this is deja vu news a lot of from bird land tensions rise it catalonia ahead of a referendum for independence the spanish government says that sunday's planned vote is illegal but many catalonian citizens are demanding the right to decide

their own future and the regional government says that everything is in place for the vote to go ahead we will go live to madrid. also coming up morning rush hour turns deadly and nobody has commuters crowded into a bridge connecting to railway stations at least twenty two people were killed in the stampede and there are fears that the death toll could rise. and german police are hunting for the man who says that he will keep poisoning jars of supermarket baby food unless he is paid millions. i'm sorry kelly welcome to the program thanks for joining us in spain the countdown is on for a contested referendum in the region of catalonia local authorities are determined to go ahead with a vote on breaking away. from spain madrid says that sunday's referendum is

a legal and cannot be allowed to go ahead now more than seven and a half million people live in the semi semi autonomous region of catalonia that you see on the far right side of your screen cuts a lot of officials are calling for a peaceful vote the thousands of extra spanish police officers have been sent to the region and they've seized millions of ballots fourteen catalonian politicians have also been arrested. it's hard to ignore what's happening here in barcelona and across catalonia the abundance of cattle and flax isn't something new in this wealthy part of northeastern spain but their significance is taken on greater meaning the head of the unauthorized independence referendum. catalan society has long been divided over what is best for the future of this region of seven in the house million people recent polls have shown those in favor of independence stands at around forty percent but are divisions in catalonia growing deeper in order to

understand knowing me and arianna servant two sisters from barcelona who run a small bar in the center of the city ariana is in favor of an independent catalonia noaimi wants catalonia to remain part of spain their national identity is central to their differing opinions. they are missing the boat that are i feel spanish and catalan i'm not embarrassed to have two different cultures and i'm in which by both of them i speak two languages and it's nice to have this option if. i only know what's going on i don't share any of the ideas or traditions or cultures of loss of the rest of the country. sunday's planned vote is dominating conversations among family and friends in catalonia often leading to a heated debate. i know. no way to work and have dialogue and sometimes talking. a day without speech and it's very important for

people to know that family relationships haven't broken dein and need to have groups of friends. i mean it was you know what do we not fighting each other on the streets. catatonic able to have peaceful dialogue. but the future of catalonia and the independence vote is no black or white issue in a recent survey four and five catalan said that they were in favor of holding a referendum with all the legal guarantees this is a solution to the current political crisis. but with emotions running high might there be a middle ground for both sides in the debate. on how many almost as middle ground we should be allowed to vote. you know what that bit about it i want to fight but i would point you to independents today tomorrow whether it's in any who vote or do you buy it and i don't even independents. the catalan referendum this race many questions about the future status of this region. and for more on that future let's

bring in his very own pablo foley ellie as he is standing by for us in the spanish capital winterize hello to you pablo tell us just first and foremost is this vote likely to go through because as we've heard there in your reporting madrid has impounded at least twelve million ballot papers and they've also shut down websites related to the vote. well that's the million dollar question sarah will it take place according to the regional government it will they are one hundred percent determined to hold this vote on this despite of course all these ballot papers. confiscated by the spanish police but of course the catalyst for someone has said yes actually i would say yes so i think the best is if we hear straight from him because he spoke you know next in an interview today and explained exactly what will be happening on something. you know when

a form of we have this time you have to find a part of the continent government was already prepared for difficulties in the run up to this vote or the spanish state has made excessive use of its police forces everything is ready for the more than two thousand polling stations they have ballot papers here and of boxes much that they have bowled they need so people can express their opinion with the little cake isn't it the public accountability. well that was the catalan regional president catalyst which the monkees obviously started of the vote on sunday but of course here in madrid it's a very different opinion the spanish government headed by prime minister mariano the i said i absolutely not it will not be taking place he is stressed that it is an illegal vote and they are discussing it so. she what measures they're going to take on sunday to ensure that people cannot vote so part of those are the views as we've just heard from from the top of spanish politics let's talk a little bit more about the people we know that you were actually just in catalonia you were in barcelona a few days ago what was the feeling there about everything that's been transpiring

. well the first word that i came back to me through thinking was confusion people are not very sure what's going to be happening on sunday if you course of course you've got these mixed messages from the regional government and i'm from the central government for being us not to vote for a majority and then in barcelona saying you should go vote for what i understand a lot of people is that they're quite nervous there's a feeling of tension and there's a lot of protest on the street a lot of people are going to go out on sunday it's of course it's only it's a family day people are going to make the most of that and they said that they will try and vote and of course now here in the capital squeeze them on i said and he said now that there will be places for people to go on their ballots it's basically a feeling of complete and utter confusion that's that that's the sense that i got when i was in barcelona and also not knowing really what is going to happen on sunday with regards to at the measures that the central government are going to take. us with the latest from spain where it's anyone's guess as to whether or not

