this is bbc news. the headlines at seven: protesters face off with police on the streets of barcelona after former catalonian president caries puigdemont is arrested in germany. these are the latest picture from barcelona as separatist supporters call for mr puigdemont‘s police. —— release. the australia cricket captain steve smith has been banned for one match by cricket's ruling body — the icc — over the ball tampering scandal. the australian prime minister says he's shocked and disappointed. an extra 3000 midwives are to be trained in england — to ease staff shortages and improve care. a teenage girl is seriously injured after a car deliberately the few drives at children in glasgow — police are treating the incident as attempted murder. also in the next hour after 17 hours and 9000 miles, the first scheduled non—stop flight from australia to europe touches down in london. the qantas flight from perth to london heathrow marks the launch of the first regular direct route between the two continents. and in formula one,

sebastian vettel pushes lewis hamilton into second place to win the opening grand prix of the season and in 45 minutes — jim naughtie speaks to norwegian writer asne seierstad about her book two sisters in this week's meet the author. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the former catalan president, carles puidgemont, will appear before a judge tomorrow following his arrest in germany. he is wanted in spain for sedition and rebellion. meanwhile, thousands of people have been protesting in barcelona against his arrest. mr puidgemont had fled to belgium after catalonia's disputed independence referendum last 0ctober. joining me now from madrid is journalist and political

analyst miguel—anxo murado. how different is the prospect of extradition from germany than from belgium? the case of belgium when mr puigdemont found himself in the sitting —— in the same situation, they do not have the same crime of sedition as they do in spain, which was a reason to deny the extradition. it did not happen because the spanish judge withdrew the request. now we will know what happens in the case of germany, where there is a crime which is similar, which is important to mark. it is similarto similar, which is important to mark. it is similar to that of rebellion in spain but not exactly the same. a judge will have to decide on that.

how great a risk for the spanish government is it to try to extradite him a second time? well, it is a gamble for both sides, both for the former president puigdemont and for the spanish government. if mr puigdemont is not extradited, it would be a considerable victory for him. it will be a recognition by a very important european country that spain is not doing things right. if he is extradited, it will be exactly the opposite. it will be a country like germany admitting that he has breached the law and rebelled against the spanish government, and that would be a boost for spain. there was criticism of how the spanish government reacted in the past to the protests, the attempts to cc in catalonia. how much support does the spanish government have over this move? —— to carry out

secession. i would say close to full support. international media has been critical with spain, but the spanish government is most interested in the reaction of european governments, and those by and large have been supporting the spanish line. of course, we have those protests under way at the moment in barcelona. and we have live pictures there. it looks pretty peaceful, but in the background, we can see those security vans, police vehicles, just in case there were to be any problems. at the moment, thankfully, it all seems quite peaceful. what impact is this a ten to extradite mr puigdemont going to have for the independence movement? if he is extradited it will be a huge blow for the independence movement, which is going through a very bad patch. things are not giving their way. recently, just

this week, they failed in an attempt to appoint a new catalan president who is a nationalist. and their strategy is in shambles. this could only worsen things for them. for spain, it would be of course a huge triumph. as for the protest, so far, they have been largely peaceful. this one seems angrier, and there are some bat on charges that we know of. i don't expect this to spiral out of control. i think in general we will expect this to play out more in thejudicial sphere we will expect this to play out more in the judicial sphere rather than in the judicial sphere rather than in the streets. thank you very much for your time and your analysis. australia's cricket captain steve smith has been banned from playing in the final test match in south africa amid a ball—tampering scandal described by prime minister malcolm turnbull as a "shocking disappointment". smith had already been forced to hand over his duties as captain for the third test. there are still questions for the wider leadership of the national team after a player was caught on camera manipulating the ball with a piece of tape.

