welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: pulled from the rubble after indonesia's earthquake. rescuers are in a race against time, with the death toll now 1,000 and rising. police are struggling to keep control, as thousands grow increasingly desperate. here in palu, emotions are running high, as survivors are still struggling to get hold of basic supplies like food and water. from laser pioneer to nobel prize winner, we meet the woman setting new standards in science. and, after multiple deaths of deep—sea whales, claims that noise pollution from ships and submarines is to blame. hello.

the government of indonesia is racing to find and rescue any remaining survivors of the earthquake and tsunami on the island of sulawesi. the president has ordered military and police reinforcements to the areas worst affected by friday's disaster. but thousands of people are homeless and in need of emergency supplies, and the the number of dead has risen to more than 1,300. 0ur correspondent mariko 0i is in the disaster zone in the city of palu. that's right, mike. i'm standing outside the main mosque, or what used to be the main mosque of the city of palu, where local residents used to come and pray, and also relax by the beach. 0n used to come and pray, and also relax by the beach. on friday afternoon, they were here to gather

to pray, but also many of them were staying back to enjoy the evening by the beach. and that's when the earthquake hit. and of course, only after about 30 minutes later, the tsunami hit the sea just over there, and it completely destroyed the mosque. we started driving from the city of makassar yesterday afternoon. it took us about 30 hours to get to palu. it was quite a long journey. it took a lot longer than expected, because the police had to escort us into the city, because of reports of looting. i keep saying looting, and i feel reports of looting. i keep saying looting, and ifeel really reports of looting. i keep saying looting, and i feel really bad because these are the survivors who are so because these are the survivors who are so desperate for water and food, and we have been asked for it as we came in as well. they are really desperate because it has been four days, and some of them still haven't managed to get those basic supplies. as you mentioned, tens of thousands homeless. we also slept outside last night because of fears of after—shocks. there have been

hundreds of them, and we actually felt one earlier this morning as well. hospitals are overwhelmed. the city is really trying to deal with it, and the suppliers are starting to trickle in, but still a long queue of people queueing up to get access to petrol and so on. jonathan head, our correspondent, has been to the city as well, and he has been speaking to some of the survivors. three days under the ruins of an office building, but he is alive. few of the victims have been as lucky as this 38—year—old man, pulled out after a three—hour rescue operation. many more are still buried in these impossible mountains of rubble. in the city centre, they are trying to open some of the blocked roads. but, from the air, you can see what the indonesian government is up against. this is the village of balaroa, which was literally swallowed by the liquefying ground churned up by the earthquake,

and here in patobo, they were hit by a mudslide. sometimes it seems this city has been hit by a whole series of catastrophes, notjust the earthquake and the tsunami, but in this neighbourhood, a sea of mud that fell down the mountain and has buried all of the houses right up to halfway, and some of the inhabitants too. this man has come back with his youngest son to check what is left of his home. they had a narrow escape. "the mud came down right after the earthquake," he told me. three or four minutes later, he and his familyjust ran, with only the clothes they were wearing. he and his neighbours have salvaged what they can, but it isn't much. they need everything, and they're not getting it yet. so palu's inhabitants are taking matters into their own hands. here, trying to break

into a small supermarket, and then being driven back by police officers, who seemed afraid of being overrun. one hour later, though, the police relented, and the crowd poured into the shop. they did make a token effort to stop non—essential items being looted, but a government unable to help most of these earthquake victims can't really stop them helping themselves. the first real sign of order we saw — this extraordinary line for petrol, each bottle with its own queue number, while its owners sit in the shade for the long hours they will have to wait. jonathan head, bbc news, palu, indonesia. that was jonathan head that wasjonathan head reporting from palu, and getting these

survivors those crucial supplies, food, water and petrol, has been the major challenge. the local airport has been shut for commercial flights. they were open to chartered planes and helicopters bringing in those supplies, but because the airport was damaged by the tsunami, that has been quite damaging to make challenging. and as we experienced ourselves, the road journey is quite long and very challenging as well. the international community has started to offer some help, and the indonesian authorities have been saying things like sanitary facilities, clean water, tents, fuel service, blankets, are still in need, because remember, thousands of people, tens of thousands of people, took refuge in the hills. and they have now been brought back down, but they need all the help they can get. the uk's offer of help should be arriving on thursday. hywel griffith

reports from makassar, where the aid agencies have been organising all of these supplies. desperate for help after days without food, when the aid convoy finally arrived at this camp near donggala, it was "grab what you can." shelter and supplies are getting to some of the 60,000 people forced from their homes, but thousands more are out of reach, with roads turned to rubble. naturally, indonesia's people want to help too. they have been donating boxes of food, water, mountains of clothes. the only problem is getting it to those in need. with the roads impassable, all of this will somehow have to be put on a boat and sailed to the north of the island. it is a frenetic, heartfelt response, but some of these volunteers also feel frustrated. we need more help from the government, because we are human. we need all the help we can get. more help is coming, slowly. the indonesian authorities admit they were not well prepared.

