welcome to bbc news, i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: the search goes on for hundreds missing in the bahamas after hurricane dorian. those who survived speak of their ordeal. i say, hey, we were friends for almost a0 years. we arrived together, we're going to die together here. india's mission to the moon appears to have failed. scientists lose contact with the lunar lander just before touchdown. revolutionary hero turned dictator. zimbabwe's robert mugabe dies, leaving a complex legacy. a wild week in british politics ends with opposition parties uniting against the prime minister's call

for an early election. the number of people killed by hurricane dorian in the bahamas could be staggering, according to officials there. at the moment 30 people are known to have died, but many areas remain cut off. in the last hours, dorian has made landfall over cape hatteras in north carolina in the us, and has weakened to a categoryi storm. but the full force of the hurricane was felt in the abaco islands in the bahamas. these are the latest pictures from there. along with aid and equipment, officials are sending morticians and hundreds of body bags. our correspondent aleem maqbool has been aboard the british ship rfa mounts bay, and sent this report. heading out to try to find more survivors of the hurricane,

this military helicopter is taking off from a royal fleet auxiliary ship that tracked right behind dorian as it smashed into the bahamas. last night, the helicopter discovered a group of people who'd been cut off, no communications for five days. we delivered aid first thing in the morning, this morning, to give them more food. so basically, we are sort of the emergency response, so to speak. and the military here was helping some communities, even as others close by were still feeling the brunt of the storm. well, this british ship really has been at the forefront of the international emergency relief effort following hurricane dorian. right now, it is launching a vessel loaded with heavy lifting equipment and vehicles to try to get to an area that was badly affected by the hurricane, but hasn't yet been reached at all. and they have often been the first outsiders to get to the most devastated areas. but new affected communities are still being found,

like one we headed to in the north of great abaco island. there, kirk sawyer had just left his house when dorian tore through. sheltering with a friend, debris flying around and huge waves coming in, he thought he wouldn't make it. i told my friend, i say, hey, we were friends for almost a0 years. we arrived together, we're going to die together here. and not being able to tell his family outside he is alive has been tough. for them, he had a message. your uncle kirk here, he's alive, he made it through this. so i'll see you all soon. thank you all for being concerned about me. love you all. the reality is many didn't survive. in marsh harbour, we saw more bodies being removed, and the signs are the recovery effort will go on for many days yet. i honestly believe abaco is finished.

i think abaco will not recover until the next ten years, like, fully recover, because everything is gone. absolutely everything is gone. the uk is distributing shelter and ration packs across affected communities. but even those of them who have been doing this through powerful hurricanes of recent years told us they had never seen needs as great as this. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in the abaco islands of the bahamas. and we will be returning to this story in the next few minutes by getting an update on the situation in north carolina, where hurricane dorian made landfall in the last few hours. india's attempt to land a spacecraft on the moon appears to have failed. scientists lost contact with the vikram lander during the descent to the lunar surface. as bill hayton reports, the country's prime minister urged the scientists not to give up hope. glum faces at ground control. india

was attempting to become the fourth country to make it to the moon, but it was not to be. everything appeared to be going well until the last few minute. the lender was as planned and normal performance was observed of until one kilometre. subsequently, the communications from the lander to ground station was lost. data is being analysed. the intention was to land near the moon's south pole, where no mission has gone before. it was going to be a complex mission, but if it landed successfully, it would have added to humanity's understanding of the lunar surface, the presence of water, and so on, and so forth, in that part of the world stop in that pa rt that part of the world stop in that part of the lunar surface. the country's prime minister was on hand to celebrate success, but ended up commiserating with the scientists.

translation: i was watching and i saw that all of your faces looked disappointed. what you have achieved is not a small feet. the country is proud of you, and has learnt a lot from this hard work. despite this setback, the other part of the mission, the lunar orbiter, remains in operation, and will continue to study the mood for about a a year. injusta study the mood for about a a year. injust a few study the mood for about a a year. in just a few years' time, india's rockets are set to sent a person into space for the first time. the air force has announced the first stage of selection is complete, but it is clear the country's space programme still has some way to go. dr ken kraymer is a research scientist and journalist with space upclose, and hejoins us from florida, near the kennedy space center. doctor creamer, thank you so much for your time. first of all, can you give us an idea of how important this mission was —— kramer. give us an idea of how important this mission was -- kramer. well, it's certainly a very important mission to india, it would have been a very first lunar landing, and it's also an important mission to humanity, as one of the people in

