this is bbc news. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: an arrest warrant is issued for thailand's former prime minister, after she fails to show up for a supreme court verdict. america's gulf coast prepares for the onslaught of hurricane harvey. officials say those in its path should evacuate. if you live in those low—lying areas, get out and get out now. the biggest single win in american lottery history — a hospital worker from massachusetts scoops $758 million on the powerball. tycoon on trial. after six months in court, a verdict is due on bribery and corruption charges against samsung boss jay y lee. the billionaire denies all wrongdoing. plus, the flying kangaroo bounces back! near record profits for qantas this year despite cut—throat competition.

the boss says it's a vindication of his turnaround plan. hello, and welcome to bbc news. there were sensational scenes in thailand when the supreme court was forced to postpone its verdict in the trial of the former prime minister, yingluck shinawatra, after she failed to appear in court. thejudges in bangkok then issued a warrant for her arrest, saying they didn't believe her claim to be ill. her lawyer says she might not even be in the country. ms yingluck faces up to 10 years injail in a criminal negligence case focused on a rice subsidy scheme. we can speak to karishma vaswani, who joins us from bangkok. we'll come back to that story in a

moment. 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 140km/h. they're expected to get even stronger. it's exactly 12 years since hurricane katrina hit the same area, causing huge loss of life and widespread damage. bill hayton reports. as the storm approaches, final preparations. workers on the texas coastline are filling sandbags to face hurricane harvey. the storm is bringing dangerous tidal surges and potentially life—threatening rainfall. even if we don't see flooding friday night, or saturday, the threat is still there on saturday night, sunday, possibly even into monday. we need people to be aware of. locals are stocking up on food and water, and supermarket shelves are emptying. bread, water,

eggs. just the essentials. we have kids so we make sure we have stuff in the cupboards and the fridge. one of the places watching the weather most carefully as new organs. some of the city's dumping stations are not working and there are problems with electricity. the mayor is concerned. we are working hard to make sure that we have secure power and redundant power. but it is not where i wanted to be and it is not where i wanted to be and it is not where it should be right now. so, yes, this is an unfortunate set of circumstances, where we have a threat at a time when we are not in oui’ threat at a time when we are not in our strongest addition. 12 years ago hurricane katrina flooded new 0 rlea ns, hurricane katrina flooded new orleans, killing more than 700 people. that failure was blamed on the federal government, gravely damaging president will ship's reputation. this time washington says it is prepared. but coastal regions are not taking any chances. let's go back to our top story now, the arrest warrant issued for former

thailand prime minister yingluck shinawatra. what has happened? well, in the last hour or so, the supreme court, which is right behind me, which is where yingluck shinawatra, thailand's first female prime minister, was expected to appear today to hear her verdict in this long—running trial where she has been charged with negligence in the rice subsidy scheme, instead, what happened today was that the court told us that because ms inglot didn't show up, didn't appear in court this morning, her trial has been postponed. —— ms yingluck. it has been postponed until september 27. they have also said they will issue an arrest warrant for her. the reason they have given for that is that they did not believe that she was unwell, as she had claimed. her lawyers told us that she said she had vertigo. the court also said, in

this court document, that they believe she is a flight risk. as we stand, as things stand right now, there has been an arrest warrant issued for her, and the courts here in thailand believe she is a flight risk. we spoke to her lawyer a few moments ago, who also told us, when asked,is moments ago, who also told us, when asked, is yingluck shinawatra in the country, he repeatedly said that he didn't know. thank you very much. we will keep up—to—date with that story isa will keep up—to—date with that story is a develops. —— as it develops. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. at least 12 people have been killed, including five police officers, after militants staged coordinated attacks in myanmar‘s rakhine state. in one attack 150 muslim insurgents attempted to break into an army base. the attacks mark a dramatic escalation in a conflict simmering in rakhine since last october. a verdict in the trial of two white farmers accused of assaulting and forcing a black south african man into a coffin, threatening him with

dousing him in petrol and burning him alive, is expected today. two of the accused were arrested late last year or allegedly assaulting the victim and pushing him into a coffin after he was accused of trespassing on the farm. a chinese national visiting the us has been arrested in los angeles on hacking charges. authorities accuse yu pingan of providing malware that has been linked to the theft of millions of security clearance records of american government employees. the fbi affidavit linked to the complaint alleges the shanghai man provided two others with software used to attack american companies. let's go to ben bland with all the business news. samsung is in the headlines again? it is indeed. we start in the south korean capital seoul, where we are expecting a verdict in the corruption trial of jay y lee. he's the head of the $300 billion samsung business empire, and grandson of the founder. he is accused of bribery, embezzlement and perjury, and could face up to 12 years injail. he pleads not guilty

