this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top story: mounting desperation in indonesia as survivors of the earthquake and tsunami search for food, fuel and water. rescuers continue to pull people from the rubble, but the death toll is now 1,300 and rising. the iranian foreign minister tells the bbc iran hasn't closed the door on talks with president trump, but that the 2015 nuclear deal must be respected. cleaner air ahead? the european parliament is set to vote on stricter emission standards, hoping to reduce c02 by 45% in 2030. and in business briefing, i'll bejoined by rico hizo in singapore, who has news of one of the biggest us initial public offerings by a chinese company. a warm welcome to the programme,

briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. also, the digital strip search — new zealand customs have new powers to demand passwords from travellers to search their electronic devices. is this an invasion of your privacy or a necessary step? tell us your story. just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. we start in indonesia. the government 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 people confirmed dead has risen to more than 1,300. 0ur correspondent, jonathan head, sent this report from the disaster zone in the city of palu. 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 3—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

in to 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. mariko 0i is also in palu and joins us now. we got a sense of the scale of

devastation from that report. it must be extremely difficult still for those effort to rescue anyone still buried. indeed. it is stilla very challenging time continuing the rescue operation. at also to get those crucial supplies into palu has been very, very tricky. i spoke to you just before we started driving here on monday south of the island, it took us 30 hours, a lot longer than expected because the last 200 kilometres to palu, we had to be escorted in by the police because of reports of looting. i have difficulties calling them looters because they are just survivors really desperate for food and water, but we did see some of them asking

for some necessities as we drove in as well, and that meant the journey took a lot longer. that has been a major challenge of those aid agencies, trying to get the supplier. we are starting to see some of them trickling in. when we came in, there was a convoy of about 50 trucks with water, food, petrol, you name it. we have been seeing on the streets of the city a lot of huge tanks of petrol, people queueing up for them, as well as some water and food have become available, but it is, for many survivors, a available, but it is, for many sui’vivoi’s, a very available, but it is, for many survivors, a very tricky time. you heard in that report the clashes between police and local residents. we got really nervous about that before we came in. it seems to have calmed down a bit, but i think it is fairto calmed down a bit, but i think it is fair to mention that at the can tell behind me, it is unbearably hot during the day, and after losing your loved ones, without having access to water and food, it is

quite understandable that some people get quite irritable. you have mentioned some of the basics, water, food, gasoline, petrol, what about heavy machinery? has that company areas where they need to clear the rubble? -- come to the areas. yes, they have finally managed to get them into the city and they have started to clear the rubble. we have also heard from the national disaster agency earlier today that tens of thousands of people who fled from the tsunami to the hills have now been told to come back to the ground andjoin now been told to come back to the ground and join the camp, and as a result, those people need even more supplies. so that is why we are co nsta ntly supplies. so that is why we are constantly trying to get more basic necessities, including items to make sure that these people stay clean, because the earthquake and is an army struck on friday evening. now it is wednesday and people have not

been able to take a shower, there has been no running water, we have all been sharing water that was left ina swimming all been sharing water that was left in a swimming pool of a hotel. so you can imagine how difficult it has been for local residents and the local authorities to make sure that the order is in place as well. thank you very much. good to talk to you. there are so much more information on our website. if all we spoke to marico, they experienced two after—shocks, so it is an ongoing scenario. we will keep you up—to—date with all the news is that we can bring you. now let's go to the united states. 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.

here's peter bowes. the new york times says it has a vast trove of document, more than 100,000 tax returns and other financial documents that is basing these allegations on as part of its investigation that it says shows that donald trump and his siblings helped their parents evade taxes in the early 1990s. the newspaper that is in part is why donald trump received in excess of $400 million, money that he would not have received if his parents haven't had that assistance in evading taxes, and it says that was done in part by the creation of a fake corporation that was used to buy gifts to mr trump and to his siblings. donald

trump, the president, has always moulded himself as a self—made billionaire who had little help from his parents. these allegations are seen to fly in the face of that kate —— claim. the new york times claimed mrtrump wasa —— claim. the new york times claimed mr trump was a millionaire by the time he was eight years old. this report has been strongly criticised and the substance of it denied by mr trump's lawyer, who said that the allegations are false, the white house press secretary sarah sanders has also said that this was a misleading attack on the president. the new york tax authorities, however, say they are investigating, and they say they will vigorously pursue all appropriate avenues of investigation. iran's foreign minister, javad zarif, has told the bbc that iran has not closed the door on talks

