good afternoon. the united states' national hurricane centre has warned of catastrophic flooding as tropical storm florence moves through both north and south carolina. forecasters are warning that the storm's slow progress could leave much of the region under water. at least five people have died, including a woman and her baby who were killed when a tree fell on their house. keith doyle reports. the winds have dropped and hurricane florence is now a tropical storm but the rain continues to fall and people have been warned of life—threatening storm surges with catastrophic flooding. a major rain is expected to fall as the storm passes through north and south carolina. —— a metre of rain. here in new bern the area is already flooded. rescue teams have plucked people from the waters and rescued those who had moved into attics of houses as the water keeps rising. the storm is moving slowly inland, leaving death and destruction in its wake.

the roof has gone. yep. were you in here? i was in there, i had my kids asleep, a lot of wind, rain, spinning, blue lightning, green lightning. so you came here for safety and ended up with no roof. no roof. a woman and child died when a tree fell on their house in wilmington. three other deaths have been reported elsewhere. power supplies have been hit. the governor of north carolina said millions could be without electricity. we have about 650,000 north carolinians without power state—wide and the utility companies tell us that this number will keep rising and they think it could be anywhere from a million to 2.5 million people who could eventually lose power. the white house said president trump will visit the area next week if it does not affect rescue efforts. the storm may be weakening but its impact is still being felt and its full cost is yet to be determined.

keith doyle, bbc news. 0ur correspondent laura trevelyan is in wilmington, in north carolina. it does seem as if the worst effects of the storm could still be to come. yes, as you can of the storm could still be to come. yes, as you can see of the storm could still be to come. yes, as you can see this is just one of the hundreds of trees that are down across north carolina but it's the rainfall now which is posing the greatest threat, the strong winds have more or less past so we are getting between two and three inches of rain per ouras getting between two and three inches of rain per our as tropical storm florence sits on the coastline, dumping down rain, so what is gradually happening is that rivers inland are beginning to crest and flood but we are told this is a

slow—moving car‘ so it may not be until tuesday that the worst flooding happens. some areas got 20 inches of rain yesterday and now after 36 hours of rain fall like this, there are almost a million people without power and almost a million people have left their homes with no idea when they will be back. in the philippines, the strongest typhoon so far this year has brought violent winds and torrential rains. two rescue workers were killed by a landslide, a third person drowned and further casualties were reported in a coastal town. typhoon mangkhut hit the country's main island, luzon, early this morning, blowing down trees, ripping off roofs and knocking out electricity supplies across the north. lauren moss reports. roofs ripped off, electricity supplies knocked out and people wading their belongings through floodwaters.

more than 4 million people were in the path of typhoon mangkhut, as it hit the northern part of the philippines, early this morning. translation: when the wave hit the road, it also hit the embankment and the houses were shaking. two rescue workers were killed in one of the many landslides. and a third person drowned, as six metre high storm surges and 115 mile an hour winds battered the region. meteorologists say the storm is the strongest tropical cyclone the world has faced, so far, this year. the diameter of the cloud measuring about 900 kilometres. thousands of people are staying in shelters, flights have been cancelled and shops and schools are boarded up. the typhoon is now heading towards vietnam and southern china. it is expected to pass near hong kong tomorrow. the magnitude of the devastation left behind in the philippines still isn't known and more heavy rain is on the way.

already, people living here are having to pick up the pieces of their lives, which have been destroyed. lauren moss, bbc news. the church of england is considering buying the loan book of the payday lender wonga, after the company collapsed last month. the idea was suggested by the chair of the work and pensions committee, frank field, who hopes the church might lead a group of investors willing to run wonga without charging high interest rates. ministers are to announce a review of the rail industry next week, following extended periods of disruption up and down the country. details are yet to be confirmed, but the department for transport said it was committed to improving journeys for passengers. labour said it would re—nationalise the railways. the family of a former british soldier say he has been given a seven and a half yearjail sentence in turkey, because he helped the kurds fight against

