welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm mike embley. our top stories: the supreme court of thailand delays its verdict for a month about whether the former premier could be jailed. america's gulf coast prepares for the onslaught of hurricane harvey. officials say those in its path should evacuate. get out of the low lying areas now. billionaire samsung boss jay y lee's corruption trial reaches a conclusion as he awaits a court verdict. the biggest single win in american lottery history, a hospital workerfrom massachusetts, scoops $758 million on the powerball. the supreme court in thailand has delayed the reading of the verdict

in the case of the country's former prime minister yingluck chinnawat until the 27 september. they also issued an arrest warrant for her because she didn't show up to court. ms yingluck is accused of criminal negligence over a costly rice subsidy policy and could face a decade behind bars. her opponents say it was in effect a bribe to her supporters. she insists she's innocent. and karishma vaswani is there. why is there an arrest warrant? this announcement has come in the last couple of minutes to explain to audiences what happened. there were audiences what happened. there were a flurry of koraput is coming out saying that yingluck chinnawat‘s trial, the reading of the verdict, has been postponed until the 27th of september. there has been an arrest

warrant issued for her. the court said she failed to turn up for court. she said she was unwell, that she had vertigo, and so was unable to appear in court today. however, the court decided that is a reason they do not believe, in their words, and have issued an arrest warrant. it is not clear whether it has been issued because they believe she is at risk of fleeing. there is no mention of that today. but we understand the court has confiscated a $900,000 bail that yingluck chinnawat posted at the beginning of her trial. a lot of information coming through from the courts in the last few minutes. they suspended the last few minutes. they suspended the decision, the fate, of yingluck chinnawat, today, and we will have to find out in another month what will happen in this monumental case against the. to give some contacts, she and her party, the party of her

brother, they are big players in thailand. —— context. she is not charged with corruption, but failing to prevent corruption. that is absolutely correct. she is one of the most politically divisive figures in thailand, extremely popular with her supporters who make up popular with her supporters who make up that massive vote out in the rural areas. what we have been told so rural areas. what we have been told so far is the supporters who have come to this court today, outside the court, 500 metres away, they have yet to find out her verdict has been postponed. in a facebook post yesterday, yingluck chinnawat said she urged her supporters not to come to court. this has been the message through this entire period, telling supporters not to come, not to cause trouble, unrest. there is no indication as to what has actually caused not to show up today beyond the fact what she has said is that

she is indeed unwell. this leaves so many questions about the future, not just for yingluck chinnawat, but for her party. they have gotten victory for the past five decades. she was a political novice taking over from her brother and she won. people are speculating whether she has left the country. it is far too soon to ask those questions. puts the future of the party in great doubt as we move forward into a thailand that may see democracy as a result of the government saying it will announce elections in the next year or so. we will talk to you perhaps in a month's time. thank you so much. forecasters in the united states are expecting a major hurricane to hit the coast of louisiana

and texas on friday night. hurricane harvey has sustained winds of up to 140 kilometres an hour. they're expected to get even stronger. it's exactly 12 years since hurrican katrina hit the same area, causing huge loss of life and widespread damage. as the storm approaches, final preparation is. those on the texas coastline are feeling sandbags to face hurricane harvey. it is bringing dangerous tidal surges and potentially life—threatening rainfall. we could see flooding on friday but not on saturday. the threat could still be there possibly until monday, though. people need to stay aware. people are stocking up on food and water. supermarkets are emptying. the essentials of. we have children. we need stuff in the cupboards. one of the places watching the weather the most carefully is new orleans. some of

the pumping stations of the city are not working and there are problems with electricity. the mayor is concerned. we have to make sure we have secure and redundant power. it is not where i want it to be. these are is not where i want it to be. these a re u nfortu nate is not where i want it to be. these are unfortunate circumstances. but we are at threat in a time when we are not strongest. 12 years ago, hurricane katrina flooded new o rlea ns, hurricane katrina flooded new orleans, killing more than 700 people. that failure was blamed on the federal government, gravely damaging president bush's reputation. this time, washington says it is repaired, but coastal regions are not taking any chances. —— prepared. bbc news. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. a ferry has capsized off the north—eastern brazilian city of salvador, killing more than 20 people.

the authorities say more than 100 were rescued. it's the second major boat accident in brazil this week. a ferry sinking on tuesday killed at least 19 people. florida state prison has executed the white supremacist mark james asay, the first white inmate put to death in florida for killing a black man, since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1979. he was killed by a lethal injection, that included a drug never used before in the us. asay was sentenced to death in 1988 for killing two men in separate incidents on the same day. 500 people were killed in sierra leone's landslide. the emergency services say 6000 people have been directly affected by the disaster. swiss police say eight people are missing following a landslide in the east of the country. rescue operations are being intensified, and geologists are warning that further landslides in the remote alpine valley, which is popular with hikers and climbers, cannot be ruled out. imogen foulkes reports.

