this is bbc world news today. our top stories. dozens are killed amid widespread destruction in the philippines — now typhoon mangkhut moves on to china. with six months to go until brexit, theresa may defends her plan for britain to leave the eu and hits out at speculation over her future. 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 and the future of the united kingdom. elderly people in good health should not take an aspirin a day. a major study says it's risky for those over 70. and in sport: the four times formula one world champion, lewis hamilton, has won the singapore grand prix, putting him a0 points clear. hello and welcome to world news today. a typhoon that's been sweeping

through east asia has left dozens of people dead and is now lashing china's most populous province. typhoon mangkhut made landfall near the city ofjiangmen in the south—western region of guangdong, bringing winds of more than 160 kilometres per hour. it's already caused widespread damage in the philippines. almost 60 people have now died. the storm also passed through hong kong, where around 200 people were injured. jonathan head reports from the philippines. after the deluge. the shrieking wind was bad enough, but heavy rain brought a landslide to the northern philippines, burying vehicles, houses and people. the rivers are also dangerously swollen. here, rescuers managed to pull a mother and child to safety from theirflooded home. the storm has passed on, but everywhere it's left a trail of destruction.

people are returning from evacuation shelters to find their homes in ruins. or, as for this man and his family, swept away completely. there's nothing they can do but to pick up their possessions. we don't know where we're going to live, he told me. our house is gone, and we'lljust have to go anywhere we can. you've only got to look at the state of this school roof to see just how powerfully destructive this storm was. all this damage is a really heavy blow for communities which have got very few resources, and where government help is sparing and slow at best. butjust as worrying for them is what happened to their crops. how badly damaged is this, roger? like his neighbours, roger relies on his three cornfields for most of his income. almost ripe, his crop

has been flattened. we can save some of it, he said, but the rest is ruined. as we left his town, a good part of the population was where we'd first seen them, waiting in the hope of government assistance or private donations. typhoon mangkhut has now moved west across the sea, hammering hong kong and showing that even one of asia's most modern and well—built cities is no match for it. those who ventured outside soon wished they hadn't. even from indoors, the storm's power was a frightening spectacle. southern china is next in its path. jonathan head, bbc news, northern philippines. some breaking news —

there are reports that two people have fallen ill after eating in a restaurant in salisbury — the english town where a former russian spy and his daughter were poisoned in march. with me is the bbc‘s simonjones.. simon, what are the details? the police tell us they were called at 6:45 p:m., couple of hours ago, toa at 6:45 p:m., couple of hours ago, to a restaurant called prezzo to the high street in salisbury and say a man and woman had been taken ill and asa man and woman had been taken ill and as a precaution may have cordoned offa as a precaution may have cordoned off a large part of the area. and what the police are saying is that they are working to try and establish how exactly are these people were taken ill. we understand from the ambulance service that they had been there about an hour before

that, treating this pair, and they decided to call in the police. we are told that these two are still being treated at the scene and have not been taken —— have been taken to hospital. people in the area are saying on social media that a large presence of the emergency services are there and they don't seem to be taking chances and we have seen people in high protection suits around the area, and it's led to something like a big response. and that happened back in march in salisbury where we had the former russian spy and his daughter recovering, and then to innocent people in salisbury were taken ill having discovered novichok in a perfume bottle and one of those, dawn sturgess, died. it's too early to draw any conclusions but in a city like that there are heightened tensions so an incident like that will meet with a big response from the emergency services that they are

not saying at this point that it is directly connected to something back in march. it is inevitable that when there's an incident where people fallen ill like this, given what has happened in salisbury, that there will be concerned and people are erring on the side of caution. absolutely. that's why we are seeing such a big response and we are waiting for an update from the emergency services they will be trying to establish what they are dealing with. salisbury, having been through the incident in march, then the subsequent incident after that, anything where people are taken ill in mysterious circumstances, that will be taken very, very seriously but we are keen to stress that as yet there is no direct correlation made by emergency services, but we do know that they have responded in numbers are now taking it seriously. simon, thanks very much. with just over six months to go till brexit, the british prime minister has defended her plan, adding that she gets a ‘little bit irritated' when people question how long she'll last in herjob.