and denies all wrongdoing. the trial has been going on for six months — so what's it all about? it started with this. $36 million dollars donated by samsung to organisations linked to former president park geun—hye. she was removed from office and is also facing corruption charges. back in 2015 the samsung conglomerate was undergoing restructuring, with a controversial merger of two of its businesses. prosecutors say the aim was to boost mr lee's personal power over the company, which he's been running since his father became ill in 2014. the deal needed shareholder backing from the national pension fund, which is run by the south korean government. prosecutors argued the donations were bribes to win that vital support. the affair has once again raised concerns about south korea's business culture — and the huge family—owned conglomerates known as "chaebols." they've long been seen as too cosily linked to government, and not sufficiently transparent in their dealings. they are also very powerful. to give you an idea, sales by samsung companies account

for around a fifth of south korea's entire economy. lots more on that on world business report in 20 minutes time — and of course we will bring you the verdict the minute we have it. also on the business agenda this morning, the flying kangaroo bounces back. australian airline qantas has posted its second best annual profit ever, some $1.1 billion. that is despite fierce competition from rivals. the boss, alanjoyce, says it shows his three—year turnaround plan is working, which has involved a major cost—cutting. we will have lots more on that in 20 minutes. in

the meantime, you can reach me on twitter. i am @benmbland. the search for eight people missing following a landslide in switzerland is now in its second day. german, austrian and swiss citizens are among those missing. swiss police say the landslide in bondo, near the border of italy, is the biggest in decades. geologists warn that more landslides are possible in the area, which is very popular with hikers and climbers. laura westbrook reports. this is the moment 4 million cubic metres of mud and rock were shaken loose, destroying everything in its path and sliding right to the edge of the village of bondo. the valley near the border of italy is popular with hikers. but it is a region known for its unstable mountainsides. bruno was hiking with his wife in the area and caught the

moment on camara. —— camera. translation: the landslide was really impressive, it sprayed out in the air about 300 metres the mountain. it made a cloud that moved really quickly. we said it was huge, and we thought of our cars, parked in the valley. we said, i guess we won't be finding those in a hurry. the hunt for the missing hikers is 110w the hunt for the missing hikers is now into its second day. the search continued on the grounds and in the air. but the mud and rock covers an area five kilometres long, and in some places, tens of metres high. translation: a helicopter is now deployed with a device that can sense mobile phones in the hope that with this device, we can eventually do something. despite the technology being used, the fear is the missing are running out of time. stay with us on bbc news. still to

come, four—time olympic champion mo farah has ended his track career with victory in the 5000 metres in zurich. 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 headlines: an arrest warrant has been issued after thailand's former prime minister, yingluck shinawatra, failed to show up yingluck shinawatra, failed to show upfora yingluck shinawatra, failed to show up for a supreme court verdict which could have seen herjailed. america's golf coast prepares for the onslaught of hurricane harvey after —— exactly 12 years after hurricane katrina left devastation in her wake. small convoys of d riverless in her wake. small convoys of driverless lorries will be tried out on major british roads next year. it is part of a government plan to cut emissions and reduce congestion.

motoring organisations have raised concerns over safety. they call it platoon in. trucks travelling in wi—fi connected convoy with much less s pa ce wi—fi connected convoy with much less space between them than normal. this dutch project is with two vehicles. the trial announced in the uk will be with three. more efficient, takes up less space on the motorway, improves fuel efficiency, and will hopefully improve costs and pass on savings to the consumer. each lorry has a driver, but the lead cab has control. to think about how three trucks can travel down a road in a platoon, imagine that the lead truck isa giant platoon, imagine that the lead truck is a giant wi—fi hub. it sends out signals on a precise distance and speed which the other two need to travel light, and the wi—fi on the trailing two trucks, can react much more quickly to signals that a human being can. the funding announcement

was made at a lancashire truck factory. researchers say because vehicles in platoon are in each other‘s slipstream, fuel consumption and pollution fall. but one road users body is sceptical. uk motorways a re users body is sceptical. uk motorways are the most congested in europe. we have more entrances and exits. and if you have a platoon of d riverless exits. and if you have a platoon of driverless lorries, it is very difficult to see roadsigns. will be difficult to see roadsigns. will be difficult to see roadsigns. will be difficult to exit motorway. there will be rigourous safety checks before any platoons are allowed on the road. then they will compare real delivery journeys the road. then they will compare real deliveryjourneys made by platoon trucks with those made in the traditional way. danish prosecutors investigating the death of a swedish journalists planned to charge a submarine inventor with her murder. as is membered body was found off the danish coast. she had been taken up to see the submarine built —— built

by the inventor. the search continues for what remains of the woman. there was confirmation that hers was the torso of 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. in the netherlands, thousands of iranian muslim migrants and refugees are converting to christianity, that's despite conversion from islam being considered punishable by death in iran. bbc persian's fariba sahraei visited a small congregation, where some iranians said they had only converted to increase their chances of being granted asylum.