this report now from our correspondent in just how cameron bancroft thought he could get away with ball tampering in front of cameras is unclear. could get away with ball tampering in front of cameras is unclearlj tried in front of cameras is unclear.” tried to change the ball condition. captain steve smith, who was part of this conspiracy, has agreed to stand down for the remainder of the match, along with his deputy, david warner. i'm not proud of what's happened. you know, it's not within the spirit of the game, my integrity, the team's integrity. both teams will

continue to play under an interim skipper. there is mounting pressure for smith to quit. cricket australia, the governing body, is sending two max senior officials to south africa to investigate the scandal. prime minister malcolm turnbull said he shared his country's disappointment. turnbull said he shared his country's disappointmentm turnbull said he shared his country's disappointment. it seems com pletely country's disappointment. it seems completely beyond belief that the australian cricket team had been involved in cheating. after all, our cricketers are role models, and cricketers are role models, and cricket is synonymous with fairplay. in social media, there was more disbelief and anger. the former australian skipper michael clark hoped it was alljust australian skipper michael clark hoped it was all just a australian skipper michael clark hoped it was alljust a bad dream. while other retired players said the game had taken a devastating blow. tampering with the ball using so—called foreign object is strictly prohibited in cricket. there are legal ways to alter the condition of

one side of the ball to help it to swing or to move unpredictably through the air. in this case, australia has crossed the line. cricket is australia's national sport, and many fans could well be asking themselves one simple yet searching question of steve smith and some of his team—mates: just what were they thinking? to discuss this further i'm joined via webcam by elizabeth ammon, who is a cricket reporterfor the times. thank you forjoining us. how common is this kind of effort to make the ball do different things in cricket? certainly, it happens a lot in terms of people shining up one side, or trying to scuff up one side of the ball to get it to swing or reverse swing, the wing unconventionally. there have been instances of illegal

su bsta nces there have been instances of illegal substances being used to do it, such as mud or somebody sucking a mint or as mud or somebody sucking a mint or a suite to try and alter it. but i think, in this case, what is so shocking to people is that, first, it is so blatant, using sticky tape, but also it was premeditated, preconceived, and not only sanction but instigated right at the top of the team, the leadership team, as they call it. i was under the impression that australia helped themselves to a higher level of account because they have been so good over the years. how much worse does it make it that it is australia doing this? certainly, it comes in the context of australia sort of holding themselves up as the moral arbiters, really, of where the moral lines are in cricket. it also comes in the context of a very pangs the series, the current series between themselves and south africa, where they have consistently pushed the

line —— a very gangster ridden series. there have been sendoffs, a fracas outside a dressing room between two of the players. —— a very angst—ridden series. in australia, cricketers are held higher than politicians. wearing a baggy green is seen as one of the most important things you can do in australia. it has been pretty boorish, their behaviour on this tour, and they have been involved in aggressive behaviour on the pitch and off. they have also, not to put too fine a

point on, a whinge about the sort of abuse they've been getting from the south african crowds, all in the light of what's been going on on the pitch. they had been trying to one particular player banned. he was banned and then at appeal it was overturned. they have consistently, even during the recent ashes, been really quite friendless in terms of the way that they play cricket was that they play aggressively, and when it is given back to them, there isa when it is given back to them, there is a bit of whingeing from the australians, or at least that is how it is seen or perceived by the rest of the cricketing world. so, that is why there is very little sympathy. in itself, the ball tampering is not the biggest scandal. it has happened before and people have been banned and had a one match ban as we see in this case but it is in that wider context, which is why cricket

australia need to get a handle, and why they realise that things had got out of control, notjust in these terms but in the wider behavioural terms. the chief executive of the icc today said that cricket needs to ta ke icc today said that cricket needs to take a long, hard look at itself. in recent weeks, there has been a lot of really u npleasa nt recent weeks, there has been a lot of really unpleasant stuff going on that has detracted from the spot. as you say, it is probably not over yet. good to talk to you. thank you. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30pm this evening in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are the broadcaster and former national newspaper editor eve pollard, and charlie wells from the economist. another three thousand training places for midwives in england will be made available over the next four years — in what the government says is the "largest ever" boost to nhs midwives and maternity staff. it's part of plans to address staff shortages. the royal college of midwives has welcomed the new training places

but says they'll only address part of the problem because the nhs in england is short of the required number of midwives right now. our health editor hugh pym reports. it is hoped to reduce the chances of miscarriage and premature birth. to try to achieve that, ministers say there will be a boost to the number of training places for new midwives and support staff. health unions have welcomed it but warned it will ta ke have welcomed it but warned it will take time. the benefit of those extra midwives will not be seen untilfour extra midwives will not be seen until four years' extra midwives will not be seen untilfour years' time. extra midwives will not be seen until four years' time. and then extra midwives will not be seen untilfour years' time. and then in the years after. there are pressures in the service at the moment which need to be addressed. here is how the numbers look right now. with just over 22,500 midwives in post in england in 2017, the royal college of ms white —— would like —— the