in an exclusive interview with nick robinson for the bbc‘s panorama programme, theresa may said the debate should be about the country's future, rather than her own. chris mason reports. to emerge from this period of change stronger... the path towards brexit has involved plenty of speeches and plenty of characters. some still in government and some not. and plenty of negotiation, too. here at home and in brussels. after a week in which some of her mps met in public to plan how to derail her blueprint for brexit and others openly plotted ousting herfrom office, theresa may is defiantly fighting back. 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 and the future of the united kingdom. that's what i'm focused on, and that's what i think we should all be focused on. it's ensuring that we get that good dealfrom the european union

which is good for people in the uk. some brexit supporters say her plans involved to close a relationship with the eu. others, like michael gove, acknowledge they've compromised. but, he says, those compromises needn't be forever. a future prime minister could always choose to alter the relationship between britain and the european union. but the chequers approach is the right one for now, because we've got to make sure that we respect that vote and take advantage of the opportunities of being outside the european union. but this former conservative leader and a good number of his colleagues are not convinced. michael gove has said now is the time for compromise, change can come later. what do you say to that? i think that's a bit of a copout, really, to explain away what is essentially jam tomorrow and we can prophesy what the future is. we can't. we only have what is now, what the public voted for, which is brexit. with so many arguments still swirling around, who makes the final call?

the labour mayor of london thinks it should be us, voters, in a referendum. the question should be a choice between the deal done by this government or staying in the european union, and the deal done by this government, we can now see what actually the consequences would be. labour's leadership remains to be convinced an another referendum. the prime minister insists it won't happen. and, she says, she will fight for her plan. you know what some people say. they rather liked it when you joked about being that bloody difficult woman. they liked that, and they sometimes say, where's she gone? we want her back. she's still there. but i think there is a difference between those who think you can only be bloody difficult in public, and those of us who think actually you bide your time and you're bloody difficult when the time is right, and when it really matters. that resolve will certainly be tested in the coming months. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news.

a palestinian teenager has killed an israeli man in a stabbing attack at the entrance to a shopping mall in the occupied west bank. israeli security sources say a civilian shot and wounded the attacker at the scene. this happened around the gush etzion block ofjewish settlements south of bethlehem. a us border patrol agent in the state of texas has been arrested on suspicion of murdering four women, believed to be working as prostitutes. police officers began looking for the man after a fifth woman managed to escape from him and contacted the authorities. hundreds of people have been protesting in st petersburg in russia against new pension reforms. the changes will raise the age at which people can start claiming pensions — to 65 for men and 60 for women. president putin says this is necessary as rising life expectancy in russia could exhaust pension resources if the eligibility age stays the same. there've been also been

warnings in the us, that the worst is still to come from hurricane florence, which has so far caused the deaths of at least 12 people. the national hurricane center said although florence has now weakened to a depression, the volume of rain it is producing will cause flash flooding across a significant portion of the carolinas. the governor of north carolina, roy cooper, has given an update on the impact of the storm. he said more than 900 people have been rescued from flood waters. is—thousand people remain in shelters. across the state, seven hundred thousand people are without electricity. as this storm continues to churn through the carolinas it has dumped more than two feet of water in many places. the strongest storm bands are dumping two or three inches of rain per hour. that's enough to cause flooding in areas that have

never flooded before. until cause flooding in areas that have neverflooded before. until now. the risk is growing as well in the mountains where rains could lead to dangerous landslides. our north america correspondent chris buckler is in wilmington, north carolina where the storm came ashore. areas are still cut off and that is a real problem because it means people can't get out and they can't get the there are roads that possibly blocked by flooding. if you take a look behind me, you'll see plenty of cars but these are all in a queue for the few filling stations that are open. take a look and it stretches to the end of the road and then further down the road and then it loops back up again and makes his way up to this car park and the filling station which is over there. i'm told at the moment there is around 400 cars in the queue to try to get to the filling station and that is all important for people because they aren'tjust coming here to fill up their cars. they're trying to get fuel for generators because hundreds

of thousands of households remain without electricity at the moment and that is proving to be a real problem, as time goes on they are trying to make repairs but frankly it's going to take days, if not weeks to try and restore everybody to the electricity grid. apart from that, there's the problem of the weather itself. it's eased up and the moment but i have to say that the rain has been falling. they've been clearing away some of the trees that were knocked down by high winds but the rain is causing the problems going forward. hurricane florence which has been downgraded to a storm, that is much easier in some ways, you'd think, for the authorities but in reality it's not because she's dumping huge amount of rainfall, further west, in inland areas. as a result, the problems are moving away from the coast and inland. at the moment, some towns are getting cut off. flooding is a problem as water trickles down from the mountains, further west from here. and ultimately they don't know where

these problems are going to end. chris, despite what we're seeing around you and what you described, we hear that the worst is yet to come. yes, that's simply because of the amount of rain that's being dumped. at the moment we expect another deluge to come and thunder and lightning is forecast for the hours coming up. ultimately, particularly further inland, as the rain gathers, it's got nowhere to go because the ground has become so sodden and the rivers, so high in terms of the water level. it is spilling out, causing real problems and people are cut off. we were talking to some colleagues who tried to make their way out of wilmington today and they simply couldn't get out. they were forced back because roads were flooded and it wasn't safe for them to travel any further. there are lots of advisories in place. more evacuation warnings have come into place in the last 2a hours and people have been advised