the christians i met were really nice and at the beginning i wondered how these people could be so good. i wa nted how these people could be so good. i wanted to know more about their opinions and what they actually thought. and when i read about it, i realised i knew nothing about christianity because where we grew up christianity because where we grew up everything was closed, you couldn't get information. if someone is entering here, then

the same day, the first day, he is asking me, when can i be baptised? then i know enough. i know that he has a case and that he is searching for baptism and then i explained that it will not help him. they can use their baptism to get status and then you are in real trouble because then the ones that are trouble because then the ones that a re really trouble because then the ones that are really in danger and need to be healthier are not going to be taken

seriously. isn't it hard for you to say someone seriously. isn't it hard for you to say someone is really genuine? the difficulty is that we can't look into people's minds and hearts. initially basically a lot of our questions were focused on practical knowledge, like biblical knowledge. we have shifted now to questions that are focused more on the process that are focused more on the process that people have gone through in their personal experiences. the church is dying in europe and in the netherlands as well. let's get some sport.

the draw has been made for the group stage of the european champions league. holders real madrid have been drawn alongside tottenham, broussia dortmund and apoel nicosia. full details of the draw on the bbc sport website but here's the thoughts of the manchester city director of football after they were drawn out alongside shakhtar donetsk, feyenoord. with shakhter they are always able to win against good teams. they know the south american market and they are always able to win against great teams. napoli is playing the best in italy, with a wonderful coach, a lot

of pace in front, so a very competitive squad. they like to play with as. it's going to be a good group. the four—time olympic champion mo farah ended his track career in thrilling fashion with victory in the 5,000m at the diamond league finale in zurich. 34—year—old farah will now switch to road running. he clocked 13 minutes, 6.5 seconds to beat paul chelimo of the usa and muktar edris of ethiopia, with chelimo later disqualified. farah‘s win was particularly sweet, as edris beat him in the 5,000 metres final at the world championships in london two weeks ago. it feels amazing to win. i've really enjoyed my career. it's been a long journey, but at the same time i've enjoyed it. i'll miss the track and the people. this is a new chapter of my life. going onto the roads and seeing what i can do on the roads.

i'm sure there will be big marathons there but ijust have to enjoy it and take time off and enjoy it. mavis wanczyk has beaten all the odds to win the biggest single jackpot in american history. the odds of winning were one in 292 million. david willis takes up the story from washington. $1 million. get those tickets out. 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.

keepers at london zoo have begun their annual weigh—in. that's a weigh—in for the animals, not the keepers. it's to check the health of all the zoo's inhabitants, the results recorded on a database shared with other zoos worldwide. 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 it's a game and they are more interested in 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's all for now. you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @bbcreged ahmad. hello there.

the weather pattern across the uk seems to be stuck. we have the familiar scene where the best weather will be in the south—east of the uk. if anything it will be warmer on friday than thursday. towards the north—west we pick up more rain at times and showers. as a result it will feel cooler. the wet weather is in the north—west because of this low pressure that slow—moving. eventually it will head out into the north sea and take away most of the rain. we still have more rain to come across northern ireland. already parts of flooding earlier in the week and showery rain in scotland. cloud increases in northern england and wales. further south and east of the best of the sunshine. not a great deal of sunshine. not a great deal of sunshine for western scotland and northern ireland. we get some sunshine across the north—east of scotland, which will trigger heavy

showers in the afternoon. more cloud filtering in across northern england. it could bring rain. most of wales will be dry. more cloud in the afternoon, possibly for the south—west as well. for —— sunnier skies on friday and warmer. temperatures in the mid— 20s. we have the low pressure keeping rain going across scotland overnight. it tends to become drier in northern ireland. further south we have clearer skies and temperatures going to be around 14— 15 degrees. quite a lot of cloud heading into saturday and wetter weather still around in scotla nd and wetter weather still around in scotland will take a while to clear from the east. in western scotland and northern ireland are better day. generally dry, with sunshine. some sunshine across england and wales. russell weir couple of showers drifting further south. temperatures ranging from 80— 19 in glasgow and belfast. a lot of the showers will pull away on sunday and if you do

catch a shower on sunday you will be quite unlucky. it will be fine and dry for the most part. temperatures near where they should be. again we look towards the north—west for monday. at bank holiday for many people. the weather front will spoil things. the wind will be stronger, moving the rain in the northern england and wales. further south and east it will be sunnier and warmer. this is bbc world news, the headlines. thailand's supreme court has postponed its verdict in the trial of former prime minister yingluck shinawatra after she failed to appear in court. thejudges in bangkok issued a warrant for her arrest, saying they did not believe her claim that she is ill. america's gulf coast is preparing for the onslaught of hurricane harvey. small convoys of d riverless

small convoys of driverless lorries will be tried out on major british roads next year. it's part of a government plan to cut emissions and reduce congestion. motoring organisations have raised concerns over safety. a woman in massachusetts has won the biggest single—ticket prize in us lottery history. the cheque is for more than $750 million.