the islamic state group. joe robinson, who's 25, was arrested last year while holidaying in turkey and charged with terrorism offences. he'd previously helped kurdish fighters from the ypg, who the turkish authorities regard as terrorists. the government is proposing a significant changes to the law on divorce, removing requirements to allege fault or show evidence of separation. launching a consultation on the proposals, justice secretary david gauke said he wanted to make the process less acrimonious. our legal affairs correspondent clive coleman has more. at present, divorcing couples are forced to blame each other for their marriage breakdown on the grounds of adultery, desertion or behaviour which it's unreasonable to live with, or prove they have been separated for a minimum of two years, even if the separation is mutual. like many, jenny thinks blame can make a difficult process a lot worse. it caused an awful lot of arguments. it caused me obviously to feel very hurt, i got angry,

then there were arguments which my children were witness to, it hurt them, and i really think it was completely unnecessary. when couples divorce they are being torn apart emotionally and financially, often trying to work out sensible living arrangements for their children, so if you throw blame and fault into the process at that stage, most people think you're just making a bad situation a whole lot worse. the government's persuaded, and it's proposing removing the need to show evidence of the other spouse's conduct or a period of living apart, introducing a new notification process where one or possibly both parties can notify the court of the intention to divorce and removing the opportunity for the other spouse to contest the divorce application. it's right that we try to take the animosity out of this process as much as possible and we have a system that isn't looking back and trying to play the blame game but looking forward

to find the best way in which we can have a reasonably constructive relationship between the divorcing couple. the consultation also seeks views on the minimum time between the interim and final divorce decrees, in order to allow couples time to reflect and reach agreement on arrangements for the future if divorce is inevitable. clive coleman, bbc news. with all the sport now, here's mike bushell at the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. britain has a new world champion in women's triathlon. vicky holland had to finish ahead of her american rival to clinch the title in the final race of the season on australia's gold coast. alex gulrajani reports. dancing her way into the record books, for vicky holland, a prize

and a title she never expected. world champion for 2018. that has quite a ring to it. i think it will ta ke quite a ring to it. i think it will take time to sink in, especially after that run, i can't believe i got there. holland knew the task ahead of her. american katie ‘s theories had the championship lead but in the water she kept pace with the american, in amongst the leaders. the course where she helped england win silver in the commonwealth games, she looked at home and found herself out in front, poised for victory, but company wasn't far behind, the title challenger in her shadow and still moving past. australian ashley gentlejoined the moving past. australian ashley gentle joined the party and a three—way tussle for lead emerged.

she ended her season with a sprint finale. holland is the world champion. a date she said she'd never expected and now a new title to get used to. simon yates could ride into history today at the vuelta a espana after extending his lead by more than a minute in yesterday's penultimate stage. yates came through the brutal final climb of the day into andorra, where he lives and trains, to finish second in the stage, but well ahead of his nearest rival in the general classification, alejandro valverde. he could become the third different briton to win a grand tour this year — that's never happened in cycling before. tottenham are taking on liverpool in the premier league's early kick—off at wembley. liverpool went into the match with a 100% record from their four games this season, whilst tottenham have the one defeat from their last match at watford. liverpool have the lead, i—0. goalline technology was needed but

it definitely was a header that crossed the line. it is 1—0 after 41 minutes. sebastian vettel will be favourite to take pole position for the singapore grand prix after topping the time sheets in final practice. vettel crashed at the marina bay street circuit in yesterday's practice, but put that behind him to clock the quickest time today. he was three—tenths of a second ahead of his ferrari team—mate kimi raikkonen. championship leader lewis hamilton was half a second adrift in third. qualifying gets under way at 2pm. and great britain take on uzbekistan in the doubles of the davis cup, that gets under way at 2pm in glasgow. it isi-i. you can follow that on the bbc red button and online. that's all the sport for now. that's it. the next news on bbc one is at 5:15pm, bye for now. hello.

