welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is martin stanford. our top stories — lack of equipment hinders the search for survivors in indonesia after the earthquake and tsunami that left more than 800 people dead. as aid supplies trickle in, many desperate residents resort to looting. translation: we need to eat. we don't have any other choice, we must get food. s translation: we have nothing for our basic needs. food, water, we desperately need them. and, macedonia's prime minister says he will seek parliamentary approval to change the country's name despite the low turn—out in a referendum. hello.

the indonesian authorities are digging mass graves for hundreds of victims of the earthquake and tsunami that hit the island of sulawesi on friday. the death toll currently stands at over 800, but officials are warning thousands may have perished. the quake, with a magnitude of 7.5, struck to the north of the island and was followed by a deadly tsunami along the coast. the closest town to the epicentre is the heavily populated fishing area of donggala, with over 300,000 people. rescuers have yet to reach it. further south, in the city of palu, over 820 people have been confirmed dead. 0ur correspondent rebecca henschke is one of the first foreign correspondents to reach palu, where rescuers are still searching through the wreckage to try to find any more sui’vivoi’s — and she sent this report. up to 50 people are believed to be still under the rubble of the roa roa hotel here in palu city. rescue workers are trying to find survivors. with no heavy building

equipment available, they're using whatever they have. cries of help had been heard from the rubble. in this case, it came too late. presidentjoko widodo has visited the area, promising to speed up the aid operation. hundreds of military personnel have been deployed, and some of the most vulnerable are getting help. those left behind are struggling. and, with aid only nowjust trickling in, desperate residents are taking matters into their own hands. translation: we need to eat. we don't have any other choice, we must get food. translation: we're in a crisis. we have nothing for our basic needs. food, water — we desperately need them. desperate relatives are flocking to the area to try to find out

the fate of loved ones. this lady hasn't heard from her son and daughter. translation: i'm going out of my mind. i don't know where my children are. i'm going crazy with worry about them. i have no news at all. she still has a long way to go to reach palu. we arrive after hours waiting for landslides to be cleared. people that i'm meeting here are saying that they haven't received any of that promised aid. the houses behind me that have been completely destroyed by the quake, those families are now camping out in tents, salvaging what they could for their homes. but they say they have only limited supplies to last into the coming days, and are breaking down in tears when i ask them about how they're coping. all along this coast road from the left and the right, for metres in, is all rubble. all these families have

fled to higher ground. those that didn't flee in time were caught up in those waves, and the death toll here is expected to rise. i've been to the hospital near here, that is struggling to cope with the injured, and many people are still missing, unable to find their families. the bodies from this area are lined up at the nearby health clinic. doctors say that, in this muslim—majority country, they will be buried in a mass grave soon, to stop the spread of diseases. translation: they are starting to smell. we want to wait for relatives to pick them up, but we can't wait any longer. this five—year—old girl was found alone with a broken leg. she knows her name, but herfamily is missing, and she can't remember where she lived. doctors are doing what they can to look after her. rebecca henschke, bbc news, palu, sulawesi. well our correspondent,

nick beake is in the indonesian capitaljakarta, from where the aid response is being coordinated. he sent this update. this is the military airport where the relief effort is being co—ordinated. and beyond the security, they are loading up another plane. they're packing it full of the essentials for trying to sustain life — water, food and medicine. they are also putting in equipment for trying to find any more sui’vivoi’s. one thing they don't have, though, is time. this is already a desperate race. some aid has already been dispatched. we think more will go in the coming hours. also trying to get to the worst—hit areas are those relatives who have heard nothing from their loved ones. we met one man tonight who said his six—year—old daughter was due to be dancing at a festival on the beach where the tsunami struck. the family car has been found, but his daughter and his wife have not been, and that is just one of many personal stories

