this is the briefing. i'm rachel horne. our top story. catalan separatists win a majority in the regional elections, plunging spain into renewed crisis. the first visit to moscow by a british foreign secretary for more than five years. can the two countries patch up their relationship? turning blue! the british government says the country's passports will return to their old colour after brexit. and coming up in the business briefing, christmas cheer for investors as stock markets come to the end of their best year since 2009. we'll be getting the views of veteran investment manager, justin urquhart—stewart. a warm welcome to the programme. we are briefing you on all you need to know in global news,

business, and sport. and you can be part of the conversation. today we're asking what's been the sound track to your 2017? the new york times says this years pop has been "morbid and offensive." but do you agree? catalan separatist parties have won an absolute majority in regional elections in catalonia, setting the stage for more confrontation with spain's government. turnout was at a record high and the vote hands a mandate back to the region's ousted separatist leaders, many of whom campaigned from exile or behind bars. the vote is a major setback for the spanish prime minister, who called this election in response to october's disputed referendum. he'd stripped the previous regional government of its authority. the citizens party, which wants catalonia to remain a semi—autonomous part of spain, is the biggest party,

but as our correspondent gavin lee explains the catalan separatist parties are on track to win most seats in the new regional parliament. smiling and, on the face of it, victorious. ines arrimadas, the pro—spain leader of the citizens party has taken the most seats in the catalan parliament but not enough for a majority. is this your victory? it is a victory for elections for the first time in catalonia. and you can form a coalition? it is difficult but we can try. the celebratory walk through the streets of barcelona turned to adulation as she told supporters she she should be the rightful leader. ines arrimadas would be the youngest leader in catalonia, as she says she has won this for the pro—spain movement but collectively, it is the independence parties that can get the majority in parliament. and that is why the real balance of power lies with the ex—catalan president, carles puigdemont.

the coalition, whose illegal independence declaration triggered the independence issue, is likely to reform. the other separatist leaders are in prison. translation: we ask for the restoration of democracy in catalonia. restoration of legitimate government and the freedom of those who should not spend another minute in prison. they should come out now and the legitimate government should return to the palace of the generalitat. the spanish government gambled but that gamble appears to have failed. there is no sign those emergency powers will be lifted and it will now be down to weeks of coalition talks to see how the independence crisis plays out.

boris johnson is making the first visit to moscow by a british foreign secretary for more than five years. the foreign office says he will warn russia to stop "destabilising activities which threaten the national security of the uk and its allies." but in talks with his russian counterpart, sergei lavrov, mrjohnson is expected to encourage cooperation on joint international challenges, including the threat posed by north korea. our diplomatic correspondent, james robbins, reports from moscow now. winter in red square. and beneath the kremlin walls, the holiday ice rink is busy. by borisjohnson will

not be bringing good cheer. instead, he is bringing a blunt message to russia, stop destabilising the national security of britain and its allies, including by hostile cyber espionage. twice before, plans for borisjohnson to visit moscow have been called off. now, he says, it cannot be business as usual, but somejoint work is cannot be business as usual, but some joint work is vital to solve the most pressing global challenges. britain sees those shared challenges coming from north korea's accelerated nuclear weapons programme and the threat from syria of islamist fighters fleeing the battlefield to duckett russia as well as western europe. but will russia's government treat him seriously? all british prepper sedatives nowadays, not only boris johnson, i seemed as those mostly consumed by the messy situation. —— representatives. britain is not

innate position to greatly pay attention to other issues. boris johnson, by coming to red square, is confronting many of the symbols of russia's historical past greatness. modern russia under president putin still demands respect, but many in the west say because of its actions it does not deserve respect. expect today's meeting to be a real collision. bbc news, moscow. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. the saudi ambassador to the un says the united nations general assembly was making a point with its decisive vote rejecting america's decision to recognise jerusalem as israel's capital. he also criticised president trump for threatening to withhold aid from countries backing the non—binding resolution. peru's president has avoided impeachment after a 13—hour debate and vote in the country's congress. the opposition claimed pedro pablo kuczynski received bribes from brazilian construction giant obebrecht. 79 of the 130 members voted to impeach mr kuczynski, but the number fell short of the threshold required

for the motion to pass. the german chancellor, angela merkel, has told president putin that the two of them should work to create conditions that will allow russian observers to return to eastern ukraine. russian officers at a joint monitoring centre were recalled on monday after moscow accused the ukrainian government of obstructing their work. let's talk about our top business story now, because for investors around the world there may be more reason than usual for christmas cheer. as we head into the last trading day before the break, it's clear that for many, 2017 has been the best year in almost a decade, certainly since the end of the financial crisis in 2009. the dowjones is up 25%, tech giants like facebook and apple are up more than 50%. in fact, markets are up strongly all over the world, especially emerging ones, chinese shares are up 48%. and that's not to mention bitcoin. how about 1500%! with me isjustin urquhart stewart, director, seven investment management.

