a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: pulled from the rubble of indonesia's earthquake. rescuers are racing to help survivors but the death toll is now 1,300 and rising. gunfire 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. did donald trump help his family evade tax? officials in new york say they're vigorously investigating. the mayor, the migrants and the alleged marriages of convenience — a very modern row hits southern italy. hello to you.

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 number of dead has risen to more than 1,300. our correspondent mariko oi is in the disaster zone, in the city of palu. 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. 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 seas 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 really bad because these are the survivors who are so desperate for water and food, and we've been asked for it as we came in, as well. they're 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 supplies 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 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 commercialflights. 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 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 that 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 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 there, and what impact that has on the chance

of any more survivors? well, mike, this city is quite remote, as we've 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 had to be brought down, they had to be told that they were 0k to come down. and it's onlyjust now that we've 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 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're still alive, and the rescue operation is continuing. but, as you can imagine, this is definitely a race against time. so the official figure —

1,300 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 was even on monday or sunday, we were told that it could be in the thousands, it could be up to 2,000. so that is quite possible. but they're 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 in jonathan's piece, 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's 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. mariko 0i and her team in palu. mariko 0i and herteam in palu. the pentagon says it has received mail which reports suggest contains ricin. initial checks have detected it, and the mailroom has been quarantined. the envelopes were addressed to secretary of defence james mattis and the chief of naval operations, admiraljohn richardson. we believe these were discovered at a sorting facility on the pentagon site 20 minutes from where i am talking to you nowjust outside washington, dc. it is a huge site, something like 25,000 people work there each day and these two

packages were discovered, we understand one was addressed to the secretary of defence himself, jim mattis, the other one to the head of naval operations. now they didn't get inside the main building, they have been taken away by the fbi for analysis and my understanding is that building is still under quarantine. the pentagon is saying that no injuries at this stage so far but they are waiting for the results of the fbi investigation. of course if it turns out to be ricin, which is highly, highly poisonous, if it turns out to be that, they will try to find out who sent it. here in the uk, 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 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. the prime minister, theresa may. it's quite possible, you never know, you may be hearing more on all that. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: grief and anger in mexico, as protestors mark the 50th anniversary of one of the country's bloodiest episodes. 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 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 13,100. and it may well go further. tax officials in new york state say

they're investigating vigorously allegations that donald trump helped his family avoid millions of dollars in tax in the 1990s. a report in the new york times accuses the president of participating in what it calls dubious tax schemes to hide much of the fortune given to him and his siblings by their parents. mr trump, through his lawyer, has denied any wrongdoing. a white house statement says the times story is misleading and that tax authorities signed off on these transactions. let's get more now from our north america correspondent, peter bowes. peter, weather or not all this is true, there will be interest of course because mi’ true, there will be interest of course because mr trump has repeatedly styled himself as a self—made millionaire, getting very little help from his wealthy father's empire. if these documents are right, he was a millionaire by what, eight? that's true, and if these documents and if this investigation is true, and, as you said, this has been strongly denied by people speaking on behalf of the president, but if there's any truth in this clearly

people will be wondering where all that money came from. of course, there have been many questions going back a long time with the president... then candidate from refusing to release any of his tax returns. this goes back a long time, to the 1990s, and it's an allegation that involve his parents and donald trump and his siblings essentially and allegedly helping his parents not pay taxes, which resulted in donald trump receiving a huge sum of money, more than $400 million, from his father's real estate business. it certainly opens a lot of questions. this is a very long—running investigation by the new york times. they say they have a vast trove of documents, all tax returns, and they've done interviews as well that has resulted in these claims being made today. peter, even if it is true, what, if anything, is likely to follow from this? may be nothing because it's been such a long time since those tax returns

which sarah sanders, the press secretary of the white house, says we re secretary of the white house, says were signed off by the tax authorities at the time, and she says this is a misleading attack on the president and it may well be that the passage of time is so great that the passage of time is so great that no criminal action can be taken. that said, the tax authorities in new york and said they're authorities in new york and said they‘ re interested authorities in new york and said they're interested in. they're looking at this. they're looking at these allegations. it's the beginning of that investigation and we will see what comes of it. peter, thank you very much indeed. ceremonies in mexico city have marked the 50th anniversary of the tlatelolco massacre, when dozens of unarmed students and citizens, gathered in peaceful protest, were killed by the security forces. there's still deep anger in mexico over decades of official silence. and, as will grant reports, many mexicans see parallels between the government repression in 1968 and the abuses carried out by the state today. they came to tlatelolco square to

honour those who had gone before them. students, classmates, teenagers. 0thers them. students, classmates, teenagers. others were simply remembering their contemporaries. five decades on, the massacre of scores of unarmed protesters by the armed forces is an indelible stain on mexico's. 0ne armed forces is an indelible stain on mexico's. one of the bloodiest episodes in the country's and violent history. the exact events of 0ctober, violent history. the exact events of october, 1968, just two weeks before mexico was due to host the olympic games, remain shrouded in mystery. them then government and many subsequent ones simply never wanted the full details revealed. for those that were that their map that date, the evidence is —— the pain is still evidence that for those who were there that day, the pain is still evident. translation: it marks your whole life. i was profoundly traumatised from 1968 and from my time in the military detention centres and being tortured. it took

me years to recover. what is certain is many mexican citizens, young and old, were shot dead in tlatelolco square allegedly by government paid snipers on rooftops around the plaza. the scars of the massacre in tlatelolco square run deep. there great anger over the decades of official silence over what happened here, and many see parallels between the events of 1968 and the abuses in alleged crimes by the state taking place in mexico today. this anniversary of a massacre follows quickly on the heels of another. just days ago, mexicans marked for years since the killing of 44 student teachers in iguala. like their counterparts in 1968, the victims' families face an uphill battle to uncover the truth. one student leader from battle to uncover the truth. one student leaderfrom 1968 battle to uncover the truth. one student leader from 1968 believes today's social movements in mexico must force the changes his generation was unable to.

translation: when people ask me about the impact of 1968, i say we failed, because we held positions in government. we could have made a better society but failed to do so. today, mexico is on the verge of a radically different kind of president. anders manuel lopez brown. never again will the military be used to oppress the people, he claimed, in the same where the massacre took place. he must now deliver that same basic command of the students asked for 15 years ago. will grant, bbc news, mexico city. the scientist who pioneered the use of lasers has become the first woman to win the nobel peace prize for physics. donna strickland from canada has shared the award with a frenchman and another. 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 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? 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 that 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. it is hoped the focus in future will be on the research, rather than the gender of the researcher. victoria gill, bbc news. the mayor of a town regarded by many as a model for migrant integration in italy, has been put under house arrest. domenico lucano is accused of organising marriages of convenience to help people seeking asylum. he made headlines around the world for welcoming migrants after the population of riace, in calabria, dropped significantly. lebo diseko has more. this is domenico lucano, smiling and

waving here, but now under house arrest. he's the mayor of riace in the south of italy, famous for opening its doors to migrants. the town's population had dwindled so newcomers were welcomed in and give an abandoned homes and on—the—job training. hundreds have come since the scheme started in 1997. but now lucano, is accused of organising sham marriages for the purposes of immigration. his partner also faces the same charges and has been banned from living in riace. translation: if domenico lucano did something he did it for if domenico lucano did something he did itfora if domenico lucano did something he did it for a good reason. maybe it's a regularfrom did it for a good reason. maybe it's a regular from an administrative or legal point of view, i don't know. italy has been at the sharp end of the european migration crisis, with more than 600,000 arriving on the country's shores since 2014. in june, a new populist government was sworn in with a mandate to cut

immigration. the new interior ministry, matteo salvini, says he won't let his country be turned into what he called a refugee camp, and he reacted to news of lucano's arrest with a comment on twitter about good guys who want to feel italy with migrants. the mayor's critics say what he's done in riace is an example of immigration policy gone wrong, but his supporters say his only crime was showing humanity. as for the man himself, lucano is yet to issue a statement on his arrest. lebo diseko, bbc news. let's go back to the main story of the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami on the island of sulawesi in indonesia got to let me show you the live pictures now of what is left of the roa—roa hotel in palu. 1300 have lost their lives but the fear is that that could increase. many are trapped and 2000 or so need

help. thank you very much 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 whether 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 western coasts and 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 with 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 mild night wednesday night 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 whether front on thursday will shake the whether 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 clears 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

whether front as we go through thursday into friday. it stalls through the middle part of the uk, and north 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 may linger through southern scotland, more especially northern england and wales, with cloud and outbreaks of rain, and south of that whether front, you still have the rather warm and humid air. so for friday, a bigger range of temperatures. this whether 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 than1,300. 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. and that the tax authorities signed off on these transactions. here in the uk, boris johnson has savaged theresa may's brexit plans, describing them as a "constitutional outrage". matt hampson was 20 years old, on the verge of a glittering international rugby career, when a scrum collapsed on him