this is bbc news. i'm samantha simmonds. our top stories: at least 1a dead as typhoon mankut wreaks havoc in the phillipines. the full scale of the destruction is still unknown. warnings in the us that storm florence is "farfrom done". president trump declares a disaster in north carolina. the british prime minister defends her brexit plan, but dismisses talk of a leadership challenge. this is where i get a little bit irritated. this debate is not about my future. this debate is about the future of the people of the uk and the future of the united kingdom. and the american space agency launches a laser into orbit to measure the condition of earth's ice sheets. hello, and welcome to bbc news. at least 14 people have now

died in a massive storm which has brought destruction to the north of the philippines. typhoon mangkhut ripped through the main island of luzon, triggering more than a0 landslides. it's the strongest typhoon to hit the country this year and 5 million people were in its path. howard johnson sent this report. 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'd 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. all the windows are broken. the whole night. the whole night, no sleep. the scene here repeated across this vast region. debris is 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. a team of search and rescue workers — clearly it had been a long night. our evacuees total 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's expected to pass near hong kong tomorrow. the magnitude of the devastation left behind here in the philippines still isn't known, and more heavy rain is on its way. howard johnson, bbc news, tuguegarao. meanwhile another devastating weather system, storm florence, is causing catastrophic flooding in the us states of north and south carolina. officials say at least 12 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands of homes are without electricity. from wilmington, chris buckler reports. large parts of north carolina's coastline now lie underwater as the rain continues to fall. and as the water levels have risen, people have had to be rescued from their homes. 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. it's obvious as you drive through this area how much damage has been done here. it will take time to remove the felled trees that block many streets, and repair the downed power lines that have left hundreds of thousands of households without electricity. president trump has declared this an official disaster, freeing up money to help people with repairs. but some families will never recover from this deadly hurricane. a woman and her baby were killed when a tree crashed through the roof of their home here in wilmington. so many trees downed — and you can see them

in our neighbourhood and down the street, trees that are barely missing houses, huge trees that have barely missed houses. you know, when you see something like this, you're just really, really lucky. it is awful it has happened to someone, because so many people chose to stay. after days when they were completely deserted, there are signs that towns are cautiously getting back to normal. this was the queue for one of the few petrol stations to reopen after closing for the storm. the effects of hurricane florence are still being felt, and the authorities say as long as the rain falls, there is the danger of further catastrophic flash flooding. and after this week in north carolina, both man and beast are well aware of the impact of that. chris buckler, bbc news, wilmington. a former british soldier's been sentenced to more than seven years in prison in turkey. joe robinson was arrested while on holiday last year and charged with terrorism offences. he was accused of being a member

of the kurdish ypg, whom turkish authorities regard as terrorists. his family says 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, 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 vulnerable to arrest. so whenjoe robinson and his fiancee, mira rojkan, went on holiday to turkey last year, they were detained and he has now been sentenced to more than seven years in prison. he was very shocked by the news from yesterday. he's very desperate to come home.

he's broken, he's tired. his family say he was only a medic with the ypg, and they say there will be an appeal against the conviction. for the moment, he's not injail but cannot leave turkey. the bbc understands that the foreign office he has raised the case with the turkish authorities. and of course the family are hoping diplomats will do everything they can to getjoe robinson back home. richard galpin, bbc news, at the foreign office. let's get some of the day's other news. a rwandan opposition leader has been released from prison. victoire ingabire was serving a is—yearjail term after being found guilty of threatening state security and belittling the 1994 genocide. she's among more than 2,000 prisoners who have been freed from jail after receiving a presidential pardon. iraqi parliament has elected a sunni lawmaker as its speaker, marking the first step towards establishing

the new government four months after inconclusive elections. mohammed al—halbousi, the candidate of the sunni national axis alliance, defeated three challenges to win the position. an earlier attempt to elect the speaker of parliament 12 days ago ended in a deadlock. nigeria's finance minister has resigned over allegations of forgery. kemi adeosun stepped down over accusations that she used a forged certificate to avoid nigeria's mandatory one—year youth service scheme. ms adeosun is a dual british and nigerian citizen and lived in the uk until she was 34. tens of thousands of ethiopians have welcomed back a former rebel group, the 0romo liberation front. the group had spent more than three decades fighting a separatist insurgency on behalf of the country's largest ethnic group, the 0romo. they've been allowed to return as part of a new wave of political reforms in the country. this coming week across bbc news, we're marking six months to go until the uk leaves the european union.

