this is bbc news. the headlines: the strongest typhoon of the year so far has been battering the northern phillipines with violent winds and 20—foot storm surges. at least 1a have been killed. in the us, tropical storm florence is causing significant flooding on the east coast — five are reported dead so far. the system is unloading epic amounts of rainfall. in some places, measured in feet and not inches. a former british soldier is given a 7.5—yearjail sentence in turkey for helping kurdish forces in the fight against so—called islamic state. an overhaul of divorce law — ministers set out plans for "no fault—divorce", removing the need to attribute blame. nasa launches its most advanced space laser ever, the ice sat 2. the billion—dollar mission is aimed at studying the condition of earth's ice cover.

and coming up on sportsday: the english cyclist simon yates secures victory in la vuelta, crowning an extraordinary year for british cycling. that's in half an hour here on bbc news. up to 14 people have now died in a massive storm which has brought destruction to the northern philippines. typhoon mangkhut has seen violent winds of over 100 miles an hour, torriential rains and warnings of six—metre storm surges. more than four million people live in its path — thousands have already been evacuated. howard johnson sent in this report from the affected area. mangkhut has been called

by meteorologists the strongest typhoon in the world so far this year. and now the reality of the utter devastation it has caused is becoming obvious. extreme flash flooding. the fragility of human existence laid bare. the road to cagayan province was littered with destruction. electricity posts ripped from the ground, street lamps bent in two, and this man's house torn to shreds. he showed me where the roof had been pulled back like a tin of sardines. fighting back the tears, he told me how he had spent the night in an evacuation centre worrying about the fate of his home. when we arrived in cagayan province, we saw a line of people queueing for fuel to power their generators. how did you feel? scared. we were so scared. trees broken and some electric posts were falling down. all the windows are broken.

the whole night. the whole night, no sleep. the scenes here repeated across this vast region. in cities, debris scattered across the ground. electricity cables dangling dangerously. people wading their belongings through floodwaters. two rescue workers were killed in one of many landslides and a third person drowned in six metre high storm surges. we paid a visit to the provincial government headquarters in the capital, tuguegarao. the grand old american colonial era building has certainly seen better days. outside, a team of search and rescue workers. clearly it had been a long night. our evacuees total is about 15,000, scattered in more than 500 evacuation centres. we have not really released them yet because of the kind of wind we have.

the typhoon is now on its way to southern china and vietnam. it is expected to pass near hong kong tomorrow. the magnitude of the devastation left behind here in the philippines still is not known, and more heavy rain is on its way. howard johnson, bbc news, tuguegarao. in the united states there have been warnings of the risk of life threatening flash flooding in parts of north and south carolina and virginia. storm florence continues to soak the east coast area, downing trees and damaging homes. at least five people have now died as a result of the storm, including a woman and her baby who were killed when a tree fell on their house. chris buckler reports. large parts of north carolina's coastline now lie underwater as the rain continues to fall. florence is no longer a hurricane but this is still a dangerous storm and, as water levels have risen,

people have had to be rescued from their homes. it is obvious as you drive through this area how much damage has been done here. pavements were forced to give way as trees were uprooted in the high winds. many roads remain blocked. and powerlines lie across streets. many people are expected to be without electricity for days, if not weeks. more people now face imminent threat than when the storm was just offshore. i cannot overstate it. floodwaters are rising and if you are not watching for them, you are risking your life. repairing all of this destruction is only slowly beginning in the town of wilmington. some families will never recover from this deadly storm. among those to be killed were a mother and her baby. they were in their home

sheltering from the hurricane when a tree crashed through the roof. we have had so many trees down, and you can see them in the neighbourhood and down the street, trees barely missing houses, massive trees. you know, when you see something like this, you're just really, really lucky. it is awful it is happening to someone because so many people chose to stay. the effects of florence are still being felt and there has been a stark warning that, as long as the rain falls, there is the danger of further catastrophic flash flooding. let's cross now to wilmington, north carolina, where we can speak to reuters correspondent ernest schneyer. it is raining behind you. just update us on the latest. flowing water in the street as well, i can see. yes. the brain is a huge concern as much of the winter has

passed. you can see behind me there isa train passed. you can see behind me there is a train —— there is a tree that fell. there is a worried that as flooding continues trees will fall. the waters are predicted not to peak until tuesday, so it will only get worse. as the rain falls, it has nowhere to go but the atlantic ocean. you have a lot of folks in low—lying areas trying to get out if they haven't already. you have a lot of rescue operations already under way from what is locally called the caju n way from what is locally called the cajun navy, which helped in texas and houston during hurricane harvey. you have a lot of state officials saying they're trying to organise rescue effort as the waters rights.