it's not impossible to prepare for disasters like this, but it is very difficult. one of the frustrations for the humanitarian sector is that disasters are treated as surprising events, to which we all have to respond. whereas actually, we mostly know where disasters take place. every aid flight which leaves this air base has returned carrying people fleeing the disaster zone. some clutch their only possesions, others hold onto the hope that missing relatives will be found. this woman told us her two—year—old niece hasn't been seen since friday. "she's too young to speak," she says. the only words she knows are mum and dad. the agony some here feel cannot be quelled, but they need their nation, and the world, to support them. hywel griffith, bbc news, on sulawesi. mariko, you made it very clear how

difficult it is for you and your tea m difficult it is for you and your team to operate there, quite apart from people who have lost absolutely everything. is it clear why the government is having so much difficulty helping people they are, and what impact that has on the chance of any more survivors? well, mike, this city is quite remote, as we have been experiencing ourselves. to get to this city has been a challenge in itself. and also, a lot of people run away to the hills, and they have to be brought down, they had to be told that they were 0k to come down. and it is onlyjust now that we have been hearing from the national disaster agency that they have now been in a camp where they can get some help. and also, we have all the collapsed buildings that needed to be cleared. but when it was so needed to be cleared. but when it was so difficult to get basic supplies like food and water into the town, it was so much harder to

get heavy machinery into this city to get rid of the rouble, to rescue those survivors. people are still continuing to look for their loved ones, hoping that they are still alive, and the rescue operation is continuing. but, as you can imagine, this is definitely a race against time. so the official figure, 1300 people have lost their lives. that figure, then, can only rise, really? yes, the authorities have been warning us from earlier this week that the death toll, the official death toll, is going to rise. that is even on monday or sunday we were told that it could be in the thousands, it could be up to 2000. so that is quite possible, that they are continuing this rescue operation, to make sure, but at the same time to make sure that the survivors get all that they crucially need, because yesterday, as we heard injonathan‘s peace, we

we re as we heard injonathan‘s peace, we were told as we were driving into palu that there were some clashes between the police and local residents, and we were starting to get a bit nervous. as we drove in it was all fine, but as the sun rises it gets unbearably hot, and after losing your loved ones, without having access to water and food, it is quite understandable that you get irritable. and there are of course police officers, military personnel, controlling this city as well, but there's just not enough resources, i think, to manage the whole situation at the moment. wacko one, take care. thank you very much indeed. —— mariko. let's get some of the day's other news: tax officials in the us state of new york say they are vigorously investigating allegations that donald trump helped his family avoid millions of dollars in tax in the 1990s. a report by the new york times accuses the president of participating in what it calls dubious tax schemes, and to hide much of the fortune given to him and his siblings by their parents. a lawyerfor mr trump denied any wrongdoing by the president. tests are being carried out

in the us to establish if two suspicious packages delivered to the pentagon contained the deadly poison ricin. initial checks detected the substance, and the mailroom has been quarantined. the envelopes were addressed to the secretary of defence, james mattis, and the chief of naval operations, admiraljohn richardson. an attorney in the us state of virginia says four men have been arrested and charged with inciting riots at last year's deadly unite the right rally in charlottesville. the men were all part of the southern california—based rise above movement, described by prosecutors as a white supremacist group. all four face up to a maximum of ten years in prison if found guilty. parliament in iraq has elected the moderate kurdish candidate, barham salih, as the new president. mr salih, a member of the puk, was running against the kdp candidate, fuad hussein, who withdrew from the second round of voting moments before the election was announced. borisjohnson has savaged theresa may's brexit plans,

describing them as a constitutional outrage. the former british foreign secretary said the chequers proposals would cheat voters and leave the uk humiliated. he was speaking at the conservative party conference in birmingham. this is the moment to chuck chequers. applause to scrap the commission's constitutionally abominable northern ireland backstop... applause to use the otherwise redundant and miserable implementation period to the end of 2020 to negotiate the super canada fta, free—trade agreement. to invest in all the customs procedures that we will need to ensure continued frictionless trade, and to prepare much more vigorously than hitherto for coming out on wto terms.