with president trump, but is not convinced he's a reliable negotiating partner. mr zarif was speaking in new york after iran received support from other members of the un security council to save the 2015 iran nuclear deal despite mounting pressure from the us, which pulled out of it earlier this year. 0ur chief international correspondent lyse doucet has been speaking to mr zarif in new york. uran‘s top diplomat was its chief negotiator on the nuclear deal. now he is heading the efforts to save it and in accordance world powers which lifted sanctions in exchange for limits on uran‘s nuclear programme. president trump pulled america out, calling uran the biggest sponsor of terrorism. he made an offer. they can negotiate a new deal with him, like north korea's leader did. nothing is impossible, but you see we have the outcome of president

trump's summit with president rohani, would be a photo opportunity and a 2—page document. have 150 page document. which is the deal. which is the deal. the chairman did get something else. he went from being public enemy number one to being a leader that president trump has said he has fallen in love with because of his beautiful letters. it is not about falling in love. international relations is about respecting obligations. new us sanctions are biting and there's more to come. the currency biting and there's more to come. the currency has plunged in value. but europe still wants to save the deal. it has come up with a new system. trading in local currencies, not the us dollar to avoid sanctions. trading in local currencies, not the us dollar to avoid sanctionsm trading in local currencies, not the us dollar to avoid sanctions. it is going to be hard because the road of the us dollar in the financial

system is pervasive, prevalent and it is going to be difficult. but we are going to be a little bit more patient, it mean that our patients will never run out. what was important for us was to see the political commitment of europe, to see that the political commitment was bought at than just words. that, i think we have been able to test. now we had to test the viability and the utility of this new system that they are devising. and there are other issues. britain wants to see the release of prisoners, like this womanjailed for the release of prisoners, like this woman jailed for five years on spying charges she denies. woman jailed for five years on spying charges she denieslj woman jailed for five years on spying charges she denies. i cannot interfere in the work of the judiciary because in irani and law, she is recognised only as an iranian citizen and the history is independent from the executive. having said that, i like to see every prisoner released, and for

that reason, i like to see her released as well. they are under pressure on many fronts. accused of destabilising the middle east with its militias across the region, a press of the defence. it is warning it could still walk away from the nuclear deal, but for now, javad zarif‘s mission is to rally support against us efforts to isolate them. cornelia meyer ceo of mrl corporation, a business consultancy, joins me now. cornelia, lovely to see you. you we re cornelia, lovely to see you. you were listening to javad zarif with great interest, discussing the impact of the us pulling out on the nuclear deal and the impact it is having on the iranian economy. nuclear deal and the impact it is having on the iranian economym nuclear deal and the impact it is having on the iranian economy. it is a cute impact and the oil sanctions only kicked in on fourth november,

it is the secondary sanctions, you can't do banking any more, you can't do in shorrocks, even if you want to buy iranian oil now, you have huge problems ensuring the shipment of cargo —— you problems ensuring the shipment of cargo —— you can't do in —— insurance. they have talked about coming up at other means, trade in local currencies, but from practical point of view it doesn't work. local currencies, but from practical point of view it doesn't workm doesn't work. let's say i am siemens andi doesn't work. let's say i am siemens and i do this in whatever currency, i still have operations in the us which i need to safeguard, and the iranian market is relatively small, it is 80 million people, and you have the huge us market, the largest economy in the world, so for any company it is a no—brainer where they will go because companies have to get profit. interesting. thank you so much. cornelia will be back.

she has plenty to get her teeth into later in the news briefing. still to come: bradley cooper, on camera and behind it. we talk to the actor about his directorial debut a star is born. 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. you're watching the briefing. 0ur headlines: there's mounting desperation in indonesia, as survivors of the earthquake and tsunami search for food, fuel and water. rescuers continue to pull people from the rubble, but the death toll is now 1,300 and rising. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre.