the british prime minister has passionately defended her plan to brexit and admitted she gets a little bit irritated about speculation about how long she will last in herjob. in an interview with nick robinson for and rama, theresa may was also sharply critical of the former foreign secretary borisjohnson's description of her blueprint for leaving the eu as being like wrapping a suicide vest around the country. borisjohnson country. boris johnson says country. borisjohnson says this plan you've agreed to, it is a suicide health, around the british constitution. well, first of all, i have to say i think that choice of language is com pletely think that choice of language is completely inappropriate. i was home secretary to six years and prime ministers are two years. i think using language like that, it is not language i would have used. let's look at the argument about the issue in relation to northern ireland. the people of northern ireland deserve to be listened to in these

negotiations, as do people elsewhere in this country. i want to ensure that as we go forward we have that strong union that northern ireland, it is part of the united kingdom, and it is important that we deliver for the people of northern ireland. they don't want a hard border between northern ireland and ireland. the only proposal that has been put forward that delivers on them not having a hard border and ensures that we don't carve up the united kingdom, is the chequers plan. you told your party you would only serve as long as they wanted you to. without getting into dates, because you never do that, that is evident, can you reassure people in your party that you are not determined to go on and on and on? you will listen? look, i said what i said to my party. throughout my time in public service it has been about service. as a counsellor, as an mp,

asa service. as a counsellor, as an mp, as a home secretary and now as prime minister. but actually, and this is where i get a little bit irritated, this is not, this debate is not about my future. this debate is about my future. this debate is about the future of the people of the uk the future of the united kingdom. that's what i'm focused on, and that is what i think we should all be focused on. it is ensuring we get that good deal for the european union which is good for people in the uk, wherever they live in the uk. that is what is important for us and that is what i'm focusing on. it is the future of people in the uk that matters. well, viewers in the uk can see the full interview in panorama, inside number ten, uk can see the full interview in panorama, inside numberten, deal or no deal, on monday, 7:30pm gmt. pope francis has appealed to the italian mafia to abandon a life of crime and violence. he was on a visit to sicily to pay homage to a parish priest who was murdered by the mafia 25 years ago. courtney bembridge has more.

on his way to the sicilian capital with a clear message, pope francis chose palermo's port, a centre of mafia activity, to send it. translation: today we need men and women of love, not men and women of honour, of service, not of overpowering. we need men and women to walk together, not to chase power. the catholic church has had a chequered history of relations with the mafia in southern italy, but the pope says people cannot believe in god and belong to the mafia at the same time. a mafioso does not live as a christian, because he blasphemes with his life in the name of god. the event was held to mark 25 years since parish priest giuseppe puglisi was shot dead on his doorstep by the italian mafia. it was his 56th birthday, and reportedly he said to the gunman, "i've been expecting you." the priest was known for being outspoken against injustices. with little support from the church hierarchy in sicily,

he preached against the mafia and worked with young people to keep them away from the group. translation: we hope that something will change, bit by bit. there are many youths who are arriving here at the social centre. they are beginning to realise that life is not only about violence and degradation. he ignored their threats and banned mafia members from leading religious processions. in the months before his murder, the mafia planted several car bombs throughout italy, killing at least ten people. it was part of a bloody offensive against the state and anyone who threatens the group's existence, which also claimed the lives of two magistrates. puglisi was shot in the neck at point—blank range. two mafia hitmen, salvatore grigoli and gaspa re spatutsa,

were among six men charged over the murder. large crowds attended puglisi's funeral. why did the mafia kill him? i don't know, maybe because he wanted to destroy the mafia, and he could do it. puglisi was beatified in 2013, the last step before sainthood in the church. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: contaminating strawberries with sewing needles. a major health scare in australia. 30 hours after the earthquake that devastated mexico city, rescue teams still have no idea just how many people have died. there is people alive, and there is people not alive. we just can help and give them whatever we've got. it looked as though they had come to fight a war, but their mission is to bring

peace to east timor, and nowhere on earth needs it more badly. the government's case is being forcefully presented by monsieur badinter, the justice minister. he's campaigned vigorously for the abolition, having once witnessed one of his clients being executed. elizabeth seton spent much of her time at this grotto, and every year, hundreds of pilgrimages are made here. now that she has become a saint, it's expected that this area will be inundated with tourists. the mayor and local businessman regard the anticipated boom as just another blessing of st elizabeth. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines — typhoon mankut has wreaked havoc across the northern phillipines, killing at least 14 people. the full scale of the destruction is still unknown. president trump has declared a disaster in north carolina — amid warnings that storm florence is "far from done".