on wednesday morning, 4 million cubic metres of mud and rock poured down the mountain, destroying farmhouses in its path and ending up right on the edge of the tiny village of bondo. residents were evacuated immediately. helicopters plucked hikers from alpine huts. at first rescue workers thought everyone was safe. translation: overnight we received reports of missing people. we intensified the rescue effort, an army helicopter was sent out. unfortunately, up to now, we haven't found anyone. police have now confirmed that eight people known to have been in the region at the time of the landslide are officially missing. over 120 rescue workers are now searching on foot and with specialised helicopters which can detect mobile phone signals.

these remote steep sided valleys are popular with climbers and hikers but they are also known for the risk of avalanche and rock slides. some communities here have already invested millions in protective barriers. geologists are warning that in the coming days further landslides cannot be ruled out. imogen foulkes, bbc news, geneva. danish prosecutors investigating the death of a swedish journalist say they plan to charge submarine inventor, payter madsen, with her murder. the dismembered body of kim varl was found off the danish coast after she was taken out to sea in a submarine built by mr madsen. he denies killing her. tom donkin reports. the grim search continues for what remains of kim wall. after confirmation on wednesday that hers was the torso found washed up on denmark's coast, police now scour swamp and sea for any further sign of the young swedish journalist. this is the last image of her alive. it's august the 10th and kim is on board the uc3 nautilus,

the world's biggest home—made submarine. she was writing a profile about the man who built it, danish inventor peter madsen, who took her out to sea and was the last person to see her alive. the only suspect in her death, danish prosecutors now said mr madsen will face a murder charge when he appears in court next month. he denies killing kim wall and his account of events have changed since police rescued him from his sinking submarine just hours after kim had been reported missing. initially saying he had dropped her off alive near copenhagen, he later explained her death was an accident. translation: he's explained that an accident happened on the submarine that has caused the death of kim wall and that he afterwards buried her at sea. in new york, students of columbia university remember kim, who graduated here in 2013. they celebrated the life of a talented journalist who travelled and reported from around the world but met her gruesome

end so close to home. so, as the investigation continues, this is a case which keeps growing up more questions than answers. and with the absence of witness testimony and much of the physical evidence now washed away, there could be a long wait for friends and family to know exactly what happened to kim and why. tom donkin, bbc news. a decision by venezuela to ban two colombian to be channels that were criticised. —— tv. it has been called censorship but no excuse has been given except that they were acting against the government. translation: we greatly regret what

has happened. another example of a regime that is restricting the freedom of citizens. that is why we have said they have moved away from a democratic system and are moving towards being a dictatorship. stay with us. more to come. they are known as the unicorns of the sea. why our scientists looking more into narwhals? he's the first african—american to win the presidential nomination of a major party, and he accepts exactly 45 years ago to the day that martin luther king declared, "i have a dream." as darkness falls tonight, an unfamiliar light will appear in the south—eastern sky. an orange, glowing disc that's brighter than anything save the moon, our neighbouring planet, mars. there is no doubt that this election is an important milestone

in the birth of east timor as the world's newest nation. it'll take months, and billions of dollars to re pair what katrina achieved injust hours. three weeks is the longest the great clock has been off duty in 117 years, so it was with great satisfaction that clockmaker john vernon swung the pendulum to set the clock going again. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: thailand's supreme court has delayed the verdict for a month in a decision which could send yingluck shinawatra jail. america's gulf coast prepares for the onslaught

of hurricane harvey — officials say those in its path in its path should evacuate. the billionaire head of south korea's samsung group is just hours away from finding out whether he's been found guilty of corruption. for the past six—months jay y lee has been on trial accused of making inappropriate donations to a friend of the former president park geun—hye, a charge that helped trigger her impeachment and dismissal from office. mr lee has pleaded not guilty. the bbc‘s yogita limaye told me samsung is far more than an electronics company. it dominates south korea's economy. this company accounts for nearly one fifth of the economy here. it's a huge group, a global technology giant, and that's why this verdict is being watched so closely. but it's also not asked about this one company. large conglomerates dominate the economy here. there have been accusations of corruption against the heads of many of these companies. in the past, even when they've been convicted, they've been pardoned because the government said there would be an economic impact on the country if they go to jail. so it is very significant if we get a strong sentence today and if he is found guilty because now they are the new government,

which won elections, saying it will clean up corruption and there will be no more pardons for the head. this is only the start. the former president who was impeached is also facing trial. that's right. the verdict that comes out here today will be an indicator of what the former president might have to face. this is a huge scandal that triggered mass protest here, demanding the removal of the former president. she is accused of allowing her close friends to accept donations from these large conglomerates. the president, the new president of this country, has vowed to take on large conglomerates and this government is saying the verdict here today will send a strong message, that these political and business links can't continue

