welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: the un says more than 190,000 people in indonesia who survived friday's earthquake and tsunami now need help urgently. as the rescue operation struggles, we report from palu, where food and fuel are in increasingly short supply. supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh is accused of lying under oath about heavy drinking. president trump now says he does want a comprehensive fbi investigation. unprecedented pollution on english beaches. the discovery of millions of plastic pellets highlights a global problem. united nations officials estimate at least a 190,000 people in indonesia urgently need help, after friday's

earthquake and tsunami. rescue teams are calling for heavy lifting equipment, and more qualified staff, to search for survivors. we start our coverage in palu, one of the areas worst—affected. rebecca henschke sent this report. from above, you get a sense of the scale of the destruction here in palu, and the huge task for rescue workers. in palu, more than a8,000 people are unable to return to their homes, many of which lie in rubble. this used to be a road. the residents say the ground rose several metres, swallowing homes and leaving huge rifts along it. translation: the soil somehowjust rose up and buried the houses. in my heart i said, if this is the time i die, what more can i do? ijust prayed to god. when the huge waves hit the coast,

this woman picked up two youngest children and ran. translation: we were running for our lives, the waves chasing us. it was a race between us and the waves. it's like a bad dream. when is help going to arrive? when will the government pay attention to us? they're turning to creative ways to get their plea for help out. her family has painted this sign that says, "pray for palu, we miss our home and we need help," in an attempt to try and get attention from passers—by. this town enters its fourth day without power and clean water, people are getting desperate. the city is almost out of petrol, with people queueing for hours for what little is left. there is no electricity. there's no signal, communication. and even, you know, gas.

everyone is queueing for this, and especially supply of food is very limited, you know. desperate people are now trying to salvage anything of worth from the debris, and today there has been more looting, as people take what they need. this was a building shop, so people have been coming in to take equipment from it. you can see things like children's doonas and pillows also amongst the rubble. residents say there are also dead bodies here, that they can't retrieve, and there is a smell of decaying corpses in the air. up in the hills, authorities have dug mass graves, enough for thousands of bodies, in an attempt to stop the spread of disease. as things worsen, people are desperately trying to get out, crowds flooding the small, damaged airport in palu, hoping to get on limited military

and commercial flights to nearby cities. rebecca henschke, bbc news, palu. 0ur south east asia correspondentjonathan head is also in palu. he gave us his assessment of the relief effort there. the areas hit by the wave arejust appalling. i mean, just dreadful sort of scenes of absolute, complete and total destruction. i think there needs to be a more systematic effort by the authorities, if they are going to find people who might still be alive. it's all a bit haphazard. there aren't really enough people here, there aren't clearly people in charge. there are lots of volunteers coming in, but in terms of a functioning town, palu has ceased to function at all. there's no normal services, and the living themselves are without absolutely anything. i mean, it's extraordinary to meet people rushing up to your car and begging you for water.

there is no drinking water. they've got no power. it is absolutely desperate. i mean, part of the problem is this is a very, very isolated place, and it took me 21 hours to drive here today. the airport, as rebecca said, is damaged. it's very hard to get aid in, and yet you would think, by now, the government would be prioritising some absolute basic essentials. we're not seeing very much of it. there are an awful lot of people being left completely on their own, and there is a very, very desperate atmosphere here. people really feel abandoned. i think they willjudge the government very harshly if it can't speed things up. there is always this complaint, every time there's a disaster, about aid. but this one, it does feel that very little has been done up to now. the bbc‘s mariko 0i is trying to get to palu, she's currently in pasang kayu and sent this update. well, we started driving from the city of makassar, in the south of the island, driving for around 20 hours. it is taking a lot longer

than we expected but we finally arrived at this police station, where we are waiting for instructions on how to be escorted into palu and that is because of reported looting. survivors of the earthquake and tsunami are desperate for food and water and there have been reports that some of the cars going into the area have been looted, so we're waiting for the escort into the area. we are still 200 kilometres away from palu, so it is still going to take several hours to get there. but along the way, babita, i saw some of the infrastructure, i guess, of indonesia's countryside, which could be quite similar to what we had in palu, some of the houses built by wood and brick, so very modestly built even along the coastline, probably not strong enough to withstand a strong earthquake or tsunami. so we have been witnessing that. but at the same time we also saw people standing on the streets, collecting donations with the hashtag "pray for palu," so we will continue this journey for several hours. peter walton, the international director at the australian red cross joins me live from

melbourne australia. to the this disaster, communities and the people are literally nothing left? clearly this will be a massive and long—term humanitarian risk response leading into a longer term recovery. the focus of the red cross internationally shrunk to mobilise the support for the immediate concerns, which are search and rescue, trying to get to as many survivors as possible and the first responders of red cross are reaching more and more remote areas of the thankfully, but it really is a race against time. just today, many volu nteers against time. just today, many volunteers found dozens of people who perished in a small village holed up in a church. that is our focus. clearly shifting into medical assistance, but as you have