sadly, i did not get any bitcoin. putting that to one side, why have markets done so well? you did not need a stockbroker, you could have done very well by doing nothing. as long as you were invested in something, frankly, everything went up. the primary reason is this, all central banks have been doing quantitative easing for years. be pushed asset prices up. —— they. the global economy is doing well. it makes a rotten headline, but 3%, io yea rs off makes a rotten headline, but 3%, io years off of the crash, we were in a financial disaster! then we had the quantitative easing and now all of the world is growing, even russia

and latin america, in a terrible state for the last two years. even thatis state for the last two years. even that is growing. everything is going up. that is growing. everything is going erything that is growing. everything is going ing that is growing. everything is going p. that is growing. everything is going up. everything going up, but what goes up must up. everything going up, but what goes up must come up. everything going up, but what goes up must come down. what are the indicators for 2018? a continuation of this rise? many factors like all of this rise? many factors like all of this rise? many factors like all of this cheap money we have had, banks are starting to pull that in. the diet is changing. interest rate are going up, that is a good sign, not a bad one to be it means economies are recovering from that disaster to be we will start to see qe being withdrawn. we do not know at the moment. there is the taper tantrum. will they be nervousness? will there be more volatility? this has been a cracking good year. it will be volatile, not bad. thank you. you willjoin us through the morning to talk more about business and about the paper review. britain will get a new passport in 2019 when it leaves the european union.

the government has announced that it's going back to the old—style dark blue and gold hardback passport that british citizens carried abroad before the introduction of the pan—european style burgundy design in 1988. tom symonds reports. what does brexit men? it turns out brexit means no more european burgundy. brexit means british blue. and on the new passport, the e word is nowhere to be seen. some like this person will rejoice. it is the reality of what we are, where we feel we belong. and for some people, pocket sized burgundy simply is not british. the past is something so many people still have fond memories of. the british blue passport was with you for many years. of. the british blue passport was with you for many yearslj of. the british blue passport was with you for many years. i am pleased to let people know we are

going back to the classic blue and gold design. not quite. the classic 19805 gold design. not quite. the classic 1980s era passport was bigger and ha rd 1980s era passport was bigger and hard backed. the eu one, definitely easier to slip into a shirt pocket. the new one will be the same design. the new one will be the same design. the government says the new colour will not cost any more. passports are redesigned regularly to make them harder to forge. the blue one will start appearing in 2019 as passports are renewed. tom symonds, bbc news. stay with us on the briefing. also on the programme: from ashes to smashes. australia's cricket captain takes on former world tennis number three milos raonic. we saw this enormous tidal wave approaching the beach and people starting to run, and suddenly it was complete chaos. the united states troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of general manuel noriega. the pentagon said the operation had

been 90% successful but it's failed in its principle objective — to capture general noriega and take him to the united states to face drugs charges. the hammer and sickle was hastily taken away. the russian flag was hoisted over what is now no longer the soviet union, but the commonwealth of independent states. day broke slowly over lockerbie, over the cockpit of pan am's made of the seas, nose down in the soft earth. you could see what happens when a plane 8 stories high, a football pitch wide, falls from 30,000 feet. christmas has returned to albania after a communist ban lasting more than 20 years. thousands went to midnight mass in the town of shkodra, where there were anti—communist riots ten days ago. you're watching the briefing. 0ur headlines: a new migrant crisis is unfolding in

greece with authorities struggling to cope with thousands of asylum seekers being held on islands close to turkey. and the former separatist leader of catalonia says what he calls the catalan republic has emerged victorious after elections in the north—eastern spanish region. let's stay with that story now. carme colomina is a journalist and researcher. she's in barcelona. thank you forjoining us on the show. the aim of these elections was the clear everything up. it simply cause more confusion. exactly. at least what we can say is catalonia will stay polarised. there is still majority for independence and this is something the spanish government wa nted is something the spanish government wanted to solve with these elections. for sure we can see that

catalonia and the catalonian independence movement will still be the big elephant in the room in the spanish politics. what's going to happen left close —— next? the spanish government said the referendum was unauthorised and many pointed to a low turnout, less than 50%. this election has seen a significant high turnout. it's not result that mariano rajoy was looking. what step we take next? as you say, the turnout was 82%, a record high. it doesn't clear anything of what's coming the day or the day after, because it is difficult to see how bridges can be built from now on, especially because the two big spanish parties, the popular party of mariano rajoy and the socialist party, are not having any leading role in catalonian government and not the opposition either because of the

