hello and welcome to bbc news. hello. at least 1a 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. 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 storm florence is causing catastrophic flooding in the us states of north and south carolina. at least 11 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. karen willis amspacher is a resident of harkers island, north carolina and director

of the core sound waterfowl museum and heritage center. she's on the line now. tell us how you have been affected by this storm. where i live was within 25 miles of the initial i when it came by. —— initial eye. it did not make landfall but we were close enough to eye that it was 100 kilometres per hour winds. it is still raining. it is the storm that won't end. are you used to these storms now or is every single one terrifying? we moved here in the early 1900, my family. storms terrifying? we moved here in the early1900, my family. storms are pa rt early1900, my family. storms are part of our history and lies. they

have been happening much more often in the past 15— 20 years. they all have their own story, their own damage. depending on the angle they come in and how close they come. we are storm weary. i know there has been a are storm weary. i know there has beenafairamount are storm weary. i know there has been a fair amount of coverage on this storm before it made landfall but did you believe it was going to be this destructive? it was first scheduled to come pretty much straight into this area as a category four. with such high winds, it put people on high alert. local people have a tendency to stay in the storms but i think if they can make if it had stayed as a category for. —— format, people would have

stayed. the forecasters plan for when they make landfall and i can't imagine what the damage would have been if it had been a category four. and if it hadn't lasted this long. -- if it and if it hadn't lasted this long. —— if it had lasted this long. we we re —— if it had lasted this long. we were in the eye for 36 hours and this is what has caused so much flooding and damage. 0ur damage is mostly flooding and damage. 0ur damage is m ostly fro m flooding and damage. 0ur damage is mostly from wind, not floods. it is still raining. we have had over 20 inches of rain in the past two days. such an incredible amount. i know you are in a small community there. how are you working together with neighbours to begin the process of recovery? as part of the museum's network, we have members all over the state copper we are organising a hurricane relief. i have been on

facebook and the internet and all we have right now is, we don't have the internet or electricity. people are making preparations. we don't have roads from the inland that can get here and there is risk of even more flooding on those roads. my mother is actuated, she is inland. they are not shy when she is coming home. a lot of people are stranded in the other parts of the state. the flooding issue is a real handicap to the recovery. we will, we always have, we are a true traditional community and we are all trained to figure it out. some of the churches, they are going to help clean yards instead of worship. help people who are experiencing loss and it is still raining. some people are

facing losing what they have, especially elderly people. it seems to be especially harsh on folks who have passed the point of starting over. thank you for recognising we are here, thank you. the prime minister has passionately defended her plan for brexit, and added that she gets a ‘little bit irritated' about debate concerning how long she'll last in herjob. in an exclusive interview with nick robinson for the bbc‘s panorama programme, theresa may was also sharply critical of the former foreign secretary borisjohnson. he described her blueprint for leaving the eu as being like ‘wrapping a suicide vest‘ around the country. borisjohnson says this plan you‘ve agreed to is a suicide belt around the british constitution. well, first of all, i have to say i think that choice of language is completely inappropriate.

i was home secretary to six years and now prime ministers for two years, and i think using language like that — it‘s 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 councillor, 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 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 with 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, this coming week across bbc news — we‘re marking 6 months to go

until the uk leaves the european union. 0ur correspondentjon kay has been to birmingham — one of the most polarised areas of the country — to find out what people there want to know about brexit. i really can‘t get my head round what‘s going on. absolutely no—one knows what's happening. so what‘s brexit? confusion. it‘s dominated the news for more than two years but we still have so many questions, wherever we live, however we voted. kimberly is exhausted by the whole thing. how confusing is the brexit process for you? it hurts my brain cells, it irritates my soul. it‘s like... it hurts, it really hurts. like, on the news, brexit is going this way, brexit is going that way. do you get it?