reported, the real focus assistance, but as you have reported, the realfocus on assistance, but as you have reported, the real focus on getting clea n reported, the real focus on getting clean water, getting essential supplies, shelter not only to the major impacted areas, but across the whole region. many of the areas have not reached yet. it is a huge challenge, but of upmost importance immediately. our correspondence have been talking about how hard it is to get heavy lifting equipment in with the roads damaged, lots of volu nteers the roads damaged, lots of volunteers but maybe not enough leadership. eating the chances are ross finding more survivors? —— what do you think. —— what you think the chances are of finding more survivors? we have to be hopeful, there are stories of people surviving after being under rubble for several days. we will continue to focus on that. as the time goes by, the hope starts to diminish. they are a resilient community, so much more needs to be done, finding ways of getting heavy machinery into remote areas will be difficult, but it isa

remote areas will be difficult, but it is a priority. we are talking about often very isolated areas, very re m ote about often very isolated areas, very remote areas and communication lines are down, transportation is very difficult. so there is no easy fix here. there is a massive international effort mobilised as we speak to that we can provide more support to indonesia and the indonesian government authorities. very briefly, what are you short of? what you need more of at the moment? lets hope the right people are listening. we are focused on getting the right technical specialist to areas, like shelter, emergency help. across the globe, the red cross is launching global appeals to provide financial support, the best way to enable large organisations like ours to prioritise getting the right aid to prioritise getting the right aid to write places as quickly as possible. thank you so much. -- to the right places.

president trump has now said he does want a comprehensive fbi investigation into historic allegations of sexual assault againstjudge brett kavanaugh, the man he's nominated for a seat on the us supreme court. judge kavanaugh faces allegations of assault by several women, which he's denied, but now a former classmate of his has said he was not telling the truth about his drinking in the past. jon sopel reports from washington. after the traumatic "she said," and the defiant "he said," and the bitter division over the nomination of brett kavanaugh to the supreme court, the fbi has now been given a week to investigate the allegations. but at a rose garden news conference, the president was repeatedly asked, would investigators be free to talk to whoever they liked? i think the fbi should interview anybody that they want, within reason. but you have to say, "within reason." they should interview,

but they should also be guided, and i'm being guided, by what the senators are looking for, because they have to make the choice. and the president told me he still had an open mind on judge kavanaugh. mr president, if the fbi does find something, and brett kavanaugh falls, is there a plan b? i don't want to talk about plan b, ‘cause i think — i hope that he gets approved. i hope that the report comes out, like i really think it should. ithink it will, i hope, i hope. but i'm waiting, just like you. certainly if they find something, i'm going to take that into consideration, absolutely. i have a very open mind. a prosecutor engaged by the republicans on the committee to question dr christine blasey ford has written to senators saying that, in her legaljudgement, because of the "he said, she said" nature of the claims... sometimes i probably had too many beers, and sometimes other people had too many beers. we drank beer, we liked beer. but a college mate of brett kavanaugh has also come

forward to say that the judge wasn't being honest when he spoke under oath about his drinking. and, on the subject of drinking, the teetotal president cracked a joke at his own expense. i can honestly say i never had a beer in my life, 0k? it's one of my only good traits — i don't drink. can you imagine, if i had, what a mess i'd be? would i be — i'd be the world's worst. the supreme court opened a new session today, still one person short, still far from clear that brett kava naugh will be the ninth justice. for more on this, i'm joined by julia manchester, reporterfor the hill. good to talk to you again. for

people who are not on the inside of this, this is notjust political infighting, not just the this, this is notjust political infighting, notjust the washington beltway stuff. this is crucial. the political balance of the supreme court can affect direction of the us for a generations. absolutely. there area for a generations. absolutely. there are a lot of americans who are opposed to brett kavanaugh before this came out. we saw that he had extremely low approval ratings before these allegations came out, but a lot of democrats argued that his presence on the court could change the direction of major supreme court rulings, such as the law which essentially legalises abortion in the us. this is the —— the second conservative justice that trump wants to dominate could change the balance on the high court. where do you think this is heading? it's it still more likely than not that brett kava naugh will it still more likely than not that brett kavanaugh will be confirmed? it is hard to tell at this point. it