lever on the new citizens party. so for mariano rajoy it's a setback, a blow, for the political presence of his party. catalonia became irreleva nt his party. catalonia became irrelevant in a catalan parliament, with only three seat, so let's see how this can bring any dialogue or negotiation from now on, what the spanish government said yesterday is that any attempt from the independence parties to try to go back to a unilateral independence will bring back again this controlled... this article 155 that is allowed to take control of the region until now. thank you for your time. a new migrant crisis is unfolding in greece, where the authorities are struggling to cope with thousands of asylum—seekers now being held on islands close to turkey. the deal reached between the european union and turkey at the height of the migrant crisis last year reduced the number

of arrivals but hasn't stopped them completely. more than 50,000 have arrived since that deal was signed. 0ur europe correspondent damian grammaticas sent this special report from the moria camp on the greek island of lesbos. nestled on a greek hillside, and europe's dirty secret, moria camp, bursting at it seems. it is so full, families are forced to sleep outside. all around them on the ground human excrement. it is europe's migration policy inaction. more than 6000 squeezed into account bill for a third of that number. —— squeezed into a camp. today this man didn't get any lunch as the queue was too long. you can't think about

yourself, your life, your future. you just think how you can keep yourself alive. nothing else. he has been here a year since lodging his asylu m been here a year since lodging his asylum claim, and waiting stuck in this place grinds many down. he showed a video of a man who was suicidal. that man wants to kill himself. he is crying and screaming. there are 25 breakdowns like this every day at the camp. so at night we went into moria to see for ourselves. what strikes you first did the rubbish everywhere. tents crammed into every corner because thousands still arrive every day. this family from afghanistan came two months ago. 15. how many children? six children. how is the situation in this tent for you? very

difficult. it's the policy of greece and the eu to keep these arrivals here on the island. processing their claims are slower, so numbers are rising. winter is here and the conditions are grim. this man and his family from iran were re— cooking food given to them for lunch to try to make it more palatable. winter is coming. no showers. no showers. toilets? no toilet. we showers. toilets? no toilet. we shower inside the tent. and moria's toilets are filthy. there is no running water, so people have to use bottled water to try to flush. that's why many choose to defecate in the fields outside. what you have the keep reminding yourself is that we are in europe. this camp is receiving funding from the eu, this is how europe is treating some of those who are coming here seeking protection. there is no question

that it protection. there is no question thatitis protection. there is no question that it is pretty shocking. and those who can't find space in the camp are even worse off. those who can't find space in the camp are even worse off. this is it? a piece of plastic and a couple of bla nkets a piece of plastic and a couple of blankets are all adnan from syria has. his 17—year—old wife is four months pregnant. officially, pregnant women should be a priority, but the system isn't working. translation: it's terrible. i'm a lwa ys translation: it's terrible. i'm always cold. they gave me a prescription, by the men's from abb, but i have no money to buy them and i don't know what to do or who ask for help —— vitamins for my baby. who should help these people? the eu continues to argue about it. jonathan from congo fled here after his father, an opposition politician, was burnt to death by government supporters. translation: after the traumas we have suffered in ourown after the traumas we have suffered in our own countries, the situation here in moria, this is what pushes

people to the edge of breakdown. and as the cost of europe's indecisiveness, the desperate and destitute of living a sort of limbo, dumped here on the edge. here's our briefing on some of the key events happening later. in three hours' time, french president emmanuel macron will host palestinian authority leader mahmoud abbas as the fallout from the us declaring jerusalem as israel's capital continues. also today, the united nations willjoin russia, iran and turkey as they continue talks aimed at bringing peace to syria. and at 6pm gmt, the un security council will vote on a new set of sanctions brought by the united states on north korea. they'd cut oil supplies vital for pyongyang's military programmes. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello, there.

coming up in your friday sport briefing, it's the start of a hectic premier league programme in england, the golden state warriors are aiming to make it 11 successive wins and what happens when australia's cricket captain plays tennis against a professional? stick around to find out. while a lot of people are heading off on their christmas break later, spare a thought for the premier league footballers in england. they're having to work all over the holidays and friday is the start of a busy schedule. arsenal against liverpool later is the start of four rounds of action betwen now and new year's day. jurgen klopp's side are just ahead of the gunners in fourth place, thanks in part to some improved defensive performances. and they know maintaining that form is key to staying ahead of their hosts. we have to be ready for a different challenge on friday. it is arsenal and we have quite a talented group there and they can create chances as well and we need to be spot on, but all the players need to be spot on

in this specific part of the game. two games in spain's primera division as well. second placed atletico madrid can gain ground on barcelona if they get something at espanyol while athletic bilbao are also at real betis. expect plenty of big hitting when india and sri lanka play twenty twenty cricket later. the pitch at the holkar stadium in indore is good for batsman and has short boundaries. sri lanka need to win to level the three match series at 1—1. they beat them four days ago in los angeles and now the golden state warriors are trying to make it two wins in a week over californian rivals the lakers, when they meet again on friday night. the warriors are enjoying a 10—game winning streak and don't seem to be missing star man steph curry, who's out with an injury. in his place last time out, kevin durant scored 36 points to guide the warriors to an overtime win. ajax are looking for new management after sacking their entire coaching team.

