welcome to the programme. thousands of residents in texas have been told to evacuate their homes because of hurricane harvey, which is expected to make landfall within hours. the authorities warn it will be the worst to hit mainland america for more than a decade. this is a satellite picture of the category four storm as it approaches texas with winds of 130 miles per hour. the national hurricane centre said storm surges may bring life—threatening floods in and around houston, and harvey could remain in the area until the middle of next week. james cooke reports from texas. in the last few minutes, president trump has signed a disaster proclamation. on the line is a reporter covering the story for us from corpus christi. thank you for joining us. what are you seeing and hearing? we are hearing right now

some significant and incessant wind outside the hotel room. we have street signs waiting in the wind. you are seeing the category four hurricanes in action. how worried are people? these people are accustomed to seeing storms form in the gulf and go their way. but this one has given a sense that they should get out of town, board up windows, seek shelter. most people have taken it seriously. they got out of town before the storm picked it up and headed towards landfall. we are looking at live pictures from the gulf of mexico. wind and rain and storm surges battering the area.

what has happened in the week building up to this in terms of preparation? the week building up to it, there is the early stage when you don't know what it will be, where it will go. there is a sense he will pay attention to it. in the last 2a hours, people realised it was a serious threat. we needed to make sure everyone got out of town. we need to make sure everyone has gas, generators if they things like that. is that people have been hitting those warnings to leave. —— you said people have been heeding. has that been orderly? have highways been jammed? there are stragglers who would rather not leave as

always. for the most part, the downtown corpus christi is really, really where we are going to see a lot of the damage, a lot of the storm surge. it is a ghost town. i was there a few hours ago. you did not see many people. the message was heard loud and clear. there are stragglers. people have heeded the warnings of property damage and loss of life. thank you very much for speaking to us. and now for some more stories. us president donald trump has taken another step towards barring transgender people from the military. he has also granted a pardon to a sheriff found guilty of criminal contempt. the first presidential pardon of his administration would

go to arpaio, who was frequently praised for his hardline immigration stance. president trump's deputy assistant, sebastian gorka, has resigned. in his letter of resignation the national security expert said people in the white house were undermining the president's policies. mr gorka was closely aligned to the nationalist steve bannon who was ousted earlier this month. a man has been shot and killed by security forces in brussels after attacking two soldiers with a knife. the man, a belgian of somali origin, shouted "allahu akbar" or " allah is the greatest." prosecutors said they were treating the incident as a terrorist attack. the soldiers were slightly wounded. two police officers in london have been slightly wounded tackling an armed man outside buckingham palace. a man in his 20s has been arrested. the metropolitan police said it was too early to speculate on a motive. stay with us here on bbc news. still

to come. we'll have the latest from vegas and one of the most hyped contests in boxing history. now, they were small businesses that found themselves in trouble, during the financial crisis. but instead of helping them their bank, the royal bank of scotland, has been accused of systematically mistreating many of them. a leaked report for the financial conduct authority, and obtained by the bbc, reveals the extent of that abuse. it shows that hundreds of companies which the bank said needed restructuring were treated inappropriately, in many cases deliberately. one business owner has told the bbc he considered suicide. rbs denies the allegations. here's our business correspondent, joe lynam. we bailed out rbs when it was in trouble, but when thousands of its business customers got into difficulties, the bank, in many cases, was much less generous. the uk's biggest business bank has admitted that it mistreated many small firms, but now we have learned about the scale of this mistreatment.

tracy standish was the former owner of the bowlplex chain and had been an rbs customer for decades. tunbridge we opened in december ‘98. when profits fell during the recession, his bowling business was placed into rbs‘s restructuring unit, grg, supposedly to get the company back on its feet. it was like the gestapo walking in. their aggression, their divisiveness, the whole way in which they'd talked. they would bang tables, shout, point fingers. the whole thing was, like, they weren't in anyway here to help us through a difficult time. they were trying to subjugate us. mr standish says grg loaded additional debt on the company and tripled the interest rate to 15%. in the end, his family had to surrender 80% of the company. i had to be referred to a counsellor for treatment, i was prescribed antidepressants and i became suicidal.