do you understand where we are with brexit? no. so we gathered questions from people in birmingham. how‘s your handwriting? elsie‘s heard all the arguments about tariffs and treaties but she doesn‘t know what to believe. big question mark. tell us the truth. who is right? which one of you is right? which side? which side is right. do you think you know? no. i actually think they should support the prime minister. i really do. instead of all of this division. many had questions about the future of our economy. when are we going to get some transparency so that business can have a sigh of relief and know exactly what‘s going to happen and when? i'm just saving up. i want to get a new car. eventually i want to get a mortgage. ijust want to move forward in life. so if prices do go up? it will make it a struggle to do that. we got questions about the uk‘s borders. i think the biggest question is how do you control it without letting alland sundry in. again, is it as much of a massive problem as perhaps we think it is? write it as big and clear as you can. elijah wants to know

about northern ireland. the ripple effect from this referendum is going to be colossal, i think. will this woman need a visa to holiday in spain? and what willjohn be able to bring home? it feels like dragging on. what do you want to know? how soon can we leave? from chequers to the backstop, for 0liver... i‘ve just got bored with it, to be honest with you. soft brexit, hard brexit, but there‘s absolutely no definition of what either one is. i‘m ready to just stop reading about brexit. you‘re exiting the debate? i‘m exiting brexit. jon kay, bbc news, birmingham. a reminder of our top stories. typhoon manghkut has wreaked

havoc across the northern phillipines, killing at least 1a 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 our top story now. joining me now from manila is mahar lagmay, the reuters news is quitting the government‘s disaster co—ordinator, saying that it now knows at least 25 people have been killed by typhoon mangkhut. they have said the majority of deaths have been in landslides in one particular region. joining me now from manila is mahar lagmay, geology professor and executive director of project noah, the nationwide operation assessment of hazards. welcome to bbc news. give us a sense of the scale of this typhoon? yes, last year we had a is suited to ——

super typhoon, and it hit the same region of the philippines, in northern luzon. yesterday we also had the landfall of another typhoon, falling a bit short of a super typhoon. according to the weather bureau, it was packing wind speeds of 205 metres an hour, with gusts up to 255 kilometres an hour. the diameter of this typhoon is about 900 kilometres. if we are to comparing it with the super typhoon last year, it was only 600 kilometres, although it had higher wind speeds at the time. that one was 235 kilometres an hour. typhoon mangkhut, according to the weather bureau, is 205 kilometres an hour.

so it it is 900 kilometres across, thatis so it it is 900 kilometres across, that is a vast area of destruction, iam that is a vast area of destruction, i am guessing? well, the concentration of the devastation is near the eye, in northern luzon. to give you an idea, the length of the entire philippines from north to southis entire philippines from north to south is roughly 1200 or 1a00 kilometres. the diameter of the typhoon was about 900 kilometres. the intense, sustained wind speeds we re the intense, sustained wind speeds were really very devastating. the typhoon killed many people. the latest figure is more than 20. i heard that it was 25, confirms dead. but as time passes i would expect that number would go a little bit higher. your country is of course

sadly used these kinds of typhoons. how does the modelling work that you do, feeding into the preparations on the ground ? do, feeding into the preparations on the ground? that is right. it is very important that each and every village or municipality has anticipate tory plans. —— anticipatory. that means we should be including climate change impacts, predicted higher wind speeds and more frequent typhoons and bigger floods. the work we have at the university of the philippines is... inaudible. made to the local government units, so that the community is canned land —— be communities can plan against the hazards. we have a sector of planning for competence of land—use plans. this, thank you, good to get

your analysis on typhoon mangkhut. —— professor, thank you. columbia‘s civil war lasted more than 50 years, with horrors committed via both rebels and paramilitaries. 0ne committed via both rebels and paramilitaries. one of the biggest challenges since the peace deal was signed has been how to help former fighters arejust signed has been how to help former fighters are just two or dairy lives. some have managed to find love and acceptance, and now they getting married, with the help of the government run agency reintegration. a love that keeps no record of wrongs. a former fighter in columbia‘s and bitter civil war 110w in columbia‘s and bitter civil war now marrying his civilian bride. they are one of six couples, the men all former paramilitaries and guerrillas, formalising their partnerships with non— fighters in a mass wedding in columbia‘s capital, guitar. —— bogota. translation:

