This is v. W. News a live from berlin a decisive moment in spain separatist crisis catalonia as president is set to address the Regions Parliament today will he declare independence or come back from the brink. Also coming up fast moving wildfire said devastate California Wine country at least ten people have been killed and Authorities Say that number could rise around twenty thousand residents have been evacuated including hospital patients. Plus as part of our weeklong series on what it means to be gay in todays russia we meet a tall young like young woman tells us about her coming out in a country where the Gay Community is under growing pressure. And Emmanuel Mccall brings a french accent to the Frankfurt Book Fair which spotlights right before frankel for. Literature this year the french president open sea events together with germanys chancellor later today finally. Granted iceland are celebrating in the way that they are famous for after their National Team qualified for its first ever world cup. Im sorry kelly it is great to have you with us he is the face of the Catalan Independence movement and today carlos pushed him on could trigger the next phase in spain separatist crisis hes hinted that he may declare catalonia as independence when he addresses the Regions Parliament that is despite intense pressure from the Spanish Government not to do so so will he or wont he did abuse mattis has this report from barcelona. This route the Planetary Assembly of the Catalan Parliament may be about to go down in history if catalonia as leader declares independence. The pressure from within his own Coalition Government to part with spain is huge this lawmaker from the far left says the government has no other choice but to declare independence he we. Well i think that we will not do what majority people here in catalonia wants us to do and is the reason because we were elected in two thousand and fifteen so i think that we must do what citizens ask us to do but the catalan opposition maintains the referendum was illegal and a unilateral declaration could mean madrid would impose direct route. Support it possible that tomorrow independence will be clear in the parliament. Will this change anything nothing because spanish wont simply doesnt allow a separation from. The corresponding. But it would deepen the political crisis the scenario everyone threats particularly in the regions Tourism Sector recent opinion polls indicate catalans are split on independence i mean i dont think the government of qatar is going to make it right now for both government win win relationship. But just want to make nice and they are doing it it has to happen as fast as. We need in the band until now because spain is being so mean to us so we need we need lets see who is the first. To do the first move and i think no one is going to move Pro Independence associations already called on supporters to come and celebrate outside the regional parliament. If the Catalan Leader doesnt declare independence here in this room if he steps away from the brink the government in madrid has two options declare victory on their part and escalate the situation or start a dialogue with barcelona and we have Team Coverage as we will await this decision from catalonia as leaders lets bring in funny for char who is live on the ground in barcelona the l. D. S. Is standing by in madrid welcome to both of you and funny ill begin with you how likely is it that we will see a declaration of independence today. Serbia for so many different conflicting voices from within the government over the course of the past week one member suggesting a cease fire and actually pulling back here and really look at the fact that really this could be a major consequence for catalonia forget the lowness economy if president bush about pushes and presses i had the declaration of independence what others said no and independence declaration must be made to see really everything is possible all possible today both a declaration of independence but also that hes not going to decree anything at all but maybe just make a symbolic reference to independence to ease tensions here in barcelona but also to maintain a political credibility even when it comes to his position to his office as president of the region what we know according to the spokesperson of the Government People here a very short explicit statement and even know at six pm here at the bar at the problem into barcelona just what the statement is going to be about and madrid there in the spanish capital of course they are closely eyeing as well what the decision is what sort of response can we expect pablo. Well we do know is that the government of money out of us said that theyre going to take a firm hand and theyll do whats necessary now weve heard plenty of voices that today from different members of the government and they havent really explicitly said exactly what theyre going to do theyve just said that there are several options on the table one being article one fifty five everyones talking about this this is the suspension of autonomy in catalonia that essentially means that madrid would take over control of their all the functions of the Regional Government and so thats one option the other option is the National Security law which is almost like a state of emergency similar in the sense that the Regional Governments powers will be taken away and they everything will be controlled from here in madrid but of course were not going to get any confirmation of whats going to happen until we know what happens at six p. M. In catalonia and money and a whole is going to appear in the parliament behind me four oclock on wednesday afternoon and he is going to line exactly what the government are planning on doing and funny you have been talking to a lot of people out there on the streets of barcelona what do they want to hear from their leaders there and catalonia do they support independence. Depends really on who you talk to because really this region catalonia is very much split over this question what should be that dream scenario today of the creation for or against independence today you know what i can tell you is not the fact only that you see huge media presents or behind me but also a Massive Police presence here both at the parliament as well as all side of the parliament where we expect a huge Pro Independence demonstration to take place at the same time when the declaration of independence or not is going to take place here at the parliament tonight. Very own funny char there in barcelona and pablo for the l. D. S. In madrid with the very latest we are awaiting this decision as we mentioned on whether or not catalonia declares independence today thank you to both of you for your reporting. And lets turn to some other news now because at least eleven people have been killed in multiple wildfires that have been sweeping through Northern California the blazes are concentrated in one of the states main wine growing regions with sonoma and napa counties among the worst hit many of the countrys most prized vineyards have now been destroyed firefighters say that their main job at the moment is saving lives. A state of emergency is in force in californias famous wine country centered on the napa valley and sonoma and yuba counties hundreds of homes and businesses been destroyed as the wildfires ripped through the region at least twenty thousand people have been evacuated many ordered by the authorities to leave for their own safety firefighters say their focus is on saving lives rather than putting out before as i do my blinds and i just saw flames all up on the hill behind my house so of course the poor victims still shaking. And they were screaming fire fire fire get out get out so thats when i called my neighbors were all together some of the one countrys most opulent homes and celebrated wineries been razed to the ground this man was lucky. There was just glowing red headed this way. The fire moved very fast i mean the wind was blowing forty miles an hour so it was going that fast you know we were