to avoid north carolina, even if they are only going through it because it could be dangerous. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: kenya's eliud kipchoge smashes the marathon world record in berlin after clocking a time of two hours one minute and 39 seconds. 30 hours after the earthquake that decimated mexico city, rescuers have no idea how many people have died. there are people alive and not alive. we will help and give whatever we have got. it looked as

though they had come to fight a war, but their mission is to bring peace to east timor, and nobody —— nowhere on earth needs it more badly. the government's cases being forcefully presented by the justice minister who has campaigned vigorously for abolition, having once witnessed one of his clients being executed. elizabeth seem to spend a lot of time in his grotto and every year hundreds of pilgrimages are made here. now she has become a saint it's expected this area will be inundated with tourists. the mayor and local businessmen regard the anticipated boom as another blessing from saint elizabeth. this is bbc world news today. i'm ben bland. the latest headlines. typhoon mankhut kills dozens and causes widespread destruction in the philippines. now the storm moves on to hong kong and china's guangdong province. the british prime minister has told the bbc that with six months to go until brexit it's time to focus on the country's

future, rather than hers. a russian activist supporting the protest group pussy riot has been flown from moscow to berlin for specialist treatment after a suspected poisoning. pyotr verzilov became seriously ill on tuesday. there's been no medical comment on the condition of the anti—kremlin activist so far. damien mcguinness reports from berlin. it was late on saturday night when anti—kremlin activist pyotr verzilov landed here in berlin for medical treatment. his fellow activists suspect he was poisoned. they say that he lost his sight and ability to speak earlier this week after testifying in a court case and after giving a tv interview in which he was critical of the russian authorities. he is now being treated here in berlin in one of the most famous hospitals in germany. doctors though haven't confirmed the symptoms or said why he is ill. he was flown here thanks to help from an german ngo that has helped

anti—putin activists before. mr verzilov hit international tv screens this summer when he ran onto the football pitch at the world cup final in moscow, wearing a fake police uniform. it was a protest against putin's government, and he was jailed for 15 days. mr verzilov‘s relatives say he is now doing better but appear convinced that he's been targeted by russian authorities. a major study into the use of aspirin has found that healthy, elderly people do not benefit from taking low daily doses of the drug. researchers in australia studied 19,000 people forfive years and found that aspirin did not significantly reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke among healthy adults over 70. a little earlier i spoke with gp and clinical director of patient.info dr sarahjarvis

about the significance of the latest study. this is a huge piece of research because doctors have been grappling for many years with the risk to benefit ratio of aspirin in older patients. now, this is purely for otherwise healthy people who haven't had a heart attack or a stroke — really important to point out that anyone who has had a heart attack or stroke, we know that the benefits of aspirin greatly outweigh the risks. however, this study has turned on its head a lot of previous thinking. while we've assumed that because as you get older your risk of heart attack and stroke goes up, that you have more to gain. in fact, what this study showed, and it was a big study of almost 20,000 people, over the age of 70, taking aspirin does not appear to reduce the risk of dying of heart attack or stroke, and it can increase your risk of bleeding, particularly from the stomach. and how much of a problem is it, do you think, when people get given advice,

you know, "do this," and then another study comes along and says, "well, no, actually, don't do this" — how much of the problem is that? it is a huge trouble. and the problem we've had in the past is that the results from aspirin studies were so spectacular that people who had had a heart attack, that we had been tempted to extend that advice for people at high risk of heart attack, without having the evidence behind it. i've tried for several years to say to my patients, "actually, we're not sure. we think it will help, but you have to recognise that as you get older the risks do get larger," but it's really something where we have to take a bit of a leap of faith, because if we didn't give this advice when we have suggestions that it may be hugely beneficial we could not be saving lives when we could otherwise be by giving the advice. and what's the best way for people to find out more if they are confused about what they should be doing?

well, the first thing is to say i certainly wouldn't recommend people stop taking their tablet straightaway. if you have had a heart attack, if you have had a stroke, if you've had what's called a tia, which is sometimes called a mini stroke, very short lived symptoms of a stroke, you certainly should continue to take the medicine. but if in doubt, i would absolutely suggest in the first instance you might talk to your pharmacist to see whether this study may apply to you, and otherwise go and speak to your gp if you're over 70. chetan patak has all the sport. it was another outstanding performance from britain's lewis hamilton — who has cruised to victory at the singapore grand prix to strengthen his hold on this year's world championship. hamilton's controlled drive from pole ensured a fourth win for him in singapore, adding to the successes he's had there in 2009, 2014 and 2017. max verstappen finished second while hamilton's title rival sebastian vettel finished third. it means hamilton now has a 40—point lead over the ferrari driver

in the championship with six races to go. we had a great start. the team were just never giving up faith and belief in me and in valtteri bottas and our ability. it's a real blessing because it was a long race. simon yates has completed a clean sweep of british victories in this year's grand tours with victory in the vuelta a espana. the 26—year—old michelton—scott rider crossed the line safely at the end of today's processional stage in madrid. chris froome and geraint thomas had already won the giro d'italia and tour de france respectively this year. really just enjoy the reallyjust enjoy the moment. i don't know what else to do in that situation. trying to take it in as best as possible. i was nervous, i'm not very good at doing the speeches.