you're watching the bbc news channel. let's return to one of our main stories. the world's strongest typhoon so far this year is battering the northern philippines with violent winds and torrential rains. three people have died in the storm, and tens of thousands have been moved from coastal areas. flooding and landslides are expected. lot felizco is 0xfam's director in the philippines. she told me the extent of the damage across the country from typhoon mangkhut. it has been 16 hours since typhoon mangkhut made landfall and because of the coverage of this typhoon, it covers 23 provinces, along the eastern seaboard and in the northern portion of luzon. some of these areas are mountainous areas, along the coast, not very accessible from town centres, so we are only starting to receive initial reports now

and looking to having a more complete picture maybe in another day or two even. and what do you think the priority is going to be for 0xfam, for the help that you can give to people? what will you be focusing on? in this case, we will of course have to focus primarily in the first two days on life—saving needs. considering the number of displaced families, there are already more than 50,000 scattered across more than 700 evacuation centres. there will be needs for also access to water purification tablets to make sure there is water. there will be need for hygiene and kitchen essentials to make their lives more tolerable in the evacuation centres. but also, although that will be over the next few days, we think that given the strength,

the power of the typhoon, the heavy winds and rains, there will be considerable damage to shelter, houses that were made of flimsy materials. there will be a need for shelter repair and in the medium term, considering that this has hit farming and fishing areas, there will be a lot of support needed for livelihoods recovery. but of course all of this, we will have to coordinate with the local and national governments to make sure that other responses are lined and coordinated. more now on news that couples wishing to divorce could soon benefit from a less confrontational process, under proposals confirmed by the justice secretary david gauke. the government is proposing removing the requirement to attribute fault, and the ability of spouses to contest the divorce. i've been speaking to nigel shepherd, head of family law

at mills and reeves, and former chair of the family justice organisation, resolution. he welcomed today's news. i have been campaigning for this for the best part of three decades, along with my organisation. i think this is a really positive step. the government has been listening to the calls for reform and most importantly i think this is great news for the couples that i am helping on a daily basis and most importantly for their children because the current system pushes people into conflict, it means that they are looking backwards, rather than looking forwards and we need a modern process for a modern society and these changes will certainly bring that about in my view. there will be those those who say that actually in some ways, you are speeding up the process which might be good, but could it be that it becomes too quick? that actually couples do not reflect and don't have time to maybe think again? what the government is proposing actually will take longer than the current system. it is possible to get divorced now within four or five months. the government proposals

will be a longer period. but what is really important is that people are looking forward to the future, they are looking to take things constructively, rather than recrimination and checking mud at each other and this is why this and chucking mud at each other and this is why this reform is necessary. it is so overdue. are you surprised it has taken this long? it does seem to be a high—profile case where a husband did not want to divorce his wife, she wanted to leave, that seems to have propelled this change? i think it has been a perfect storm of developments. we have been campaigning for it for years and the government in fact introduced no—fault divorce just over 20 years ago but it was never actually implemented. actually the recent case has certainly been a catalyst for change, and there has been some brilliant research done which shows exactly what damage the current system does, how intellectually dishonest it is. all of this i think has persuaded the government to take this step. it is a really positive step. i think we can really look forward now to change and families can look forward to a better future when sadly they go

through a divorce. do you think your clients are aware of these changes? is it something they will welcome? i think people will welcome it overall. there is a lot of misunderstanding about how the current law works. but when people are told by me for example that they both want a divorce but i say to them, unless you can afford or you want to wait at least two years to do it by consent, the only way you can get on with this and move forward and sort things out and get them settled is for one of you to blame the other and they are aghast at that. theyjust think it is absolutely crazy. i think when people understand what this change means, i think they will really welcome it and that is certainly what the research showed. the liberal democrats are discussing a major shake—up of the party at their conference in brighton. the changes, set out by the leader sir vince cable earlier this month, include allowing supporters —

