♪ >> thank you for joining us on france 24 this hour. here are the headlines. spanish police arrested top official and search the headquarters of catalonia's regional government. and stopt push to try an independence referendum repaired for next month. in mexicoearththquake leaves 216 people dead. 20 children were killed when a school collapsed in mexico city.

and donald trump takes aim at both iran and north korea at the u.n., hinting that he would back out of the nuclear deal and vowing to "totally destroy the north" if provoked. also coming up this hour, reports emerging on how much theresa may plans on offering brussels to feel a desk you'll a post brexit budget holes. those details and more coming up in business. this american children's hospitals trying to take some stress out of sickness by letting kids drive themselves into the operating block. ♪ >> the spanish government has upped its efforts to try and block and in -- a referendum planned next month.

12 people have been arrested in offices and regional government. it is the latest in a series of madridy a dread -- by against what it calls "the illegal referendum." here is more from the catalonia present -- president. >> it has been a victim of a coordinated aggression by police forces, the interior m ministry, and spanish h government. from preventing catalans from freely expressing your will, and with the purpose of suspending the activity of the government that was democratically elected in 2015. >> he has more now on the story so far. -- we have more now on the story so far. >> hundreds of protesters gathered outside of the region's economy ministstry in barcelelo. they turned up to demonstrate

against the arrest of junior -- the junior economy minister by spanish police. raids were carried out on several government offices to independence an referendum on the first of october. the prime minister insisted the crackdown in catalonia was legal. >> the government is following through with its obligations. we will continue to do so until the end. we will continue to do what we have to do. i believe that our actions are proportional to the mets of the past few days in catalonia. on tuesday, protesters clashed with police. over 45,000 envelopes were seized across the region. they included information on the referendum that was to be sent out to residents by the catalonian government. theds gathered outside offices of private spanish delivery companies to try and

stop officers from leaving following the race. flyers and put carnations on police cars, a message of peace against the violent police tactics. >> they call the people inside delinquents. my sisters friend who works here has been trembling with fear all day. >> 700 45 out of the 900 municipal leaders said they would provide venues for the referendum, despite facing civil disobedience, abuse of office, and misuse of public funds. half of catalonia's 5.5 million voters are in favor of self-rule , but they will not the opportunity to vote. onfor more now, i am joined the set by our lawyer who specializes in international

arbitration. my first question for you is are these moves from madrid legal? can the national government intervene like this? >> this is a very good question, and a lot of people are now claiming that the measures taken by the spanish government are being disproportionate. they have sent letters to the pubublicizeiling to these referendndums, which i is compmpletely against -- which is completely against the freedom of speech and freedom to inform, and they have seized private correspondence from regional government to private persons informing of the referendum, and now they have arrested several political people from the catalog government in -- catalonia government. this is unprecedented in history, andcratic

it is happening in the very heart of europe. , and i think everyone will have to draw the necessary consequences of these actions, which are unprecedented. molly: -- >> what would the next consequences be? with the eu have to be involved? , both sidesoint have forced the situation. the council on government has called for a referendum, which ct approved in -- of the atalan government calls for referendum, which was reproved. -- approved. the spanish government has written this referendum, so basically, the european union needs to intervene. importantly, following these recent movements from the spanish government, a very relevant political party in the middle between the two has now

decided with the independence, and the since they are claiming that people should be able to vote. the question asks is a very different question -- a very different debate. yes or no for independence, but the opportunity to vote not only looks like the majority of the butle according to polls, there is a political majority to call for these referendums. so basically, we have to wait. if there is someone in the european union or outside this in thistakes the lead mediation, because it now becomes necessary and urgent to mediate in this issue. referendum, do you think it would pass? >> if it was held, i believe and

all the polls say that yes, it would win by a vast majority. or r not now is whether people against the referendum will go to vote. over 50% of the people called to .ote will go to vote before these actions from the spanish government, the , theendents pro-independence camp did not have the majority of general people who participated in the referendum. like it will be subject to modification in the future, but they have joined these programs were in inside, not pro-independence, but pro- referendum, to vote,. than 50% ofke more the sensors and more than 50% of the vote. an international and

diplomatic point of view, this referendum will have a lot more --, and we will have to see what the european union and the inncellor's will have to say light of these results. molly: thank you for taking -- wrecks thank you for taking the time to come in and to us. run hisnald trump defiant "america first" vision to the u.n. on tuesday. he defended his position at his first ever address of the general assembly, saying the u.s. has had a "once i did relationship" with the u.n. for too long. one-sided -- "one-sided relationship" with the u.n. for too long. he would totally destroy the north in a nuclear crisis if provoked. what kind of follett has there been to that so far? fallout has there been with that so far? languageticular, his

