the headlines. top—level negotiations between china and the us, beijing warning all trade talks between them will fail if president trump introduces new tariffs. the g7 warned america of a trade war within days. a special service has taken place in london to remember the victims of the london bridge terror attacks one year on. eight people we re attacks one year on. eight people were killed when three men drove a van into pedestrians and then stabbed people at a nearby market. pope francis has called for an end to violence in nicaragua. more than 100 people have been killed in weeks of civil unrest directed at president daniel ortega. a new study suggests thousands of women diagnosed with breast cancer may not need chemotherapy. a trial of more than 10,000 women with most of them having early—stage form of breast cancer say that surgery would just be enough. at 10pm mishal husain will be here with a full round—up of the news.

first, the spanish prime minister mariano rajoy was forced out of office this week, one pressing issue facing his successor is the future of the north—eastern region of catalonia where an unsanctioned referendum on independence was held last year. niall o'connor her reports for our world. barcelona, capital of catalonia, one of the most prosperous parts of spain. it has a distinct culture and its own language. but under the dictatorship of general franco speaking catalan was banned and the region's autonomy, lost. when democracy was restored, catalonia was able to govern itself within spain and most people here accepted that. but recently, support for independence has risen and the region's people are now split on whether they should remain part of spain.

with political tension rising, a referendum on independence was called for 1st of october 2017. i reported on that referendum and met people personally involved on both sides of the debate. this programme tells the story of that struggle and asks — what next for catalonia? to understand what happened on the day of the referendum, you have to travel to france, to a small town called elna. it's north of the pyrenees, just over the borderfrom catalonia in north—eastern spain. this part of france was once catalan too. many still speak catalan and feel loyal to those south of the border. so, when the spanish authorities declared the catalan referendum illegal, the people of elna

stepped in to help. some of those involved agreed to talk to us, on the condition of anonymity. the operation was closely guarded. even in a small town like elna conspirators identities were kept secret from each other. the operation lasted months, culminating

on the night before the vote. spain had refused to allow voters to use official ballot boxes and ballot papers were seized, so replacements were printed in secret in elna. ballot boxes were brought in from china, through marseille and hidden in the countryside around town. everything needed to hold the referendum was then driven across the border to volunteers waiting in spain. some here will talk openly about their involvement.

they're proud that a few volunteers from elna could outwit the spanish police. jordi shows me a video about the operation. jordi believes the police‘s embarrassment of being outsmarted led directly to the violence that was to follow. with the ballot boxes and papers safely across the mountains,

the referendum could go ahead. queues formed as people waited in the rain to cast their vote. but the spanish authorities were determined to stop it. police brought in from the rest of spain used batons and rubber bullets to try and prevent people from voting, pulling voters from polling stations and confiscating ballot boxes. the catalan government said that nearly 1000 people were injured, around a quarter of them here. marta was helping a polling station at her children's school.

some of the worst violence happened at this school, where the then president of catalonia, carles puigdemont, was due to vote. memories of what happened here are as vivid as ever. the spanish government's representative in catolnia comes from girona. he blames the organisers of the referendum for what happened. some here have always supported independence. catalonia accounts for a fifth of spain's gdp, giving them confidence the region could prosper as an independent country. but until recently, that was a minority view. then, nearly ten years ago, europe was rocked by the financial crisis and spain's highest court downgraded a new law, catalonia's statute of autonomy, that would have given more power to the region. this brought catala ns to the streets, insisting that they should decide how

the region is governed. the catalan leader at the time, artur mas, warned madrid that demands for independence would only grow without a new deal. after last year's referendum, empty ballot boxes were carried in from the street in celebration. many votes confiscated by the police were never counted. those that were, accounted forjust 42% of the population as pro spain voters stayed at home. those who did take part overwhelmingly backed independence, but triumph on the streets was short lived as europe refused to recognise the result. in the weeks that followed, the world waited to see

whether catalonia would declare independence unilaterally. rumours circulated that colours puja mum was holding back rumours circulated that carles puigdemont was holding back but he came under pressure from supporters of independence. and on 27 of october, after crowds had waited for hours in the heat, the catalan parliament declared the region an independent republic. the then speaker of the parliament had been threatened with legal action if she allowed the debates on independence to go ahead. but almost as soon as the parliament

had declared independence, the spanish senate voted to suspend catalan autonomy and remove carles puigdemont‘s government from office. for the first time since the dictatorship, the government assumed control of catalonia. by the end of the week, four catalan leaders were in jail where they have remained ever since. carme was sent back to prison shortly after we spoke. as spain escalated its response to the crisis in march this year. there are now nine catalan leaders held without charge in spanish jails. the yellow ribbon has become a recognisable symbol of the campaign to free them. in girona, a weekly vigil is held calling for their release. despite massive protests in catalonia and criticism abroad, the spanish government denies that those in jail are