your broadcast said, because we want to learn more about the moon. we wa nt to to learn more about the moon. we want to get to the south pole, we wa nt to want to get to the south pole, we want to expand what we know. because at the south pole, that's where the water is, and so that's very important for future science. how difficult was it for india to achieve what it was trying to achieve, to get this lander to actually land on the moon? well, it's very difficult. it's not simple. more than half the probes to land on the moon have failed. the israelis tried earlier this year, and they did not succeed. the chinese trade at the beginning of this year, and they did succeed. so half of all missions have failed. so it's not a simple thing at all. but they learn a lot from trying, and one really has to applaud the indians for doing this. what makes it so difficult? because we've seen, you know, the mars rover, other, you know, contraptions you know, the mars rover, other, you know, contra ptions land you know, the mars rover, other, you know, contraptions land on mars, land on asteroids. why does the moon

remain so difficult? well, it is fully autonomous, and even at mars it is the same thing. less than half the missions have succeeded. the us has a really good success rate, but the other countries don't. you have to do the other countries don't. you have todoa the other countries don't. you have to do a lot of simulations, you have to do a lot of simulations, you have to do a lot of simulations, you have todoa to do a lot of simulations, you have to do a lot of simulations, you have to do a lot of simulations, you have to do a lot of work, in order to make this work. you mentioned asteroids. we get an asteroid mission there right now, and the mission there right now, and the mission want to grab a sample. they have to work just mission want to grab a sample. they have to workjust right. they lost communication at two kilometres' altitude and they have to break the descent from 3600 miles down to zero, so they don't crash land. they have to find a spot that is safe, you know, there's a lot of boulders all over the place. so that makes it extremely difficult, and a robot has to do it all on its own. it can't

wait for any to do it all on its own. it can't waitforany human to do it all on its own. it can't wait for any human intervention. so they have to programme a lot of corrections in their to do it all right. and it didn't work, but they do have the orbiter, and that is still continuing. it does sound really challenging, and like it sort of pushes the limits of robotics and science. on a personal level, if so many of these missions fail, what is it like emotionally for the scientists that have spent many yea rs scientists that have spent many years working on it? well, it's sad. i'm a scientist, and when my experiments fail, i'm very sad about it. but we get up and we try again and we make it better, and we figure out what went wrong and we go back and we do it even better the next time. and usually it works out the next time if it doesn't work out the first time. so yes, it is disappointing. you could see it, i watched the live broadcast, they we re watched the live broadcast, they were all excited. it is just like when nasa lands or russia or anybody oi’ when nasa lands or russia or anybody or china lands, everybody is really excited, but you don't know until that final moment if it is going to work out or not. so yes, it is an emotional rollercoaster. but you know what? that's the way this business is. and that's what makes it really exciting, and we learn a lot from these missions in the end. iam sure lot from these missions in the end. i am sure it will not be the last

attempt. thank you for your time. thank you for having me. let's get some of the day's other news: a committee in the us house of representatives is investigating vice president mike pence's visit to ireland. it is after he stayed at a trump—owned hotel 300 km from dublin, where he was meeting officials. a spokesman for mr pence said they stayed at the hotel at the suggestion of president trump, something the president has denied. seven south american countries have signed a pact to protect the amazon river basin, the world's largest tropical forest, by co—ordinating their response to disasters. the summit in colombia was called amid global concern over the tens of thousands of fires burning there. the host, president ivan duque, said the establishment of a natural disaster network and a satellite monitoring network would help combat events like widespread fires. eight us states and the district of columbia have launched an antitrust investigation into facebook. it is in a bid to determine if the social media giant has stifled competition and put users at risk. the investigation wants to determine if facebook endangered consumer data, reduced the quality of consumers' choices, or increased the price

of advertising. the former president of zimbabwe robert mugabe has died at the age of 95. mr mugabe dominated his country for decades. he led the independence struggle against white minority rule and then himself ruled zimbabwe for 37 years. his early achievements in broadening access to health and education for the black majority were later marred by violence and economic collapse. shingai nyoka reports from the capital, harare. he was once zimbabwe's liberator, leading a war against white minority rule. but by the end, the adulation president robert mugabe once enjoyed was gone. i, robert gabriel mugabe... he cemented his power winning overwhelmingly at elections in 1980. as leader of a new nation, he set about creating a better country than the one he inherited.

