our web special to the refugee journey of life in germany and the prospects for those returning home. join the discussion on g.w. dot com and on facebook. prospects for returning. d.w. make your mark. this is d. w. news the live from berlin a showdown is brewing in spain over catalonia as plans to hold a separatist referenda the spanish government say that the vote is illegal and won't happen but the time leaders say that they have got everything in place and

that the people's voices will be heard. also coming up a deadly rush hour stampede in mumbai at least twenty two people are killed after commuters crowd a railway railway bridge and there are fears that that number could rise. and on patrol in a blue drug traffic police we report on nigeria's controversial efforts to put the brakes on a dangerous driving. 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 take place more than seven to. million people live

in the semi autonomous region of the catalonia that you see on the top right of your screen their cattle on officials are calling for a peaceful ballot but thousands of spanish police officers have been sent into the region to prevent people from voting. it's hard to ignore what's happening here in barcelona and across catalonia the abundance of cattle in flax isn't something new in this wealthy part of northeast and spain but their significance has taken on a 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 and a half 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 we met knowing me and arianna servant two sisters from barcelona who run a small bar in the center of the city ariana's in favor of an independent catalonia

noaimi once kind of loan you're to remain part of spain their national identity is central to their differing opinions. they are missing the boat that i guess 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 have i don't share any of the ideas or traditions or cultures of cause of the rest of the country. in sunday's planned vote it's dominating conversations among family and friends in catalonia often leading to a heated debate. you know. no way to work and have dialogue and sometimes talk of a day without speech and it's very important for people to know that family relationships haven't broken dein and you need to have groups of friends. that me yours you know what do we not fighting each other on the streets. catatonics been

able to have peaceful di and uncles. but the future of catalonia and the independence vote is in the black and 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 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. see what it will have you lost as middle ground and what we should be allowed to. 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 haven't or you might 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 elliot's he's 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 was there yet so i think the best is if we hear straight from him because he spoke you know next to in an interview today on explained exactly what will be happening on something. you know when a formidable we have this time you have to define the captain and government was already prepared for difficulties in the run up to this vote for the spanish state has made excessive use of its police forces everything is ready for the more than

two thousand polling stations they have a lot of papers here and ballot boxes much that they have bowled they need so people can express their opinion listening and a little kid a kitten in a particular conflict. well that was the cattle and 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 rajoy said that absolutely not it will not be taking place he is stressed that it is an illegal vote and they are discussing it. and she what measures they're going to take on sunday to ensure that people cannot vote so popular those are the views as we've just heard from from the top of spanish politics let's talk a little 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 madrid 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 then from the central

government people are being asked 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 on the 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 i said and he said now that there will be places for people to go and cast 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. problem 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. and let's get a quick check now of some other stories making news around the world russian opposition leader alexina volumnia says that he has been detained by police in

moscow the volley posted a video on social media of what he said are officers outside of his home asking him to come to a police station the volunteer was due to address a pre-election rally later on friday. several people are reported to have been killed in a suicide bombing in the afghan capital kabul the bomb detonated outside of a shiite mosque following friday prayers it's not yet clear how many people carried out the attack which comes just two days before the muslim holy day of assura. german police are searching for a man who slips a lethal poison into food products on sale in southern germany including baby food police say that the alleged perpetrator sent an e-mail threatening to poison more products across germany and elsewhere in europe unless he was paid a million euros. well these twenty two people have died in a stampede in india the incident happening during morning rush hour in mumbai on a footbridge connecting two railway stations the bridge was reportedly overcrowded

with people taking shelter from heavy rain dozens of people injured in the crash in the crush have been taken to nearby hospitals. desperately trying to help people to. this narrow bridge with nowhere to escape when falling debris triggered a stampede. some people leapt over the railing while others were trampled to death . well. there were too many people on the bridge people were rushing to get tight and there was nobody to help they were suffocating and they just wanted to get out of there so they fell on each other. this was the scene on the bridge minutes earlier it's links to busy railway stations and at rush hour it was full of people moving in both directions local media reporting that commuters have been complaining about overcrowding for days some say this was an accident waiting to

happen people are mourning and demanding answers from the authorities. high level and i have ordered a high level inquiry the chief safety officer of western railways will inspect the location under do an investigation and really explain the cause of the incident so the thousands of people who use the bridge every day urgent safety concerns must be addressed from now on that commute will take them across the site of a tragedy the question why is whether it could have been avoided. un chief antonio good ted ash has called on me on mars leaders to end the nightmare faced facing growing old refugees fleeing an army campaign thousands of refugees fleeing the on mar we're seeing arriving by boat in neighboring bangladesh and scores have drowned while trying to cross water separating the two countries on

thursday dozens of people died and several more are still missing after their boat capsized in the last month more than half a million muslims have fled myanmar following violent prosecution. to nigeria now where police are making a big effort to rein in the chaos on the road a few weeks ago they launched a new initiative now if you run a red light or use your cell phone behind the wheel you didn't just get a ticket you have to go to see a psychologist. rip. red light who cares in nigeria's capital not many do. we're on patrol with their budget traffic police or our i mean and his fellow officers are cracking down on two offenses in particular so busy no traffic lights and for nice he's. too out of.

home so let's see how he goes well patrolled. to do the right thing. it doesn't take long before they catch their first offender this driver was talking on his mobile phone while behind the wheel. he's none too pleased at being pulled over and clearly doesn't like what he's hearing on the phone loving motorists have to pay a fine equivalent two hundred euros and that's not all. before they can even pay their fine and get back their vehicle the offenders have to come to one of the hospitals here in this is where they have to do a psychological check out a procedure that is not only controversial amongst the offenders. the chief psychometrist at the national hospital enough to just fears that using therapy as a punishment sends the wrong signal and stigmatizes those struggling with mental

illness instead of mental health clinics she believes the police should look to other countries for solutions in other words i don't know what do you stop you're just going to get it to get in the post and you're just going to have to to respond . so i think we need to when you will when we need a lot to do in terms of data collection and you times also driver education and in terms of law enforcement making sure that the laws are there and the al beat the traffic police chief is convinced he's on the right track since the new law went into effect his offices have arrested more than two thousand defenders as a matter of fact is in the results people who have been arrested and have gone to the hospital for that evaluation have also sent messages to even the our friends there had discussions so the message has gone. but on the streets of the capital of

drivers have mixed views. you have. delighted our stop you from going ahead you do it it's something psychological. i feel like mental examination is a bit drastic first you know there's other ways to go you give someone a ticket or you could advise them to get checked but to actually take them doesn't really make sense to me at all. controversial as it is the new law fails to address a more fundamental problem even when told to pull over many drivers simply keep going those who do stop often just get off by paying a bride. they're watching d.w. news still to come on the program volkswagen shares hit another rocky patch as europe's leading car maker shocks investors with a profit warning we will have the very latest from germany's financial center frankfurt and the road to europe's digital future are these kids learning to

program robots in a stony hour could one day challenge american and chinese dominance in the tech sector. and don't forget in the meantime you can always get t.w. news on the go just download our hour from google play or from the apple store it will give you access to all the latest news from around the world as well as push notifications for any breaking news you can also use the app to send us photos and videos and of course you can watch this program on life street. you're up to date i'm sorry kelly in berlin after a short break it is business with better physically healthy i mean. what does a football loving country need to reach its goals. we'll tell you how to german soccer made it back to the top.