i ask the nurse for a glass of water, then i ask her about my family. she tells me they are waiting for me at the refugee camp. later i find out my wife and my son were killed in the landmine explosion. all i have left in the world is my daughter.

a russian extreme sportsman known for his record breaking freefalling stu nt for his record breaking freefalling stunt has died in a basejumping accident in the himalayas. valerie was based jumping in nepal, a 6800 metres high mountain in the everest region. he was pursuing a seven summits quest, based jumping from the highest mountains on all seven continentss. let's get some sports now. thank you very much indeed. croatia are on the verge of qualifying for next year's world cup finals in russia. they're away to greece in their second leg. it's o-o, it's 0-0, but it's 0—0, but they lead 4—1 on aggregate. northern ireland will feel aggrieved after a controversial penalty in the opening leg of their tie against switzerland proved the difference as they missed out on a first finals appearance since 1986. jessica creighton has been in basel following the story. northern ireland's world cup dream

is over in the cruellest of ways. it was a really brave performance by the players, but ultimately they just fell short. it was 0—0 here tonight in the second leg, but eve ryo ne tonight in the second leg, but everyone will look at the first leg on the cruel penalty decision that went against them in that first leg in belfast. but for switzerland, theirfans in belfast. but for switzerland, their fans streamed out of the stadium in high spirits, sea of red and white as they reach their fourth consecutive world cup finals. but for northern ireland, heartbreak for eve ryo ne for northern ireland, heartbreak for everyone involved. an impressive performance by them, but the result obviously not what they wanted. they have been on a remarkable journey last five years, they have gone from a team ranked well at side the top ioo a team ranked well at side the top 100 to a team ranked just outside the top 20. and now you wonder whether how many of these names will be involved with the next qualifying campaign next year for euro 2020.

vetera n campaign next year for euro 2020. veteran defenders like aaron hughes and gareth mcauley are getting older. will be the last roll of the dice for them. and their manager, michael o'neill, long touted as a possible replacement for the vacant scotla nd possible replacement for the vacant scotland manager's job. so possible replacement for the vacant scotland manager'sjob. so you possible replacement for the vacant scotland manager's job. so you wait to see what result of this will have on the team's future. now to formula one, and sebastian vettel won the brazilian grand prix while newly crowned world champion lewis hamilton managed to finish fourth despite starting from pit lane. the briton wrapped up the championship in his last start in mexico but a crash during qualifying at interlagos saw him star from last place although he worked his way through the field in fine style. ferrari driver vettel, who had challenged hamilton until recently, took the chequered flag for his first victory since july with just one race remaining this season, at abu dhabi in a fortnight‘s time. so with the f1 title already decided, the motogp championship was finalised in valencia on sunday with marc marquez finishing third in his native spain. the 24—year—old honda

rider, who only needed to finish in the top 11 defeated his main title rival andrea dovizioso who crashed out, allowing marquez to become the youngest four—time champion in the sport's history. now to tennis. the united states won the fed cup for the first time in 17 years with victory in the deciding doubles rubber, giving them a 3—2 win over belarus in minsk. meanwhile in london, roger federer got his atp world tour finals campaign off to a winning start with a straight sets win over american jack sock. the 36—year—old swiss, who's a six—time winner of the event, claimed the first set 6—4 after breaking sock in his first service game. and although the second set went to a tie break, federer, who's making his 15th appearance at this event, never faced a break point. in the second set i was tight, and then the break again at the end

could have gone either way, but he helped me with some double faults and mistakes, so i'm happy that i got through somehow. and the second match in group b sees germany's alexander zverev facing croatian marin cilic. cilic lost the first set 6—4, but currently leads 4—1 in the second. and before we leave you — just to say that australia are just one win away from retaining the women's ashes. it comes after england held out for a draw in the day—night test in sydney earlier. good luck to them, thank you very much. just before finally, we leave you with these pictures from turkey, where thousands of people have taken part in the istanbul marathon today. it's the only race in the world that crosses two continents. it begins on the asian side of the city, across the martyrs' bridge on the bosphorus, and it

ends in the historic sultan amat square. afp is reporting six dead in an earthquake in iran and iraq. for most of us, sunday was a pretty glorious day, but it was cold. windy as well, particularly down the east coast, plenty of showers here, too, some continuing through the night. they become more confined to the north sea coast of england, elsewhere turning drier and colder than previous nights. a widespread frost developing in several places, you can see the blue colour is there. something less cold pushing into the north—west by the end of the night as a weather system pushes m, the night as a weather system pushes in, bringing increasing cloud and outbreaks of rain. we start monday morning cold and frosty, you can still see the blue, so some places

around freezing or below. we will continue to still see scattered showers and blustery conditions across the eastern coast, particularly from lincolnshire down towards east anglia. for much of northern england, a cold start, but increasing wind and cloud across the west of scotland, outbreaks of rain pushing into the western isles. this weather will continue eastwards through the course of the day, bringing rain and hill snow, through the course of the day, bringing rain and hillsnow, even snow down to lower levels across central and eastern scotland before it all turns back to reign as the milderair it all turns back to reign as the milder air moves in. northern ireland, turning cloudy with outbreaks of rain, elsewhere a fine day, but the sunshine gradually turning hazier, and it will be another cold one. through monday night, this weather system continues to advance eastwards, bringing stronger winds. also milder air, we lose the cold air as that weather system lose the cold air as that weather syste m m oves lose the cold air as that weather system moves in, we are all into the

yellow and orange colours. the far north of scotland continues to wax and wane in that cooler airstream. tuesdayis and wane in that cooler airstream. tuesday is cloudy, outbreaks of rain, particularly across the western hills, look at those double figure values, 10—12d. wednesday also rather cloudy, the best of the sunshine across northern parts of the uk, thursday looking like the mildest day across the whole of the uk, so quite a mixture this week. we are starting off cold and frosty with some sunshine, milder and cloudy for a time with outbreaks of rain, and then signs of it turning colder by the end of the week. this is bbc world news, the headlines. spain's prime minister mariano rajoy has told supporters in catalonia next month's elections should help end ‘separatist havoc‘. it's his first visit since he took direct control of the region. lebanon's saad hariri has spoken publicly for the first time since announcing he was standing down as prime minister

while in saudi arabia. he denied being under duress — and said he would soon return to lebanon. president trump is in the philippines at the end of his asian tour. before offering to mediate in disputes over the south china sea, mr trump traded fresh insults with north korea. an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 has hit the border area between northern iraq and iran, south of the iraqi town of halabja. iranian tv says some villages have been damaged and at least six people killed.