and this is a turning point for south korean business and politics. this time last year rhiannon mills basking in the glow of the olympics and as the world moved on the city is facing challenges with investments made to reduce violence to ensure the games went smoothly seeming to be failing. katie watson reports. gunfire on the streets of rio. every day brings new shootouts and new victims. according to rio's state security ministry, nearly 3,500 people were murdered in the first six months of this year. the number of people killed by police in shootouts rose by 45%. thousands of soldiers have been deployed on the streets in recent weeks. a show of force, but with an economic crisis and police budget cuts, not everyone is convinced they will make a difference. translation: the violence has increased a lot in the last year

and i think it's because the state of rio is in crisis. that affects the people and employment, which increases the number of criminals on the streets. translation: things are out of control here. we don't even want to leave the house because we don't feel safe. in my neighbourhood yesterday, eight vehicles were robbed and now the crossfire can be heard everywhere. insecurity is everywhere. every day the newspapers have new headlines, as the number of victims rises. some journalists are calling this a war in rio and this newspaper has created a war section, dedicated to covering the violence. amid the violence, some friends came up with a bright idea, an app informing people about shootings. it started as a personal project but now has hundreds of thousands of followers. the government isn't doing anything. nobody knows how many shootings and robberies there have been and we are showing this, so we are exposing the violence at this point in time. this former police commander says rio's problem lies in bad government

policies towards tackling violence. translation: when a brazilian dies every nine minutes, when 10% of the homicides in the world happen here, there's something deeply wrong. despite being one of the largest economies in the world, there is a brutal inequality. historically, we've tried to solve the problem of violence, especially in the poorest areas, exclusively with the police. not enough is being done to make these poorer and violent parts of the city safer places to live in. the story of claudineia and her baby, arthur, shocked everyone here. she was nine months pregnant when she was hit in the stomach by a stray bullet, injuring the baby too. claudineia and her partner should have been enjoying the first weeks of parenthood, instead they held a funeral for baby arthur earlier this month. grieving for their baby,

the youngest victim of rio's violence problem. the rate of melting ice in the arctic has been worrying scientists for some time. now they're studying narwhals — one of the most mysterious ocean species — to help determine the impact. a new exhibition at the smithsonian's national museum of natural history in washington dc reveals some of their findings. jane o'brien went to take a look. often called sea unicorns, narwhals are among the most mysterious creatures of the arctic. their frozen habitat has made them how to study but as the ice melts, these aquatic mammals are becoming more accessible to scientists who hope to solve perhaps the biggest mystery of them all, the purpose of the narwhal‘s tusk. a lot of people think this tusk is a horn, but it's not, it's a tooth, isn't it? and you're a dentist, which i suppose makes sense. in this case a dentist to one of the most extraordinary marine

mammals on the planet. i think it's a sensory organ. the research we were conducting for the last 16 years has shown tiny nerve connections between the outside of this tusk and its inner nerve, which is innervated directly to the brain. it's a sensory probe if you will. that's one of many theories, although most scientists believe the tusk is used by males to attract females. this exhibition presents an overview of the latest research. it also shows how narwhals are changing their behaviour due to habitat loss caused by climate change and how that affects the inuit, who have depended on narwhals for thousands of years. the native folks have said there are changing migrations and there are more incidents of entrapment is when the narwhals get caught when the ice is freezing up in the fall and in the winter it will freeze right over their breathing holes, hundreds if not thousands perish. there are some pretty dramatic events that can occur. scientists work with the inuit to track and study narwhals. by fitting them with sensors they're

learning more about their diving patterns, feeding habits, migration and even how they communicate. these sounds were recorded underwater but when predators are detected, the narwhals become quiet. but even their breathing can be an unforgettable experience. i was on the ice and it was 2am roughly and i heard the breathing sound ofjust one while come up. the water was still, it was tranquil. there was a light mist and a fog and then hundreds of whales started surfacing and i heard this cacophony of breathing sounds all around me. there are approximately 180,000 narwhals living in the arctic, but climate change is opening the region notjust to scientists but commercial enterprises, raising the risk of pollution. and that could pose the biggest threat of all. james o'brien, bbc news, washington. but mavis wanczyk has beaten

all the odds to win the biggest single jackpot in american history. just to give you an idea, the odds of winning the jackpot are one in 292 million. david willis takes up the story from washington. the numbers that made a middle—aged hospital worker one of the richest people in the world. mother of two mavis wanczyk, from chicopee, massachusetts, has since told her bosses she won't be at work tomorrow, or the next day or any other day after that. her $758 million prize is the largest single ticketjackpot in american history. last night it was kind of like... i didn't realise it. today, i'm still like, this is untrue, it can't be. now it's like... uh...i am a winner and i'm scared. i'll be ok. us lottery winners have the choice

