this is bbc news, i'm ben bland. our top stories: turmoil in barcelona — police fire rubber bullets and use teargas — at protesters angry at the jailing of catalan separatist leaders. what's clear is that they are becoming worse and worse. more violent, more protesters on the streets and more response from the police as well, who tonight have used tear gas for the first time and rubber bullets as they are trying to protect the national police headquarters which are just down here. super saturday in the british parliament — just hours before mps decide whether to back borisjohnson‘s brexit deal. what matters is mps coming together, across the house tomorrow, to get this thing done. rare criticism of president trump's decison to withdraw troops from syria by a republican party heavyweight: mitch mcconnell calls

it a ‘grave mistake‘. making history that's out of this world: two astronauts take part in the first ever all—women space walk. hello and welcome to bbc news. violent clashes between protesters and police have continued into the night in barcelona. officers fired tear gas and rubber bullets at youths who responded by throwing stones and setting makeshift barricades on fire. earlier on friday, about half a million people held a peaceful demonstration in the spanish city, against the jailing this week of catalan separatist leaders. damian grammaticas sent this report from barcelona.

central barcelona. parts of it are a battleground tonight. a full—scale confrontation under way, between police and protesters. round after round, fired by the riot officers. in return, stones, bottles and fireworks, hurled back at them. this is now the fifth night in a row of these clashes in barcelona, and what's clear is that they are becoming worse and worse. more violent, more protesters on the streets and more response from the police as well, who tonight have used tear gas for the first time and rubber bullets as they are trying to protect the national police headquarters which are just down here. the day began with huge columns of people, converging on barcelona from across catalonia. some had been walking for three days to get here. a general strike had shut down the city. now, they took over the streets. these are pro—independence supporters, putting on a huge

show of force after spain jailed on monday nine catalan leaders who tried to declare independence for the region two years ago. it's only going to stop once we achieve what we want, that are changes, real changes. not all catala ns want the region to split away. there've been counterprotests by those who want to stay part of spain. they have been tiny by comparison. this was the spark for the violence today, protesters hurling eggs and cans at spanish police officers. eventually, police patience snapped. every day this week, there have been scenes like this. police action, fuelling tempers on the street. the severity of the jail sentences for the catalan leaders has caused real anger. but so too have police tactics, which the protesters see as heavy—handed.

spain's prime minister has warned those involved in any violence will face the full force of the law. there has now been a week of unrest with no sign of it ending. and catalan leaders say their hopes of independence are undimmed. clara sarria is founder of the youth organisation s'ha aca bat! , which is opposed to catalan independence. i asked her if she thought the sentences given to the catalan leaders were too harsh. what is clear is that sentences are there to be respected, and in spain there is a separation of powers, there is the legislative, executive and the judiciary, and the sentence has not been excessively severe, which is a vision that is obviously not shared by separatists, but i believe the protests

would have taken place anyway, no matter the outcome or the severity of the sentence. so what do you think the way forward is then, because there are clearly strong feelings on both sides of this, among catalans, would the answer be to hold an official referendum? well, that is a very complicated question, and there are many visions on the matter. my personal stance is that if a referendum were to be held, it would be repeated once and again until the result matched to the expectations of the independence movement. i believe the main solution for this problem would be to simply learn to respect each other, learn to live with each other, which is the normal situation in a democracy, there are many political stances that are respectable, and they can live together without any sort of problem. and then they can be parliamentary represented. and what do you make of the way it has been

handled by police and security services, because clearly they can't allow the streets to descend into this sort of violence and chaos, but some have accused them of being a little bit heavy—handed in the way they have dealt with it. well, the truth is that protests have been going on forfour nights now, and you know, the situation has been extremely worrying, protesters have been lighting private cars on fire, they have thrown projectiles at officers, they have that garbage bins alight, they have thrown molotov cocktails, so these protests have not been peaceful at all. they have been very aggressive, and police are public servants, they are there because it is their obligation, and they are the same officers that would help you in a situation of need, and they would help any citizen, including the independentists. and if the streets descend into chaos, they are to help everybody, not just the pro—independence sympathisers.

in just a matter of hours borisjohnson will be asking mps across westminister to unite behind his brexit deal. and while parliament is deciding the fate of britain's departure from the eu, thousands of protesters are expected to march through london demanding a new referendum. the stage is set for a "super saturday" but no—one knows quite what the outcome will be. it's expected to be a knife—edge vote — but in the last few hours a number of hardline tory brexiteers say they will back the agreement. laura kuenssberg has the latest. that's not the real borisjohnson. it's a fancy dress version, a climate protester who had scaled the scaffolding around big ben. the actual prime minister is teetering on an even narrower edge. he has to take a leap, not knowing if he'll meet victory or defeat. we've got a deal that allows us to get out of the backstop, that's abolished, and we can do free trade agreements as one whole united kingdom around the world.

