. you're watching al-jazeera life my headquarters here in doha coming up in the next thirty minutes a u.s. grand jury reportedly approved the first charges into alleged russian meddling in the twenty sixteen presidential election. also first now suspended indefinitely kenya's election commission voting in four opposition strongholds amid fears of more violence. and despite a clamp down on illegal weapons we report on how violence still plagues the southern philippines. welcome to the program spain's prime minister is calling for calm after reordered direct rule over catalonia an hour after the regional parliament declared independence a snap election to choose a new regional government will be held on the twenty first of december hundred seventy has more from barcelona i. the moment catalonia declared secession from spain a wave of euphoria across barcelona a mix of intense emotion elation and danger because of the uncertainty of what comes next they cheered they hugged one another they cried and they toasted what they see as a new nation it all started unfolding hours earlier at the catalan parliament. passionate sometimes angry debates a sense of anticipation on one side dread on the other dozens of mares have been invited ceremonial sticks by their sides to. the story since. it wasn't long before his wish came true a secret ballot slowly but surely moving this parliament into the history books most opposition members walked out in disgust leaving the spanish national flag and the catalan flag draped over their benches then came the count again slow with reaction to every yes. seventy votes for ten against him to abstention and the catalan national anthem this time striking a different goal. before long another vote in madrid this time the senate making a decision on article one five five direct rule moving to the spanish government a large majority. two hundred fourteen for forty seven against approval for prime minister mariano rajoy to sack the regional government and impose sweeping powers back in barcelona these politicians and supporters hardly look like people about to go into the background president colors push them all called for calm. citizens of catalonia in the coming hours we will have to maintain our country's polls a most of all to montane that peace public spirit and our dignity i think we have always done with no doubt it will continue to be that way this is an extraordinary moment but it's historic to find the right the way across this eighteenth century building of the mix moods elation was on the brakes and the sticks you see here from the moment right across the yard here to express. you. don't see the look of what it was of course was. independence. independence is heartbreaking sad and distressing that is how all the catalans who are not pro independence feel including very democratic pro independence supporters that cannot shed this destructive operation based on lies fraud and impositions it is causing on the social fiber of catalonia looking to madrid for the next move catalans who are angered or saddened or also fearful of what will happen mariano rajoy is already using his new powers dissolving parliament calling elections in december and listing those he's sacking . friday night in the center of barcelona a city known more for its football its beaches and sunshine than any resistance to state power and it's a policy time for a large number of people packed. into a square in front of the seat of government how long will the smiles last so many questions along with another sobering historic moment the gulf between those who want to be in spain and those who don't here never been because andrew simmons i was just a bustling. u.s. media is reporting that a federal grand jury in washington d.c. has approved the first charges in the investigation of a russian meddling in the twenty sixteen u.s. presidential election the charges alleged by special counsel robert mueller are said to be still sealed under orders from a federal judge it isn't yet known what the accusations are does anyone charged could reportedly be taken into custody as soon as monday and official has more from washington d.c. . we know that robert mueller has been conducting his investigation over the past five months or so or if it's true and this grand jury has decided that and they can be issued then that's a fairly speedy process if you look at two significant cases in the past from american political history bill clinton and richard nixon it took a grand jury almost a couple of years to come up with indictments the and the how did grand juries work well essentially people and empaneled they come along given evidence from the prosecutors the ilo to issue subpoenas and at one stage when the prosecutor believes he's a strong enough case who sits down with the grand jury there are no judges and no defense attorneys there they're just lying to the grand jury this is the case i believe we have and i would like to be able to present this to a jury where i believe we would be able to secure a conviction on these charges and if the grand jury believes the prosecutor at that point they will approve the indictment the indictment then is prepared and issued to the person at the center of the investigation normally within twenty four to forty eight hours though the indictment here has been sealed so we don't know who has been charged and what they have been charged with if indeed that is the case