let's return to storm florence now. i've been speaking to colleen roberts, who's public information officer for new bern, one of the worst affected cities in north carolina. if you are not watching the waters, they rise very quickly, giving you little time to get out. we have seen at the storm surge back off a little bit today and at the height of the storm it was 10.5 feet. it has receded to four feet today. finally, we have seen better weather. it hasn't been raining as much today. the sustained winds are down to about 19 mph the sustained winds are down to about19 mph and the sustained winds are down to about 19 mph and that translates into an opportunity for us to get out and continue those power restorations and begin to clean up of debris. we had a high tide about three hours ago so we saw the storm surge increase oui’ three hours ago so we saw the storm surge increase our little bit and thatis surge increase our little bit and that is exactly the sort of thing

that is exactly the sort of thing that the north carolina of an is talking about. we will still see those fluctuations in the river water. also, additionalflooded communities upstream, that water over the next week or so will slow down and we will likely see all river crest with additional, possibly dangerous, storm surge. what proportion of homes have been affected by the flooding? our preliminary data, based on calls we have received for emergency service, we plotted them on a map and we have come up with over 4000 homes that are destroyed or completely damaged that again, that is preliminary at this point. the same thing with businesses. we plotted them on a map and we have 300 businesses that are damaged or destroyed. we had a very popular downtown lifestyle and winter where company that people locked and the roof collapsed under

the weight of rainwater. —— winterwear. volunteers are out there as we speak, cleaning up the debris that has spilt out. we have significant damage to our new —— to oui’ significant damage to our new —— to our downtown. new bern is about ten square blocks and it was significantly underwater during the storm in ways that most people have never seen since they have been here. australia's queensland government is offering a $70,000 us dollar reward for information that could lead to the arrest of the person responsible for contaminating strawberries with sewing needles. health officials are urging people to cut open all fresh strawberries after a man was treated in hospital after eating a strawberry with a needle hidden in it. briony sowden reports. mason stevenson loves strawberries like any other nine—year—old australian but he didn't expect to find this in his morning snack, is knowing needle —— sewing needle hidden in the fruit. i pulled the needle out. mason wasn't hurt but

the outcome could have been different as his mother angela discovered more needles wedged into the same container. you are hurting innocent people, children. you know, it's disgusting. the first incident was first reported last sunday when a queensland electrician ended up in hospital with stomach pain after discovering he had eaten a strawberry with a needle inside.|j bit into it, celtic break. my knee—jerk reaction was to swallow it. --i felt knee—jerk reaction was to swallow it. ——i felt it break. the needle was half inside me so it is a shock. you go to get strawberries and the last thing you are expecting it to turn up in hospital. contaminated strawberries have now health warnings across queensland, victoria and new south wales with six brands recalled from supermarket shelves. the industry believes it could be the work of a disgruntled ex— employee. traced back to this queensland farm. police believe neil

could have been deliberately planted to cause harm. our investigation is still open. we are not getting into speculation, we are keeping an open mind. police are also looking into a copycat incident. this morning, -- and employee ports strawberries and located a small silver rod. a strawberry industry insists fruit thatis strawberry industry insists fruit that is available if safe to eat. while health officials are urging people to cut open fresh fruit as a precaution. nasa has successfully launched a satellite, designed to measure changes in the world's ice sheets and provide precise information on how they are being eroded by global warming. the billion—dollar project will put a satellite almost directly over the north and south poles. 0ur science correspondent, jonathan amos reports. five, four, three, two, one... a hot and fiery start for a mission that will study the coldest places on earth.

a new nasa satellite was launched safely onto a path that takes it almost directly over the poles. its quest — to determine precisely how global warming is affecting the planet's ice. icesat—2, as it's known, is equipped with a green laser that'll fire down on glaziers and sea ice. the faster the beamed pulses of light bounce back to the satellite, the thicker the ice must be, and if the heights are seen to drop over time it'll indicate the ice is melting. previous observations have shown that both antarctica and greenland are losing mass as warm ocean water erodes their edges, and in the arctic the floating sea ice has lost two thirds of its volume since the 1980s. but the changes that are occurring are often quite subtle, and scientists see only the most exacting measurement tools can tell us what's really happening. it'll be a few weeks before icesat is ready to start work. nasa is reassuring everyone that the laser cannot itself melt the ice its monitoring —

but look up on a dark night and you mightjust catch a green dot passing across the sky. jonathan amos, bbc news. earlier, i spoke to professor helen fricker from the scripps institution of oceanography. she's a key icesat scientist who was at today's launch — she explained the significance of the project. icesat-2 icesat—2 is a laser auto transmission, sending a laserfrom space, 500 commentors above the earth's surface space, 500 commentors above the ea rth‘s surface and space, 500 commentors above the earth's surface and it will ounce off the surface of the earth all around its orbit. its primary mission is actually, its primary objective is to map the land ice and the sea ice. in the north pole and the sea ice. in the north pole and the south pole. we will, from that, hopefully get a very good estimate quite quickly at how much ice is