he spent massively on education and infrastructural development, building a thriving black middle class and one of the most literate populations on the continent. but there was a vicious, ruthless side to the statesman. between 1983 and 1987, mugabe deployed a military unit trained by the north koreans to deal with his political opponents in the south of the country. but, as the i990s ended, the economy was in trouble. facing new political opposition, mugabe made a fateful step. he gave the go—ahead for the seizure of white—owned farms. white farmers fled. the western world took note, breaking diplomatic ties and imposing economic sanctions. in 2008, in the midst of billion—percent inflation and widespread unemployment, mr mugabe suffered his first electoral defeat. it only led to more violence in the second round of voting.

tonight, president emmerson mnangagwa paid this tribute. comrade mugabe bequeaths a rich and indelible legacy of tenacious adherence to principle on the collective rights of africa and africans. but the truth of his last years in power was that his country was collapsing around him. he could no longer hide his frailty, and he leant increasingly on his younger wife, grace. she had ambitions of her own, but the rising discontent in the party he dominated for over a0 years led to them both being outdone by his right—hand man. there are reminders of robert mugabe everywhere, but here on the streets, there are no visible signs of mourning. that is because he lived

out his last years cut off from public and political life, in an opulent mansion far removed from the struggles of many zimbabweans. many will remember him as a gifted orator and visionary, who liberated zimbabwe, but who turned his back on the high ideals he had originally believed in. and you can find more reactions to the death of robert mugabe on our website. just go bbc.com/news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: could she be the oldest mother in history? a 73—year—old indian woman has given birth to twins. he is the first african—american to accept the presidential nomination ofa accept the presidential nomination of a major party, and he accepts a0 yea rs of a major party, and he accepts a0 years ago to the date that martin

luther king said i have a dream. as darkness falls tonight, an unfamiliar light will appear in the south—eastern sky, and orange, glowing disc that is brighter than anything save the moon, our neighbouring planet mars. there is i'io neighbouring planet mars. there is no doubt that this election is an important milestone in the birth of east timor as the world's newest nation. it will take months and billions of dollars to repair what katrina achieved in just hours. three weeks is the longest the great clock has been off duty on 117 yea rs, clock has been off duty on 117 years, so clock has been off duty on 117 years, so it was with great satisfaction that clockmakerjohn vernon swung the pendulum to set the clock going again. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: relief workers on great abaco in the bahamas are searching for the bodies of those killed

by hurricane dorian. hundreds of people are still missing. let's have more on that story. the number of people killed by the storm could be staggering, according to officials there. in the last hours, dorian has made landfall in north carolina in the us and has weakened to a category i storm. we can speak to the bbc‘s david willis who's in washington, dc. david, first of all, can you give me an idea of what kind of help or funding the united an idea of what kind of help or funding the united states an idea of what kind of help or funding the united states will an idea of what kind of help or funding the united states will offer the bahamas? well, of course, part of the bahamas isjust the bahamas? well, of course, part of the bahamas is just 50 the bahamas? well, of course, part of the bahamas isjust 50 miles the bahamas? well, of course, part of the bahamas is just 50 miles off the coast of florida, and the trump administration has promised help, help in the form of humanitarian assistance, help in the form of search and rescue operations, and help in other disaster response modes. but it is going to be a tough battle, because the united nations is estimating that 70,000 people there on the northern ireland ‘s that were worst affected are in

urgent need of food aid. some areas there are utterly uninhabitable, and it would take months if not years to get people there back on their feet. now, the official death toll is still at 30, but officials in the bahamas say that that is expected to rise considerably. one official is quoted as saying the possibility existed over what he called an unimaginable death toll. which is certainly extraordinary and shows such devastation. that hurricane is now over north carolina. can you tell us the situation there? yes, it has kept us guessing in the us for the last week and a half or so, but finally made landfall on the outer banks of north carolina earlier this morning. bringing with it very high

winds and storm surges. now, many people there had ignored warnings to evacuate. about 250,000 people had actually been urged to evacuate, a lot of them ignored that, and as a result, hundreds are trapped, having taken to higher ground. the coastguard has actually been brought in to try to airlift people out of that area. but this storm now headed out to sea, to the relief of many people here, and it is next expected to touch land in nova scotia, canada. in turkey, protestors have gathered after a leading politician was sentenced to nearly ten years in prison. janan kaftan jaorloo was convicted mainly on the basis of tweets she posted several years ago which insulted president erdogan. as the head of the main opposition party in turkey, she played a key role in her party's triumph in the istanbul mayoral elections in june, which saw the ruling akp party lose power.

another long week in british politics is coming to an end. it's been dominated by the next steps in brexit, and attempts by the prime minister borisjohnson to call an early election. so far, those attempts have failed. opposition parties are united in insisting an election cannot happen until after an eu summit in mid—october. and a bill preventing the uk from leaving the eu without a deal will become law on monday — despite the prime minister pressing lawmakers to reject it. here's our deputy uk political editorjohn pienaar. much easier, this, then leading the country. boris johnson much easier, this, then leading the country. borisjohnson is trying to call an election before brexiter to stick to his plan. leave on time, deal or no deal. but he has lost control, and he wants it back. we must get brexit done, and that's my

message to my colleagues. let's come together, get this thing over the line, and unite our country, then get on with defeating the labour opposition, when they finally have the guts to have an election. you can almost smell the election coming, but he is having to wait. you can almost smell the election coming, but he is having to wait, a spectator, as his opponents try to force him to give up on a no—deal brexit, break his promise, maybe his premiership. you keep mentioning 31 october. you've made it abundantly clear that's your line in the sand. if you can't deliver that, you're going to have to resign, aren't you? that is not a hypothesis i'm willing to contemplate. i want us to get this thing done. today in the lords, the legislation banning no—deal was sent to become law, decreeing there would be no election until brexit is delayed. as many of that opinion will say, "content". content! to the contrary, "not content".

the contents have it. opponents had co—ordinated their plans. we've agreed that we're not going to give the prime minister the general election he is so desperate for until an extension is secured and the risk of no—deal is completely eliminated. the prime minister is on the run. boris is broken. we have an opportunity to bring down boris, to break boris, and to bring down brexit, and we must take that. i want an election, the snp wants an election, but we will do that when we've made sure that the security of our citizens is determined. and you want to weaken borisjohnson ahead of that election by making him break his word. well, he has gone out with ridiculous promises of leaving the european union on 31 october. borisjohnson, that's not going to happen. no sight ofjeremy corbyn, though he gathered opposition leaders by phone. labour's brexit policy is still a work in progress. but the party has joined the alliance that has cornered borisjohnson. and in downing street, they're searching for a plan, any plan, that will somehow help the pm regain some kind of control. he has sworn he will never seek

an extension to brexit, but now a new law could force him to do just that. he won't break his word, he can't break the law. mrjohnson needs to find a way to force an election or salvage his plan to deliver brexit, maybe without reaching an eu deal first. and in there, there is no sign they have found one. reporter: are you asking for an extension, mr frost? what chance of a last—minute deal? britain's brexit negotiator, david frost, has been in brussels today. but the finnish pm, who is chairing the eu, suggested a no—deal exit could be close. it seems very obvious that we are not getting brexit with agreement. on with the whites and off to peterhead market. campaigning keeps you busy. haggling is part of the job. £50 perfish. good god, that's an expensive fish!

borisjohnson is famously upbeat, but his premiership could still end badly. a woman in her early 70s has given birth to twin girls in the indian state of andhra pradesh. manga—yamma yaramati had undergone in—vitro fertilisation — or ivf. she and her husband had first tried to have a baby nearly 60 years ago. the bbc‘s tim allman has the story. looking more than a little bemused by all the attention, the proud father shows off his newborn children. sitarama rajarao is 82 years old, quite an age to be a first—time dad. his wife, the proud mother, is only a few years younger. she is still in hospital after undergoing a cesarean section. the couple had never been able to have children naturally, and had to use a donor egg to conceive. the first attempt she was pregnant, and that was really amazing for us. and from that time, we formed into teams, we formed three teams, one to look after her pregnancy, and one team to look after her nutritional needs,

and another team to look after her general health. the new mother also means, in this case, a new grandmother as well. translation: i am very happy, and tense too. my daughter at last became a mother. we will look after the children, no problem with that. i always wanted a granddaughter, now i have two, i am very happy. india has become a destination for so—called fertility tourism, as ivf here is relatively cheap. there are hundreds of mostly unregulated clinics that provide help, and age is really an obstacle. authorities say new laws are being considered. but highlighting the potential risks for the children of much older parents — only a day after becoming a father, sitarama rajarao suffered a stroke and is now in hospital. when asked who would look after his children, he said it was in the hands of god.

