welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is tom donkin. our top stories: a new ballistic missile launch from north korea, flying overjapan and crashing down into the pacific ocean. a special report from sierra leone, where 1,000 people are still missing — a month after a devastating mudslide. russia fires cruise missiles into syria and invites the bbc to come and watch. and after nearly 20 years in space, the cassini space probe will send back its last pictures of saturn before burning up in the planet's atmosphere. north korea has again defied international opinion, by firing a ballistic missile over northern japan.

the japanese government said the missile was fired without advance notice, and was a "provocative action" that raised regional tensions. south korea's military said the missile was launched towards the east, from sunan near the north korean capital pyongyang. it flew 3700 kilometres over the island of hokkaido and crashed into the pacific ocean about 2,000km east of cape erimo. the un security council is to meet in emergency session later on friday to discuss the crisis. this is the first response from south north korea since the latest round of sanctions. the south korean military has estimated that it travelled 3,700km across japan and into the pacific 0cean.

here in seoul, the national security council is meeting as we speak and there has again been global condemnation of north korea. certainly in this part of the world. for example, the japanese prime minister has said that his country will never tolerate these types of provocations. the us secretary of state has said that this will further increase north korea's isolation. leading up to another emergency meeting of the un security council which it can't help but think this is exactly what north korea would like. they seem to launch these missiles at a time and in a way which would provoke maximum concern. they want to draw attention to this programme. in japan, this missile flies across and you have sirens going off. this is the way that we are

all talking about north korea regained. it does not want to have a nuclear capability unless it can, i guess, scare other countries into thinking that they cannot threaten that regime. really, that is north korea's long play here. that was stephen macdonald in south korea. the bbc‘s rupert wingfield—hayes is in tokyo and earlier he explained that this missile flew considerably further than previous north korean launches. the difference between this and last month's missile appears to be how high it flew and how far it flew. it looks like it flew about 3,700 kilometres into the ocean, considerably further than the missile which was fired last month. it is what we expected to see. both the united states and its allies, japan and south korea, have been watching for this launch. it was first expected on saturday 9 september.

that didn't happen. they have been watching the setup of this missile from satellites. this was not an unexpected launch, but obviously it came as a shock to people here injapan. alarms went off across northern japan, and in hokkaido this morning people were told to get to shelter. so people were woken up early this morning by this injapan. earlier i spoke to our north america correspondent peter bowes. we know from the white house that president trump has been briefed about this latest launch but we have not heard directly from him. we have had a statement from the secretary of state, rex tillerson, in which he calls on all nations to take measures against the north korean regime. he specifically mentions china and russia. he would like to see those nations take direct

actions of the road in response to what he describes as the reckless missile launches to show their intolerance for those launchers. it remains to be seen whether russia or china take any action of their own. there was the united nation security council resolution earlier this week that was watered down to appease china and russia. eventually there was a unanimous appeal to increase the sanctions against north korea. rex tillerson also goes on to say that, an interesting phrase users, he said the sanctions represent the floor and not the ceiling of actions that can be taken, making it clear that he believes there is much more to be done. we have also heard from the pentagon and a low—key statement from their saying that the military top brass have considered this latest missile launch and offer no further comment other than to use the phrase steady as she goes. as i say, a low—key

response from the pentagon. and is happening a few days before president trump makes his first appearance at a un general assembly. yes. clearly that is going to be a pivotal appearance for him, a crucial time in international relations. in the next few hours there will be an emergency meeting of the security council of the united nations. that will take place behind closed doors to consider any possible immediate response to what has happened in the last few hours. suicide bombers and gunmen have carried out attacks on a highway near the southern iraqi city of nassiriya, killing at least 60 people and wounding dozens more. 0ne attacker detonated an explosive

vest in a restaurant, as his accomplices opened fire at people inside. a nearby police checkpoint was targeted with a car bomb. a second set of criminal charges has been filed against brazil's president michel temer. the country's top anti—corruption prosecutor has charged him with obstruction ofjustice and racketeering, at the supreme court. mr temer has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and earlier this week angrily criticised the move to charge him. there have been disturbances at arsenal's emirates stadium in north london, after thousands of cologne fans turned up for a match — without tickets. the europa league game was delayed by an hour when scuffles broke out between supporters and stewards. five people were arrested. arsenal eventually won the match 3—1. up to a thousand people are still missing in sierra leone after the devastating mudslide that hit the capital freetown last month.

