a very warm welcome to bbc news. our top stories: donald trump claims an effective coronavirus vaccine could be good to go within weeks — contradicting one of his own top health officials. i called him and he didn't tell me that, and i think he got the message may be confused, maybe it was stated incorrectly, but we are ready to go immediately. hurricane sally makes landfall in america, causing catastrophic flooding, with winds exceeding 160 kilometres per hour. fresh warnings for the uk from senior us politicians — jeopardise the good friday agreement and there will be no trade deal. and maduro accused — a united nations investigation says venezuela's government

ordered the torture and murder of opponents. we speak to one of the authors. president trump has insisted a covid—19 vaccine will be ready to roll out to americans within weeks — a claim that entirely contradicts the views of his own senior health officials. the director of the us centers for disease control & prevention has told congress he doesn't believe a vaccine will be generally available to the american public before the middle of next year. i think there will be vaccine that will be initially available sometime between november and december, but very limited supply, and will have to be prioritised. if you're asking me when is it going to be generally available to the american public

so we can begin to take advantage of a vaccine to get back to our regular life, i think we are probably looking at late second quarter, third quarter of 2021. all these uncertainty during theissue all these uncertainty during the issue when people will be wearing masks and how much people would trust a vaccine if and when it will be approved. our correspondent nomia iqbal, is in washington. this is just going to add to the confusion. i mean, if you ever wanted a prime example of a contradiction, there you have it. it is not the first time mr trump has gone against the advice of the medical experts. he's often at odds with dr anthony fauci, who is america's — probably america's most trusted voice on the coronavirus. and when mr trump says that the there is going to be a vaccine ready, what he really

means by that is he believes that a vaccine will be ready for the entire american public. which is completely in contradiction of what we heard there by mr robert redfield, giving testimony to a panel of senators. she said, if the vaccine is available, it will go to first responders to begin with but, ultimately, has to go through lots of safety precautions before it's rolled out to the public. those comments were made just hours before mr trump gave his press conference this evening. and when he was asked about the comments made by mr redfield, this is what he had to say. no, i think he made a mistake when he said that. it'sjust incorrect information. and i called him and he did not tell me that and i think he got the message maybe confused, maybe it was stated incorrectly. no, we're to go immediately as the vaccine is announced, and it could be announced in october, could be announced a little bit after. this suggestion that one of the most senior medics and scientists in the us is confused is really

quite something, coming from a president who so often seems confused himself and so often, frankly, says things that are not true. let's be clear, if the top medics and scientist of the drug company say a vaccine is not ready, there is nothing a president can do to make it ready, hejust wishes it would be for the election? i think that is true because the coronavirus pandemic is the one issue that is still a big issue in the run—up to the election, and it is not ideal for the trump team. the pandemic is something that they want to get away from. mr trump would rather be fighting on law and order, it's the ground he feels most comfortable with. and that because the figures speak for themselves when it comes to coronavirus. more than 6 million cases, 196,000 have died with the virus. it is something that he does not want to be reminded of. and the democrats keep trying to pull it back to the coronavirus. joe biden tonight

saying that the reason why america is in this position is because the virus was not handled right from the beginning. it is really interesting because you get the feeling that mr trump, that the coronavirus pandemic has almost got in the way of what he says would be an inevitable success in the re—election. he would be re—elected. but as we've see there, tonight at the press conference, mr trump is once again at odds with his health officials but insists that his administration has got a handle on the virus. tropical storm sally has made landfall along the gulf coast in alabama, bringing historic levels of flooding and cutting power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses. alabama, florida and mississippi have all declared states of emergency. mark lobel reports. striking slowly but mercilessly in alabama, some riding out

the storm by clinging on. as the day came, signs and trees uprooted and power cut for residents. we were on the first floor and we started to hear the windows pop, and the sound was ripping, and wejust rode it out. my kids were scared and ijust told them it was going to be ok, but we are going to try to survive this, we are going to try to go through this and we're just going try to be safe. this is the view from the third floor of my hotel room, look at the street. roads now rivers in florida's westernmost city. my goodness, this isjust... i have never seen anything like this. the third—worst storm surge ever to hit here. wind speeds reaching 158km/h and up to 18 inches of rainfall.