clearly, what matters is mps coming together across the house tomorrow to get this thing done. and ijust kind of invite everybody to imagine what it could be like tomorrow evening, if we have settled this. but in order to get this deal, though, you have given some concessions, you've accepted quite a significant customs border between northern ireland and the rest of the united kingdom. that is something you said you would never do, you said no british prime minister could do that. no, on the contrary, nobody wants to have checks at the northern irish border. so, what we've agreed with the eu is that temporarily — temporarily, and by consent of the people of northern ireland, if there's stuff that is coming from gb into ireland, or from anywhere else in the world via northern ireland into ireland, then, yes, there can be checks. but that, of course... and those checks can be levied by uk authorities.

but that is very far from having a tariff border. by your admission, and it's there in black and white in the deal, there will be extra customs checks, and for some people, including your allies, that's just not acceptable, that puts the union at risk. no, there are no tariffs going from gb to ni. but there are extra checks. they already are, as you know. but of course it is also going to be superseded, as we come out, as i hope we do at the end of this month, as we get on to negotiate the uk—eu free trade agreement. the deal brokered by brains in whitehall and in brussels contains concessions from the eu and the uk. it leaves the future more open between the two sides, compared to the previous agreement, and in theory gives the uk more ability to trade round the rest of the world.

but it does contain what could be significant changes to how northern ireland fits into the jigsaw of the rest of the uk, and that's not the only reason why the prime minister faces an uphill struggle to get this through mps. you can watch all the developments at westminster across bbc news on saturday — with special live coverage outside the houses of parliament. let's get some of the day's other news. afghan officials say an explosion during friday prayers at a mosque in the eastern province of nangahar has killed at least 62 people and injured more than 30 others. it's not known who carried out the blast, which brought down the roof of the building. a federal court in new york has found the brother of the president of honduras guilty of drug trafficking charges. tony hernandez was arrested last year in miami. prosecutors accused him of using his honduran government connections to smuggle 200 tons

of cocaine into the us. floods caused by eight days of torrential downpours in northeastern ghana have left 28 people dead and displaced hundreds. relief items are being transported 800 kilometres by road from the capital accra to the affected region on the border with burkina faso. meteorologists warn the rains could last into november. the majority leader of the us senate says president trump's decision to withdraw troops from syria was a ‘grave mistake‘. in a rare criticism of president trump, mitch mcconnell has warned that that there are significant dangers in america abandoning its allies. here's the bbc‘s north america correspondent, peter bowes. this is clearly damning criticism of the president's policy in syria, his decision to withdraw forces. he says, as you say, it was "a grave strategic mistake",

and he goes on to say it will "leave the american people and homeland less safe", he says, "embolden our enemies and weaken important alliances". and what he is getting at is his concern that this will result in terrorist organisations, groups like islamic state, regrouping with the potential of attacking the united states at some point in the future. in fact, he says "if permitted to regroup and establish havens, they will bring terror to our shores." he says "there is no substitute for american leadership". and in fact without mentioning president trump by name, clearly he is criticising the leadership of the current us president in what he is saying, in this article he refers to the fact that he has worked with three presidential administrations since 9/11, he says fighting radical islamist terrorism, and he says he has learned lessons from that.

stay with us on bbc news, still to come: stepping out in space: two nasa astronauts complete the first all—woman spacewalk. a historic moment that many of his victims have waited for for decades. the former dictator in the dock, older, slimmer, and as he sat down, obedient enough. dawn, and as the sun breaks through the piercing chill of night on the plain outside korem, it lights up a biblical famine, now, in the 20th century. the depressing conclusion, in argentina today, it's actually cheaper to paper your walls with money. we've had controversies in the past with great britain. but as good friends, we've always found a good and lasting solution.

concorde bows out in style. after almost three decades in service, an aircraft that enthralled its many admirers for so long taxis home one last time. this is bbc news, the latest headlines. protestors have clashed with police in barcelona, after a huge demonstration by catalans against jail sentences imposed on separatist leaders. super saturday in the british parliament — just hours before mp's decide whether to back borisjohnson‘s brexit deal in a special sitting and staying with that crucial vote, earlier i spoke with journalist and labour activist paul mason and salma shah, a former special adviser at the home office about how this would go for borisjohnson

he is closest to being able to do that now than theresa may ever was and i think the issue of reaching out across the party is that so many have decided that they are anti—brexit altogether, or they have a real crisis of conscience in terms of supporting a tory government versus trying to deliver for their constituents. so it's not in the bag yet, but there is still a chance he could do it. and paul, indications are some of the opposition parties will have ruled out voting for this deal. can the prime minister rely, say, on opposition labour mps when they represent constituencies when there was a strong vote in favour of leaving? the number of mps who sit for leave constituencies will vote for this deal.