which is propelling this huge effort. some emergency teams trying to reach the disaster area are currently using the regional capital of southern sulawesi, makassar, as a staging post. from there, it's just over one hour by plane to palu but as our correspondent mariko 0i reports, flights have been severely disrupted. this is where many organisations are basing themselves to send supplies, crucial supplies like water and food, to palu, which is to the north of the island, to those survivors of the earthquake and tsunami. you can see the airport behind me. this is as close as we could get last night. understandably, the airport in palu has been shut for commercial flights, to give the priority to chartered planes and helicopters to deliver those supplies. so our team, who managed to get to palu, drove four hours

to get there. indonesia, of course, is prone to these earthquakes. 0nly several months ago, in early august, many earthquakes struck the island of lombok, as well as a very popular tourist destination, bali, killing hundreds of people. and many of our viewers would remember the earthquake and the tsunami in 2004, which killed hundreds of thousands of people in indonesia alone. that is because the country lies in what is known as the ring of fire, where the majority of the world's earthquakes take place. and yet in some parts of the country, especially in the poorer part of the country, like palu, they don't have the money to build buildings strong enough to survive these earthquakes. it was very telling during the lombok earthquake, in august, that many international hotels, for example, managed to survive the earthquake, and yet many of the local residents‘ homes were destroyed. selina sumbung is chairperson of save the children's partner in indonesia and shejoins me now from jakarta.

i see the government is now prepared to a cce pt i see the government is now prepared to accept offers of help. what is the priority? what is needed, as far as you understand it? we are entering into day three and the biggest challenge for us and the relief agencies still remain access. the airport remained shut to commercial traffic. we have an emergency response team en route from makassar which should arrived at midday. it shows how hard it is to get to the ground. have you or anyone heard from the town of donggala? we remain very concerned about remote coastal communities such as donggala. no one has been able to reach them including the military and we fear that many will remain unaccounted for including thousands of children. said these

are difficult conditions for your teams to work in? presumably, they need to take in all of their own supplies including power and fuel? currently, our team is bringing their own power lines generated. —— powerlines and generators. we believe that donggala is unreachable u nless we believe that donggala is unreachable unless we use heavy equipment, working with the military. and the hazardous conditions, if there are are large number of bodies left uncovered, that presents real medical challenges to your workers. correct. right now, our initial response team is composed of emergency response team leaders as well as technical experts who can advise the government in terms of child protection needs, child health needs and psychosocial and trauma support. all of these things will be in short supply. it would be a

chaotic situation for several days yet, surely? yes, our stock relief is being positioned and sent for distribution but it may be days before it arrives. 0ur distribution but it may be days before it arrives. our team will have to handle what they can on the ground right now. what are you hearing from authorities about the warning system? hearing from authorities about the warning system ? we hearing from authorities about the warning system? we heard that the warning system? we heard that the warning system? we heard that the warning system hadn't been kept up to date. many people didn't know this was going to strike. tsunami warning was issued prior to it hitting land. the —— they may have downplayed the size and impact. it could be due to unique geology and the fault line but i am not in next. surely the government will be looking into this to learn and understand what happened in order to avoid in the future. it is the case, of course, that all of the islands

around there are vulnerable to this particular activity. for an aid agency, what can you do? we have several area offices across the nation. they also have warehouses. we continue to replenish our stock and improve preparedness for all of our team so they can respond in a minutes' notice. let's get some of the day's other news. reports in the us and canadian media say u.s. president donald trump has approved a deal to update nafta — the north american free trade agreement. this comes after months of talks between canadian and the us representatives. 0n the news, the canadian dollar soared to a four month high. a mexican source says they're close to agreeing a trilateral deal. two people have been killed

and more than 120 people were injured by typhoon trami which struck japan over the weekend. the storm has now cleared the mainland but it's aftermath has brought travel chaos to several cities. galeforce winds and heavy rainfall caused damage that blocked roads and train lines and over three quarters of a million homes in and around tokyo have been left without power. a south korean mp says the number of defectors leaving the north for the south has fallen sharply since kim jong—un came to power. park byeong—seug said official records showed the number decreasing by almost 60% since 2011. he said tighter controls on the border between china and north korea were a key factor. macedonia's prime minister says he will seek parliamentary approval to change the country's name to resolve a dispute with greece, despite the low turn—out in a referendum. electoral authorities say little more than a third of macedonians had voted — well short of the 50%