it's a combination of real spirit and esprit de corps and a tremendous sense of working on hurricanes, we got very good at it and we've certainly had plenty. but to make matters worse, there are more tropical storms stacking up, threatening other parts of the gulf coast. cities like new orleans or biloxi, mississippi, are all in that kind of area impacted by these hurricanes so you are starting to see a lot of people, particularly officials take the necessary precautions in terms of warning citizens to either evacuate or prepare their buildings. and look, as the storms but off the coast, see too a grey band of smoke from the california wildfires, drifting east across america, a worrying picture that captures the consequences of extreme weather conditions. what we are seeing with hurricanes is that they are becoming more frequent in terms of the most intense

storms we are seeing, again breaking those records. the extension of the season to longer time periods, this season itself, a record—breaking start of the north atlantic hurricane season, and of course, when they do occur, science tells us they are going to deliver more precipitation than they would otherwise have in this warming world. in addition to the growing force, officials are now running out of letters to name new hurricanes, they are coming so thick and fast. mark lobel, bbc news. i've been speaking to rob fowler, who is chief meteorologist for wcbd—tv in south carolina, i asked him about the seriousness of the situation on the ground. you are looking at a potentially historic season, running well ahead of the paper should have, except for three letters, every letter has formed earlier than the previous record and if you are keeping count, 20 named storm,

eight hurricane sandy four made landforms and making landfall and september is the peak month and september is the peak month and were only halfway through the month! what's interesting about sally, he made landfall about sally, he made landfall about the same place ivan made la ndfall about the same place ivan made landfall 16 years ago in 2004, september 16, 16 years ago, that area had a hurricane as well. i don't know how to describe it, it's almost been unprecedented. this is all bad news but a slow—moving storm is really bad news, can you explain why. absolutely, the rainfall and storm surge potential is greater when you have a slow—moving system. when you think about sally last night, i was doing the weather last night on a tv station, it was moving about two mph and most of us get on the treadmill and working three or four mph ata and working three or four mph at a good clique and you get a perspective of how slow it was moving and we saw about two

feet of water and rain before it even made landfall, out on the gulf of mexico on a radar system and probably some errors will get up to 45 inches of precipitation and for us in charleston, we normally get about 52 inches per year. in a couple of days, some of these areas along the gulf coast got more than half of the annual rainfall injust a more than half of the annual rainfall in just a few days. people in these areas are used to the storms and it's yourjob to the storms and it's yourjob to help people know what to expect and how well are people able to prepare and how well can they get out of the way? the best thing is to listen to all the emergency managers, listen to your local meteorologists who you have faith and trust in and who has experience when they say leave 01’ experience when they say leave or give you advice to leave or tell you what the conditions may be, it's probably best to get out of harm's way. i was looking at a study recently and in the united states about 50% of the population now lives within about an hours' drive from somebody of water so there

is the law of water, people wa nt to is the law of water, people want to be close to the water, in the water, near the water but that means there are threats and tropical systems area threats and tropical systems are a threat in the sea more than any other. we talk to you three weeks ago about hurricane laura and here we are three weeks later, talking about hurricane sally making landfall this morning. a round—up of other news. i former athletics chief has been jailed for accepting bribes. he allowed russian athletes to compete in the 2020 athletics. the head of libya ‘s internationally recognised government has announced he hopes to step down by the end of last month and had power to a new executive body to be chosen in talks last — at next month between libyan factions in geneva. sedan, authorities

detained 41 people and obtained explosives, including ammonium nitrate, the chemical that exploded last month in the lebanese capital, beirut. according to the public prosecutor, that was enough to blow up khartoum. for members of congress expressed such concern. the us house speaker, nancy pelosi, has repeated her warning that congress will veto a us—uk trade agreement if brexit undermines the good friday agreement, which secured peace in northern ireland in a statement after she held talks in washington with the uk foreign secretary dominic raab. she said, "if the uk violates its international agreements and brexit undermines the good friday accord, there will be absolutely no chance of a us—uk trade agreement passing the congress." mr raab earlier told

congressional leaders that the good friday agreement was under threat from four members of congress expressed such concern. we spoke to one of them, richard neil. he chairs the hugely powerful ways and means committee. i have been involved in this agreement for 30 years and it's useful to remind people of what the situation was like in the north before the good friday agreement. there were 30,000 british soldiers on the ground and many parts of ireland were ravaged and i think the success we had with the good friday

agreement represents an example for the rest of the world in terms of conflict resolution and should not be disturbed. terms of conflict resolution and should not be disturbedm is to do with antipathy towards brexit itself amongst members of the democratic party on capitol hill? absolutely not, that they suffer a decision the nation made. we are not concerned at all with the decision they made and we may have disagreement on why but the truth is that was up to the people of the uk and they made that decision. 0ur argument is that decision. 0ur argument is that ireland and the success of the good friday agreement ought not to be used as a plot in the dispute between the uk and the european union. the success of the good friday agreement is therefore the world to witness including elimination of the border and republic of ireland gave up articles in the constitution for the purpose of helping to secure the agreement so helping to secure the agreement soi helping to secure the agreement so i think what we want to do is remind people what the circumstances were and that should not be any threat and

whistle clarity today from secretary dominic raab. did you get clarity always convinced that the uk government is not proposing to do anything that may jeopardise the proposing to do anything that mayjeopardise the friday agreement? he indicated very clearly that there was no indication of moving back to a ha rd indication of moving back to a hard border on the island. the dispute they had with the eu remains constant, so i think that what we will do is we will be vigilant, many of us were pa rt be vigilant, many of us were part of that agreement and we feel very strongly that it is celebrated everywhere and we ought not to be revisiting it there is a dispute someplace that involves a trade agreement with the eu. stay with us if you can, much more to come, including this, we ta ke more to come, including this, we take you to germany to find the syrian refugee who crossed europe in her wheelchairfive yea rs europe in her wheelchairfive

years ago. 30 hours after the earthquake that devastated mexico city, rescue teams still have no idea just how many people have died. there is people alive and there is people not alive. we just can help and give whatever we got. a state funeral has been held for princess grace of monaco, at the church where she married prince rainier, 26 years ago. it looked as though they had come to fight a war. but their mission is to bring peace to east timor, and nowhere on earth needs it more badly. the government's case has been forcefully presented by monsieur badinter, the justice minister. he's campaigned vigorously for abolition, having once witnessed one of his clients being executed. elizabeth seton has spent much of her time at this grotto, and every year hundreds of pilgrimages are made here. now that she has become a saint, it is expected that this area will be inundated with tourists. the mayor and local businesses regard the anticipated boom

as yet another blessing of saint elizabeth. welcome back, very good to have you with us on bbc news. president trump says an effective coronavirus vaccine could be good to go for americans within weeks, contradicting one of his own top health officials. hurricane sally has made landfall in america, causing catastrophic flooding, with winds exceeding 160km/h. the human rights council of the united nations is accusing senior venezuelan officials of human rights violations amounting to crimes against humanity. an investigation found evidence of systematic violence for the past six years. the report says president nicolas maduro and senior ministers were not only aware of the crimes, but gave the orders and the means to carry them out. i spoke with one of the report's authors, the criminal lawyer francisco cox vial.

i asked him how sure he was of the evidence, given the team wasn't allowed into the country. we did talk to people who are insiders who are still in the security forces and gave us the patterns and the decision making in those agencies. this report is based on the information that we gathered, there's many experiences in which investigations are done abroad and not because they — due to that, they fail, and so we are very confident on the information that we are providing. where we see this report going is that it will be delivered to the un human rights council and then what the un council and other people will do with it is, well, it is what they will do. we fulfilled our mandate and we investigate it and we have given our conclusions to the un human rights council and to, basically, the international community to take steps

to bring justice for victims. and yet, of course, the human rights council cannot sanction, can it? i know the chief of the council called for the special action forces to be disbanded and they were not. how confident are you that the security council will take action given the attitudes of, say, russia and china? we are lawyers, we are not politicians or ambassadors or activists. we fulfilled the mandate, we gave the information and we stand by our conclusions and we believe that otherjudicial parties that will have to determine the responsibility of those people that we mentioned, may use the information we have gathered eventually in a trial, for example, the international criminal court could, at some point, use this information if they see the value to it and, therefore, bring justice to victims, as i said.

hundreds of refugees and migrants are still on the streets of the greek island of lesbos since the fire that destroyed their camp earlier this month. authorities have been struggling to convince people to move into a new camp, while fears grow over a coronavirus outbreak. the fire broke out after quarantine measures were imposed on the old site. no one was killed or hurt. this week, germany has announced plans to take more than1,500 migrants from lesbos. the fire was a reminder of the scale of a crisis which has seen vast movements of people fleeing war and poverty. five years ago at the height of the crisis, the bbc‘s fergal keane reported the extraordinary story of nujeen mustafa, a syrian refugee, who crossed europe in a wheelchair. today, fergal has met up with nujeen to hear how her life has changed. whatever happened to nujeen mustapha?

an extraordinary teenager in a tumultuous time. i'd love to be an astronaut, to go out and see... and find an alien, yes. i want to meet the queen, yes. born with cerebral palsy, nujeen escaped war in syria's aleppo and travelled 1,400 kilometres to reach the greek island of lesbos. when i met her on the hungarian border in 2015, surrounded by other refugees, nujeen was exhausted, but irrepressible, a girl who'd learned english by watching soap operas. you should fight to get what you want in this world, so... yes, it's a journey for a new life. hungary shut its doors to them, so nujeen and her sister nasrine pushed on across the balkans to a detention camp in slovenia

where i found her at her lowest ebb. nujeen, do you know where you're going? i don't know. i'm lost, really. five years on, i'm on my way to meet nujeen in the german city of cologne. hey—hey! he laughs delightedly oh, dear! i wish i could hug you, but i can't. oh, my god. not with social distancing. memories flooded back. on that border, all those years ago... that moment, that day, where the magnitude of the whole situation just hit me. germany welcomed a child who'd experienced prejudice because of her disability in syria. even if some dreams have been deferred. i definitely still want to meet the queen, and i definitely still want to be an astronaut. but, you know, since i've been enrolled in school, i found out that i'm

absolutely terrible at math, so i might have to resort to plan b. the experiences of the refugee road defined nujeen‘s life. to help the victims of war and hunger, she's studying to become a psychologist. and she's become a prominent campaigner for disabled refugees, even addressing the un. people with disabilities are forgotten in times of peace. what do you think we expect in times of war? her calls could not be more urgent. 0n lesbos, where nujeen first reached europe, thousands have been left homeless after the moria refugee camp burned down. hello. her own parents are still marooned in turkey. a weekly video call unites those who've made it to germany and those still waiting. mwah! i guess the part that

breaks my heart the most is that they don't get to see my life here, so they don't get to see me go to school and have a productive life and see me moving forward with my future. but that might change soon, nujeen hopes, so that her parents can see the life she's building with courage and grace. fergal keane, bbc news, cologne. both mean american parties are spending millions of dollars to win november's collection but they could apparently save a lot of time and money by simply consulting some shamans in peru. in this part of lima, political polling is completely unnecessary. instead, they rely on incense, some maracas and the odd snake. a sacred ritual designed to eliminate the future and predict the next occupant of the white house. so, who's it going to be?

translation: joe biden is there to win. he has everything to win. we have seen that they are attacking him with witchcraft. all peruvian shamans are looking for ways to cleanse so that biden will be the next president of the united states. if you happen to be a biden supporter, you may want to hold off with the celebrations. it seems shamanism, like politics, is far from a precise art. the spitting, by the way, is in fact a compliment. translation: today we did a ritual, a ritual to send good vibes and good energy to mr donald trump. why? because he is deserving, he needs good energies, good vibes from his followers. we are supporters of the gentleman. he will win. he's a winner. the verdict from lima — they'll both win. maybe the electoral college isn't so bad after all.

tim allman, bbc news. at least that is settled. thank you very much for watching. hello there. it will be a notably fresher start to the day, particularly across the southern half of the uk because the transition was taking place further north yesterday. but there will still be plenty of dry weather on offer, some good spells of sunshine will break through the cloud and make it feel pleasantly warm. we have seen the transition as we come behind this cold front through yesterday and overnight to slightly fresher air back to where we should be for the time of year. quite a brisk easterly wind blowing in the south. always a little bit more cloud close to the north of scotland with this weak weather front, and there could be some patchy fog elsewhere first thing. the first couple of hours after dawn there could be some dense patches, but then it clears away. as should the low cloud near the north sea coast, and the misty low cloud we've had in southern and western areas for the last couple of days. the exception really to seeing that sunshine for most is the north and east of scotland.

and with the return of the sunshine elsewhere in scotland and northern england, i think it will feel warmer than it did yesterday, but the 27 we had in the south not being repeated. more like 21, 22, which is where we should be for this time of year. and so under the clearest skies again through the coming night, it's going to turn quite cool, and, yes, again, the exception being northern scotland where we've got those weather fronts close by. down into single figures quite widely in the countryside setting us up for another date with perhaps some patchy mist and fog again first thing. brisk wind in the south, but otherwise some good spells of sunshine. and even north, as that weather front weakens at times, it will be bright. 19 to 21, around about average for this time of year. and we keep that high pressure close by into the weekend particularly in the north. but this low pressure in the bay of biscay is giving us a little bit of a headache. it comes northwards, it is likely to tighten the isobars. the winds will strengthen again, and possibly it's going to bring some showers close to southern parts of england in particular.

so a keen breeze coming in off the north sea, which will make it feel cooler. some low cloud as well plaguing the north sea coast. so here temperatures will be as high, but 19 to 22 further west. and then just the possibility of some showers. the question mark is how far north they will come into the southern half of the uk. they are still meandering around the area of low pressure into sunday as well. with that breeze coming in off the north sea, also the risk a little bit more cloud around here, but still a good deal of dry and settled weather with high pressure largely in charge further north. as ever, there is more on the website.

this is bbc news, the headlines: donald trump claims an effective coronavirus vaccine could be good to go within weeks — contradicting one of his own top health officials. a doctor, told congress a vaccine could not be rolled out until the middle of next year. hurricane sally makes landfall in the us, causing catastrophic flooding, with winds exceeding a 160km/h. it is now moving inland at walking pace, exacerbating flooding. speaker of the us house of representatives, nancy pelosi has repeated warnings that congress will veto any trade agreement with the uk if brexit undermines the good friday agreement to secure peace in northern ireland. beau biden has voiced similar concerns.