as well as fullyjoined—up members — to vote for a new leader. the lib dem's are also urging disillusioned labour and tory supporters to join them to help stop brexit. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blake gave us this update from brighton. vince cable is making this pitch to his party membership to open up the liberal democrats and turn it into, as you say, a movement for moderates. he wants people to be able to join as unpaid supporters of the party, for those people to have a say in leadership contests and also to allow people who are not a liberal democrat mps to stand for the leadership and potentially go on to lead the party. butjust because he wants that to happen does not mean it necessarily well. the liberal democrats pride themselves of course on being a party where the members come first and they have a real say in saying how the party is run and also deciding what its policies are. as so vince cable arrives in brighton, he may have the weather for a relaxing few days by the seaside but these are serious

times for the party. it is having something of an identity crisis. it knows it needs to change, to get itself back into the mainstream british politics because it only has now a dozen mps and struggles in the opinion polls and despite being the only party with any profile to have a firmly anti—brexit stands, it has not been anti—brexit stance, it has not been able to capitalise pitifully welham. able to capitalise on that. we will hear the brexit spokesman making a speech this afternoon, appealing for people to come to the party, if they are disillusioned or disaffected labour or conservative supporters or people that want a say on the final deal reached with brussels. it is that adults of the potential changes that sir vince cable has set out for the party that will dominate their conference and we will hear him speak as he arrives in brighton later on this morning with that appeal, again for people to join the lib dems and create what he wants to be a more powerful force in british politics. the occupation of

the channel islands during world war two is generally regarded as a dark chapter in their history. but every so often a story emerges which demonstrates the humanity shown by some members of the german forces. that's what happened when workmen found a box of personal possessions during a house clearance in guernsey. from the channel islands, robert hall reports. a dusty box, from a dusty cupboard, but its contents would transport one guernsey visitor back through the decades to a family story she never knew. a story which unfolded when she was a child... ..and herfather, dr albert kowald, was among german forces occupying these islands. tremendous character.

he came here injanuary 1943, he was posted as an air force doctor, and he was posted to look after the luftwaffe troops on the islands. and here, carefully packed away, albert kowald's medical books, his pistol, his cameras, letters from home and photos of his family. he told us about guernsey, he was very fond of guernsey, but he was very lonely and he was homesick. these are some of his medical magazines. but albert didn't tell his family everything. since the find, investigations have revealed he risked his own life to help islanders. among those on his trail, a tv sleuth turned occupation historian. the islanders were starving and they were dying and suffering from all kinds of diseases, typhus and so on,

for which they had no medication. and albert kowald, against the military law, provided the civilians with a great deal of help. the entrance would have been just here. albert secretly treated his islander patients at the military hospital where he worked. he even helped them keep in touch with the bbc. he told them that there is a speech from churchill and he invited them to hear the speeches, and it was forbidden. they could have shot him. when albert was betrayed and imprisoned by his superiors, islanders wrote letters in his support. and he had left one last surprise for his daughter. it's very special. and it's yourfather‘s medals. she gasps.

those are his medals. and they were left here. i give my thanks to him for his life, because it was, for him, it was a bad life outside, but a good life inside. i am proud of what he did. robert hall, bbc news, guernsey. the american space agency, nasa, is about to put a laser in orbit to measure the condition of earth's ice cover. the satellite mission, called icesat—2, should provide more precise information on the effects of climate change. antarctica, greenland and the ice

floating on the arctic ocean have all lost volume in recent decades. a zoo in colombia is celebrating the arrival of a newborn spider monkey. these monkeys are among the 25 most endangered primate species in the world. they're in critical danger of extinction. this tiny primate, seen here clinging to its mother, was born at the san fe zoological park in colombia's second largest city of medellin. this little guy weighs just one kilogram. it's only the third spider monkey born at the zoo since 2012. the head of the organisation of american states has said that a military intervention to overthrow president nicolas maduro of venezuela shouldn't be ruled out. luis almagro was speaking to reporters in colombia the metropolitan police have charged former nevermind the buzzcocks host mark lamarr with common assault and false imprisonment. the tv personality and comedian was charged on 1 september in london and will appear at uxbridge magistrate's