being lost from the land ice and also the changes in the sea ice thickness. what do you want to do with this information once you have it? we can use the information to estimate how much ice is being lost around the edges of the ice sheets and therefore how much ice has melted and gone into the oceans. when it gets into the ocean, think of it like a glass of water. if you have an ice cube sitting on a glass of water, as you melt the ice, you won't raise sea level but if you add extra ice into the glass, it will raise the level of the water in the glass. it is a good analogy for understanding how land ice adds to the volume of our world's oceans. what we see is that ice is being lost and sea level is rising and icesat-2 to lost and sea level is rising and icesat—2 to help us understand how quickly that is happening so we can make accurate projections for the future. will it make a causal link

between global warming and ice loss? that is a more difficult question and something we will look into. what we do, because we have a long series, go|ng what we do, because we have a long series, going back to the early 90s, starting with the european space agency satellites, we now have a long record and from that, we can look at the timescales on which things are changing and we can look at the signatures and try and work out which processes are responsible for the loss. some of it is from the atmosphere, some from the ocean, other processors as well. we can really understand how the system is responding. there have been other projects, of course, to measure ice loss, haven't they? what makes this one different? that's right, yes. as isaid, the one different? that's right, yes. as i said, the european space agency has carried out radar. there is one orbiting at the moment which we use the data from. it is a great instrument. icesat was the first

laser auto transmission from nasser, from 2003— laser auto transmission from nasser, from 2003- 2009. it laser auto transmission from nasser, from 2003— 2009. it is not a radar. -- nasa. the from 2003— 2009. it is not a radar. —— nasa. the difference between icesat and icesat—2 is that we now split the beam into six beams, three pairs. we can therefore get a very good mapping of the surface and we can also work out the slope of the surface and use that to better get more accurate height measurements. that was helen explaining about icesat-2 that was helen explaining about icesat—2 and how it is going to work. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @samanthatvnews. hello. the potential for

hello. the potentialfor turbulence whether in the forecast over the next few days and that is already making its presence felt across scotland, northern ireland, parts of northern england and north wales as this front works that way south and east overnight, bringing heavy rain and gusty winds. through sunday, the frontal system is running into an area of high pressure to the south of the uk. through sunday, it will weaken. the rain will tend to be loud and we will be left with a band of cloud and the odd spot of rain through the afternoon, stretching down through the midlands and south—west england. 0n either side, spells of sunshine. some patchy drizzle for the western isles of scotla nd drizzle for the western isles of scotland where it will continue to be quite windy. elsewhere, the strong winds from overnight will ease down still quite a breezy day and fairly warm across east anglia and fairly warm across east anglia and south—east england. temperatures up and south—east england. temperatures up to 2223dc. elsewhere, generally 17 or 20 celsius, coolerfor the

south of scotland. keep an area that may keep and i on the remnants of hurricane helene, no longer a hurricane helene, no longer a hurricane but providing tropical moisture and energy to that area. it will strengthen the winds as we go through monday and pull some very warm and humid air across south—east england. 0n warm and humid air across south—east england. on monday, a mixture of variable cloud and a sunny spells before the rain arrives into northern ireland, western scotland. it will be heavy. some strong winds accompanying that with some very strong gusts as well. these are the average speed through monday afternoon. the gusts will be even higher. as we go from monday into tuesday, the gusts for the western isles of scotland could touch 60 or 70 mph. as we head south and east, in the warm and humid air fokker ——, —— here is our area of low pressure marching across the western side of the uk into tuesday. notice the

squeeze in the isobars. this is where we will see the strongest winds. across northern ireland, scotla nd winds. across northern ireland, scotland and parts of northern england. 0n scotland and parts of northern england. on tuesday, and mixture of sunny spells, particularly the western side of england and wales. again, a windy day for all of us but still holding onto some very warm and humid airacross still holding onto some very warm and humid air across south—east england where we will see that which is up to 2324. some sunshine here, yes, a very warm. but windy for all of us. particular gusty for northern ireland and scotland. strong winds early next week, rain for the north and west. this is bbc news. the headlines: at least 14 people are known to have died in the massive storm which brought destruction to the north of the philippines. typhoon mangkhut ripped through the main island of luzon tearing off roofs, felling trees and triggering more than 40 landslides. many remote areas remain cut off. authorities in the us have warned that storm florence is "farfrom done." the weather system has caused

catastrophic flooding across both north and south carolina. officials say at least 12 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands of homes are without electricity. the british prime minister, theresa may, has passionately defended her plan for brexit, and added she gets a "little bit irritated" about how long she'll last in thejob. in an exclusive interview with the bbc, she said "this debate is not about my future, but the future of the people of the united kingdom." those are the latest headlines. now it's time for bbc 0uch.