in a bbc interview, theresa may said she was cross with borisjohnson in particular over what she called his desire to tear up the british government's guarantee to people in northern ireland. there are one or two things that boris has said that i am cross about. he wanted to tear up our guarantee to the people of northern ireland. northern ireland is part of the united kingdom. you know, we are all, he and i, all members here, are members of of the conservative and unionist party. that is because we believe in the union of the united kingdom. northern ireland is part of that union, and we have a guarantee for the people of northern ireland, and we are upholding that. 0ur chequers plan does that. it's the only plan on the table at the moment that does. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: what is killing deep—sea whales in the atlantic? as more bodies wash ashore in scotland, scientists say they might have the answer. 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: the un says about 200,000 people in indonesia need urgent help following the devastating earthquake and tsunami. more survivors have been pulled from the rubble as the death toll rises to more than 1300. police in india have used tear gas and water cannons in clashes with tens of thousands of protesting farmers. they're demanding more government support, including cheaper electricity and fuel. james clayton reports from delhi. some of these farmers have walked a long way, and they are angry. they are protesting to the government, in a plea

for more financial assistance and subsidies for farmers. they didn't have tanks, but they did have tractors, as they attempted to get into the centre of delhi. police stopped them on the outskirts of the city using water cannon and teargas. the local police used what they could to protect themselves, and had a clear message for the protesters. translation: please don't try to cross over the barricades and enter new delhi. emergency law, which prohibits gatherings, is imposed now. our main objective is that everything should continue in a peaceful manner. the heated exchanges came amid claims from farmers that they are struggling to make ends meet. translation: who will the farmers speak to about their issues? we have chosen a government, but we can't tell them about our problems. then who do we tell?

do we go to pakistan or bangladesh? the government has said they will listen to the farmers' demands. with a general election next year, prime minister modi will be keen to placate agrarian workers. many of the protesters came from the state of uttar pradesh, with a population of 200 million people. the prime minister can ill afford to ignore their concerns. president trump is back on the campaign trail, speaking to voters in mississippi. that go to south haven. —— let's go to south haven. isa haven. —— let's go to south haven. is a lot on the president's horizon right now, how it all looking? —— there is a lot. he is firmly focused, at least for tonight, on the fact that five weeks from today

will be the mid—term congressional elections. he has chosen to get back on the campaign trail, coming to stay where republicans could be in trouble come november. he has come to mississippi, where he is hoping that republicans can hold onto a key senate seat. the democrats might have a chance with, even though this isa have a chance with, even though this is a solidly republican state. he was in tennessee yesterday, other campaign stops he has in the next seven days include kansas, minnesota and iowa. so campaign in chief is backin and iowa. so campaign in chief is back in force. he did mention the brett kava naugh back in force. he did mention the brett kavanaugh and forward hearings next week, throwing his support firmly behind judge cabinet, at some —— at times and mocking christine blasey ford. this is all about rallying up his base, a base that are firmly supportive of donald trump, but he wants that tasty turnout for republican candidates, because turnout could be a key decider. the democrats are really

hoping to rally their base too. that is why he is out on the campaign trail, from five weeks today we will find out whether that result is effective. thank you. a scientist who pioneered the use of lasers has become the first woman to win the nobel prize for physics in more than 50 years. donna strickland from canada shares this year's award with a frenchman, and an american. 0ur science correspondent victoria gill has the story. 2018 nobel prize in physics... the ultimate scientific accolade, and professor donna strickland is only the third woman ever to have won a nobel prize in physics. she and her fellow winners were honoured for what the nobel committee called groundbreaking inventions in laser physics. professor strickland devised a way to use lasers as very precise drilling or cutting tools. millions of eye operations are performed every year with these sharpest of laser beams. how surprising do you think it is that you are the third woman to win this prize? well, that is surprising, isn't it?

i think most — i think that's the story that people want to talk about, that why should it take 60 years? there's so many women out there doing fantastic research, so why does it take so long to get recognised? here at oxford's department of nuclear physics... physics still has one of the largest gender gaps in science. one recent study concluded that, at the current rates, it would be more than two centuries until there were equal numbers of senior male and female researchers in the field. not only is this great for women, it's great for early career researchers. that you can make discoveries and inventions that can change the world, and you can do that at any point in your career, and it doesn't matter what background or gender you are. the last woman to win a physics nobel was german—born maria goeppert—mayer, in 1963, for her discoveries about the nuclei of atoms. before that, it was marie curie, who shared the 1903 prize with her husband, pierre. this year's winners hope that breaking the drought will mean the focus in future will be on the research, rather than the gender of the researcher.