more than 500 people are known to have died in the disaster. thousands more have had to leave their homes. 0ur correspondent umaru fofana has been to freetown, to meet some of the survivors and find out how they're coping. the scale of this disaster is immense. no warnings, no time to escape. they all died. the whole family, they all died. one month on, a steady stream of grieving people still return to the site, with photographs of those who were killed. the country had never seen anything like it. it's rained for days. the mudslide was accompanied by flash flooding in several areas. with no proper emergency service, volunteers took the lead. chaos ensued. in a matter of minutes on 14th august, thomas lost eight members

of his family. he takes me back to the pile of mud and rubble that was once his family home. i started to shout and called for my youngest sister. marion, marion, marion. i heard hervoice, calling... in pain? yes, she was in deep pain. i was so depressed. i started to remove the sticks aggressively. i ran into this place to get a pickaxe, shovel and hammer also bar, to remove the nails from things around and then i started to use my bare hands on the ground to remove the mud. then i found the full hand of my younger sister. dozens of families in this middle class neighbourhood have their own harrowing stories to tell, following what happened

here and in what is now sierra leone's ground zero. it's believed about 1,000 bodies still lie beneath the mud and rubble, in the wake of what is the latest tragedy to befall sierra leone. unlike most victims, whose bodies were mangled by mud and rocks, thomas can give his sister, nephew and niece a proper burial. even time has not consoled the bereaved families. sierra leone is still burying its dead. russian submarines have fired a number of cruise missiles at so—called islamic state targets in syria, where the war has now been raging for six years. two years ago, russia entered the conflict on the side of president assad.

since then, his government forces have been steadily regaining ground. meanwhile, kurdish forces backed by american air power, have been making gains against is in the north. 0ur correspondent, steve rosenberg reports from the syrian city of latakia. we're off the coast of syria with the russian navy. this is the admiral essen. the russians will show us something they've never let foreign journalists film before. combat alert. then, emerging from the sea, cruise missiles from a russian submarine. their target is hundreds of miles away. the so—called islamic state. there's a second submarine and another launch. it's two years since russia launched its military campaign in syria and the fact that the russians invited foreign journalists here today, shows just how confident they are that the war

in syria is going their way. the submarines surface. we're told — mission accomplished. translation: the missile strike destroyed command and communication posts, ammunition depots and groups of militants south—east of the syrian town of deir el—zour. this week the russian army took us on a guided tour of syria, presenting its view of what's happening here. it's russian firepower which has kept president assad in power and that's caused criticism in the west but today moscow wants the world to see it as a peace maker in syria, not a problem. near the city of homs we were shown russian soldiers handing out humanitarian aid. there was a crush and chaos. many of these people had made their way here from an area

controlled by the syrian opposition. nearby, russian sappers were training syrians to remove mines, preparations for making post—war syria safe. the russians believe it could take up to ten years to rid this country of all the explosives that were planted here. for now, russia's military operation continues, in the air and at sea. with is under growing pressure, moscow believes the conflict here could soon end. but don't expect the russians to step away. in this war of many global players, russia is key to deciding syria's future. steve rosenberg bbc news, syria. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: can pakistan's first daughter when

the parliamentary seat of her father, now was sharif? freedom itself was attacked this morning, and freedom will be defended. the united states will hunt down and punish those responsible. bishop tutu now becomes spiritual leader of 100,000 anglicans here — of the blacks in soweto township, as well as the whites, in their rich suburbs. we say to you today, in a loud and a clear voice, enough of blood and tears — enough! translation: the difficult decision we reached together was one that required great and exceptional courage. it's an exodus of up to 60,000 people, caused by the uneven pace of political change

in eastern europe. iam free! this is bbc news. the top story this hour — north korea has fired a second ballistic missile over northern japan. south korean officials say it flew 3,700 kilometres — far longer than previous launches. let's get more on that now. drjohn park, a director of the korea working group at harvard kennedy school, and earlierjoined me earlier and gave me his perspective. we are seeing a rapid race to developing this capability of a nuclear—armed icbm. we just saw an intermediate—range ballistic missile. we are getting into the category of forward movement. that is the operative word — it is a programme rather than a single event.

we focus on a single event. but the data shows north korea under kimjong—un, in a little overfive years of his rule, is making tremendous progress. one would say he is on the cusp of this capability. yes, indeed. we have associated north korean missile tests with failures for a long time. we are seeing much more successes. the north korean regime can't really stop testing because it would be a sign of weakness. there is a signalling aspect, but the technical timeline and a goal from already a couple of months ago that north korea would race towards this capability is something of transparency on the north korean part. the exact timing of these tests, they are correlated with particular offences, that is an open source of debate. the statistics. you mention it is amazing in terms of the activities in the ballistic missile development site and the nuclear warhead testing. really hard to get insight into the character of kim jong—un and exactly what he is