court on 2 october. labour's shadow chancellor, john mcdonnell mp has delivered a speech marking the ten year anniversary of the lehman brothers firm's collapse, which triggered the worst financial crisis since the great depression. mr mcdonnell says the financial services industry must never again be the "master of the economy" and accuses bankers of profiting from speculation at the expense of ordinary people. mr mcdonnelljoins us now from central london. what do use propose to do to make sure this is not repeated in the future? first of all of course we need regulation, there has been some regulation, there has been some regulation introduced. that needs to go further and we need a proper regulation. we have to make sure the finance sector is delivering the resources that we need within our economy. from recent reports, the productive side of our economy is

producing wealth but a lot of that is still going into lending into property speculation and not into the investment in manufacturing, research and development and new technology that we need if we are to face up to the fourth industrial revolution. 0ne face up to the fourth industrial revolution. one of the issues we are putting forward as we are campaigning for the financial transaction tax, really closing down the loopholes on stamp duty that will deliver money into the real economy but also setting up a strategic investment board which comes together the bank of england, the treasury, business leaders and trade union leaders to plan the way in which the finance sector can then provide the stable investment we needin provide the stable investment we need in our economy, so we can grow our economy and so that prosperity can be shared by everybody. you are talking about potentially higher taxes. there are many in the city who fear that brexit might make it much tougherfor them who fear that brexit might make it much tougher for them and you will be adding to their difficulties. let's talk the reality of that, which is if labour were in

government now, we would be negotiating a brexit deal which would protect the economy and jobs and protect our finance sector. but what we are talking about now is making sure we harness the resources the city and the finance sector so they are investing in the economy and we grow the economy and actually they get a good rate of return. with regards to the financial transaction tax, we are talking about closing some of the loopholes which will deliver about £4.5 billion which will then be invested into education, so we can produce the skills that we need in our economy. cani skills that we need in our economy. can i ask you about comments made by emily thornberry about brexit and what labour plans to do. we know theresa may is trying to negotiate with this check is compromise. emily thornberry suggesting she cannot see a nyway thornberry suggesting she cannot see anyway that it will be backed. is that the position now, and actually the alternative might be no deal at all?

i think emily isjust all? i think emily is just echoing what virtually every commentator is saying at the moment as well. we cannot see that theresa may will bring back a dealfrom brussels which is acceptable notjust to parliament but even to her own party. and certainly not meet the criteria we have set to safeguard jobs and the economy. we will examine what comes back and we will be as constructive as we can but i just cannot see that she will be able to deliver anything that most of parliament can vote for and our view is this is getting really worrying now, so why don't the conservatives move to one side, let us conservatives move to one side, let us get on with the negotiations or failing that, let's have a general election and let the people decide? but what you might be doing by not backing what is on the table is having a low deal scenario and i have spoken to some of your labour collea g u es have spoken to some of your labour colleagues who don't want to see that happen at any cost whatsoever ——ano that happen at any cost whatsoever —— a no deal scenario. they are not going to walk through the voting

lobbies with people like jacob rees mogg. are you suggesting an alternative, a second referendum? we will do everything we possibly can to avoid a no deal, of course we will. but we are putting the message out very clearly to the prime minister, unless you bring back something that will protectjobs and the economy, there is no way, it is not just the labour the economy, there is no way, it is notjust the labour party, i cannot see parliament overall voting for it. on that basis, wouldn't it be better to move to one side and let us better to move to one side and let us get on with the negotiations? failing that, having a general election. in regard to a people's old, we have left all the options on the table. but my preference is a general election. but obviously, you cannot choose to have a general election. you know the reality of that. do you feel a second referendum, a so—called people's vote on the terms of any deal could be the way forward? the best option i think is a general

election but we will keep all the options on the table. and of course what we will try to do in the interests of the country, approaches constructively, try and see whether or not we can at least get something through parliament that protects