did not come across as particularly diplomatic. he used a nickname for kim had previouslye been tweeting, "rocket man" in address.al assembly and then his threat to totally destroy north korea should the united states be provoked was from someith shock areas, and there were a lot of responses that certainly were quiteficials gloomy over, wondering what this rhetoric would mean for world affairs. president responded directly, saying a military solution for north korea would only end in tragedy, and that we need sanctions or dialogue for a possible way forward on north korea. interestingly, one company -- country did not face any criticism m during trump's eeeeh russia's foreign

minister told us that -- newspapapers that we were used o hearing this from trunk. -- trump. he said he was pleased to hear a president talk about sovereignty. >> if you could very briefly -- donald trump hinted he could walk away from the landmark with theeal negotiated run. today, the iranian president will be speaking at the u.n.. how will he respond? asked trump said that deal was "embarrassing for the united states," and indicated within the next month or so the u.s. might pull out. there is a meeting on that deal, a high-level meeting which thatrson will attend, so will be the first high-level meeting since this speech attended by a top u.s. official and a top iranian one. that will be interesting to see, what will be set at that meeting on the deal. of course, the ukrainian iranian president

is speaking today. he has already responded to trump.aying "-- >> jessica, thank you. now to mexico, and the earthquake that killed at least 216 people people -- so far. the quake had on the exact same day, close to 10,000 were killed in 1985. today's tremors coming to after -- two hours after earthquake drills were held across the country to mark the date. rescueuers and volunteers are digging through the rubble. one of the most desperate efforts was that a school in southern mexico city. at least 20 children were killed there. >> the tremor shook the building so hard it crumbled, giving occupants little hard -- time to escape. dozens have died or run missing

at the school on mexico city. my children go to school in the next street, and when i saw the school i panicked. iran and ran looking for my ran and ran i looking for my children. >> rescuers listening for sounds, and thousands in panic after the masthead. visibly shaken, a woman walked out of the rubble after being asked to identify a boy. also visited the site, announcing that many of the victims were small, primary school children. he issued a video statement asking the nation to stay calm. under thefind people rubble. stay in touch, follow lines of communication. we will keep people updated.

>> the magnitude 7.1 tremor was statete,in puebla southeast t of mexico city. dozens of buildings tumbled into rubble in populated areas of the capital. formercity sits on a lake, , soil which amplifies earthquakes. also suffered major damage. the latest from a comes less than two weeks after another powerful earthquake struck mexico, killing at least 81 people, and on the anniverersary of the 1985 quake which left over 5000 people dead and thousands more missing. >> in the midst of all the rough news today, here is a more heartwarming story out of the children's hospital in san diego. the staff there are doing all being sick aake little bit easier. that hospital has just unveiled, as you can see there, a series of remote-controlled cars that

let young patients drive themselves into the operating room. the cars are, in fact, operated by a doctor or nurse, but it is part of a new program to make a little patience feelel more relaxed going in -- make the moree p pients feel relaxed going in. > just because we are able to help our children and ththeir families in ththe opererating rm allows them to relax a little bit more and have fun when they are going to the operating room. it is just tremendous. >> a great tremendous desperate -- a great initiative out of california. alana, you are looking at the market ahead of the much anticipated fed announcement today. >> investors are in wait and see mode is the fed gets set to conclude the two-day meeting. no rate hikes are expected, however, but there may be clues is how the central bank plans to unwind the balance sheet. it is a mixed picture in europe at this hour with all of the main indices trading near the flat line.

>> the british prime minister is expected to make a major speech on brexit on friday, and we are starting to get some glances of what we can expect. >> theresa may will on to her 20 billion -- offer 20 billion euros to fall the budget. also, details after the speech have been shared with the german chancellor, although angela merkel's office has declined to comment. this comes days after the foreign secretary penn his own personal vision off of brexit, where present -- britain would pay no money to brussel to test brussels to accept the common market. germany has to the polls on sunday. and berliners are also getting ready to vote in a crucial referendum on the future of germany's airport. some activists have called for the cold war era facility to remain open, this even after the new relay-brandenburg airport is -- berlin-brandenburg airport is completed, but some say it is

too old. >> line directly above central berlin -- flying directly above central berlin, planes take off from 6:00 0 a.m. to midndnight, seven n days a week.k. it was meant to close in 2012, but that was based on a replacement airport being ready. construction of the new berlin-brandenburg airport is more than six years behind sectoral -- schedule, and with no arrival in site residents are losing patience. berlin's buildings have fit with insulation to keep the noise out because it was meant to close. most people say it is noisy, but it will stop one day, but now they are being told no, it is not closing. >> the airport could be around even after the new airport opens. a group of activists have managed to get a local referenda