royal college of midwives reckon there is a shortfall of around 3500. the new plan will create an extra 650 extra places next year, followed by 1000 new places in each of the three subsequent years. like nurses in england, the students will now have to pay tuition fees. the government knows that recruitment and retention in the nhs is a problem, one reason why it recently announced a 6.5% pay deal over three yea rs announced a 6.5% pay deal over three years for many staff in england. there is pressure on ministers to find more money to put into front—line services. the idea of a dedicated nhs tax has been floated, and it was ruled out today.“ dedicated nhs tax has been floated, and it was ruled out today. if you ask the public about the nhs, they are very clear that they would like to see more money going to the nhs and they would be prepared to see some of their own taxes going into

the nhs! but they are very clear, they want to know that money is going into the nhs and social care system and they want to know that the nhs is going to reform. labour argues there is a need for an immediate cash injection with the nhs under severe pressure. the debate on health and social care funding is certainly gathering pace. a former brexit campaigner says he will present evidence to mps tomorrow which he claims shows the vote leave group broke election laws in the run up to the referendum in 2016. shahmir sanni says vote leave got around spending limits by channelling funds through another pro—brexit group. both organisations strongly deny any wrongdoing, but labour has called for the allegations to be investigated. here's our political correspondent iain watson. there could be a very simple explanation for the vote leave victory. they may well have run a better campaign and more voters wa nted better campaign and more voters wanted to leave the eu than remain. but one of their volunteers claims that the main brexit campaign didn't play by the rules and spent more

money than was allowed. vote leave was permitted to spend £7 million, but as they approached that limit, they gave an additional £625,000 to smaller youth focused operation called the leave. it is alleged that that campaign may have been nothing more than a frightful vote leave itself. there was coordination. they saidi itself. there was coordination. they said i wasn't but there was. it was set up vote leave until post—referendum we were constantly communicating with the lead senior members, seeking advice on being instructed by them. but before the referendum as well as after. shabbir sani believes that the two organisations were so interlinked that they even shared the same computer drives, and that level of coordination, he said, would break electoral law. but in a tweet, leading brexit campaign boris

johnson described the allegations as utterly ludicrous and said that vote leave won fair, square and legally. the former campaign director, dominic cummings, denies any wrongdoing and has dismissed the allegations as lame gossip. a former volunteer says his lawyers will produce more evidence tomorrow at back up his allegations. we will see, but it is certainly the case that the referendum watchdog, the electoral commission, is already investigating. some opposition politicians here at westminster stay that their powers are stuck in the yan —— say that their powers are stuck in the analogue age and their unable to deal with the challenges of the digital world. theresa may needs to make sure the electoral commission has the resources to fully investigate the allegations that there was criminal collusion. let's remember, the people that led these campaigns are now senior cabinet members. this whole saga demonstrates that the electoral

commission simply doesn't have the resource of the power and has been looking at this for over a year and nothing has happened. whatever the result of the investigation into vote leave activities, government ministers have been clear how long the referendum would be rerun. and on a different story — jeremy corbyn has made a statement on anti—semitism and the labour party. remind us of the background. a big background that goes back some way and lots of criticism whenjeremy corbyn took over that he wasn't clamping down on anti—semitic behaviour, especially from newer members of the labour party who perhapsjoined when members of the labour party who perhaps joined when he members of the labour party who perhapsjoined when he became leader. we had an investigation under chamois chakra barty. labour tightened procedures and talked about tougher more robust action in terms of disciplinary action against people who might be specifically... he came under fire people who might be specifically... he came underfire again in recent

days because what was on earth was his response five years ago to an artist on facebook who had produced clearly a n artist on facebook who had produced clearly an anti—semitic image as a mural. he had complained that the council was trying to take this down, and jeremy corbyn at that time had backed freedom of speech, back it stayed up but then subsequently issued a statement saying that he had regretted that, they had not looked closely enough at the image and it was right to take it down. he was under a lot of pressure, especially from jewish members of the labour party who wanted him to do precisely that. he has been under further pressure to make clear his views on what the labour party ought to be doing when these kind of things occur in the future, and tonight he has done so. and in a more comprehensive way than before. what has he said? he issued a statement in the last half hour saying: we recognise that anti—semitism has occurred within politics in the labour party. that