needed for it to be valid. the bbc‘s guy delauney says it's a big setback for the government. it was the key to opening up a whole new path for macedonia's development — certainly according to the government, and frankly, for a lot of the population as well. for all these years, 27 years since macedonia declared its independence, greece has wielded a veto over its potential membership of nato and the european union. and that obviously has ramifications for the country's security, economic prosperity, and reforms which would notjust end corruption, but improve the judiciary and education and health services. it was a high—stakes referendum. the government tried to make that argument but it seems they were only preaching to the converted. if we think the turnout would have been somewhere between 35% and a0%, well, that is pretty much the proportion of voters who would have voted for mr zaev‘s party anyway. what seems to have been extremely successful was a campaign to boycott the vote which was organised by the leading opposition party, vmro. and as a result, of the people

who voted, about 90% of those voted in favour of the name change. but most stayed away from the polls, and it has been a devastatingly effective tactic, the boycott, it would seem. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: britain's prime minister urges her conservative party to come together and back her plan for brexit. in all russia's turmoil, it has never come to this. president yeltsin said the day would decide the nation's destiny. the nightmare that so many people had feared for so long is playing out its final act here. russians are killing russians in front of a grandstand audience. it was his humility which produced affection from catholics throughout the world, but his departure is a tragedy for the catholic church. israel's right—winger, ariel sharon,

visited the religious compound, and that started the trouble. he wants israel alone to have sovereignty over the holy sites — an idea that's unthinkable to palestinians. after 45 years of division, germany is one. in berlin, a million germans celebrate the rebirth of europe's biggest and richest nation. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: lack of equipment is hindering the search for survivors in indonesia, after the earthquake and tsunami that left more than 800 people dead. aid supplies have started to reach sulawesi, but many desperate residents have turned to looting shops for food, water and fuel.

so what has caused this devastating earthquake and tsunami? well, indonesia sits on what is known as the ring of fire, an area home to 90% of the world's earthquakes and 75% of its volcanoes. in the last few months, there had been over 30 tremors in the region a day. so did the early warning system fail? richard lister reports. this ring of fire around the pacific sees most of the world's seismic activity. there are some 80 geological faultlines running through indonesia alone. and this one, which triggered friday's earthquake, is the most active. it runs right through the town of palu, so people here were well aware of the threat. but this footage shows that, even as the waves surged towards palu, people were still driving along the seafront, either unaware or heedless of the danger. so why did the warning systems fail?

a tsunami alarm network was put in place around indonesia after the devastating tsunami in 200a. the system relies on a series of sensors on the sea bed. when a sensor detects an earthquake, it assesses the threat and sends the data to a buoy floating on the surface. that buoy then alerts a satellite, which transmits a warning to officials on the ground. but, in 2016, it was revealed that none of indonesia's warning buoys were working, due to damage by fishermen or a lack of maintenance. a replacement system has been delayed by a lack of funding. other, more basic sensors are still in place, and the authorities say before the waves rolled in, warnings were sent out using sirens and text messages. but the earthquake cut power, disabling sirens and damaging communications towers too. the warnings didn't get through to everyone. what's more, the remaining sensors had picked up a tidal wave ofjust

six centimetres, but as it was squeezed by this narrow inlet, that wave grew to a height of up to six metres. no—one in palu knew the scale of what was coming until it was too late. here in the uk, the british prime minister, theresa may, has urged her conservative party to come together and back her plan for brexit. speaking at the start of the party's annual conference in birmingham, she rejected comments from the former foreign secretary borisjohnson, who described her path for leaving the eu as deranged and preposterous. she insisted her so—called chequers plan was in the national interest, and she called on the eu to make counter—proposals. this report from our political editor laura kuenssberg contains some flash photography. boo! arguments over brexit aren't over. we know the struggle. bullocks to brexit! the volume rising... go and live there, if you like it so much.