inc. -- referendum on the issue. served berlin's airport more passengers than the brandenburg airport is designed to handle. caglelso point out that is profitable. it is a airport that belongs to berlin as much as the television tower or the brandenburg eight. the latest polls predict that between 53% and 83% of berlin voters will support keeping the airport open. jobsd how thousands of could be on the line as to steel producers join forces in europe. cutssusands of job are on the line as these two companies merged. this calls for a 50-50 joint venture which could proroduce savivings between 400 million ad 600 million euros. this ends months of uncertainty

over u.k. operations. earlier this year, t the company announced it was seeking to dispose its u.k. bususiness aftr incurring heavy losses. the chinese ministry of industry has announced that beijing could ban gas and diesel powered vehicles by 2040. this would follow france, germany, and the u.k.. this would have an impact on the global car industry, with china being the largest market in the world. our correspondence on the gro und hahave more on this report. >> the chinese capital has five ring roads, but built around a n ancient cicity, the modedern ros are not enough. the city's roads are inundated with traffic on a daily y basis. sunny, but in general beijing is wrapped in a bank -- blanket of toxic smog. gas powered d vehicles are blamd for a good portion of the problem. aress china, vehicle sales

searching. 14% in a year,r, which is equivalent of 24 million new vehicles. the vast majority are gas powered cars. battery life can be short. it is a hassle for long journeys. wants to banment gas cars. they are everywhere. >> honestly, electric cars are good for your wallet and the environment. i am thinking about getting one. >> to speed up the transition, beijing considering a strong arm to move -- banning every gas powered car by 2040. at pyd, the main electric carmaker in china, this is welcome news. the measure has not been stockmed yet, but byd rose 6% on the day of the announcement. environment, in winter ththere are days with heavy sno.

it is urgrgent for the governmet to [inaudible] so by promoting electric cars. >> but with only 500 vehicles -- 500,000 vehicles sold every year, electric remains a niche. but growth remains impressive. 53% a year. with that kind of growth of the sector could find its place under the sun. >> that wraps up the business news. back to you. >> time now for the pressure of you. -- review. >> we take a look at the papers today. you will start with the coverage of the latest current pain -- hurricane e to hit the caribbea. we have entered the desk >> we have entered the age of the hurricane. -- picture of the

devastation after hurricane maria passed over the island. this latest category five storm it,the one that preceded hurricane irma, i have showed how willfully underprepared the entire region is when it comes .o extreme weather events this piece cites an expert on disaster management, who takes example with this french territory, where 95% of homes were destroyed by hurricane irma. its elected representatives had to seek shelter, along with the rest of the residents of the island. there were insufficient supplies of food and water, and the french part did not even had a satellite connection to liaise with the french mainland. the french daily has taken a rather different approach today. it's headline is a one word

question -- uncontrollable? the paper asks what can be done in the power and the face of this weather phenomena? most notable among those -- this being tested, might sound slightly strange. it is a process where giant funnels are placed in the path of the hurricane to transport hot water from the surface of the ocean down to the bottom of the sea to allow it to cool. this paper says there are a lot of ideas out there, but ultimately right now, they would be too expensive and ambitious to actually implement. to reactione on now to the u.s. president donald trump of the first ever speech -- donald trump's first ever speech to the u.n.. >> this british paper "the eye" has ran the headline that

president trump is threatening to "obliterate "♪" north korea. "trump's fighting talk at the u.n.." course, beenve, of dissecting that speech. the new york times, "trump's importance of sovereignty definitely sets him apart from his forbearers, who set up the u.n. and, post-world war ii, works through global problems together as one. this piece is most concerned trump'sat it calls " slightly selective definition of sovereignty. " international players like russia got off scott free, despite russia annexing crimea

and its neighbor, the ukraine. the washington post cartoon illustrates all this. trump has all of the grandstanding of the roman emperor, and the bravado of a peacock. he is fundamentally blind to his own inconsistencies and her receipthe -- and upon -- and hypocrisies. -- >> and there are feminist battles playing out across france. >> this could face men -- seamen facing prosecution for persistent unwanted sexual advances. we read that belgium, portugal, and the u.k. all have similar legislation, and as a dance in france, there is a legislative void between consensual production and sexual assault,

which is an offense. in the netherlands, women are this end uponn to -- tos friday -- decide upon the polls after a woman was urinating publicly in the streets. the judge in the case said that she should have used the men's facility. this event publicized on facebook, it seeks to shows that is if you're than done, and it is time for women's urination needs to be addressed in public. bone for manya people in france as well. thank you for that look at the press. to get a view of the press review for today or any of the others this week, check out our website. we will take a quick break, but

be back in just a minute with more headlines. don't go away. ♪

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