of taking the jackpot as a lump sum or a series of annual payments, spread over the course of 29 years. mavis has opted for the former. even after paying $300 million in taxes, it will still leave her wealthy beyond her wildest dreams. another more modest beneficiary is the convenience store where she bought the winning ticket. they are donating their $50,000 prize to charity. we just happen to be the lucky people, that's all, and we are glad to be able to pass it on. mavis said she always dreamt of retiring early and now that dream has come through. her immediate plans include paying off her car. but before that she says she will be hiding in her bed, trying to take in all the excitement. here in the uk, the keepers

at london zoo have begun their annual weigh—in. that's a weigh—in for the animals, not the keepers. it's done to check the health of all the zoo's inhabitants. the results are recorded on a database that's shared with other zoos around the world. the bbc‘s tim allman reports on all creatures great and small. when you are weighing someone, this is not the sort of thing that usually happens. the squirrel monkeys of london zoo, a little reluctant to co—operate. every year, around 200 animals get put on the scales. these baby penguins, a little more docile, but not all the zoo's inhabitants are willing to play ball. some are definitely less cooperative and it's not even about being less cooperative sometimes, some of them think it's a game. primates in particular and young animals are very inquisitive when you go in and they think think it's a game and they are more interested at picking at the scales, looking at the gloves the keepers are wearing, or running off with some of the food and not getting on the scales at all.

so it can be a real challenge. it's not just weight, other vital statistics are of interest too. a giant ruler being used to measure the height of these lions. a sack of meat encouraging them to stand on their hind legs to get the most accurate figures. all this information helps the zoo monitor the animal's health and well—being. information that is then shared with other zoos around the world. from the smallest to the largest, every animal takes part, whether they want to or not. that is about as close as you want to get with the lion. for more on that and all of the news please check the bbc website. thank you for watching. hello there. there's not much movement of our weather at the moment, so it's a familiar theme as we head to the end of the week. the best of the weather

towards the south—east of the uk, where temperatures should be a bit higher than they were on thursday. head towards the north—west and here it's much more unsettled, showers and maybe some longer spells of rain. as a result it will be a bit cooler too. the wetter weather is in the north—west because we're closer to this area of low pressure. now, eventually that will push across scotland out into the north sea and take the wetter weather away this weekend. but for the moment we've got more rain to come both overnight and into friday across northern ireland and into western scotland. some showers further east across scotland, one or two for northern england and wales as the cloud increases, sunnier skies further south and east. so a lot of cloud to come across northern ireland, already we've had some flooding earlier on in the week, this rain isn't going to help. a lot of cloud across scotland and if we get some sunshine in the north—east of scotland that could trigger one or two heavy showers in the afternoon. by then a little more cloud coming into northern england and perhaps some showers here, one or two in wales. most of wales will be dry, we will see the cloud increasing here and in the south—west.

the sunnier skies through the east midlands, east anglia and the south—east were temps are a bit higher, probably around about the mid—20s. it's not going to be as warm as that in headingley. it will feel quite chilly actually as the cloud increases through the day and there's just the small chance of one or two like light showers. most of the wet weather continues to be further north close to that area of low pressure, and that will push the wetter weather generally clear from northern ireland across scotland. further south, some drier conditions, one or two showers perhaps and temperatures of 1a to 16 degrees. into the start of the weekend then and we've got rain mainly in scotland but it's going to be pushing out to the north sea, it's going to take a while for things to improve across eastern scotland but a much better day in western scotland and northern ireland, generally dry with some sunshine. some sunshine for england and wales, maybe one or two more showers drifting further south and you can see the difference in temperatures, again peaking in the south—east around about the mid—twenties. a lot of those showers will have moved away as we head into the second half of the weekend.

so if you do catch a shower you're going to be quite unlucky, a lot of dry weather around and some sunshine at times and temperatures near average for the time of year. as we head into monday, a bank holiday for many, we're back into the north—west south—east split with weather fronts driving into the north—west together with some stronger winds. so rain for scotland and northern ireland but the wind will move things on into northern ireland and wales later. to the south—east, it's going to be sunnier here and also warmer. this is bbc news. the headlines: the supreme court in thailand has delayed its verdict on former prime minister yingluck shinatwatra in a case that could put her injail, and out of politics for life. the judges also issued an arrest warrant for her because she didn't show up to court. she denies criminal negligence charges. america's gulf coast is preparing for the onslaught of hurricane harvey. it's expected to hit the coast of louisiana and texas on friday night with winds of up to 140km/h an hour. it's 12 years since hurricane katrina hit the same area,

causing huge loss of life and widespread damage. swiss police say eight people are missing in a landslide in the east of the country. rescuers are intensifying their efforts as geologists warn more landslides are possible in the remote alpine valley, which is very popular with hikers and climbers. now on bbc news, stephen sackur reports from eastern libya in hardtalk on the road.