the dup is dead against this deal because of the deal that has been done with the republic of ireland and with europe. so johnson, i think, is reliant on ten or five labour mps going through and crossing the floor, these are from working—class areas and there is a big disaffinity, so the crisis of conscious that these ten labour mps have will be bigger and the vote will rest with them. there also has been the added complication, another possible vote on an option that would allow mps to support the deal, but with a built—in delay until the legislation is passed. do you think that could win over some who may not quite be co mforta ble voting for it outright as it is?

i don't think that is a question of say labour mps being more comfortable with having a delay. i think it's a question of the tory rebels, the faction from the conservative party who had the with withdrawn from them a couple of weeks ago to make them more comfortable with voting for this deal, to ensure we don't fall into a new deal by no accident. for this deal, to ensure we don't fall into a no deal by accident. so in terms of all of the factions that are there, i think this sort of conditional delay is probably best for those people to come back to the tory fold. and it's been suggested if the prime minister doesn't get this deal through parliament, he will try again to bring a general election to break the deadlock. you think that is what opposition parties want and are ready for? the progressive opposition parties, the labour party, the welsh nationalists, do want one, because we know what the deal is. it's not an open question of what is brexit going to be like? there is a deal that they can't accept because of its attack on labour rights.

and the end state of another no deal, a cliff edge. they will want another election as soon as they can get it. in winter in the northern hemisphere, there comes a cut—off point where schools are full of christmas parties in mid—december, where you can't get one. so it is touch and go for me. if the letwin amendment goes through then we might have an election by the end of spring. paul mason and salma shah speaking to me there a short time ago. lebanese riot police have fired tear gas during clashes with anti—government protestors in beirut. it's the second day of demonstrations — the biggest in years. they're angry at unemployment, high prices and the poor state of public services. in response, prime minister, saad al—hariri, gave his partners in his governing coalition three days to commit to a programme of economic reforms. timour azhari is a journalist based in beirut. he has been covering the protests. we have seen thousands of people expressing their anger, they have been calling for economic

justice and the downfall of the regime, which is a slogan similar to the 2oii—type arab spring people have been extremely hopeful, which is interesting to see in this country. the last few years we have had smaller protest movements happening, and they usually fizzle out after a few hours in the square. now we are seeing staying powers to the protests. they have been going on non—stop for two days. now it is 2:20am in the morning and there are hundreds of people in the main square of beirut, and hundreds more across the country. where do you see this going next? well, the staying power is strong and so the people will likely remain in the streets. we are going into a weekend now, universities and schools and other public institutions, you know, other private businesses, are going to be closed tomorrow. so we expect to see people staying in the streets.

it's really not even necessarily tied to what the government's — how the government responds. i've spoken to people in the street to say it doesn't matter what they say, just want them to leave. so it really seems like it will continue. and what does all of this mean for lebanon's government, lebanon's leaders? they really have been rattled, which is a remarkable thing in this country. well, the lebanese prime minister came out today and basically said he would take 72 hours, give us 72 hours to the people in the coalition government to accept a series of economic reforms, what are called economic reforms but are really hugely unpopular austerity measures. he seemed quite detached to people on the streets. what they are calling for is no new taxes on the people, because they are already struggling. the country's economy has been stagnant for years. its finances are in disarray, and anything the government has been able to do is say ok, we will increase taxes. and that is what has led

to this movement here. and the prime minister saying well, i would actually like my people in coalition with me to come out and support this package is actually, you know, it seems to be the wrong direction to go in at this point. mexico's president has been defending the actions of his security forces after they first captured and then released drug kingpin joaquin ‘el chapo' guzman‘s son. ovidio guzman has run the notorious sinaloa cartel along with his brothers ever since his father was sentenced to life in prison in the us. mr obrador says the security forces took the right decision to protect civilians. will grant reports. the scenes were reminiscent of a war zone. heavily armed cartel gunmen

prowling the streets and engaging armed forces in battle to a sustained firefight across the city. and those caught in the middle of the conflict have no idea what is happening. fearing for their lives, pa rents happening. fearing for their lives, parents and children cowered in shopping malls and restaurants, behind their cars, anywhere they could find cover. once the smoke lifted, the explaining began. one of the heads of the sinaloa cartel, el chapo ‘s son had been briefly obtained by the authorities. overwhelmed by the firepower, police handed the drug lord back to the astonishment of many mexicans. an embarrassed state of into first said they found him by chance, amid now it was a bungled operation. at the federal level, red faces were not much better. the president said he had approved the decision to let him