hello, i'm tulsen tollett. coming up in your wednesday sport briefing: injury hit tottenham are at home to barcelona in the champions league later. us open winner naomi 0saka will look to claim a place in the china open quarter—finals. and european champions real madrid continue their dismal run of form as they're beaten by cska moscow in russia. tottenham hotspur will be missing a number of first—team regulars through injury for the visit of barcelona in the champions league later on wednesday. spurs trained without christian erikksen, moussa dembele, jan vertongen, serge aurier and deli ali ahead of the game at wembley. they lost their first group game to inter, whereas barca thrashed psv 4—0. they won their first game and they are going to want to carry on living in the rest of the group as quickly as possible, so we need to try to

stop that happening, obviously we need to bounce back from our result, that happened away at the san zero, so it is a big game for both of us. we know it will be really hard. and they will try for sure tomorrow with their people to win their first game. so we have to try to do our best game. we know that it will be really ha rd best game. we know that it will be really hard and, at yeah, we have to doa really hard and, at yeah, we have to do a great game and we will try to beat them. also on wednesday, kashima antlers and suwon bluewings play the first leg of their asian champions league semi—final. it'll be the third meeting between the sides this season with each side having won once. the us open champion naomi 0saka plastulia gorges in the last 16 of the china open later. 0saka sealed her place in the season ending wta finals by beating the unseeded american danielle collins in the previous round. also in action is sloane stephens who plays dominika cibilkova in the last 16, the american beat saisai zheng in straight sets to set up the meeting. in case you missed it,

holders real madrid fell to a surprise 1—0 champions league defeat by cska moscow in russia. it means the hosts move top of group g while real who've won the last three european titles drop to second. and jose mourinho's season didn't improve, with manchester united held to a goalless draw at old trafford. his side have gone almost two months without a win at home but they're second in group h behind juventus who they play next. iam i am pleased with the effort, i am pleased with the commitment, i am pleased with the commitment, i am pleased with the improvement and i am not pleased of course with the results, which is not a good result, but is not a bad result. top seed marin cilic crashed out of the first round at the japan open in a shock defeat to germany's jan—lennard struff. the former us open champion won the first set 6—3, but then the world number 56 took

control to capture the next two sets 6—4, 7—6 and struff plays frenchmanjeremy chardy next. a swedish footballer celebrated in a unique way after scoring a goal this week. hammarby‘s kennedy bakircioglu caught a beer thrown from the crowd and drank it to celebrate his stunning free—kick against ifk goteborg, catching the cup on the run and showing great dexterity as he accepted the plaudits. you can get all the latest sports news at our website, that's bbc.com/sport. but from me, tulsen tollett, and the rest of the team that is your wednesday sport briefing. and thanks for that. pop star lady gaga appears opposite bradley cooper in his directorial debut a star is born. the new film is directed, co—written and co—produced by the academy award nominee, it follows a hard—drinking musician who discovers and falls in love with a young singer. the bbc‘s charlie stayt sat down with him to talk about his new film. # tell me something, boy. # about

you try to fill that void. you approached her about doing the role andi approached her about doing the role and i am told that within minutes you were around a piano singing. yes. is it right? that's correct. i drove home thinking, did i ask her to sing a song with me. did it take nerve to do that? she is a singer and, with the greatest respect, you we re and, with the greatest respect, you were not. of course. but i knew that ifiam were not. of course. but i knew that if i am going to ask this incredible artist to go on this journey i had better feel that there was a chemistry that we could sing together. so it was about 20 minutes into meeting her and i said, you know, could we sing a song together

because if this doesn't work there is no reason to keep going. well, she is not here to get her account of what you sound like at the beginning on that day, but she has said that you have a decent voice, and that was on day one.|j said that you have a decent voice, and that was on day one. i worked really ha rd, and that was on day one. i worked really hard, thank god. but the one thing that i felt... i am not a com plete thing that i felt... i am not a complete idiot. i thought that if i worked hard, i always feel like it definitely comes from an authentic place. if i could just curated and cultivated, maybe i could be ok. # baby, it is time to let the old ways die. people will be seeing the trailers and they will hear some of you singing. it is quite stylised voice, isn't it? or talking? the singing and the talking voice. and one has informed the other. that is not the way that i would sing. they are very not the way that i would sing. they are very different. it is easier to