thinking and his game plan. but there are things we can glean by looking at him in contrast with his father. that is correct, and if you look at the 17 years of kim jong—il‘s rule, we saw 16 missile tests and two nuclear tests and each time there was a ratcheting up and a building up to one of these tests, there was a lot of theatrics with a couple of days of fuel in, the heightened tensions, and then eventually a price negotiated and then a freeze or some sort of moratorium in terms of north korean activities under his period. now, with kim jong—un, we are looking at this type of activity with zero interest in terms of negotiations and in terms of sanctions having some kind of interest we have not seen that. many people say that president trump, to enact any change or pressure, needs to go through the intermediary of china. is that your reading? this is one component of it, the emphasis on china. the thesis is china has

the capabilities if we can pressure china, then it will have the will to rein in north korea. from the chinese calculus, it is not their problem. it is a problem between the us and north korea. and for those countries to resolve it diplomatically and peacefully. the chinese route right now is where we have seen doubling down. after this particular test, we are likely to see more economic pressure on china to rein in north korea. thank you very much. president trump has said no deal has been reached on protecting the rights of young migrants in the united states. senior democrats announced they'd reached a deal with mr trump on the co—called ‘dreamers' — children brought illegally into the usa from mexico. but mr trump took to twitter to dismiss the claim. andrew plant has more. landing in florida, donald trump and the first lady here to hand out food in a state ravaged by hurricane irma. let's make america great again.

but other problems followed him here too — the issue of young migrants in america still unresolved. given rights in an obama—era policy known as daca — deferred action for childhood arrivals — which president trump has moved to dismantle. statements from senior democrats suggested a deal had been reached, though, at a white house dinner last night. we have reached an understanding on this issue. we have to work out details. and we can work together on a security package with the white house and get daca on the floor quickly. but mr trump used his twitter account to contradict that statement, saying no deal was reached, and that support for the building of a border war with mexico would have to form part of any agreement. we are talking about taking care of people, people that were brought here, people that have done a good job and were not brought here of their own volition, but very importantly what we want, we have to have a wall.

if the wall is going to be obstructed, when we need the funds at a little later date, we will determine how much we need, then we're not doing it. the daca policy allowed almost 800,000 young migrants already living in the usa to go to work and school, protected from deportation. mr trump's opponents want those rights guaranteed in law but say they will continue to oppose the border wall which donald trump says must be part of the deal. it's the final day of campaigning in the pakistani city of lahore ahead of this weekend's by—election to replace the former prime minister. nawaz sharif was dismissed by the supreme court earlier this year following corruption allegations. his wife is standing in his former seat, but the campaign is being led by his daughter. secunder kermani reports from lahore. in this by—election, maryam nawaz‘s

long tipped as a centre leader has been centrestage, campaigning on the half of her mother who is recovering from cancer in london. she describes the court decision forcing her father from power as a the court decision forcing her fatherfrom power as a conspiracy. she doesn't say so explicitly but it's implied, the country's military establishment are responsible. with a passion that maryam nawaz inspires and her supporters is clear to see but her party has a huge amount at sta ke but her party has a huge amount at stake in this election. they are portraying it as the people's verdict on the disqualification of her father, nawaz verdict on the disqualification of herfather, nawaz sharif. that verdict on the disqualification of her father, nawaz sharif. that means a lot hinges on what happens to the ruling party's current majority here. under the public sentiment. i'm not going to make a sweeping statement here. at this election is

going to validate the sanctity of the vote. the main electoral challenge comes from the pti party who have led to claims of corruption against the sharif family. they say maryam nawaz is trying to undermine political accountability.” maryam nawaz is trying to undermine political accountability. i never expected in my lifetime i would see a day when the judiciary becomes strong enough to take a decision against the government or against the ruling prime minister. others are contesting also, amongst them to new islamist parties, one affiliated toa new islamist parties, one affiliated to a cleric alleged to be a militant leader. their support is limited but they are encroaching upon the religious base of the ruling party and there are suggestions they are backed by the military establishment. again, encoded terms. what concerns me is the kind of money that they have invested into a lost election. the kind of infrastructure they have, the kind

of resources that they have but i personally witnessed in the constituency is quite shocking. the military has denied favouring any of the different political parties. whatever the results are, there are significant is excused general election could be contested as the campaign itself. now, as i speak to you, far above us on the surface of saturn, the cassini spacecraft has started another transmission. as it has done many times, during its eight billion kilometre mission, it is sending a stream of information back to earth. this time, though, things will be different — it will be broadcasting its own fiery death. cassini is ending its 13 years of exploration by throwing itself into saturn's atmosphere. our science correspondent rebecca morelle has been looking at the impact of the cassini mission. closing in on oblivion. there is no going back now. after 20 years of exploration, the cassini spacecraft is running out of fuel, and has been set on a death dive into saturn's thick atmosphere. it is a mission that has transformed our view of the giant planet and its rings, bringing us countless stunning images. now, it will go out with a bang.