very very worried. A labor south. Of the Hilton SonomaWine Country Hotel is among the businesses destroyed by the fire as the complex left a smoldering ruin along with a nearby mobile home park. Never heard a bomb or. Nothing left you know all these people calling us want to know when they get back in the room no good theres. Nothing. High winds are fanning the flames thick smoke from sonoma has reached the city of San Francisco sixty miles away from the fires the still burning. Lets get a quick check now of some other stories making news around the world the people of liberia are voting in a landmark election today the ballot could mark the first peaceful handover of power between elected governments in the west african country and over seven decades president Ellen Johnson sirleaf is stepping down after twelve years in office. Campaigning has officially been begun for japans upcoming lower house elections analysts are calling the snap vote a referendum on Prime Minister shinzo abbay who has been in power for nearly five years obvious facing an unexpected challenge from a one month old party but is expected to win the vote will take place on october twenty second. People living in poverty are at greater risk of being sentenced to death that is the conclusion of a Global Alliance of activists working to abolish the Death Penalty theyve organized hundreds of initiatives to mark this years world day against the Death Penalty so where is the problem most acute Human Rights GroupAmnesty International points to china the world leader when it comes to executions by Amnesty Internationals latest estimates China Remains the worlds biggest executioner more people are sentenced to death there than the rest of the world combined or exactly how many remains a matter of speculation since there are no official figures most information on the Death Penalty in china is a state secret. Joining china as the worlds top five executioners are iran saudi arabia iraq and pakistan but twenty sixteen did see some changes taking china out of the equation global executions fell from the record highs seen in twenty fifteen just over a thousand people were put to death last year down more than a third with the sharpest decreases in iran and Pakistan Pakistan lifted a moratorium on the Death Penalty in twenty fifteen following the pasha our School Massacre a wave of executions some more than three hundred people put to death but last year the pace slowed the report found that only a handful of countries were executing people on a large scale last year just four countries were responsible for eighty seven percent of all recorded death penalties. For the first time in a decade the United States has dropped out of the top five the number of executions there is at its lowest point since the early ninetys but Amnesty International warns they could go up again this year if a variety of legal challenges to lethal injections are cleared. And for more now we are joined by james lynch Deputy Director of global issues at Amnesty International thanks so much for being with us james thank you now we understand that your figures we heard there they have suggest that executions have actually decreased globally how solid would you say that trend is and would you call it progress. Well thats what i mean the numbers over executions in twenty sixteen was it didnt create this against the Previous Year twenty fifteen but its worth saying that the figures in twenty fifteen were a kind of historic high. And actually if you look at what happened in twenty sixteen. The number of people we recorded having been executed one thousand and twenty three in addition to thousands in china is actually still higher than the average over the last ten years so you could look at that as a gloomy i think the broader picture is the number of states executing is is falling twenty three states executed last year and fifty five imposed death sentences through the courts. That is a significant change you know Amnesty International started campaigning on the Death Penalty around forty years ago one hundred seventy seven and at that point only sixteen countries in the world abolished the Death Penalty today one hundred five countries have completely abolished the Death Penalty in law and in practice and a further thirty six you know have gone part of the way so you know the states that are using the Death Penalty in carrying out executions are in the minority theyre becoming increasingly isolated yeah lets talk a little bit more about one of those states which you say is becoming increasingly isolated weve heard that most of the executions are probably taking place in china which does not publish official figures we understand tell us a little bit more about your advocacy and the challenge is to your advocacy in the country. Yeah i mean in china we havent published a specific figure for several years because we believed it was in danger of significantly and understating the reality you know our assessment remains that thousands of people are sentenced to death and thousands of people are executed every year. You know what we did this year was we did take a look at what you can establish by looking at the one of judicial databases that china. Has has has started to sort of fill out you know in an attempt to show that its being transparent and accountable and in terms of its criminal Justice Systems what that shows is that the number of executions and that sentences is clearly for are far bigger than the than those that are announced in public media. And even you know that is a very late its a very limited sample but even from that you can see that there does appear to be some kind of this proposal to effect against certain groups against poor peoples or poor Socio Economic backgrounds now we have to be very careful about this because this is such a partial its such a part of the sample but the point is that china needs to come clean about how its using that a policy any is it its the Death Penalty of the state secrets in china what that means is that when we published our report earlier this year you know we saw some media were going into the streets in china and asking them what do you think about this amnesty report and people are saying thousands of people are executed i have no idea so this stifles problem public debate about the use of this you know cruel and inhuman punishment well we thank you so much for telling us a little bit more about it and your findings and your work james lynch Deputy Director of global issues at Amnesty International thank you. Pete. We have some breaking news just coming in now kenyas Opposition Leader riley apparently saying that he is withdrawing from the country as fresh president ial elections slated for october twenty sixth and he said that electoral officials failed to make the necessary reforms this months election is a rerun of a vote which only held back in august and you will recall that Kenyas Supreme Court notified that vote due to procedural irregularities as opponents incumbent president hu kenyatta won that election and now it appears that the controversy in the country continues now were going to turned to a push back to president. Labor reforms from unions in france here in europe and their heart out first as that story thats francois affectively france has come to a standstill five and a half million Public Service employees have gone on strike to protest controversial labor reforms has announced at least a quarter of its short and medium hold flights are canceled the french unions are protesting against the government of president they want to call which is planning to slash one hundred twenty thousand Public Sector jobs. Voltaire college in paris is District Eleven is shut down its entrance blocked and students armed with fire extinguishers many schools all over france are affected by tuesdays Public Sector strike for the first time in a decade all nine unions representing five point four million Public Workers have united behind a protest call their aim is to stop president emanuel might call in his plans to shak