the evacuation centres pretty full now? yes, they are. a lot of the people in north and south carolina, if they were able to get out of the state entirely, they did so. a lot of the evacuation centres are housing people who had no cross to go. as we saw in a couple of pictures a little while ago, with the trees down and the signage and bmp the trees down and the signage and lamp posts also on the ground, what hazards of residence facing? the downed trees are a main concern right now, but power lines are also a big concern, they are strewn all over the roads here. that is electricity for people in north carolina, they have been out of power for 36 carolina, they have been out of powerfor 36 or 48 hours now. that isa powerfor 36 or 48 hours now. that is a huge concern now. people are advising that they avoid those power lines at all costs. when did north

and south carolina last see a storm of this magnitude? this is the import nothing. how long will it ta ke to import nothing. how long will it take to recover? the last big storm of this magnitude was in the 1950s. there is a big chunk of time. other hurricanes are fit the region since then, but that was the last one close to this magnitude. the recovery efforts from harvey took three weeks, that was a wind event rather than a flooding event. here it is both. so it could take longer. thank you for that. a former british soldier's been sentenced to seven years in prison in turkey, according to his family. joe robinson, who's 25, was arrested there last year and charged with terrorism offences following time he spent in syria. he's been accused of being a member of the kurdish ypg,

whom turkish authorities regard as terrorists. but his family say he was in syria helping civilians. richard galpin has more. joe robinson travelled to syria in 2015 tojoin a kurdish group known as the ypg, which was fighting against so—called islamic state. the former soldier, who had served in afghanistan, was apparently frustrated by what he viewed as the british government's lack of action. although the ypg is backed by the united states, turkey views it as a terrorist organisation — anyone associated with it is vulnerable to arrest. so whenjoe robinson and his fiancee, mira rojkan, went on holiday to turkey last year, he was detained and has now been sentenced to more than seven years in prison. he was very shocked by the news from yesterday. he is very desperate to come home. he is broken, he is tired,

and he just wishes to come home as soon as possible. his family say that while with the ypg, he never fought. he was a medical orderly. they say there will be an appeal against the conviction. for the moment, he is not in prison but cannot leave turkey. richard galpin, bbc news. a review of the rail industry is to be launched by the government following criticism of the way the franchising system has been run with extended periods of disruption across the country. the department for transport said it was committed to improving journeys for passengers. labour has said it would renationalise the railways if it gets into power. the government is proposing a significant change 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. 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. 21 people had to be freed

after a rollercoaster became stuck at a theme park in warrington. the incident happened around 1pm at gulliver's world. fire crews used ladders and scaffolding to rescue the passengers from the ride, which was stuck 50 feet in the air. cheshire fire & rescue service say no—one was injured. the headlines on bbc news: the strongest typhoon of the year so far has been battering the northern phillipines — with violent winds and 20 foot storm surges — at least 14 have been killed. in the us — tropical storm florence is causing significant flooding on the east coast — five people are reported dead. a former british soldier is given a seven and a half yearjail sentence in turkey for helping kurdish forces in the fight against so—called islamic state. the liberal democrats are discussing a major shake—up

of the party as their conference gets underway in brighton this morning. 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 dems are also urging disillusioned labour and tory supporters to join them to help stop brexit. our political correspondent, jonathan blake, is at the conference in brighton. there are two big themes as liberal democrats gather here in brighton for their annual conference. they will be talking amongst themselves over cu ps will be talking amongst themselves over cups of tea and drinks in the bar in the evening about those proposed changes that so vince cable has made. a would really see a big shake—up of the way the liberal democrats are run. he knows it is struggling to achieve a significant level of support among the public and, with only 12 mps, they are not the presence in parliament they once

had. they were in governmentjust over three years ago as part of the coalition with the conservatives. he says the whole should thing be opened up, people should be allowed tojoin opened up, people should be allowed to join without a member ship the, and people who are not mps should be able to run and be the leader of the party. while paddy ashdown, the former leader of the liberal democrats, gave his backing today to serve vince cable's suggestions, thereafter mutterings among members here that it is not necessarily the best way forward. some say that the party struggles for recognition as it is and to have one leader in parliament and one of the wider party would be difficult, and people would struggle to recognise who the lib dems were and who they stood for. so vince cable is on a bit of a sales pitch to party members to convince them that what he has proposed is the right way forward this weekend, and the other big topic is brexit. this afternoon, the pa rty‘s topic is brexit. this afternoon, the party's brexit spokesman, tom brake,

gave a speech here, rallying the troops, having a dig at government, and setting up what he sees as the problems with brexit. of course, the liberal democrats are really the only anti—brexit party in the uk. we also mentioned what he sees as the problem with the limited timescale that the parliament would have two vote on any exit from the. it is unlikely we would be allowed to note the extent of the damage a chequers brexit would give. although they promised to give a meaningful vote, the time between the end of negotiations and it being shown to parliament would be very short,

meaning any information would be very sketchy. if parliament votes against the deal that the government has reached with the eu, it is a vote of confidence in the government. we could be into a general election or the article 50 period is extended. the liberal democrats are appealing to people who are perhaps supporters of labours or the conservatives who or against brexit tojoin labours or the conservatives who or against brexit to join them. it will bea against brexit to join them. it will be a struggle for them to do that and attracted many people in because, as we have explained, they have a limited presence in parliament and so vince cable has already announced he will be stepping down at stump point in the next couple of years. they are trying to pitch themselves as the anti—brexit party but, at the moment, they are struggling to be heard. thank you. the church of england is considering a buy out of the pay—day lender, wonga, after the company collapsed last month.