but for the scientists involved, saying goodbye will be tough. well, i've worked a cassini for 30 years, and that's a big chunk of my career. so as it's ending, i'm feeling a tremendous sense of sadness. sadness at the end of the mission, the breakup of the cassini family, and at the same time, a tremendous source of pride. the spacecraft leaves a remarkable legacy. from spotting saturn's colossal storms and finding structures as high as mountains hidden within its rings, to revealing the planet's many moons, from titan, with its methane ice and seas, to enceladus, with an ocean hidden beneath its icy crust, sending plumes into space. but the discoveries will keep coming. this is the control room, where the very final moments of cassini will be tracked, and every last drop of science is being squeezed out of this mission. as the spacecraft enters saturn's atmosphere, the data will be streamed back here, right up until the very instant it is destroyed.

this will actually be the grand truth, as it were. we're actually being able to sample the atmosphere as the spacecraft goes in. it doesn't have a lot of time to do it, but it's going to be one of the most exciting points of the mission, right at the end of the mission. as cassini hurtles towards saturn, it will heat up and then vaporise, to become part of the planet it has studied for so long. but for scientists, the work won't be over. so much data has been collected, saturn could keep surprising for decades to come. cassini's death plunge is scheduled to take place shortly after the spacecraft‘s final contact with earth at around 1155 gmt. we'll have coverage right here on the bbc. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. hello there.

our weather has taken on a decidedly cool and, dare i say it, quite autumnal feel. as we head on through friday, it will remain cool, after quite a chilly start, and we will see a mixture of sunshine and showers. showers from the word go across northern england, into wales and the south—west. these gradually drifting further south and east, and as the showers arrive in east anglia and south—east england, they will turn very heavy indeed, with some hail and some thunder. all the while, showers keep going across northern ireland and a good part of scotland. so let's take a closer look, then, at 4pm in the afternoon. a mixture of sunny spells and hefty showers to the south—west of england. 15 degrees there in plymouth. could get to 16 in southampton, in the dry spells. but bear in mind, as the showers drift through, the temperatures will drop away by a good few degrees. maybe just 12 or 13 degrees in some of the showers across the south—east and east anglia — very heavy, with hail and thunder. a mixture of sunshine and showers for northern england. quite a few showers across north—east scotland,

a fair old breeze blowing here, as well. but south—west scotland a better chance of seeing more in the way of dry weather, and some spells of sunshine. sunny spells and hefty downpours for northern ireland, and a similar story for wales, and particularly close to the west coast it will be fairly windy. now, as we go on through friday night, many of the showers will fade away. but some will continue, most likely across north—east england, into wales, the south—west, some showers continue across north—east scotland, as well. many other places will turn dry, with some clear spells. maybe the odd mist patch, and temperatures easily down to eight, nine, or 10 degrees, but some spots in the countryside cold enough for a touch of grass frost. so we begin the weekend between this area of low pressure to the east and this area of high pressure trying to push in from the west. it leaves us with a northerly wind — never a warm wind direction. yes, there will be some spells of sunshine, but again, some showers, some of them heavy, and those temperatures around 13 degrees for aberdeen and glasgow. 12 in belfast, maybe 15 for cardiff, and 16 for london. but as we go through saturday night, as the showers fade, we see clear skies and light winds,

it is going to turn very chilly indeed. our towns and cities perhaps down into single digits. but, out in the countryside, particularly out west, we're looking at lows of one, two, three degrees. there could well be a touch of grass frost to start sunday morning, but sunday should see some improvements, certainly in terms of the showers. fewer showers, more dry weather, more sunshine. 15 to 18 degrees. and that is the story for the weekend. the showers, slowly but surely, will ease. there will be some sunny spells, but the nights will be decidedly chilly. this is bbc news — the headlines: north korea has fired a ballistic missile over northern japan. south korean military officials say it flew nearly four thousand kilometres — much further than previous north korean launches. it comes just four days after the un security council adopted further sanctions against north korea. a month after the devastating mudslide that hit the capital of sierra leone, around a thousand people are still missing. more than 500 people, are known to have died in the disaster.

thousands more have had to leave their homes. in the weeks leading up to the disaster, the city had triple its normal rainfall. two russian submarines in the mediterranean sea have fired missiles at islamic state targets in syria. the defence ministry said seven cruise missiles were deployed and that all the targets, including command—posts and arms facilities, south—east of the city of deir al—zour, were destroyed. now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk.