i'm ben bland. the headlines: at least five people have died as hurricane florence lashes down on the us east coast. a mother and child were killed when a tree fell on their house in wilmington. emergency workers are battling strong winds and floodwaters to try to rescue hundreds of people trapped in their homes. a super—typhoon has hit the north east of the philippines, making landfall in baggao, with winds of over 200 kilometres per hour. more than four million people are directly in the path of the storm and thousands have been evacuated. president trump's former campaign manager, paul manafort, has pleaded guilty to two charges, relating to his former role as a lobbyist in ukraine. as part of a plea deal, he will cooperate with the investigation into russian electoral interference. the white house say the new deal has nothing to do with mr trump. now on bbc news, our world: colombia, a fragile peace. on the ground, up india, and off the

coast, i've been travelling all around colombia to observe a flight ——fight around colombia to observe a flight —— fight for the future of this country. lazy narco trafficking as an opportunity, and it is a global problem. —— bay sea. an opportunity, and it is a global problem. -- bay sea. it is a country still emerging from half a century of civil war, seeking stability and prosperity for its highly polarised population. many colombians are facing crippling poverty, crime and extortion. now a new government is questioning the terms of a recent deal that brought peace here, while old

enemies fear a return to the hostilities of the past. has colombia defeated its demons? or is this a new and dangerous beginning? flying high above a lush and fertile valley, counter narcotics policeman get sleep when they can. two years on from a peace deal with the insurgent farc guerrilla movement, they are still fighting a war, a war of drug fuelled crime. coca reduction is at an all—time high. we are flying south to a part of the country which has only recently been demobilised, where the farc guerrillas have handed in most of their weapons as part of a peace deal. we have landed in a provincial

capital in central colombia, a place called san jose. not long capital in central colombia, a place called sanjose. not long ago it was in rebel hands. dissident guerrillas live on in the surrounding jungles. coca is still being produced. singing national anthem. counter narcotics police prepared to mount a raid on aker came laboratory hidden in the jungle. mount a raid on aker came laboratory hidden in thejungle. i go with them, along with my wheelchair. i was shot and partly paralysed while reporting in 200a. the police commander is —— commanders are well

armed, and they need to be. ruthless mexican drug cartels have been moving into colombia's already violent cocaine trade. the police know that the laboratory is active. it could be well defended. 50 miles outcome and the lab is spotted. it was identified by intelligence five days earlier. the choppers land, right in the middle of the coca fields. the troops fan out. they moving towards the laboratory. when we reach it, it is obvious it has only just been abandoned we reach it, it is obvious it has onlyjust been abandoned minutes ago. the police act fast. they don't want

to risk spending a second longer on the ground than they need to. this here is a fully operationaljungle laboratory. you can smell it in there. they are going to now destroy it, but they are very worried about a counter—attack from the people who are operating this. they think they are operating this. they think they are going to come and try to hit them. in the rush to get out and back to the choppers, there is not even time to use my wheelchair. they are raid has achieved its objective. infour are raid has achieved its objective. in four days this unit destroyed 23 basesin in four days this unit destroyed 23 bases in the jungle. in four days this unit destroyed 23 bases in thejungle. but in four days this unit destroyed 23 bases in the jungle. but there are cou ntless bases in the jungle. but there are countless others hidden out here. locating them is like finding a needle in a haystack, even when they are found in is destroyed, others quickly spring up in their place. it isa quickly spring up in their place. it

is a never—ending struggle, fuelled by the global demand for cocaine. but some things have improved. colonel oscar told me what operations were like before the peace deal with the farc. until recently, the unit's helicopters would frequently draw fire and they would take casualties. now theirjob is easier. colombia's guerrilla war was the longest—running insurgency in latin america. either time it formally

endedin america. either time it formally ended in 26 team, over 200,000 people had been killed and over 5 million displaced. —— by the time it formally ended in 2015. the farc began in the 1960s as a left—wing protest movement against inequality, at it became heavily involved in the global drug trade and multiple kidnappings at home. right—wing pro—government paramilitaries fought them, but they too were accused of kidnapping and killing civilians. the peace deal signed two years ago between them president santos and the farc was a truly historic moment. it won him the nobel peace prize. the vast majority of the fa rc‘s prize. the vast majority of the farc‘s 7000 or so guerrillas have handed in their weapons to united nations observers. but in the vacuum left behind, in risk and middle gangs are vying for control of the drug trade, dramatically increasing cocaine production. —— numerous criminal gangs. even the peace deal itself is controversial. this year colombia elected a new president,

ivan duke. he and his backers have vowed to revise the peace deal on their terms. terms which some say risk undoing the entire peace process. ivan duke's campaign chimes with voters unhappy about allowing former fa rc voters unhappy about allowing former farc militants to escape trial and even run for political office. the issue has polarised colombia. then there are other so—called dissident rebels, former farc guerrillas who have kept their weapons and joint criminal gangs linked to the drug cartels. so just how permanent is this peace deal? and could former fa rc this peace deal? and could former farc commanders take up weapons ain? farc commanders take up weapons again? iwent farc commanders take up weapons again? i went with un observers to a remote camp to find out. we are on a

road heading south away from the police base, going to a camp set up by the colombian government for former farc fighters who handed in their weapons on the 2016 peace deal. i want to ask them if this peace agreement is working for them. and whether life was better when this whole area was controlled by the farc guerrillas. some of those gorillas are still hiding out in the surrounding countryside, fighting on despite the peace deal. —— guerillas. but those who have given up guerillas. but those who have given up their weapons are now living a very different life. in the demobilisation camp, i meet ivan ale, a former farc commander now running the camp. not so long ago he was organising attacks on the military and police. now they are watching him from a wary distance, after turning up unannounced to monitor our visit. for the hundreds

of former farc fighters and their families, living in this camp civilians now takes a huge adjustment. there is a palpable sense of listlessness here, a lack of purpose. no one can be sure just how they will be accepted by colombia's civil society. but if this project is for anyone, it is for those with a life ahead of them. most of these children were born in the jungle them. most of these children were born in thejungle in them. most of these children were born in the jungle in a them. most of these children were born in thejungle in a time of conflict. they are going to need both in education and a stable future in a new, post— insurgency colombia. meanwhile, the police

suspect dissident rebels who haven't surrendered are trying to recruit from this very camp. i put this to ivan. given that the new government coming in to colombia is very hard line and is saying the police deal is too soft, do you worry about the future? is there any chance that colombia could go back to war? we area we are a long way from the coca fields of the amazon jungle. this is kasatkina, on colombia's northern, caribbean coast, a gateway to the us and the global cocaine market. —— cartagena. i am and the global cocaine market. —— cartagena. iam being and the global cocaine market. —— cartagena. i am being shown the state—of—the—art equipment that enables the authorities to monitor every single item of freight leading

this terminal. the police told me this terminal. the police told me this is one of the most secure container terminals in the world, almost impossible to smuggle drugs from. the navy told me a different story. the navy told me a different story. the colombian navy say that this island, just off cartagena harbour, island, just off cartagena harbour, is absolutely key to the cartels getting their shipments out of colombia. what they see is that they use the local population here to tra nsfer use the local population here to transfer their drugs from the mainland, and put them onto the container ships at night. this captain knows exactly how it works. they use small boats with four or five people who reach the ship during the transit of its channel, and use handmade stairs, load the container, and after that, go down

to the small boat again. but to do that they must have some informants inside the port, yes? that is correct. aside from container ships, there are more traditional ways of shipping a product overseas. these pictures, filmed in may, show a colombian navy interception of a cartel speedboat just offshore from cartagena. the operation succeeded. the drugs ended up in the sea. but an unknown number of other vessel still make it through. and if speeds doesn't work, there is always dull. the submersible was found in a small shipyard, hidden along the coast. how far would one of these go? could it reach the united states? yeah, it can go to the united states in a travel time of around 13 days.

another day, another mission. i am accompanying the counter narcotics troops as they mount a raid on a cartagena crop close to the dangerous ecuadorian border. —— coca crop. i have met the officer in charge before. coloneljesus co ntero, charge before. coloneljesus contero, today, is up against international crime cartels, who have moved into the vacuum left after the fac —— farc despondent. rival gangs are competing for turf and trade across the borders. today's raid is focused on one thing alone, manual eradication of illicit coca crops. the worst was production half by

2033. production went up by a quarter last year alone. that is despite the reported eradication of 50,000 hectares. and it is dangerous work. the cartels plant landmines are so work. the cartels plant landmines are so sniffer dogs have to go in first. once the troops depart, the cartels and the farmers simply replant the coca crops. which begs the question, what's b point? when i met you hear a tear to go in the same province, you were doing the same province, you were doing the same thing, manual eradication, has anything changed ? same thing, manual eradication, has anything changed? yes. there are some other things changing now. first of all, we see that we have been making a great effort on bringing new opportunities for development of the economy is through the substitution programme. it hasn't worked because coca

production isjust a it hasn't worked because coca production is just a soaring, it hasn't worked because coca production isjust a soaring, it it hasn't worked because coca production is just a soaring, it has trebled since the peace deal. we have some troubles that need to be repaid to fix up the whole programme. but we cannot desist on working to bring these guys, these families new opportunities. operations like these are deeply unpopular with the farmers. so the police have brought with them a right control unit and full body armour. in one class last year shots we re armour. in one class last year shots were fired and five local farmers reportedly killed. the government wa nts to reportedly killed. the government wants to stop any more clashes from escalating —— in one clash. for the eradication programme to be of benefit to the villagers here, two things need to happen, for the drug cartels to stop paying in pressuring the farmers to grow coca for them and for the local population to be offered a viable alternative. we are in this village where they are doing

manual eradication, police pulling up manual eradication, police pulling up coca plans. we are trying to convince the local family here to talk to us. they don't want to talk because they have been a bit spooked by the police. what they have told is privately is that they have had their crops pulled up three times this year and nothing works. no other substitutions, they have tried avocados, bananas, it is too expensive for them to get their product to and from the market, so thatis product to and from the market, so that is a real worry. and in the nearby town, the violence of the drugs trade hangs over the population. the murder rate has soared since the farc peace deal, since the gangs fight it out. it is four times the national average. across colombia last year over 127 to workers have been murdered in contract killings, —— 120 social workers. the authorities were not keen on us filming here. this was a key pa rt keen on us filming here. this was a key part of the story i did not want to miss out on. oscar has been