marcel keizer and his assistants dennis berg kamp and hennie spijkerman were all sacked the day after the club were bundled out of the dutch cup by fc twente. michael reiziger steps up from coaching the reserves to take charge of their next game on sunday. some great snowboarding pictures to show you. japan's men dominated the halfpipe with the top four places at the secret garden in china. olympic silver medallist ayumu hirano led a clean sweep of the podium. the 19 year old posted excellent scores of 95.50 and 97.75 in his first two runs. raibu katayama was second best while yuto totsuka was third. in the women's event it was china's home favourite liu jiayu taking top spot with a 92.75 run. a good time to be in form with less than 50 days to go until the winter olympics in pyeongchang. now let's have a look at what's been catching our eye on social media.

this post from australia cricket captain steve smith has got a lot of attention down under. now that australia have regained the ashes with an unassailable 3—0 lead in the series, the pressure is well and truly off. and smith has decided to have a hit with canadian tennis star milos raonic. here's how he got on. now he did look like he got the better of raonic in that rally, but as soon as the big canadian started to serve up a few bouncers it was a bit too much for smith to deal with. the australian captain is known for his unusual batting style, but i don't think it quite works in tennis! a bit too much bottom—hand for my liking. you can get all the latest sports news at our website, that's bbc.com/sport. but from me, that is your friday sport briefing. we wa nt we want to know what you think about our talking point. what has been the

soundtrack to your year? the new york times says this year's soundtrack has been defensive. it seems you guys soundtrack has been defensive. it seems you guys are soundtrack has been defensive. it seems you guys are interested in the classics, not the new pop. some going for tori amos, others saying 60s and 70s classic rock. there hasn't been anything good since the 80s. let us know if you like any music from this year. tuc k—pop this year has been morbid or a bit more up year has been morbid or a bit more up it? —— do you think pop. stay with us on bbc news. we've got so much more to come. hi there.

our weather's going to stay pretty cloudy and mild between now and christmas day. looking back at yesterday's weather, it didn't really matter where you came from in england, whether it was herefordshire, or north yorkshire or indeed surrey, the skies all looked pretty much the same. extensive low cloud and we've got more of the same to come not just across england, but across wales, a good part of northern ireland and much of scotland too. the air continues to be mild. weather fronts are wading across the uk, bringing thicker cloud, which could in turn bring outbreaks of light rain and drizzle. for some of us light rain and drizzle. for some of us friday starts on a rather damp and dreary note. it will be mild, especially in south—western areas. cold in scotland, with pockets of frost. a few dense forced patches. temperatures could struggle to rise in scotland as the cloudy air moves across the cold early morning conditions. really making temperatures struggle to rise through the days. most of us through the afternoon the weather becomes

drier. still murky in the west. the temperatures are to 13 degrees. it is going to be a mild day. the mild conditions persist through the night, turning murky again in western areas, with mist and fog forming. a bit of rain into the far north of scotland and those temperatures are mild and above where they should be by daytime, let alone through the end of the night. into the weekend forecast, for saturday more of the same. a lot of cloud around. that will thicken in the north—west of scotland. the temperatures, 10— 12 celsius nationwide. in the run—up to christmas this slow—moving weather front could cause a few problems in the western side of scotland because it will bring heavy and persistent outbreaks of rain, so there's the risk of localised surface water and aside from still extensive cloud across the uk. still miles, into double fears for most and the christmas day itself if you want a white christmas you can have one. go

to the scottish mountains, walk up to the scottish mountains, walk up to about 500 metres elevation and you will have snow. for the rest of us, are mild christmas. temperatures staying in double figures and at times there could be outbreaks of rain. temperatures about 10—11 degrees in the capital. but the latest weather. —— that's your latest. this is business briefing. i'm rachel horne. the crisis deepens for spain, as catalan separatists win a key election victory in a poll that was supposed to see off their challenge once and for all. plus, christmas cheer for investors as stock markets come to the end of their best year since 2009. the markets. the euro dips as investors watched spain. the economy in the us grew at its fastest pace

in more than two years.