a third person has died in the us as a result of a severe lung illness that has affected hundreds of e—cigarette users, or vapers. that has affected hundreds of e—cigarette users, orvapers. us health authorities have again urged people to stop vaping until they determine the problem. the third death occurred in indiana. more than a00 cases are being investigated across the us in total. former south africa rugby union international and 1995 world cup winner chester williams has died at the age of a9. the former wing was the only black player in the world cup—winning team in 1995, a year after the end of apartheid. mark alexander, the president of south africa rugby says williams was "a true pioneer."

hello there. for many of us the weekend is fair, it will be mostly dry with some sunshine but there will also be a few showers. we have one or two around at the moment, north scotland, northern ireland, north wales and north—west england. if you are heading outside here, might be worth taking an umbrella with you. showers will be fleeting in nature so they won't last very long in any one place. for some of us then it will be a chilly start to the weekend, particularly across north—eastern areas, but it is a mostly dry prospect, those showers will continue for a time, northern ireland, north wales, north—west england, perhaps sneaking into the midlands. we may well see a few light showers pop up later in the day across east anglia and south—east england. but still for the vast majority it is a dry day with sunny spells — that said we have a cool northerly wind so temperatures just 13 degrees in aberdeen, the highest temperatures towards the south—west, where 19 in cardiff and plymouth should feel pretty pleasant throughout the afternoon.

saturday night is going to turn to be quite a cold night, with clear skies, light winds, temperatures will get down to about 3 celsius or so in newcastle, perhaps a few patches of frost in eastern scotland and north—east england, in the very coldest areas. so sunday does promise to be a cold start for this time of year. for most of us a lovely start today, plenty of sunshine, a bit of cloud will bubble up, but across the north—west wuite a change here for northern ireland and west scotland as a warm front moves in, that cloud will bring the threat of a bit of light, patchy drizzle for a time, quite misty around some of our western hills and coasts. temperatures coming up a bit across north—east england, so not quite as chilly but the highest temperatures further south. monday's weather dominated by this area of low pressure, the low pressure itself is forming really across england and wales, so there is quite a degree of uncertainty exactly where the heaviest rain will be and how far east it gets. the forecast could change but the general idea is that monday is going to be quite an unsettled day for many of us, this is the last port of call, dorian is going to make another landfall, this time in canada's nova scotia. gusts about 100mph. monday's weather dominated by this area of low pressure,

the low pressure itself is forming really across england and wales, so there is quite a degree of uncertainty exactly where the heaviest rain will be and how far east it gets. the forecast could change but the general idea is that monday is going to be quite an unsettled day for many of us, rain at times and temperatures not too impressive, highs of 1a—16 degrees. that's our weather, but take a quick look now at hurricane dorian, this is the last port of call, dorian is going to make another landfall, this time in canada's nova scotia. gusts about 100mph. that's the last you'll hear of dorian, it will spin up to iceland where it will be an area of low pressure, it is not coming to the uk — but this might. this is expected to be hurricane dorian. it will turn into a normal area of low pressure, but later in the week that could effect our weather.

party lose power. this is bbc news. the headlines:

rescuers in the bahamas are searching the island of great abaco for the bodies of people killed by hurricane dorian. hundreds are still missing. a relief operation is underway with un, us and british involvement. however, some communities haven't yet been reached and are in desperate need. india's attempt to land a spacecraft on the moon appears to have failed. scientists lost contact with the landerjust as it was about to touch down on the lunar surface. the unmanned vikram probe was above the moon's south pole when data stopped transmitting from the spacecraft. the british prime minister's demand for an early general election looks set to be rejected after opposition parties agreed to block it when it is put to mps on monday. they said that preventing the uk leaving the eu without a deal