but this would be very significant you've got to remember that robert miller over the last few months or spoken to a number of people very close to donald trump including michael flynn his short lived national security adviser jared who is a son in law but also a special adviser in the white house holds a very powerful position in the oval office and of course monophonic paul. or two at one point was a campaign chairman for the trump election campaign and of course at some point his home was even searched by f.b.i. agents so what we're waiting for now is to find out who is being charged and what they've been charged with and that will be important because then we will see just how close they are to donald trump and to the trump campaign and just hope course this investigation takes is in for twelve to the white house can years electoral commission has called off the presidential repeat alexion in for opposition strongholds violent confrontations between police and protesters have made it impossible for voting materials to get to a number of polling stations as mohammed our reports now from the capital nairobi. kenya's second presidential elections in three months what designed to bring along a coup money as political season two and. then now doubts they may provide any closure off to them what we witnessed was a very low voter turnout into our climate of fear and intimidation and in that political environment is difficult for an election to be considered credible with nearly all photos of opposition leader raila odinga heeding his call for a boycott. victory is not in question but some are already questioning whether the lol tunnel to give president kenyatta a reasonable monday to govern i don't know if you had a thirty percent of the total voter turnout is a little over thirty percent who can yet i may have won but there's no way you can see a leader of you and form a government for all people. voting on there was mobbed by skirmishes between police and stone throwing the position of supporters police used teargas and flat live ammunition and blanks into the air to disperse them the protesters were driving through this big grouping quickly however the situation was calm elsewhere for voting in kimbo outside nairobi and other strongholds of president kenyatta. the election comes after weeks of political twists and tongues in the central business district of ny rule b. this through almost empty the kenyan economy slowed sharply the city as businesses have held back on investments until after the elections many kenyans say they want this crisis. some even say the continued uncertainty is threatening their livelihoods when is the we've been stuck at home since wednesday when the children went milk they want to eat and who else will provide for them yes we want a president if he wins and if you're sworn in it's fine as long as we can continue to work and our children can have food and an education. a fraud election numerous calls resulting in a controversial route which many stayed away from thought is the story of this presidential race these hope it will have a happy ending but confidence is not high mohammed at all just i don't because. catherine saw reports from the west of the country on the opposition stronghold of kissimmee. at and informally set up roadblock in kisumu this men are using an electricity pole to make sure no vehicle carrying ballot boxes passes through. all the while they're saying no election no who and calling themselves the national resistance movement the new wing of the opposition coalition led by riot we are not supposed to work because of our father . so we don't know why people are bringing the. last box in. voting has been called off in four counties here in western kenya threats and violence have made it difficult for electrical mission officials to get stuff ballot boxes and voting slips to polling stations about one point eight million registered voters are affected when it comes to stuff. when their lives. are political and religious leaders say the saturday election should not have been called in the first place we the people. be respected. be contented with what. with election hold off many people are hoping tensions might so dozens of people who are injured in a confrontation between police and process. were brought to this hospital several of them want to. let me to. with gunshot wounds that man there was shot at an area not too far away from here. blames the police but she and many other supporters of. hope that while he may not have participated in the poll he may yet help to change the way elections are held in the future catherine al-jazeera western kenya. well still ahead here on al-jazeera bridging the divide syria's three main rebel factions seek to unite against president bashar al assad government forces may. also people in the libyan capital tripoli all facing a humanitarian crisis because of severe water shortages to stay with us here i'll just. say a lot of dry weather once again across much of the middle east but there is some right in the forecast that's spilling out of turkey we've had some very lavish i was recently just coming across the balkans boca area has seen some flooding this increasing cloud willing continue just make its way across the black sea heading towards the caspian sea some pieces of wetter weather coming down towards syria easing across cyprus out of the mediterranean as we go through the course of sunday elsewhere it's generally settled generation just getting up into the low thirty's over the next day or two low to mid thirty's across it. arabian peninsula barely a cloud in the sky maybe just around the gulf of aden you could see one of two showers life showers just coming in here but here in doha pleasant sunshine temperatures at around thirty five degrees for about a dry weather into western parts of southern africa but around the eastern cape pushing a little further north was have seen some very heavy rains mozambique seeing some more wet weather pushing into zimbabwe we do some of that we're also seeing some rather wet weather further north into tanzania recently going to see that easing as we go on through the next few days democratic republic of congo seeing lively showers along the spoils of war right across a good part of central africa over the next few days. a young mind a blank slate primed for the wonders of the world. of valuable and fun. in their own words boys as young as nine reveal how they were indoctrinated and wrenched from their childhood into a life of unspeakable violence. lion cubs of i saw. this documentary at this time. of the back you're watching us a reminder of our top stories and historic move the spanish prime minister has stripped catalonia of its autonomy and order to snap regional elections that came within an hour of the catalan parliament issuing a declaration of independence u.s. media are reporting that a federal grand jury in washington d.c. has approved the first charges in the investigation over russian meddling in the twenty sixteen us presidential election the charges led by special counsel robert mueller are said to be still sealed and orders from a federal judge. first delayed now suspended indefinitely kenya's election commission calls off voting in full opposition strongholds of mid fears of more violence confrontations between police and protesters have made it near impossible for voting materials to get to a number of polling stations. the syrian opposition wants three main rebel factions in northern syria to unite as one army but many say the move has come too late as government forces are making more gains in the territory while the rebels are retreating hashim reports from gaza into ponte turkey's border with syria seething is the command of an elite free syrian army unit the f.s.a. once the pride of the syrian opposition is backed by turkey the u.s. and many european and gulf countries it has paid crucial roles in recent military operations against ice in northern syria. but it has been weakened by divisions and is outnumbered by rival groups syria's opposition is now turning to commanders like from the brigade to unite all the armed groups and build a new army. we will have a transitional authority a new army that will run the country side is a victor power but we need weapons and logistical support the syrian opposition is expected to appoint a minister of defense and chief. but rebel commanders are yet to overcome differences about the structure of the new army and the groups that will be allowed to join the f.s.a. has disintegrated into disparate factions. commands a free syrian army unit in. an area in homs besieged by government forces. some factions have acted selfishly never cared about the others they still weapons but never share them with those constantly on the front lines this is created resentment among many factions. other commanders like a mensch are banned blame the opposition's main regional backers for undermining the. it's no secret our backers are the ones who dictate when and where to start a fight they are manipulating the rebels had it not been for their interference we would have toppled as had a long time ago. powerful factions like and hate at the head of a coalition led by a former al-qaeda affiliate well to be part of the new army the to operate independently and reject handing over their territory to the f.s.a. the rebels may not be able to stand against the syrian army which has the support of russia and iran but there is still this feeling among opposition command that rebirthing athens. nutri gaines is never too late that evening confident that the fight is far from over and that with international support he may be able to run syria in the future. while staying in the region iraq's prime minister hina rabbani has ordered a twenty four hour suspension of military operations against kurdish forces in northern iraq both sides have agreed to halt the fighting which broke out on october the sixteenth after iraqi forces seized the oil rich city of kirkuk and body says it will give time for the peaceful deployment of soldiers along the kurdish iraqi border crossings stephanie decker has more from erbil in northern iraq so these twenty four hours are for a joint committee with both iraqis and the kurds to figure out the details of areas of redeployment in the words of the iraqi prime minister to save iraqi lives because we have seen violent military confrontations at some of these flashpoints now the intention here is for the iraqi federal forces to take back all of the disputed territories and also significantly to take control of the border crossings of the k r g still holds with syria with turkey and with iran they've been holding those borders since two thousand and three so says this is certainly a huge reversal of fortune for the kurds i don't think anyone would have predicted that these were the