..as the tories get together here. because, in the next few weeks, the kind of brexit we get will be decided. the kind of future theresa may faces might be settled, too. so she started, against a backdrop of noise, with a simple plea. my message to my party is, let's come together and get the best dealfor britain. i do believe in brexit but, crucially, i believe in delivering brexit in a way that respects the vote and delivers on the vote of the british people, while also protecting our union, protecting jobs, and ensuring that we make a success of brexit for the future. chuck chequers. there is a big push here to ditch her so—called chequers compromise plan, where parts of the economy stay under eu rules. but a blast at the continent from the platform from the foreign secretary — take britain's proposal seriously,

or rue the day. if you turn the eu club into a prison, the desire to get out of it won't diminish. it'll grow, and we won't be the only prisoner that will want to escape. applause. 0n the edges, here, a full—throated cry for a brexit very difficult to what the government is agonising over. this is not the queue to see a serving minister speak from the platform. this is the queue, right around this conference centre, to hear disgruntled brexiteers explain why the prime minister has to ditch her chequers plan. it is not only a dying duck in a thunderstorm. it is the deadest dying duck in any thunderstorm in recent history. applause. agony over europe has been the talk of tory conferences for years. agony this week will be over exactly how we leave. but the negotiations are, remember, in their closing stages.

privately, cabinet ministers say it is crazy to imagine the government could dramatically shift course. but here, this week, mps and some party members will still try their hardest. the prime minister is intent on finding our way out of the european union. but in the next few days, as in the next few weeks, that is not just about charting a way through for the eu, but about securing her place with her party. no—one is sitting comfortably, here. the german chancellor, angela merkel, has warned the us president against making further attacks on the united nations. she made her comments after donald trump's recent speech at the un, in which he said he rejected the ideology of globalism. translation: the current us president thinks that multilateralism is not the answer to our problems,

and assumes that there can only be one winner in any given situation. who, unlike me, does not believe in win—win situations. the united nations was founded in the ruins of the second world war, and yes, it is not perfect. but, ladies and gentlemen, to destroy something without having built a replacement, that is highly dangerous. swimmers in senegal have splashed into waters off the capital, dakar, to race to a former slave hub. the annual dak‘go open water event invites professional and amateur swimmers from all over the world to cross the infamous channel as fast as they can. georgina smythe reports. 0n the shores of dakar, senegal, a quick dash across the atlantic. a sea of arms and legs swimming a 5 km channel to the island of gore. it is an idyllic spot off the most westerly point of africa, but it has a dark past. for 400 years, it was the largest slave trading centre on the african coast. slaves used to swim the route back to the mainland to escape captivity. slave ships used to dock

near the finish line. now, it is the domain of energy drink sponsors and race winners. translation: it's the third time that i've won the dakar—goree race. last year, i was surprised that i finished second, so today i'm happy that i came first. the 31st annual swim attracted competitors from around the world and hundreds of spectators from across the city. for locals, the swim is both a nod to the area's history and an expression of their love for the ocean. translation: in the morning, we go to the swimming pool, and in the evening, we go to train at the beach, for the children to get used to swimming in the sea. because there'll be waves, currents, and the children will have to deal with that, so they need to get used to swimming in open water. georgina smythe, bbc news. now, monday10ctober is china's national day, and to get into the spirit

of the event, several cities across china have been staging these amazing light shows. this is just a flavour of what was on offer. in shenzhen, more than a million led lights were installed on the skyscrapers to illuminate the night sky. most people in china will be on holiday for what is known as the golden week, which this year marks the 69th anniversary of the founding of the people's republic. and before we go, just a reminder of the devastation caused by the tsunami in indonesia's sulawesi island. these images were filmed on sunday above palu, one of the coastal towns near the epicentre of the tremor. you can see just how much damage the huge force of the seawater caused as it swept ashore. rescue teams have been working for several days to try to clear the debris, hoping to find more survivors. 0fficials