sing that voice than to speak it. that was the hardest thing technically by far, lowering my voice that much. you try to do it and you will never know. that is the truth. there is one reason we are here is to say something and people wa nt to here is to say something and people want to hear it. talk about mixing acting and directing. people outside the business sometimes think, how does that work? you are outside the camera, telling people what to do. it was easier. maybe it is because all i know is being on the field. i had so much more weapons at my disposal being on the field with the actors. i could manipulate so much more than having to be on the sidelines and stopping and talking. and i didn't have to speak to one of the actors, because i was the actor, soi the actors, because i was the actor, so i could just focus on you. and i could see what you are doing because iam waiting could see what you are doing because i am waiting to receive it. so if i wa nt i am waiting to receive it. so if i want something else i can be right there with you. what happens, and i am sure it doesn't, what if your performance is under par? who tells you? is performance is under par? who tells you ? is it

performance is under par? who tells you? is it an unrealistic question? no. i have had an objective fire at us no. i have had an objective fire at us might own work and i am very aware if i am not in it. -- objective eye. i spend a lot of time banking that characters i didn't really think about what i was doing. as long as they are doing what they are doingi as long as they are doing what they are doing i am comfortable enough that i will react authentically to it. so, reallyi that i will react authentically to it. so, really i have to get you to be as real as possible and then i will react for view. so it was really selfish in a way. i was allowing myself not to act. that was bradley cooper speaking about his new film, a star is born. stay with me on bbc news. i'll be back with the business briefing in just a few moments. and tell me what you think about our talking point today. let us know your thoughts. see you soon. hello.

the rather warm for the time of year and humid air that became established across wales and england on tuesday will, into scotland and northern ireland during wednesday behind this weather front. it is bringing, though, a good deal of cloud, damp and drizzly conditions. there's some poor visibility as well to the west particularly on coasts and heels, and you're more likely to see a bit of rain and drizzle as well to begin the day. but where you've been clear overnight through some eastern spots, temperatures will have dipped down into single figures. but it will be a warmer day for many during wednesday. noticeably sunny in scotland and northern ireland during the more humid air mass at this stage. see the extent of the cloud, though, just a few bright sunny breaks here and there. still a bit of patchy light rain and drizzle possible to some western coasts and hills. some more substantial outbreaks of rain running into the north—west of scotland, where we have the strongest breeze here, though it is lighter compared to tuesday. much lighter for many here. now, temperatures in the mid—to—high teens. these temperatures are noticeably higherfor scotland and for northern ireland compared with tuesday. it does feel rather muggy, even if you've got cloud, but it does feel quite warm in the sunshine. some cloud, some breaks

in the crowd on wednesday night and into thursday morning. breaks shouldn't drop the temperature too far even where you're clear then. temperatures should be holding up for many into double figures. remember, this is a rather warm and humid air mass. a weather front approaching from the north—west on thursday. close to high pressure across southern parts. there could be some mist and fog to start the day. could be quite dense in places. more active rather than running into scotland, northern ireland, maybe later in the day into north—west england, north wales, some outbreaks of rain and a strengthening breeze. and when you get to see again some sunny spells in southern and eastern parts of the uk in particular, along with the cloud, but some bright or sunny spells, still feeling quite warm, quite humid. this weather front just stalls for a time on friday as it tries to push south across the uk. keeping some cloud, some outbreaks of rain that may affect parts of northern ireland, southern scotland, more especially northern england, into wales. north of that, it's feeling fresher. in other words, cooler. there may be a few showers, but there are some sunny spells. south of it, still rather warm,

still rather humid, and a few breaks in the cloud, but still the chance for some early morning mist and fog. the weather system clears away over the weekend, drags its heels in england and wales on saturday. may still be doing so in south—east england on saturday. we'll keep you updated on that. cooler for all. time now for your business briefing. i'm sally bundock. clean air ahead. the european parliament set to vote on stricter emissions standards, hoping to reduce c02 on stricter emissions standards, hoping to reduce co2 by 45% in 2030. from the paris auto show, the owner of peugeot citroen voxel wads of dramatic consequences of brexit. for financial markets today, we see declines again in a main market in asia. china remained closed for a public holiday.