causes pain and hurt to thejewish community. he also says he is sincerely sorry for the pain cause. this time, it is not a statement of regret or a statement of intent to tighten up internal procedures. very clear that he is saying he is sorry for the pain that has been caused, and also pledging to meet representatives of the jewish community in the coming days, weeks and months. the purpose of that is to rebuild confidence in the labour party. i think he is beginning not to feel just the political heat party. i think he is beginning not to feeljust the political heat on this but also the electoral consequences and whether there was actually a problem with members of the jewish community, many actually a problem with members of thejewish community, many of whom supported labour in the past, continuing to vote labour under his leadership. so he has decided to ta ke leadership. so he has decided to take this head—on, and as far as i am aware, we were at the baker until later this evening, but the board of british jews are later this evening, but the board of britishjews are expressing concern tomorrow. there is likely to be some form of demonstration tomorrow. he is responding to what we expect to be further criticism, but also

respond distinctive —— responding to criticism he has received in the last few days. ian watson —— criticism he has received in the last few days. ian watson -- ian watson, thank you. a fourteen year old girl from glasgow has been seriously injured after a car hit a group of children she was standing with on a pavement yesterday afternoon. police are trying to trace the driver who didn't stop a major investigation into the crash here is under way. it happened yesterday afternoon when a group of youths was standing outside this row of shops in castlemilk. police say a silver vauxhall astra was driven deliberately at them. a 14—year—old girl is being treated in hospital for serious injuries. two girls and two boys, aged between 12 —— between 12 and 1a are receiving treatment for serious injuries. local residents are appalled. sigh there

-- sheer anger, a lot of anger in the local community just now. absolutely disgusted with what has happened yesterday. absolutely. footage from a number of cctv cameras in this area may prove useful to the detectives trying to trace the man driving the car and a man who was his passenger. they are treating this as attempted murder and say they are keeping an open mind as to whether this is linked to a murder in the area last year. police say they have put on extra patrols in this area to try and reassure the public after what happened here yesterday, and they are urging anyone with any information that can help them at this very serious investigation to come forward and speak to them. aileen clarke, bbc news, glasgow. a british man has been sentenced to ten years in prison in dubai for killing his wife with a hammer. 62—year—old jane matthew was attacked by francis matthew — a former editor of the english language newspaper, gulf news — during an argument lastjuly. herfamily sayjustice has not been done and hope the sentence can be increased on appeal.

a memorial mass has been held in the french town of trebes to remember the four people killed in a series of attacks on friday. a police officer who swapped places with a hostage at the supermarket siege will also be honoured in a national memorial in paris in the coming days. from paris, here's hugh schofield. palm sunday, the start of holy week for catholics. in the medieval church of st etienne in trebes, mass today is laden with significance. they have come to remember the four people who were killed in the terrorist attack on friday, and in particular the sacrifice of one man, lieutenant colonel arnaud beltrame, who lay down his life so that others might be saved. translation: in the midst of the terrible events of friday, one man traded himself for a victim and paid with his life. arnaud beltrame was himself a practising catholic. according to the bishop, he combined the devotion of a soldier with the faith of a christian

preparing for holy week. contemplating the hugeness of his act of self—sacrifice, the french simply feel awe. at the gendarmerie where he was based in carcassonne and at others around the country, they have been leaving their tributes. translation: i think sacrificing one's life to save a hostage is higher than anything. it is heroic. that poor boy, it's so sad. it's terrible, what happened. translation: yes, it's the very definition of a hero. i think it's simple. it is expressed here by his act. it's sad, but he's a hero. what arnaud beltrame did at the supermarket, giving himself up to the gunman in return for hostages, was a decision taken in a split—second. for the general who commands france's gendarmerie, it's an act of the man. translation: it was an act of heroism, an exceptional act taken in the heat of action.