championing people's right heel most of his life, trying to stop young men joining of his life, trying to stop young menjoining the of his life, trying to stop young men joining the gangs. of his life, trying to stop young menjoining the gangs. like me, he survived being shot at close range. i asked him survived being shot at close range. iasked him how survived being shot at close range. i asked him how easy is it for young people to get recruited into drug gangs? could you paint a picture of the violence of that accompanies the drug trade here? this town and its surrounding

province has been under investigation are decades. many people here at our —— are of african descent and feel abandoned and ignored by their government. the lure of the drugs trade is often irresistible despite being tortured to death by rival gangs. oscar took me to see some of the families in the neighbourhood to hear how their lives have been affected. do you have sons? do you worry that when your sons grow up have sons? do you worry that when your sons grow up they will get intimidated intojoining drug gangs? what do mothers say here to their

sons, when their sons grow up and the gangs want to get them in, how do mothers stop them, how do you persuade them not to? it's a far cry from the wealth and affluence it's a far cry from the wealth and afflu e nce of it's a far cry from the wealth and affluence of the capital, bogota, hear the head of glum there's armed forces admitted there is still a long way to go to achieve peace and stability in all parts of this country. we still have other groups that, as the farc left, they saw trafficking as an opportunity. and trafficking as an opportunity. and trafficking is a global problem. it isa trafficking is a global problem. it is a problem that is very difficult

to solve, because as there is consumption of coarse production goes up. so we are struggling to lose the war against trafficking. murder has gone up in some places. are you confident that you are going to have the support of the population in those areas? colombia is still struggling after the peace process to reach a stable peace. we need to be able to bring the rest of the state to many areas of violets, because we need to civilise those territorians. we still have in colombia unfortunately places where the only presence of the state is a soldier —— violets. we want to change that. and the opportunity that the peace process is giving is about that. at night this area has

had a bad reputation, with bodies getting dumped into the sea. bskyb governance has brought in 12,000 police and troops to try to stop the violence ——. i took a stroll with the local police commander. but everyone tells us it is only a temporary respite, and it is unsustainable without addressing the underlying social problems. in 20 yea rs underlying social problems. in 20 years this country has become safer, more prosperous, more hopeful, yet

those hopes will be dashed if the rifts in society are not healed and if real, workable alternatives are not found to the clutches of the cocaine trade. hello again. before we look at the weather in the uk let us have a round—up of what is happening with the storms elsewhere in the world. for northern parts of the philippines battered by typhoon mangkhut, that is heading out into the south china sea, not far away from hong kong on sunday, not as powerful by this stage. back over the pacific, into north america, where we find florence. that will weaken over land this weekend it will continue to bring flooding rains to the carolinas. this area of cloud contains remnants of an ex—hurricane that could be heading our way next week.

this weekend, bit of a mixed bag. wetter, windier weather in the north—west that will start to push its way will start to push its way into england and wales next sunday. the best of the weather will be in the south—east. we have this link of drizzly rain across northern england. perhaps even into north wales. the wetter weather a rise as the winds pick up in the afternoon across northern ireland and into western scotland. elsewhere dry weather. the difference in temperatures in the sunshine. through the evening and overnight you can see how this rain develops more widely in northern ireland, in scotland, pretty heavy rain. quite windy out there as well. some of that will edge of the irish sea. the south—east dry and clear. and across the board it should be quite a warm night on saturday night. the rain should move away from scotland and northern ireland. being replaced by sunshine and showers in the north—west. the rain gets stuck across northern england, wales, not far from the south—west. the east midlands, east anglia, the south—east likely to be warm

but towards the north—west of the uk a different story, quite a bit cooler with the show is coming in towards the south—east, the temperatures continuing to creep up and up. into the early part of next week, this area of low pressure contains remnants of ex—hurricane helene. it will drive its way quickly northwards up the western side of the uk. uncertainty about the detail. the winds will really picking up as it sweeps its way northwards and is threatening to bring heavy rain briefly as well. the system has come from a long way south and contains tropical air. that will be felt across the east and south—east of the uk for monday and tuesday. it will be not as warm in the north and west of the uk. stronger winds. rain for a while. towards the south—east this is where temperatures will continue to climb into the mid—20s. this is bbc world news.

i'm ben bland. our top stories: hurricane florence is pounding the carolina coast with powerful winds and devastating rain. five people have been killed, and there are predictions of more storm surges to come. super typhoon mangkhut has made landfall in the northwestern philippines, with winds of over 200 kilometres per hour. thousands of people are being moved to safety. donald trump's former campaign manager, paul manafort agrees to cooperate with an investigation into links between the president and russia as part of a plea deal. one of america's biggest basketball stars visits the uk for a series of exhibition matches. he tells the bbc why he's an advocate for those who can't speak out for themselves.