hinges on three republican senators who are moderate and are swing vote is might get wake, susan collins and lisa makowski. the three of these judges wanted and investigation into the allegations before the confirmation was called for a full senate vote. we saw last week that his boat was moved through the judiciary committee. now he needs to get through the full senate. mitch mcconnell has said that he would like to have a full vote on despite the end of the week, but the issue with that is that the fbi investigation would have too wrapped up investigation would have too wrapped upa investigation would have too wrapped up a wednesday in that case. that would be a very short investigation. we have seen makowski and collins have asked that as much information, out of this as possible. republicans are ina out of this as possible. republicans are in a tricky situation. it also comes before the mid—term elections in november. president trump has promised to confirm more

conservative justices on the court, however if you doesn't get this conservative justice, back at an republicans off. however, if he does nominate brett kavanaugh, this could impact things as they stand, all of white collared suburban women who have increasingly moved away from the conservative party towards the democrats could be influenced like this in november. thank you so much for that. thank you for being with us. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: a year after america's worst mass shooting, we return to las vegas and speak to survivors about gun culture. i used to watch these shootings on tv before it happened to me. it is another level to have gone through one. and then to have it happen, it

is like a punch in the soul. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: un officials estimate at least 190,000 people who survived friday's earthquake and tsunami in indonesia now need help urgently. us supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh has been accused of lying under oath about heavy drinking. president trump has now said he does want a comprehensive fbi investigation. i don't think everybody got those last time. un officials estimate at least 190,000 people who survived friday's earthquake and tsunami in indonesia now need help urgently. us supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh has been accused of lying under oath about heavy drinking. president trump has now said he does want a comprehensive fbi investigation. it's a year since 58 people

were killed in america's worst mass shooting. in las vegas, a man opened fire on crowds at a country music festival. clive myrie has returned to the city to speak to some of the 400 people who were shot in the incident and survived. no other modern democracy venerates the gun as highly as america, and no other country pays such a heavy price. the bullet went through my chest, into my stomach, my liver, my spleen. there was so much shrapnel in my right eye that it broke the machine that they were suctioning it outwith. i can hear the sounds, i can feel the bullets. the bullets were six inches from my head. this is a story not about the dead, but about those who lived. meet rosemarie mela nson, survivor of the worst mass shooting in american history. for close to a year her home has been this hospital room,

because of a gunman‘s bullet. there are times when i thought, i don't have the strength, because sometimes i felt so weak and my husband stayed, he is the one who gave me the strength to get through, because there are so many nights and days i didn't know, because i didn't feel good. it was a present from her daughters. an evening at a country music festival. gunshots, panic, a man high up in a hotel nearby is firing round after round. he kills 58, but for every minute he is firing he injures a0 more. ten minutes pass before he stops. the dead are buried and mourned, yet the injured carry a special burden, as do those they love, like rosemarie's husband steve.

yes, i needed to remove a small piece of her intestines. rosemarie's doctor matthewjohnson understands the continuing traumas. their whole lives get changed, and that doesn't even include the psychological injuries that they sustain. and, i mean, it can affect your whole way of life. you can't work the normaljob that you used to work. if you don't have disability insurance, then, i mean, you could end up on the streets. i arrived in las vegas the day after the shooting to report on the tragedy last year, and many of the billboards here on the main strip were carrying words of condolence. by the time i left, 48 hours later, those words had disappeared and it was back to selling as usual. you're looking at live pictures there of broward county, florida, where there is an active shooter... people die, and america moves on. but some can't do that.

i used to watch these shootings on tv, before it happened to me. it is another level to have gone through one, and then to have it happen, it's like a punch in the soul. with every mass shooting, lisa revisits that night in vegas. it knocks you back again, and you can feel it, you can see it, smell it, all of it. and knowing like the sadness of knowing what those victims are going to go through. the many tens of thousands injured every year in gun—related incidents are america's dirty secret. they live changed, quiet lives, paying the price for this country's love affair with guns. clive myrie, bbc news, in las vegas. here in the uk, millions of small plastic pellets have been discovered on a beach near portsmouth on the south coast. it isn't clear where the microplastics have come from but experts warn they can release toxins with potentially

devastating effects for marine life. duncan kennedy reports from hayling island beach. they're called nurdles. tiny plastic pellets that have washed up in their thousands on hayling island. so many, in fact, that volunteers here have collected more than 20 sacks full of them. millions of them, and we couldn't physically sit here and pick them all up... despite that, one volunteer, bianca carr, says the nurdles keep appearing. to give you an idea ofjust how bad the problem is here, take a look at this jar. in one small section of beach, two metres by two metres, one volunteer spent two hours collecting all these, and found a total of about 1000 of these nurdles. no—one knows where these tiny white beads have come from. we're horrified by what we saw, in terms of all of these tiny, tiny plastic nurdles,