he performed his duty to the limit. we are all proud of that. we are proud of having had him in our ranks. his example must inspire us in the future in the daily work we do protecting our fellow citizens. at the worst and most frightening moments on friday, a man carried out a deed of selfless honour. for many in france and not just churchgoers, that is a source of hope. at least three people have been killed in a car bombing near the somali parliament in mogadishu. the bomb went off at a heavily guarded checkpoint in the somali capital. there has been no claim of responsibility. the attack comes just days after a blast killed 1a people outside a busy hotel in mogadishu. three more rebel held towns are being evacuated in the syrian region of eastern ghouta. it leaves only one major settlement there in rebel hands. local rebel leaders have agreed

a deal with president assad's government for the evacuees to be taken to opposition—held territory in idlib province. eastern ghouta has been subjected to one of the heaviest bombardments of the syrian war and only small pockets remain in the hands of rebels. with more, here's david campanale. buses carrying fighters, their families and others, left eastern ghouta late on saturday as the government tightened its grip on the enclave outside damascus. the coaches headed to the north—western province of idlib, which is still controlled by the opposition. in recent weeks, the syrian military has cut the territory into three separate pockets, forcing the opposition to negotiate withdrawals. thousands more people began the process of evacuation on sunday morning following a deal struck between government forces and a local rebel group, faylaq al—rahman. the surrender of zamalka, arbin and ain terma leaves the city of douma as the last rebel—held stronghold. it is held by jaysh al—islam,

and talks are under way to evacuate their fighters. damascus city lies immediately adjacent to the newly cleared rebel territory. here, residents have been rejoicing as they expect no longer be hit by opposition mortars. over 70% of eastern ghouta is now under control of government forces who have moved in. restoring rule here would be a major gain for president bashar al—assad, and represent a success for his strategy of battering towns to breaking point. as well as flattening whole districts, over 1,500 people have been killed by syrian government forces, supported by the russian military backed by iran, in an offensive which was launched on the rebel—held territory last month. the convicted child killer peter pickering has died

in a psychiatric hospital aged 80. pickering, who had been dubbed the "beast of wombwell", stabbed and strangled 14—year—old shirley boldy in wombwell, near barnsley, in 1972. he was also suspected of murdering schoolgirl elsie frost in wakefield in 1965. on tuesday, he was convicted of raping a woman weeks before he killed shirley and was waiting to be sentenced. firefighters are continuing to tackle a major blaze in rochdale in greater manchester — more than 2a hours after arriving at the scene. it broke out at a derelict mill yesterday afternoon, as ian haslam reports. at its height, dozens of firefighters tackled the blaze at the derelict proofings mill in littleborough. when the crews arrived, it was a developing fire involving three floors. it spread quite rapidly, with some concern for neighbouring properties. so just for safety, we had to evacuate approximately 12 buildings. around a0 residents were allowed back into their homes within a few hours. part of the mill has now collapsed

and firefighters are still working hard to extinguish remaining pockets of fire. they say they expect to be at the site for the next two to three days. fire in old mills and derelict mills always pose a hazard for us. we're finding it difficult to get to those pockets of fire so we can fully extinguish it. if you're in the properties, keep your doors and windows closed just so no products of the smoke enter your premises. the fire service says it's still too early to determine the cause of the blaze. the first scheduled non—stop flight between australia and europe landed this morning in london. the boeing dreamliner took just over seventeen hours to complete its fourteen—and—a—half—thousand kilometrejourney from perth. the head of qantas described the service as a "game—changing route". 0ur correspondent simon clemison was at heathrow as passengers arrived. it may seem small, but on those

departure boards, it will say perth, and in perth, it's been saying london. if you've been on this route, you will know that normally, you have to set off for singapore or dubai or somewhere and stop over, a far cry from what it was in 1947, when this kangaroo route involved seven hops. you would have to come through cairo, calcutta, singapore, lots of places on the route, but overnight, they did it in one leap. the kangaroo route made it here in one go after 17 hours. it set off about 6:50 local time in perth, made it here just before dawn this morning. we caught up with some of the passengers as they came through the gate. it was the best flight we've ever had from australia. absolutely the best. we feel fresh as daisies. yeah. to be fair, the whole thing just flew by. fell asleep over the caicos islands and woke up over dubai and then you are almost home, then. really good, yeah. it's made a big difference going all the way through non—stop.