consequences of that controversial referendum. in south africa two white farmers have been jailed after they were found guilty of forcing a black man into a coffin and threatening to burn him alive the two men captured the assault on a mobile phone they claim victory was trespassing the case triggered widespread outrage the farmers were ordered to serve more than ten years each behind bars. guatemala's former president auto prisma leader is to be tried for corruption he's charged with bribery and tax avoidance totaling several million dollars his vice president while in office roxanne about thirty is also facing trial they resigned in twenty fifteen after a un investigators linked them to a massive corruption ring. people in the libyan capital tripoli facing a humanitarian crisis because of a survey a water shortage a lack of investment on security has caused the taps to run dry victoria b. reports. this is how people in tripoli are getting their drinking water drilling three pavements to access underground wells in a desperate search for supplies and in the. situation we're in now is affecting the entire city no water no electricity tenants can't pray without water they can't go to the bathroom they can't do anything not even drink the problem is that the government does nothing so now we are digging for water as a temporary solution. earlier this month supplies were cut to households for maintenance work to make matters worse an armed group then sabotage tripoli's drinking water infrastructure engine is working hard to repair it but a lack of investment and a shortage of spare parts means progress is. good after the libyan remains divided and devastated. the country is plagued by internal fighting and financial collapse. is another challenge for the un backed government of national accord based in tripoli it's already dealing with a failing health service spiraling inflation and public sector strikes a the pay people are demanding solutions to their worsening living conditions the head of the water is. says he needs more money from the government if things are to improve. in the absence of adequate spare parts a lack of money security chaos people have been taking matters into their own hands and this in turn has affected the performance of the system. the u.n. says divisions a deepening in libya and that finding a political agreement is the only way forward for people struggling to access basic supplies like water it can't come soon enough victoria al-jazeera. u.s. defense secretary james mattis is in seoul to meet with his south korean counterpart it's his second visit this year comes amid increasing tensions on the peninsula but has told reporters the military alliance between so and washington is ironclad if the united states did not accept a nuclear north korea make no mistake any attack on the united states or our allies will be defeated any use of nuclear weapons by the north will be met with a massive military response affective and overwhelming well staying in the region in the philippines violence has long plague these southern mindanao region despite many attempts at peace communities all still holding on to illegal weapons. traveled to the volatile area. after my first to hold the gun at the age of thirteen it was one nine hundred seventy four when martial law was imposed nationwide by president for then and marcos. years later he learned how to make and repair illegal weapons now martial law is imposed in mindanao again after the mouthy armed group pledged allegiance to eisele and seized offices in malawi city. resident of the go the doctor says he intends to clamp down on armed groups suspect to divvy linked to politicians involved in the illegal drugs trade and has extended martial law on the island until the end of the year it's a kind of life that the knows all too well a moment here if you are poor or you don't have a voice in order to protect my family and our livelihood here by a less is the only work they understand the situation is similar all across the island of mindanao decades of armed rebellion has forced many civilians here to acquire farms illegally making it difficult for the government to contain. the government estimates there are more than a million firearms which are unlicensed many are high powered rifles used by armed groups in mindanao most of the high powered weapons are manufactured here to mindanao has suffered decades of war and billion and the instability is one of the main reasons why so many filipinos here take matters into their own hands. because of discrimination and the violence here in mindanao it feels as though you are defenseless and there is no security for your family this is why you are forced to carry guns here if you don't carry guns they trample on your rights and this is why guns for us are important. one of the largest armed groups in southeast asia the moro islamic liberation front is still pinning its hopes on a peace deal with the philippine government this should be paved the way for its more than thirty thousand fighters to finally lay down their weapons. because of all the things so we will work with the government civilian leaders and muslim leaders here and they are with us they are on board with us to stop the spread of violence. is almost sixty now and says he cannot remember a time with peace in his homeland this is why he cannot lay down his weapons. despite the government's effort to go after the illegal guns