political prisoners. catalans are deeply split on independence. since the autumn, many have taken to the streets to insist that catalonia is part of spain and that they have the right to be both catalan and spanish. those sentiments are especially strong in the region's industrial cities. i am on my way to l'hospitalet, on the outskirts of the catalan capital, barcelona. this area has a long history of migration from the rest of spain. most people here speak spanish before catalan, and few back independence. i've been invited to meet the local history society to find out how the area's history influences attitudes to independence. on the day of the referendum, jesus stayed at home. manuel, whose parents came

to catalonia in the ‘60s, thinks the attitude of an older generation of catalan leaders towards the incomers remains a problem for present—day independence campaigners. in december, elections to the catalan parliament were held and people in places like l'hospitalet came out in large numbers to assert their spanish identity at the ballot box. pro—independence parties kept their majority but, for the first time, the largest party was pro—spain. deposed catalan president carles puigdemont missed the election. after the declaration of independence, he fled for brussels. in march, he was arrested in germany and subsequently let out on bail. speaking on his release, he called for a political solution to the crisis. the time for dialogue has arrived!

we are demanding the dialogue from the last years and we only received a violent and repressive response. now, seeing the fall of that response, it's time to do politics. if the german court agrees to his extradition, mr puigdemont could spend years in a spanishjail. independent commentator josep ramoneda blames a failure of leadership on both sides for the current crisis. after months of stalemate, mr puigdemont nominated a new president, quim torra, a decisive figure who has had a divisive figure who has had to apologise for comments he made about spanish speakers in the past. the appointment of a new government means rule from madrid will end. mr torra continues to press for the release of those in prison. so far, politicians have been

unable, or unwilling, to break the deadlock. back in girona, the weekly vigils continue. and ordinary catalans on both sides harbour serious doubts about the future. catalonia's autonomy is set to be restored, but the crisis goes on. spain continues to press its case in the courts but a political solution seems more distant than ever. and for ordinary catalans, it's unclear how or when the issue of independence will be resolved. hello there. before we look ahead to the weather for the week ahead let's look back at what happened in may, an usual month, certainly early figures from the met office indicate that it's been the warmest, hottest may on record. temperatures right the way across the country above average for the time of year.

notably in the north—east of scotland. instead of the atlantic winds we would normally get we have had southerly or easterly winds bringing the warmth but also bringing a dry month to many northern areas of the uk. of course, we had some storms later on in may across england and wales, and for the early part ofjune those storms have been drifting northwards into scotland. but over the week ahead it looks drier, there will be fewer thundery showers. whilst we are going to start the week quite cool and cloudy, we should see some warm sunshine returning. this is the cool and cloudy start that we have on monday. grey, misty and murky, and it could well stay that way for much of the day in south—east scotland, northern england, down to the midlands and east anglia. some warm sunshine in the south—east and particularly further west. but here the boost of warmth will trigger some heavy thundery showers, especially western scotland and northern ireland, much cooler underneath the low cloud for eastern areas of the uk. so quite a change for many areas than it was over the weekend. as we head into tuesday, well, we have high—pressure still to

the north of the uk, lower pressure to the south, we're getting this easterly wind but no two days are ever exactly the same. whilst we are drawing that low cloud for monday, there is drier air coming in behind for tuesday so it should mean much more sunshine for the eastern side of scotland, sunnier skies and higher temperatures developing in northern england all the way down towards lincolnshire and east anglia as the lower cloud, the cooler weather drifts down towards the south—west and wales. it should be generally dry, for northern ireland some sunny spells, but perhaps one oi’ two showers. most of the showers, though, are over in the near continent. it's turning wetter more widely across france, we're bumping into the high—pressure dominating further north, and so again most places will be fine and dry on wednesday. probably a bit more sunshine for wales and the south—west, but here are the storms not far away, perhaps coming into the channel.

a lot of uncertainty about how quickly and how far north those are going to get. but let's say wednesday is a dry day with sunny spells, temperatures into the low 20s. on thursday, though, it may not be dry. an increasing risk of catching a few heady, perhaps thundery showers pushing northwards into england and wales, perhaps into northern ireland too. again sitting pretty with some sunshine because it is closer to high—pressure. we do have this big flabby area of low pressure here that's going to drift down towards biscay and enhance that north—south split, if you like. but we have still got a few showers around on friday perhaps more up the western side of england and into wales. further north, further east probably going to be dry with some sunshine. and again, probably the low 20s or so. so not seeing the high 20s, not quite the heat and humidity. uncertainties, though, as we head towards the end of the week and into the weekend about the position of high and low pressure. differences between the models. some models bring lower pressure to the north, higher pressure to the south. but this is the forecast we are preferring with lower pressure to the south, higher pressure to the north, a continuation of what we have seen. so next weekend for the northern half of the uk a better chance of seeing dry weather and some blue skies. further south across the uk a better

chance of actually seeing more cloud and perhaps some rain, and that rain could be heavy and thundery but as they say, watch this space. goodbye.