my not very good at doing the speeches. my habitat is on the bike, in the stages. kenya's eliud kipchoge smashed the marathon world record after outclassing the field in berlin with a time of two hours, one minute 39 seconds. the 33—year—old took nearly one minute 20 seconds off the previous best which was set by his compatriot dennis kimetto. kipchoge won the london marathon for a third time earlier this year and is also the olympic champion over the distance. i am happy and i can say, i always want to leave a legacy. everything is possible. iran 2:00 in monza. so everything is possible. no man is limited. in golf, angela stanford has won her first major title after a dramatic victory at the evian championship in france as fellow american amy olson double—bogeyed the last. olson was a shot clear of clubhouse leader stanford going down the par—four 18th, but finished with a six. that meant a three—under—par 68 on the final day brought victory

for ao—year—old stanford, who finished on 12 under. and it's safe to say it was an overwhelming moment for the golfer. i have no idea whatjust happened. i'm grateful. i'm so happy for everybody at home, everybody that has always stood for me. the mean everything to me. in football, everton lost for the first time under manager marco silva as west ham picked up their first points of the premier league season with a 3—1win at goodison park. relief for west ham manager manuel pellegrini who finally watched his side win. the three points are enough to move the londoners off the bottom of the table. marko arnautovic scored their third goal. taking their place

at the bottom of the table is burnley, who were beaten earlier by newly promoted wolves 1-0. it's more that a fog drops onto the group. sometimes that flow of playing with outback clear mindedness, it becomes unclear and we have that at the moment. it is ha rd to resist we have that at the moment. it is hard to resist the outside noise when you are a player. we have to see how way through that. —— our way through that. that's all the sport for now. a reminder of the breaking news, reports that two people have fallen ill after eating in a restaurant in salisbury, the english town where the former russian spy and his daughter were poisoned in march. more details on that as we get it. good evening.

last week felt like autumn because we had chilly mornings and some mist and fog. this week, we turn our attention to autumnal gales and circling rain. we've had some rain meandering southwards through the weekend, but we're turning our attention to this massive cloud out in the atlantic which is ex—hurricane helene. so it's got some tropical air mixed in amongst that low pressure system, so it will enhance the rains. it will give us some autumnal gales as well, particularly through monday night and into tuesday, but interestingly it'll also give us more warmth in the south. temperatures will return to the mid—20s, especially across england and wales, and not only will it warm up — it'll be quite humid both by day and by night. so it does look as if the south in the next few days will see some of the driest and the warmest weather. but, as we saw with those low pressures around, there will be some heavy rain and at times some autumnal gales. and by wednesday it looks very windy as well — in the north—west we could have severe gales. back to the here and now,

and our weak weather front continuing its progress southwards, to give some misty, damp conditions here. to the north, it clears up but some mist and fog at low levels and a fairly chilly night, i suppose, compared with what's to come. but already rain building across the south and west of ireland, and through monday that will push northwards across northern ireland into much of central and northern scotland. while for england and wales, despite a little misty damp weather, even some fog first thing monday, it looks like it will brighten up, plenty of hazy sunshine, and it will warm up as well. even with more cloud further north we're into the high teens, but in southern and eastern areas we could have the mid—20s quite easily, especially in the sunshine. as the sun goes down we will have those winds escalating further, pushing further heavy rain across the west of the country, gales through the irish sea affecting parts of northern england, wales, the south—west, and possibly parts of southern scotland. and look at the temperatures, really a remarkably mild night. temperatures akin to what they should be during the day at this time of year.

winds easing slightly eventually on tuesday but windy across the board, wet for northern and western areas. some rain as well will affect parts of england and wales. but as i mentioned we have more rather stormy weather to come this week as well. as soon as we say goodbye to that low—pressure area this one could bring even windier weather, particularly further north. bye— bye. this is bbc world news. the headlines. typhoon mangkhut, the strongest storm of the year, has left a trail of destruction in hong kong, injuring 200 people, and is now lashing coastal areas of mainland china. the storm has already left 59 people dead in the philippines, mostly due to landslides caused by heavy flooding. many remote areas remain cut off. president rodrigo duterte has been offering his sympathy to victims. two people have fallen ill at a restaurant in salisbury, the uk town where a former russian spy and his daughter were poisoned in march. police have cordoned

off surrounding roads, while they investigate the cause of the illness.