he's now suing rbs for breach of duty and conspiracy. rbs said that the case was currently the subject of litigation and that the bank would be vigorously defending these claims. hundreds of rbs customers had long complained of mistreatment by grg by 2013, so the financial conduct authority commissioned its own independent report which it received last year, but only published a limited summary of, but now the bbc has acquired the full report and it highlights the extent of the widespread inappropriate treatment faced by rbs‘s own customers, some of which was systematic or orchestrated from within the bank. and crucially for rbs, the report said that the bank had shown " narrow compliance" with the investigation instead of co—operating fully, as it said it had. rbs disputes this, though. it says it provided the investigators with more than 300 gigabytes of data. the report for the financial conduct

authority found that 92% of viable or otherwise healthy companies experienced some form of inappropriate action by rbs, such as hiking up lending costs and fees unnecessarily. only 10% of those companies placed by rbs into grg returned intact to the main bank. many of the rest are either sold off, forced to hand over substantial stakes to rbs or liquidated. even in the midst of the recession, the restructuring group was earning a profit of £1.2 billion for rbs. the bank said it hadn't handled customer complaints well and apologised. it has put in place a £100 million compensation fund to be overseen by a retired high courtjudge and the issue of mistreatment of rbs customers has already been examined by mps, who urged the fca to publish the full report. the bank used inappropriate behaviour, forced lots of companies

that could have survived and went out of business because they were mistreated, was the bank simply wanted to make rockets out of them. we have to learn that lesson. we have to have a system where small companies are protected against big banks. the fca said: for the bank, which is 73% owned by uk taxpayers, the fca said: for the bank, which is 73% owned by uk taxpayers, this is yet another obstacle on the road to full health. being accused of wholesale mistreatment of its own customers may delay that rehabilitation. millions of people have been on the move for the traditional

bank holiday getaway. but there are more problems than usual because of major engineering work planned on the railways over the weekend. the south—east of england will be badly affected with station closures at charing cross, euston and liverpool st, and limited services from others. and in the north—west england engineering works will affect stations in manchester, preston, blackpool, and bolton. a former rock star jailed a former rock starjailed for multiple counts of child abuse could have been caught earlier if investigated properly. the lead singer of the band, lost prophets, was jailed years ago. but an investigation by the independent police complaints commission found that south wales police missed a series of opportunities to stop him. our wales correspondent, sian lloyd reports. a rock star and a hero to his fans across the world,

but in private ian watkins was a paedophile, his behaviour was described as "having plumbed the depths of depravity." his sexual interest in children was reported by his former girlfriend. watkins had sent indecent images tojoanne mjadzelics' mobile phone, but when she took it to the police, her allegations were not followed up. the police watchdog, the independent police complaints commission, has found officers' bias against her meant watkins was able to carry on abusing children. joanne mjadzelics spoke today of the toll it's all taken. she said... "the ipcc report finally vindicates me and accepts that from the outset i was telling the truth and trying to bring a serious criminal sexual predator to justice." south wales police didn't begin investigating ian watkins until four years after they were tipped off that he was a danger to children. he was arrested during a drugs raid at his home here, in pontypridd. what they then found on his mobile phones and computers showed that those earlier warnings should have been acted on. in all, six people made complaints about watkins, none were followed up. south wales police missed

opportunity after opportunity to bring him in for questioning, to arrest him or to bring him tojustice. the force says it's truly sorry for its failings and has introduced wide scale changes. the ipcc has also criticised south yorkshire and bedford police over inaction in investigating watkins. the singer manipulated fans to get access to his victims, the extent of his abuse may never be known. sian lloyd, bbc news. iraqi forces say they have broken through the defences of so—called islamic state and reached the centre of the city of tal afar. close to the syrian border, the city is one of the jihadists' last remaining strongholds in iraq after they were driven out of the city of mosul. the iraqi offensive to liberate the city has been under way for six days. sarah corker reports.

iraqi soldiers fire rockets at is positions in tal afar. so—called islamic state has held the city in northern iraq since 2014. the battle in alleys, streets, and houses is fierce. iraqi forces say they have now seized about three quarters of the city, breaking through is defences. translation: the units move towards the neighbourhood, which has only about 5% left to retake from islamic state. then we will announce the liberation of this area. what remains is one neighbourhood, the citadel known as the old city of tal afar. sitting on a main road between mosul and the syrian border, the city was once a main supply route for is, and is one of its last remaining strongholds in iraq. tens of thousands of

civilians have already fled. food and water in tal afar is running out. in one neighbourhood, soldiers found these vehicles, believed to have been prepared as car bombs by is. translation: while inspecting these liberated areas, we found these storage warehouses and these vehicles. we are continuing our search of the whole area. they also discovered a network of tunnels, packed with missiles and mines, which government troops then blew up. explosion it is estimated up to 2000 militants remain in the north—eastern quarter. iraqi commanders, though, say they are certain victory is new. the un warns that around 30,000 civilians are trapped by the fighting. sarah corker, bbc news. thousands of residents in texas have

been told to evacuate their homes because of hurricane harvey, which is expected to make landfall within hours. the authorities warn it will be the worst to hit mainland america for more than a decade. more on this now — james cook reports from texas. the view from space as hurricane harvey barrels towards the united states of america. the storm blew up fast in the gulf of mexico, taking texans by surprise. now time is scarce to prepare for the worst. it's a hurricane that will prove more dangerous than many hurricanes. not only are we going to be dealing with the high winds that typically come with what should be a category three hurricane, but we are going to be dealing with immense really record—setting flooding. in some coastal cities, though, evacuations were urged, not ordered.