mass wedding in columbia‘s capital, guitar. -- bogota. translation: the step i took today is another life goal, so my family is happy. i would like anyone who is listening, for whatever reason, to know that they can take this important gap of reintegration. the journey these couples are ron reflects the one the rest of the country is making as well. from decades of conflict, to learning to love and live together. some got together around the time that peace talks began between farc guerrillas and the government six yea rs guerrillas and the government six years ago. a deal was signed in 2016, but there are many who say the terms were too easy and forgiveness for people who inflicted so much pain came too soon. but those who support weddings like this one hopes they will help the process of healing. these are people who have lived together for years and want to legalise their union. and just because these men belonged to a group that was outside the law, it doesn‘t mean they don‘t have feelings. as they celebrate their

love, one more thing remains, and thatis love, one more thing remains, and that is hope for their future and for that of their country to. a former british soldier has been sentenced to seven years in prison in turkey. joe robinson was charged with terrorism offences following time he spent in syria. he‘s 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 reports. 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. nasa has successfully launched a satellite designed a major food scare

a majorfood scare in a major food scare in australia has consumers and police on edge after selling needles were found embedded in fresh strawberries. authorities are offering rewards for information on the tampering after several people either found or swallowed their needles. the contaminated fruit has been traced back to a farm and brands have been pulled from shelves. it is the stuff of nightmares. sewing needles embedded in strawberries, found at random across three states. i bit into it, my knee—jerk reaction was to swallow it, and he left over was half a needle. you don‘t expect to go to hospital. some as young as nine have been affected. i went into my mouth and pulled out a needle. some of the infected strawberries have been traced back to this queensland farm.

the industry believes it could be the work of a disgruntled employee but police will not confirm that. the investigation is still open, we are not going get into speculation and we are keeping an open mind. ra nsford and we are keeping an open mind. ransford been and we are keeping an open mind. ra nsford been pulled and we are keeping an open mind. ransford been pulled from shelves across the major supermarkets and while no one has been seriously harmed by the contamination, the industry is already hurting from the recall. strawberry growers are pleading with consumers not to abandon the industry. anyone buying the fruit has been urged to slice it before eating. 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. our 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. there‘s the potential for some turbulent 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 its 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 fizzle out 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. on either side, spells of sunshine. some patchy drizzle for the western isles of scotland where it will continue to be quite windy. elsewhere, the strong winds from overnight will ease down but still quite a breezy day and fairly warm across east anglia and south—east england.

temperatures up to 22 or 23dc. elsewhere, generally 17 or 20 celsius, cooler for the far north of scotland. keeping an eye on this area of low pressure, it has in it the remnants of hurricane helene, no longer a hurricane but providing tropical moisture and energy to that area of low pressure. it will strengthen the winds as we go through monday and pull some very warm and humid air across england and wales, particularly the further south and east you are. on monday, a mixture of variable cloud and a sunny spells before the rain arrives into northern ireland, parts of north—west england and 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 we could see highs of 23 on monday across east anglia and south—east england. 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, scotland and northern parts of england. some very strong gusts. on tuesday, a mixture of sunny spells and heavy showers, particularly for northern ireland, scotland, western side of england and wales. again, a windy day for all of us but still holding onto some very warm and humid air across east and south—east england where we will see that which is up to 23 and 24. some sunshine here, yes, and very warm, but windy for all of us. particular gusty for northern ireland and scotland and northern parts of england. strong winds early next week, very warm in the south—east but some rain for the north and west. bye— bye. this is bbc news.

the headlines: at least 1a people are known to have died in the massive storm which brought destruction to the north of the philippines. -- 25. typhoon mangkhut ripped through the main island of luzon tearing off rooves, felling trees and triggering more than forty landslides. many remote areas remain cut off. authorities in the us have warned that storm florence is "far from 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.