the idea was suggested by frank field, the chair of the work and pensions committee, who said he hoped the church might lead what he called a group of "good" people willing to run wonga without charging high interest rates. pope francis has appealed to sicily‘s mafia to abandon a life of crime and violence. during a visit to the capital, palermo, he said the island needed men and women of love, not men and women of honour. the pope urged organised crime members to change and warned they cannot believe in god and the mafia at the same time. labour will likely vote against any brexit deal theresa may secures with the eu, according to senior frontbenchers. in a newspaper article yesterday shadow foreign secretary emily thornberry said she can't see the government coming back with an agreement that labour could endorse. earlier, the bbc spoke to shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell, who reiterated the message. 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 ijust 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 get on with the negotiations or failing that, let's have a general election and let the people decide. ariana grande has given an emotional tribute to herformer partner, mac miller, who she called her "dearest friend" and the "kindest, sweetest soul". the us rapper, aged 26, was found dead at his home in los angeles following a reported overdose. the pair performed together at a memorial concert following the 2017 manchester arena bombing. young people heading off to university this month

are being urged to make sure they have been vaccinated against meningitis. the local government association, which represents councils in england, is warning that students are at particular risk due to them mixing closely and living with new people who may not know they're carrying meningitis—causing bacteria. 15— to i9—year—olds, a quarter of students, carry the meningitis bug in the back of their throat and whilst they may not get meningitis they can spread it. in the general population it's only about one in ten of us that carry the bug so students are in close contact with each other, people are getting to know each other, spending a lot of time together and that allows the meningitis bug to spread. nasa has launched its most advanced laser ever into space. the ice sat 2 will measure the condition of earth's ice cover and should

provide more precise information on how these frozen surfaces are being affected by global warming. tom neumann is the deputy project scientist for ice sat 2 at nasa. he explained what the satellite would do. as the antarctic sea ice accumulates more snow on it, that extra weight pushes the ice further down the ocean and eventually you get flooding. there is so much snow on top of the ice that the ocean water washes right over the top of the ice and saturates the snow. it is a pretty tricky problem down there. with the ice sat 2, we think it should be able to help with that in that we will be measuring that top surface of the snow, but combining it with cryo helps us get at how thick that snow really is.

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. now it's time for a look at the weather with lucy martin. hello there. after a fairly settled day today, we have some wet and windy weather in the forecast over the next few days. today brought mixed fortunes with regards to blue sky. this photo sent in from eastbourne, bourdy blue sky here. that was not the case for everybody. this photo sent in both cloudy skies in lancashire. tomorrow looks like

great —— quite a breezy day. some heavy bursts or parts of wales and north—west england will stop more on that in a minute. through tonight, have brakes of rain for northern ireland, pushing it to scotland and then later in the night into the early hours into parts of northern england and north—west wales. further south and east, largely dry and breezy. temperatures overnight in double figures. as we start the day tomorrow, we will see a split. outbreaks of rain courtesy of these two weather fronts. most of the dry and bright weather in the south east to begin with. we start the day with outbreaks of rain for northern england, parts of wales and south—west england. it will become increasingly like an apache as it moves south. ahead of the front, largely dry and bright. behind it, a pa rent of largely dry and bright. behind it, a parent of sunshine with one or two showers for the north—west of scotland, and more in the way of

cloud for western scotland. temperatures in the south—east warmer than we have seen today, a maximum of 23 celsius. the next wet and windy weather is courtesy of this area of low pressure. it will be later monday and introduced a. the remnant of a hurricane bringing some strong winds and outbreaks of rain. largely to northern and western parts of the uk. we also have this south—westerly wind direction, which will bring some warm and humid air. away from that wet and windy weather, we will also see the temperature is becoming fairly warm and humid as we start the working week. but gilly in the south and east. as we start next week, it does look like there will bea week, it does look like there will be a good deal of windy weather, some outbreaks of rain, particularly in the north and west, later monday into tuesday. humid away from the wet and windy weather in the south—east. hello there. this is bbc news. the

headlines. the strongest typhoon so far this year has been battering the northern philippines with violent winds and a 20 foot storm surges, i4 people have been confirmed dead with the number expected to rise. in the us tropical storm florence is causing catastrophic flooding on the east coast. five people reported dead so far as forecasters warned that storm surges remain a dangerous threat. a former british soldier is given a threat. a former british soldier is givena 7.5 threat. a former british soldier is given a 7.5 yearjail sentence in turkey for helping kurdish forces in the fight against so—called islamic state.