remnants of tropical storm arose have increased in arizona. firefighters have had to rescue six people from their cars that got added. schools were closed, thousands of homes and businesses lost power. now a story that's been baffling british scientists. since the start of august, 70 deep water whales have washed up dead on scottish and irish beaches. one theory is that military activity and sonar signals in the atlantic may have caused their deaths. 0ur scotland correspondent, lorna gordon, reports from tiree in the inner hebrides. the islands along scotland's west coast have become a graveyard for cuvier‘s bea ked whales. in one month, more washed ashore here than in the previous ten years combined, and scientists are trying

to work out why they died. it's not a natural occurrence. is it concerning, what has happened? it's very concerning. very, very concerning. it's possibly the highest ever mortality, as a recorded mortality for this particular whale species, ever, anywhere in the world. cuvier‘s bea ked whales are creatures of the deep. they can dive to depths of almost 10,000 feet. research has shown they are sensitive to sound. after a spate of strandings in the canary islands, the use of sonar close to land there was banned. since then, they have seen no bodies. those involved in the investigations here will be scanning ear bones taken from the remains to look for trauma caused by excessive underwater sound. they're also looking at samples to rule out infectious

diseases or contaminants. these whales had already been dead for several weeks by the time their bodies reached land. but the fact they washed ashore in such a short period of time points to the possibility that a single event caused their deaths, hundreds of miles out into the atlantic. so could underwater noise or sonar be the cause? when groups of beaked whales strand across tens of kilometres of coastline, within a few hours, that's been associated with naval anti—submarine warfare exercises. it appears that the sonar that they use to hunt for submarines triggers a panic reaction. they may disrupt their diving, so they get decompression sickness. they then die at sea and they wash ashore. the british military have been asked to help by tracking down any source of noise in the ocean around the time of the animals deaths. the problem that we have is that they can only report on what they have been doing. they're not responsible, or for that matter even have the information, about what has been going on by other agencies within nato.

the royal navy says it is takes its possibilities in safeguarding the environment very seriously, and when possible, operators take avoidance action, should animals be detected before or during sonar operations. there is increasing awareness of the effect plastic has on marine life. it is possible there may soon be proof that noise pollution in our waters can be deadly too. lorna gordon, bbc news, tiree. briefly, that main story. the government of indonesia is now racing to find and rescue any remaining survivors of the earthquake and send army. —— tsunami. tens of thousands of people are homeless and are in need of emergency supplies. the official account has risen to 1300 and is expected to go above that. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. thank you for watching. hello.

the rather warm for the time of year and humid air that became established across wales and england on tuesday will, in the day ahead, spread across northern ireland and scotland. it will feel noticeably warmer here. behind this weather front, a warm front, the leading edge of milder air. but that's coming with plenty of cloud, and to start wednesday it's a damp, and drizzly, and cloudy, misty, murky start across many parts, western parts, especially coasts and hills. it will be clear overnight in scotland and eastern england. there will be a chill around first thing, but the cloud will thicken here as we go on through the morning, which leaves us during wednesday with a good deal of cloud around. a few bright and sunny spells here and there, but still, along into the hills, you could see a lot of patchy light rain and drizzle into western scotland and northern ireland. more especially, those outbreaks of rain affecting western and northern parts of scotland, the more substantial bursts of rain possible here at times. still with a noticeable breeze here, but not as windy as it was on tuesday, and particularly where you get to see some occasional sunshine, it will feel quite warm for the time

of year, quite humid. and these temperatures are higher in northern ireland and scotland compared to tuesday. now, as we run on through wednesday evening, wednesday night and into thursday morning, there are some breaks in the cloud. now, you might think some of it is going to drop away, but they won't, really, because remember this quite warm and humid air mass established across the uk. actually, it's quite warm for wednesday into thursday. the chance for a few fog patches developing the further south you are in england and wales, through a centre of high pressure, where there's really not much breeze at all. again, some moisture in the air, it's humid. and then an approaching weather front on thursday will shake the weather up a bit in scotland and northern ireland once again, as we see some outbreaks of rain moving in. later in the day, that could reach as far south as north—west england and north wales, with a freshening breeze. but for many southern and eastern parts on thursday, once any fog lives away, we get to see some sunny spells, and again temperatures are a good few degrees above normal for the time of year.

i want to show you this weather front as we go through thursday into friday. it stalls through the middle part of the uk, and off of that you get the blues moving in. it will feel cooler and fresher across much of scotland. sunny spells, one or two showers. the front moving through southern scotland, more especially northern england and wales, with cloud and outbreaks of rain, and south of that weather front, you still have the rather warm and humid air. so for friday, a bigger range of temperatures. this weather front will clear away south—eastwards over the weekend, lingering with some rain for parts of england and wales on saturday. may still be getting some rain into south—east england on sunday, we'll keep you updated on that. once it's gone, though, it brightens up, but it's much cooler for all. this is bbc news. the headlines: the number of people known to have died in indonesia in friday's earthquake and tsunami has risen to more than 1,300. rescuers are continuing to pull people from the rubble, but many more remain trapped. police in the coastal city of palu are guarding shops against looters as people desperately search for food, fuel and water.

tax officials in the us say they're vigorously investigating claims that donald trump helped his family avoid millions of dollars in tax in the 1990s. a report by the new york times accuses the president of participating in "downright fraud" to hide much of the family's fortune. a lawyerfor mr trump denied any wrongdoing by the president.