officials in indonesia have accepted international efforts to try and bring more help into their country and more expertise to effect the clean—up. and a reminder of our breaking story this hour: canada and the united states are reported to have reached a deal to reform the north american free trade agreement after last—minute negotiations. the canadian prime minister, justin trudeau, has been discussing the details with his cabinet in a late—night meeting. the agreement is reported to include greater access for us farmers to canada's dairy market. the trump administration had already struck a deal with mexico, the third party in nafta, and had set today as a deadline for canada to agree new terms. hello there.

with plenty of showers around across the northern half of the uk yesterday, and south—west england, we had a number of rainbows spotted by our weather watchers. this was one of these, from woolacombe, in devon. thanks to gazzledazzle for sending us that in. fewer rainbows around, but there will be more in the way of sunshine. but it's going to be a cold start. patchy frost in the countryside for scotland and northern england over the next few hours. if you're heading outside, wrap up warm. just two or three degrees there for newcastle and for edinburgh. so a ridge of high pressure with us first thing on monday, but we do have an approaching low that will ultimately bring some rain into the north—west. so enjoy the sunshine first thing in the morning. there should be plenty of that to go around. it's probably going to be the sunniest day of the week ahead, to be honest. things will tend to cloud over from the north and west as the day goes by, and watch out for a few showers continuing to feed into the irish sea coasts, perhaps into cheshire, greater manchester, merseyside, on and off through the day. we'll have more general rain push

into scotland and maybe northern ireland, as we head through the afternoon, the winds picking up. relatively cool air with us, top temperatures about 15 degrees. but that cool air is moved away by this wodge of milder air as we go on through monday night and into tuesday. now, that's all associated with a warm sector, with the warmest of the air across england and wales for tuesday. this is how tuesday starts — a very mild note. temperatures 1a degrees or so to start the day in belfast. but it will be cloudy. there'll be bits and pieces of rain and drizzle, particularly around western coasts and hills, where it may well stay quite damp. the cloud will break at times across eastern areas to get some brighter or sunny spells. a much warmer day, actually, across south—east england, with highs of 20. we're still into the cool air, northern england, northern ireland and scotland. temperatures for these areas more typically around 12—14 degrees. another warm front moves into the uk on wednesday, again bringing more rain with it to the north—west of scotland. could be quite heavy at times. a lot of cloud, you'll

notice, on the charts. still quite mild in the south, little change further north, with temperatures around 12 or 13 celsius. what about thursday's weather prospects? well, we get a more active weather front moving into north—western parts of the country, so turning soggy for northern ireland and scotland, with some heavy rain. the winds picking up here. perhaps a little bit of rain getting across the hills of northern england and north wales. however, it should stay dry and bright towards the south—east. highs of 19 in london. still quite cool, then, for northern scotland, with 12 in stornoway. so looking at the weather for the rest of this week, it's often going to be pretty cloudy. there'll be some rain at times, particularly in the north—west, and it'll be quite breezy at times too. that's your weather. this is bbc news. the headlines — dozens of people are thought to be trapped under rubble in the indonesian city of palu after the earthquake and tsunami that left more than 800 people dead. aftershocks and a lack of equipment have hindered the search for survivors. typhoon trami has made landfall in japan injuring at least 80 people. more than three quarters of a million homes near the western city of osaka have lost power.

there's been a low turnout in macedonia on a referendum whether to change the country's name to north macedonia. electoral authorities say little more than a third of macedonians voted — well short of the 50% needed for it to be valid. macedonia's prime minister says he'll continue to push for a yes vote — which could pave the way to membership of the eu and nato. now on bbc news, hardtalk‘s stephen sackur speaks to yanis varoufakis.