this vote will go ahead in catalonia over the weekend thanks for your reporting. there. well in other news officials in india say that more than twenty people have died in assam paid the incident happened during the morning rush hour in mumbai on a footbridge connecting to railway stations it's reported that the bridge was overcrowded with people taking shelter from heavy rains dozens of people who were injured in the crush have been taken to nearby hospitals. and videos they are circulating on social media showing smartphone footage of this incident the train station connects two of the city's major local lines and police say that the stampede was triggered by overcrowding and heavy rain. people were seen trying to rescue fellow commuters who were trapped in this stampede and many on social media they are angry and they are calling for reform one user writes the mumbai stampede

is an extremely sad turn of events authorities must improve basic commute needs of india's financial capital indian prime minister director modi has this to say he sent his deepest condolences to all of those who have lost their lives due to the stampede in mumbai prayers with those who are injured he writes and the indian minister of railways and cole has written that he has ordered a high level inquiry headed by the chief safety officer western railways. let's get a quick check now of some other stories making news around the world russian opposition leader alexina vollies says that he has been detained by police in moscow the volley posted a video on social media of what he says are officers outside of his home asking him to come to a police station in the ball me was due to address a pre-election rally later on friday. the so-called islamic state group has released an audio recording of its leader abu dhabi and it he says that he will

continue to fight despite recent setbacks about daddy had been rumored to be dead with his last recording released last year the u.s. says that it has no reason to doubt that the recording is authentic. police in kenya have used tear gas to disperse protesters outside of the country's election commission headquarters the opposition is threatening to boycott next month's rerun of the presidential vote which was won by the incumbent president. the supreme court subsequently nullified that result. well the united nations chief antonio good ted edge is calling on myanmar as leaders to end the nightmare facing row hinder refugees fleeing the country his comments come after the drowning deaths of dozens of rohinton refugees whose boat capsized off of the coast of bangladesh many are still missing and just last month more than half a million row hinges have fled me on maher because of violent crackdown by the country's military against groups that it describes as terrorists. schools

over refugees lined the shoes of each in bangladesh. they were fleeing violence in myanmar when they were good cup sized in the bay of bengal. most of the did women and children. so fivers are now burying their friends and family but their journey is not over. this is where they're headed a refugee camp in bangladesh basic supplies are scarce. humanitarian organizations working here say they are overwhelmed people need to be drawn and clean and they need to have a place to sleep so these are the immediate needs obviously for that we need money bangladeshis have been very generous but individuals cannot address this need even

the bangladeshi government cannot address this me and the united nations security council frustration over the crisis is mounting to the united states is now calling for action against military leaders in myanmar formerly known as burma. we cannot be afraid to call the actions of the burmese authorities what they appear to be a brutal sustained campaign to cleanse the country of an ethnic minority condemnation but myanmar rejects claims of ethnic cleansing the buddhist majority still says violence against the muslim minority is not based on religion but to fight terrorism. and wish to stress no ethnic cleansing and genocide. ethnic cleansing and genocide are serious charges and they should not be used lightly. as the un's most powerful

body grapples for a solution. to arrive at the border with bangladesh since august the number of are huge a feeling myanmar has talked to half a million. german police are hunting for a man that they say is blackmailing companies for millions of euros by threatening to poison food products including baby food authorities have released footage of a suspect putting food product launch elves at a supermarket in southern germany five dars of baby food containing a lethal amount of poison or later discovered there. the manhunt is on this suspect is believed to have placed poison baby food in this supermarket in the southern city of. he warns other cities in europe are next unless he's paid over ten million euros. and this is an exceptionally severe case of extortion and we have to assume that we're dealing with

a very ruthless six torsion who's willing to go to great lengths to get what he wants and who's even prepared to kill in an e-mail the suspect told several local supermarkets that he contaminated five jars police say they were able to find all of them the suspect has threatened to poison even more police say he may have accomplices and urging people to be alert and check supermarket products for potential manipulation. food and glass johnson's usually vacuum sealed. so you should hit pop when you can it's. clock and police have now released these surveillance photos hoping for clues that could lead to the rest they say they've already received several hundred tip offs. a quick reminder now of the top stories that we have been following for you here at g.w. thousands of high school and university students have rallied in barcelona to defend

catalonia as of right to hold an independence referendum on sunday the government of madrid says that the referendum is illegal and has vowed to stop it from going ahead. indeed officials say that more than twenty people are dead and dozens injured following a stampede in mumbai the incident happened on a foot bridge at a railway station during morning rush hour the bridge was reportedly overcrowded with people taking shelter from heavy rains. you're up to date now and t w news i'm sarah kelly in berlin thank you very much for watching and don't forget we will have another news update at the top of the hour i'll see that. freedom and the whole. world i come from the region is rich in history. but so poor in. freedom.