many people here are determined to ride it out. we're going to go ahead and stick it out here. we've got sand bags ready, food for about a week, we've got water, everything we need. but even before it arrives, harvey is threatening lives. here, ten critically ill babies are being evacuated from its path. getting out is not easy. the roads are clogged as tens of thousands of people seek shelter away from a dangerous storm surge. the oil industry is bracing for a battering too. the area at risk produces some 7 million barrels a day. with production already slowing, oil prices are rising and at the pumps there is a rush to fill up, meaning that supplies are running short. so too is food and water. supermarket stocks are dwindling amid warnings about catastrophic flooding from torrential rain which may linger for days. in neighbouring louisiana, those warnings send a shiver through new orleans.

in 2005, it was devastated by hurricane katrina. the city was ill—prepared and disaster followed. and yet this time it looks exposed again, with pumping stations not at full capacity. this is the first big domestic urgency for president donald trump, but the white house rejects claims that his administration is understaffed and inexperienced. some may defy the storm for now, but not for long. the authorities say a major disaster is just hours away. well as we mentioned earlier president trump's deputy assistant, sebastian gorka is no longer working for the administration. and in a separate move the us president also pardoned the controversial former arizona sheriff, joe arpaio. ben schreckinger is a staff writer with poltico magazine has more on this latest white house departure. sebastian gorka was a national security adviser who seems to have never been

given a security clearance. he was never really on the national security council once hr mcmaster took over from michael flynn. he was not based in the white house but was based next door in the office complex that is next to it. he was under the protection of steve bannon, he was not really doing much in hisjob and now that steve bannon is gone, sebastian gorka is leaving as well. in terms of this other announcement, a former arizona sheriff, that is going to be controversial, isn't it? pardoning of this man? yes, the sheriff had been convicted

of contempt of court. a federaljudge had ordered him to stop the practice of racial profiling. he was attempting to crack down on illegal immigration. donald trump was obviously elected on a promise of cracking down on illegal immigration. ohio endorsed the trump campaign back injuly of 2015. politically, this is on message for trump and obviously this is going to be controversial, if not explosive. it is friday evening on the east coast of the united states, and with a natural disaster possibly in the making in terms of hurricane harvey. what interesting timing for this two events? yes, it was a classic friday news dump.

earlier this week donald trump teased at a rally in arizona that he was likely to pardon the sheriff, but he thought it would be too controversial to do it at that point. he has now done it at a point where the story is not going to get as much attention as it otherwise would have. we're told that driverless cars are the future, and some have already been trialled on the roads in some countries. now it's the turn of lorries because from next year convoys of semi—automated, self—driving lorries will be trialled in britain. it raises a number of questions — including who would be responsible for a driverless car crash — the driver or the computer? our transport correspondent richard westcott has more. on a military base in switzerland, important tests are going on. one of the world's biggest insurance companies is deliberately crashing cars. for the first time, they're simulating what driverless vehicles might do when things go wrong, like if the computer was hacked, so the brakes don't work.

well, this car is obviously a complete write—off, you can really smell that the airbags have gone off, but all of the sensors are now full of data, telling them what the car did, what happened to the driver here and all of that information will be used to determine how much insurance we all pay in future. not too many rockfalls in britain, but it's a problem in switzerland. there's not a lot a computer can do about this. so what are insurers hoping to learn? we want to demonstrate that we can't have the same accident investigation methods as we had before for autonomous cars. we need to know whether the driver or the car was in charge of driving the car. and that's a key question.

if a computer's driving, who'll be responsible for the crash? i don't think people need to worry about whether it's their fault or the computer's fault. the uk government has decided an insurance policy will be required and that will deal with the claim in the first instance, so people will be compensated and then the insurance companies, motor manufacturers, they can argue amongst themselves in the background. they save the real drama until last. this next test is about giving the computer a moral dilemma. when an accident is inevitable, does it hit the person on the quad bike or someone in a car? the bike's causing the accident, but the rider's more vulnerable, so who should the computer hit? for this test, they simulate a car choosing the rider. it's just a dummy, but it's still hard to watch. computer—driven cars are inevitable and these tests will determine how our insurance will work. they already predict that premiums