go. translation: the capture of a criminal cannot be worth more than people ‘s lives. they took that decision and i supported it. people ‘s lives. they took that decision and i supported itm people ‘s lives. they took that decision and i supported it. it was a stunning ocean. to say that he supported the decision to release ovidio guzman other sort of words can come back to haunt a presidency. but his strategy of nonviolent towards cartels remains the right one, according to the president. but this week alone there have been huge gun this week alone there have been huge gu n battles this week alone there have been huge gun battles in the western states which left around 30 dead between them. one was an ambush of police patrols, the other a clash between the army and a cartel. the violence still plaguing so much of mexico, the president ‘s claims to be pacifying cartels does not ring true to those people whose streets descended into gunfire and flame.

the first all—women space walk has taken place, in another milestone for space exploration. the american astronauts christina koch and jessica meir replaced faulty equipment on the outside of the international space station. more than 200 people have carried out spacewalks since 1965, but only 1a have been women and until today they were accompanied by men. gareth barlow has the details. for almost eight hours, they made history. the first all—women spacewalk in history. christina koch and jessica meir stepping outside the international space station, 400 kilometres above the earth. this is to everybody that has a dream and is willing to work hard to make a dream come true. watching from solid ground as they made repairs to the space

station, president trump held the moment. and i just want to congratulate you, what you do is incredible. and so, you're very brave people. i don't think i want to do that, i want to tell you, but you are amazing people. earlier, what would have been the world's first all—women's spacewalk was cancelled because nasa did not have enough medium—sized spacesuits. it took nasa until 1978 to start appointing women, far later after russian female cosmonauts. now in 2019, proof that there is space for us all. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i'm @benmbland

gareth barlow, bbc news. good morning. this time last week the world whether story was typhoon hagibis. in fact, we were watching this powerful typhoon barrelling its way towards the shores of japan. weather warnings were enforced, several of the rugby world cup matches were cancelled, including the england—france match. i'm pleased to say fast forward seven days and yes we have some shower cloud across japan but the weather story looks much better for the quarterfinals. in fact, it should be relatively dry, bright and warm, with temperatures into the mid—20s for the england—australia match. i wish i could say the same, however, for the uk on saturday. it does look as though we're going to have plenty of showers, some of them heavy with the odd roll of thunder. but there is an improvement with the second half of the weekend.

we are still under this influence of low pressure with this weather front enhancing the rain fall across eastern scotland. will also see plenty of showers out of the west as well. of these showers will boost further inland as we go through the day, perhaps not as many as we have seen across england and, the rain fairly persistent through eastern scotland, drifting down towards the scottish borders as we go through the date and then a northerly breeze getting in behind. so top temperatures on saturday of 10—15 degrees. but as we go to the overnight period, the showers will start to fade away and the northerly wind will start to kick a little bit further south. that is going to allow temperatures to fall away. low single figures in a few spots, each earlier start to sunday morning but a quieter start to sunday morning. that i'm sure will come as welcome news. in fact, the second half of that we can look drier and there will be fewer showers around as well. a better day for

getting out and about. a little more cloud here, damp and drizzly in places. further south and west we will see a little more sunshine and after that chilly start temperatures will recover 9—11; degrees, the high. again, we could have an issue with some fog and frost through the night, but the story into the early half of the week is high pressure building from the west. there is this weather front that could just be a little bit of a fly in the ointment for the extreme south—east, maybe some rain close to the kent coast. but generally across the uk on monday, that quieter theme of weather is set to build. there will be light winds, there would be a little bit of fairweather cloud and it will feeljust a little bit cooler. but with the sunshine compensating, hopefully a better feel. 9—11; celsius. take care.

this is bbc news. iam ben i am ben bland. the headlines: violent clashes between protesters and riot police have continued into the night in the spanish city of barcelona. earlier on friday, about 500,000 people held a peaceful demonstration against the jailing this week of catalan separatist leaders. british mps will be heading to parliament in a few hours in what‘s been called ‘super saturday‘ — a special vote on prime ministerjohnson‘s new brexit deal. he spent friday trying to secure the 320 votes the government needs to win a majority for his agreement. one president trump‘s most loyal supporters, the senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell, has condemned his decision to withdraw troops from syria as a "grave mistake". writing in the washington post, he said it would embolden washington‘s enemies and leave americans less safe.