this is bbc world news, i'm duncan golestani. our top stories — at least 25 dead — as typhoon mankut wreaks havoc in the phillipines. it's now heading towards hong kong where warnings of gale force winds and a massive storm surge have forced a mass evacuation. 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 why i get irritated. this debate is not about my future. this debate is not about my future. this debate is not about my future. this debate is about the future of the people of the uk. and charting the polar icecaps from space. nasa's new mission launches a laser into orbit. hello.

officials in hong kong have placed the territory on the highest level of storm alert as typhoon mangkhut sweeps past on its way to the coast of south—western china. the massive storm has already devastated part of the northern philippine island of luzon, killing at least 25 people and 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. —— 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. well, forecasters in hong kong expect winds of one hundred and eighteen kilometres per hour. intense rain bands are already affecting the city. most transport services are suspended. our correspondent there, robin brant, has just sent this update. this is peak storms, peak winds,

typhoon mangkhut at its worst. it is not a direct hit but it is passing east to west. these winds definitely in excess of an 100 and 80 mph. quite tricky to stay on your feet. hundreds of fights council —— flights. most of the shops are closed. for the next few hours, this will be as bad as it gets here. 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. towns are long the coast are now

inland have become badly flooded, leaving rescue teams is the only route to safety for some families. from the air, it had better sense of the scale of the problems here and during the brief breaks in the weather, this has been the most effective way of getting people out of cut—off areas. driving conditions are increasingly difficult. motorists have been a advised to avoid this state completely if they can. the new evacuation warnings have come into force for more of these towns. the worst is yet to come. areas within one mile of the river have been implemented. and number of people have died as a result of these extreme weather is a continuing to rise full is top florence is no longer a hurricane that this storm is moving slowly across the carolinas. they will be months of rainfall in just days. the

effects of hurricane florence are still being felt and the authorities say as long as the rainfalls, there is the danger of further catastrophic flash flooding. and after this week in north carolina, both men and beast are well aware of the impact of that. the british 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. they liked it when theyjoke about

you being that difficult woman. they sometimes say, where issues on? we wa nt sometimes say, where issues on? we want her back. she is still there. there are no difference between those who think you can only be bloody difficult in public and actually, you are difficult when the time is right. smiling but defiant. in her carand at time is right. smiling but defiant. in her car and at chequers. after a week in which some of her mps openly plotted ousting her and others met to plan how to derail her blueprint for brexit, the prime minister says... this is where i get a little bit irritated. 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 and the future of the united kingdom. that is what i'm focused on and that's what we should all be focused on. it is ensuring we get that good dealfor focused on. it is ensuring we get that good deal for the focused on. it is ensuring we get that good dealfor the people focused on. it is ensuring we get that good deal for the people of the united kingdom, wherever they live. there was then her reaction to this

man, former foreign secretary boris johnson and specifically his remarks at last weekend in which he said had brexit plan was akin to wrapping a suicide vest around the country. just look at the cold contempt with which she reacts to that. first of all, i have to say, that choice of language was completely inappropriate. i have been home secretary for six years and prime minister for two. secretary for six years and prime ministerfor two. using secretary for six years and prime minister for two. using language like that was not right and it's not language i would have used. and what was signed off here at her country retreat in july, she was signed off here at her country retreat injuly, she insists, has to be implemented. not least for northern ireland. the only proposal that has been put forward that delivers on not having a hard border and ensures that we don't carve up the united kingdom is the chequers plan. and yet plenty in parliament, including on her own side, think her ideas are a dud and russells is

sounding sceptical, too. it's going to bea sounding sceptical, too. it's going to be a long autumn full top —— brussels. 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. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: nasa launches a laser into orbit to measure the condition of earth's ice sheets.

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 news, the latest headlines: typhoon mangkhut has wreaked havoc across the northern phillipines, killing at least 25 people. the storm's now bearing down on hong kong and southern china. president trump has declared a disaster in north carolina, amid warnings that storm florence is "far from done". 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. richard galpin, bbc news, at the foreign office. a major food scare in australia has consumers and police on edge, after sewing needles were found embedded in fresh strawberries. authorities are offering rewards for information on the tampering, after several people either found or swallowed the needles. the contaminated fruit has been traced back to a farm and brands have been pulled from the shelves. georgina smyth has more. it's the stuff of nightmares. sewing needles embedded in fresh strawberries,

found at random across three states. i bit into it, felt it break. my knee—jerk reaction was to swallow it, and left over was half a needle. it's a shock. when you pick up strawberries from woolies 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. brands have 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. columbia's civil war lasted more than 50 years, with horrors commited by both rebels and pa ramilitaries. one of the biggest challenges since the peace deal was signed is how to help those former fighters go back to ordinary lives. but some have managed to find love and acceptance — and now some are even getting married, with the help of the government run agency for reintegration. lebo diseko reports. a love that keeps no record of wrongs. a former fighter in colombia's 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, 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

step of reintegration. the journey these couples are on 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 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 hope 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 that is hope for their future and for that of their country too. 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. let's return to one of our top

stories, florence battling —— battering the carolinas india knight estates. earlier we spoke to a resident of harkers island in north carolina and the director of the core sound water heritage museum. i asked her what the situation is like where she is. where i live was within 25 miles of the initial eye when it came by. it did not make landfall here but we were close enough to the eye that we felt over 100 mph winds and it is still raining. it started monday night and it's still raining. it is the storm that will not end. are you used to these kinds of storms now or is every one terrifying? my family moved here in the early 1900s because of storms. storms are part of our history and lives. they have been coming much more often in the past 15—20 years. floyd, fran, bertha, isabel, irene.

they all have their own story, their own damage, depending on the angle they come in and how close they come. but yeah, we are storm weary. i know there has been a fair amount of coverage on storm florence 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. at 140mph winds, that put people on high alert. local people have a tendency to stay in storms but i think if it had stayed at level four, many, many more would have left. a lot left at level two because you never know what they're going to do between the forecasters' plan and when they actually make landfall. i can't imagine what the damage would have been if it had been a category four and having lasted this long. we were very close to the eye for 36 hours and that is what has caused so much flooding and damage here. 0ur damage here has been flooding but mostly wind damage.

but now the flooding is inland and it's still raining. we have had over 20 inches of rain in the past two days. such an incredible amount, karen. 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, we are organising for hurricane relief.

i have been on facebook and the internet and all we have right now is cell service, we don't have the internet or electricity. people inland are staging, collecting and making preparations to come and help. we don't have roads from the inland that can get here and there is risk of even more flooding on those roads. my 89—year—old mother evacuated, she is inland. i'm not sure 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 trying to figure it out. some of the churches tomorrow are going to work instead of worship. going to help clean yards and 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.

0k karen, we wish you, your family and community all the very best. just before we go, a 400—year—old painting has been returned to the national museum of poland after being stolen during the second world war. portrait of a lady became part of the country's collection in 1935 before being looted. the fate of the artwork during the war is unknown but it resurfaced in 2006 after being sold at auction in new york. an american couple who had unwittlingly bought the picture were there to see the painting being handed back. thank you very much feel company. we

will see you again soon. hello. 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. 0n 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. hello. 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 25 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, bringing widespread flooding and landslides. the storm's now heading towards hong kong — where warnings of gale force winds and a massive storm surge have forced a mass evacuation. 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. 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." now on bbc news, the week in parliament.