will come down because computers make better drivers than humans. richard westcott, bbc news, zurich in switzerland. the circus has begun in las vegas ahead of one of the biggest fights boxing has ever seen at the weigh in a short time ago, floyd mayweather and the mixed martial arts star connor macgregor stood before the crowd where they will go head to head on saturday night. the high stakes show is already being billed as the richest and most unlikely matchup in boxing history. from las vegas, richard conway reports. on face value, it is an unlikely match up. floyd mayweather, one of boxing's all—time greats will, this weekend, step into the ring with conor mcgregor, the 29—year—old dubliner who has never boxed professionally. most experts give him little chance of victory. but then this is las vegas, where the bright lights act as a beacon for those hungry to make their fame and fortune. exact figures are hard to pin down, but both men are expected to earn

tens of millions of dollars in the most lucrative boxing match ever staged. what will be the impact for boxing if you were to win? there'll be a new king and that's it. there'll be a new king. they'll begin to study my methods. they'll begin to implement my methods and that's it. i will reign supreme. mcgregor, ornately tattooed and nicknamed ‘the notorious' is already a star of the ultimate fighting championship, in which competitors use a brutal mix of martial arts. claiming unemployment benefit four years ago, he's had a meteoric rise and a shock win on saturday would see him propelled to a whole new level of global recognition. his opponent, meanwhile, insists this fight will be his last. at the age of a0 and undefeated, floyd money mayweather wants to exit

with one final mega pay day. i'm not the same fighter i was 21 years ago but, like i said before — mentally, no athlete is stronger than me, mentally. the usual hype and hoopla in the build—up to the first bell has, however, crossed several lines. last month's publicity tour was tarnished by homophobic slurs, allegations of racism and pantomime behaviour, with both men now admitting they made mistakes. such behaviour, though, has not prevented thousands of fans from flocking to las vegas, or millions around the world are purchasing the fight to watch on tv. conor mcgregor may never have fought professionally, but he's being greeted here as if he was the champion. floyd mayweather, in this his home town, is being seen as very much the outsider and mcgregor is the man that the crowd here want to see win. but one former champion, who has fought and lost to mayweather, has concerns. i think genuine boxing fans and ufc fans probably feel a little bit like i'm feeling, that it's a little bit —

it's making a little bit of a farce of our sports. what happens in vegas, should, according to the old saying, stay here. not with this fight. richard conway, bbc news, las vegas. time now for a look at the weather. hello. i'll get to the uk weekend forecast in just a moment, but first of all, what a night in texas. dealing with a major hurricane. this is it on the satellite picture, here. but it's a hurricane that's just going to hang around for several more days to come, which means the rain willjust keep on coming. bright the rain willjust keep on coming. colours showing of bright colours showing the intensity of that rain, continuing into saturday, sunday and perhaps even beyond. it will be potentially catastrophic with possible life—threatening floods. this is the picture for the uk this weekend. quite a benign outlook, the 10th of a shower especially on saturday. a

few showers from the word go in scotland, heavy ones in the north—east, working through parts of northern england. that will clear away. in the afternoon, perhaps a sharp shower and a rumble of thunder. one or two. about in northern england. most places avoiding it and staying dry. cloud and sunny spells. high teens— low 20s for most areas, some places reaching high 20s. temperatures coming down a little bit for the women's cup with sunny spells during the day. saturday evening and night, showers fading away. clearer skies on saturday night. missed and fog developing. temperatures may be a bit lower than friday night. this is how sunday morning starts. sunday promising to be a fine day largely across the board. some cloud across

northern scotland, patchy outbreaks of rain. it may filter into other parts of north—west scotland. for most places, variable cloud, sunny spells and temperatures high teens, into the low teens. some places into their mid— 20s in the south of england. on monday the weather system coming in producing rain in scotla nd system coming in producing rain in scotland and northern ireland. gales in the far north. the best of the sunshine across the south—east. highest temperatures, quite a range on monday. cold and fresh towards parts of the north, very warm in the south—east. turning cooler by the time we get to tuesday. this is bbc news.

the headlines: a major hurricane travelling towards the coast of texas has developed into a category four storm, with sustained winds of 130 miles an hour. thousands of residents have boarded up their homes and fled. up to a metre of rain is expected to fall on texan cities. president trump has granted a pardon tojoe arpaio, the self—proclaimed "toughest sheriff in america," less than a month after he was convicted of criminal contempt in a case involving his department's policy of racial profiling. the president has frequently praised arpaio for his hardline immigration stance. two police officers in london have been slightly wounded tackling an armed man outside buckingham palace. a man in his 20s has been arrested. the metropolitan police said it was too early to speculate on a motive.