trade. dogon al jazeera line of those source southern philippines there's been violence between police and protesters an indian administered kashmir the region has been the cause of tension between pakistan and india for decades friday's fighting comes on the seventieth anniversary of indian forces arriving in the region leave barca reports . indian police fired tear gas and stun grenades into crowds of stone throwing protesters. violence broke out after friday prayers plunging srinagar of the regional capital of indian administered kashmir into chaos. the region seen a string of demonstrations in recent months in solidarity with rebels who've been fighting against indian rule for thirty years and october twenty seventh the day indian troops arrived there seventy years ago frequently ends in violence. we've been tolerating this tyranny conservancy years until we get our freedom the stone throwing will continue we don't care even if. hundreds of security personnel were deployed to keep control of the city separatist leaders called on kashmiris to observe the anniversary as a black day. seventy years people help peacefully is in there not to be and once people. finding a peaceful solution they were forced to take. the former independent states being disputed by india and pakistan since they gained independence from britain in one nine hundred forty seven both claim the territory as their own and afford two wars over it is fear the upsurge in violence could further heighten tensions between the two nuclear arms neighbors. al-jazeera. in paris or courters than the song of equitorial guinea's president guilty of embezzling millions of dollars to buy property and luxury cars equitorial get his ambassador to france defended theodora abang saying the charges were false in his absence the court gave him a three year jail sentence and a thirty five million dollar fine his mansion in paris and many of his surest contents are being confiscated. al-jazeera is demanding the release of its journalist mahmoud hussein who's now been in an egyptian prison for more than three hundred days he's accused of broadcasting false news to spread chaos claims he and al-jazeera strongly deny hussein has repeatedly complained of mistreatment in jail he was arrested in december last year while visiting his family australia's foreign minister will be acting prime minister in the aftermath of the legal ruling that forced the country's second in charge to step down the country's highest court found that barnaby joyce and four other politicians were eligible to stay in office because of their jewel citizenship the prime minister has decided against appointing a temporary deputy and instead named julie bishop as his standard when he travels overseas later in the week a deputy prime minister will be sworn in after a by election in december. you're watching out is there i'm still robin these are our top stories in historic move these spanish prime minister has stripped catalonia of its autonomy and ordered snap and regional elections they came within an hour of the catalan parliament issuing a declaration of independence first delayed now suspended indefinitely kenya's election commission calls for voting in four opposition strongholds amid four amid fears of more violence violent confrontations between police and protesters have made it near impossible for voting materials to get to a number of polling stations u.s. media are reporting that a federal grand jury in washington d.c. has approved the first charges in the investigation over russian meddling in the twenty sixteen u.s. presidential election the charges led by special counsel robert mueller are said to be still sealed and ordered to a federal judge says it is not yet known what the accusations are that any one charge could be taken into custody as soon as monday. u.s. defense secretary james mattis is in seoul to meet his south korean counterpart it's his second visit this year and comes of it increasing tensions on the peninsula that has told reporters the military alliance between seoul and washington is i had the clad the united states did not accept a nuclear north korea make no mistake any attack on the united states or our allies will be defeated uni used of nuclear weapons by the north will be met with a massive military effect of an overwhelming in south africa two white farmers found guilty of forcing a black man into a coffin and threatening to burn him alive had been jailed they were both sentenced to more than ten years the assault on a victim without sua was captured on a mobile phone and australia's foreign minister has become acting prime minister in the aftermath of a legal ruling that's forced the country's second in charge to step down now the country's highest court found that barnaby joyce and four other politicians were ineligible to stay in office because of their jewels citizenship the prime minister has decided against appointing a temporary deputy and his stead julie bishop as his standard when he travels overseas later in the week of course he is one of those stories on our website at al-jazeera dot com those were the headlines of be back with more news in thirty minutes next on al-jazeera it's earthrise do stay with us news has never been more i think liberal but the message is a simplistic and misinformation is rife listening post provides a critical counterpoint challenging mainstream media narrative at this time on al-jazeera.