which are about the size of a lentil and they're used in plastic manufacturing. they are everywhere around here. all around the shoreline. nurdles are melted and moulded into everything from bottles to bin liners but one survey found that through spillage and accidents, they found their way onto nearly 75% of britain's beaches. the vast clusters found on hampshire's shoreline coincided with a bbc documentary on plastic pollution. it showed this indonesian river choking in plastic. oh, look at that, yeah, the size of that.... while on howe island, off australia, came these disturbing images of what birds are ingesting. 0h! look at that. stomach full of plastic. one, two, three, four, five... 16 pieces of plastic. oh, look at that. yeah. six years ago, this wasn't

snow in the pacific, but more nurdles, washed up in a typhoon. volunteers everywhere are cleaning up a worldwide deluge of plastic, but from hong kong... ..to hampshire, ourseas, rivers and oceans remain in a fragile struggle with human activity. duncan kennedy, bbc news, on hayling island. just finally, in india thousands of children took part in the celebration of the life of the hero mahatma gandhi, marking the 150th birthday, he was dressed in the simple loincloth and shawl. thousands joined yoga and meditation sessions, paying tribute to his peaceful, non—violent political campaign to end british rule. just briefly, the main story again, four days after the earthquake and

tsunami hit the indonesian island of sulawesi, anger is increasing among survivors in the worst hit settle m e nts survivors in the worst hit settlements as they wait for aid to reach them. bbc correspondents in palu told us it is desperate as there is no drinking water, no power and apparently no one in charge. many volunteers but no leadership. the government has called for international aid, the government has called for internationalaid, including the government has called for international aid, including air transport assistance and heavy lifting equipment. more than 800 people are confirmed dead, that's the officialfigure, people are confirmed dead, that's the official figure, but it is expected to increase possibly into the thousands. there is great anger about the early warning system which was paid for with all kinds of international cash but it seems was not working in any way at all. it appears that some government departments have been quarrelling about how it was going to be funded. much more of all of the news anytime on the bbc website. hello. after a rather chilly start to october, it will feel a bit warmer for many of us

in the day ahead. there's an area of milder, warmer air that's been moving into the uk between these two weather fronts. but the weather fronts close by mean that there's a good deal of cloud around to begin tuesday, and for some of us it'll be rather damp, particularly from northern ireland into parts of england and wales. this is how it looks for early risers. from north—east england into scotland, though, there'll be some sunshine around to start the day, but there'll be a few showers running through northern scotland on through the day. and even where you begin the cloud, northern ireland, across a large part of england and wales, for many of us it will turn brighter during the day. but we could still see patchy rain, southern parts of northern ireland, north wales, and for some into north—west england and the west midlands. here is the picture at a:00pm in the afternoon, white arrows indicate average wind speeds here for the day. you can see the temperatures, a good few degrees higher than they were on monday for many. the stronger the wind, the further north we get, though. into some sunny spells north—east england and scotland, the black arrows indicate the wind gusts in excess of a0 miles an hour, and near 60 miles an hour

in northern scotland and the northern isles, with those showers rattling on through. but for many of us, it'll be a dry afternoon, brightening up a little bit. some clear skies developing on tuesday night, through particularly the eastern side of the uk. and this is where we'll see the lowest temperatures going into wednesday morning. further west, well, temperatures will be holding up, with an area of cloud producing a bit of patchy rain for northern ireland and into western scotland. let's take a look at wednesday's big picture. high pressure is close by, but running around the north of that, we've got low pressure north of the uk, and a trailing weather front giving some cloud and a bit of patchy rain, particularly into the western side of scotland. and some of that rain may start to turn heavier late in the day, into the north—west in particular. elsewhere, rather cloudy wednesday, some bright or sunny spells developing. probably the best of those will be in eastern england, and temperatures still into the high teens in the warm spots.

now, thursday morning could well start with some fog affecting parts of southern england. it could be dense in places. a rather more active picture in northern ireland and scotland, as another weather front moves in, and some heavy rain beginning to move southwards and eventually into parts of northern england with the wind strengthening once again. just a quick tease as we look towards the weekend. could well have low pressure close by, a chance to see some heavy rain in some spots, and turning a bit cooler too. we'll keep you updated. this is bbc news, the headlines: the un has warned more than 190,000 people in indonesia urgently need help after friday's earthquake and tsunami. rescue teams are calling for heavy lifting equipment, and more qualified staff, to search for survivors.

the death toll is more than 840, but could end up in the thousands. president trump has said he wants a comprehensive fbi investigation into his supreme court nominee brett kava naugh, following multiple allegations of sexual assault. meanwhile, a former classmate of the judge says he's lied under oath about heavy drinking in his past. protesters have clashed with police in barcelona on the first anniversary of a controversial referendum on independence from spain. more than 180,000 demonstrators marched in the city, one of several events staged across catalonia. many tributes have been paid to one of france's most popular