this is bbc world news today. our top stories... texas mobilises more resources to help those affected by hurricane harvey, the biggest storm to hit the us mainland in 13 years. there is particular concern about houston and also new orleans, which suffered under hurricane country now. suffered under hurricane country the king of spain leads thousands of people in a march of defiance. and we countdown to one of the biggest, and richest boxing matches ever, as floyd mayweather and martial arts star connor macgregor face off ahead of their big fight in las vegas. hello and welcome to world news today.

it will take years to recover from hurricane harvey. that's the message from america's head of disaster relief. thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes, and though harvey has now weakened to a tropical storm, there are warnings of deadly floods and storm surges to come. rockport town, where it made landfall, is the worst hit. one person is known to have died there. so far, the only known fatality from the storm. tens of thousands of homes are without power and there are warnings of flooding in several areas. our correspondent james cook is in the city of corpus christi. are you in there? this is what a category four hurricane means in reality. searching in the wreckage to find out if your neighbour is dead or alive. it seems like dan got out in time but others like judy stage

—— stayed to ride out the storm. did you get any sleep? no, i stayed in my shaking bed, waiting for the roof to come. —— the roof to come off. and then later quietened down and there was a tree in my yard and the house is completely gone. on the shore front of rockport, in the eye of the storm, these men who live in their boat are lucky to be alive. were you in your boat last night? yes, he was, too. how was that? no brains! this is a really poor neighbourhood and a lot of people say they do not know how they will rebuild their lives. this is what they endured through the night. 130 mph winds which left nearly 250,000 homes and businesses without power. it was the strongest hurricane to strike texas since 1961. it is still too early for a comprehensive assessment

of the damage, but it will be costly. what is your worst—case scenario here? well, h-a-r-v-e-y. that is the worst—case scenario. for a community the size of victoria. we have never seen a forecast for that amount of rain, the worst forecast we have ever seen. the danger is not over yet. the storm is inching inland, bringing huge amounts of rain. the flooding has begun and the information is that it will get a lot worse. this disaster is still unfolding. in the last hour, the governor of texas held a news conference — he said "dramatic" flooding is now his primary concern. the state and various other agencies remain very active in the search and rescue process and that will be the foremost task that we undertake in the coming days.

we have focused on working with and supporting evacuees, especially from around the corpus christi area, now expanding to some larger areas. we saw james a little earlier — he told me more about the destruction left in the storms path. conditions have improved since last night, when it was really dramatic and vicious, this storm rolled in. a building came clattering to the ground. palm trees have come down and a tree has come down into this house. but further up the coast,

where there is no mobile phones signal and no ability for people to get in touch with the emergency services, the damage is more severe, particularly in rockport where the eye of the hurricane came ashore. there, quite a lot of houses have been damaged and some businesses have been damaged as well as have three homes for elderly people from which people had to be evacuated last night. for them, a very difficult night. a lot of people decided to stay put, many saying they had nowhere else to go. what kind of help was available to them? resources are beginning to move in. but when we were in rockport, it was just beginning to arrive. we have come directly from there just now. there were sheriff's officers going door—to—door and checking whether anybody was in the houses. there was also some help coming from neighbours and friends. we spoke to

people who were going door to door just checking to see if the people they knew had survived. because quite a lot of people rode out the storm and there are probably two main reasons to that. one woman said she did not have the money to leave. it isa she did not have the money to leave. it is a poor area, rockport, with many trailer homes which have been damaged. and the other reason is that this storm intensified much faster than originally predicted. forecasters did not expected to come ashore as a category four hurricane, the second most powerful category. and we are still expecting further flooding? i think that could yet be the most significant element of this hurricane. it is moving slowly across texas but this fear is that it will stall, perhaps for several days. it will not remain a hurricane, but it'll be a serious storm with a lot of rainfall. that

could cause very big rainfall. there is concern about houston, the fourth—largest city in the united states which is prone to flooding and new orleans, which under hurricane katrina and which still does not seem to be entirely ready for this kind of event. james cook. and don't forget, there's much more on our website. we've got an animated guide to hurricanes, and a piece explaining what storm surges are, and why they can be so dangerous. just log on for the details. thousands of people are marching through barcelona to demonstrate their defiance after the recent attacks that left 15 people dead. the procession set off behind a banner bearing the slogan "i'm not afraid" the theme of the march. demonstrators were joined by king felipe, who's the first spanish sovereign to take part in a rally since the monarchy was re—established. emergency workers took pride of place. this main avenue has been changed

into a kind of las ramblas because it is close to traffic. you can see the crowd stretching back into the distance that way and that way, too. people are chanting in catalan, i am not afraid. this is about remembrance. some of the families of the 15 victims are here in the crowd. it is also about defiance, in the wake of those terror attacks. but there is political tension here, too. there are some spanish flags behind me. and in the context of catalonian politics, that is creating some tension because there is a referendum due to be held by the autonomous catalan government in a month and the spanish government says that referendum will be illegal. yesterday, the spanish prime minister, mariano rajoy, calling for political unity in the wake of the attacks. the atmosphere isn't upbeat, but it isn't downbeat or sombre, either. let's take a look at some of

the other stories making the news. the north korean leader, kimjong un, has overseen a military exercise simulating an attack on islands near the border with south korea. earlier, pyongyang tested three more short—range ballistic missiles. the us said one appeared to have blown up almost immediately, while the others flew about 250 kilometres. border guards in bangladesh have accused burmese troops of opening fire on rohingya muslims fleeing the escalating violence in rakhine state. a senior bangladeshi official told the bbc that he saw villagers running for cover when the firing started. it was not immediately clear whether anyone was injured. here in the uk, a man who attacked police officers close to buckingham palace drove directly at a police car before reaching for a four—foot sword. the 26—year—old man from luton is said to have shouted "god is great" in arabic as he launched his assault,

which left three officers injured. political colleagues of the former thai prime minister yingluck shinawat have confirmed reports she has flown to dubai. her departure from thailand came just before a verdict was expected in a criminal negligence trial, linked to a rice subsidy scheme. ms shinawat could have faced ten years in jail if convicted. eight people have died and many are injured after a crash involving two lorries and a minibus on the m1. a five—year old girl has life—threatening injuries. crushed almost beyond recognition. the minibus carrying around a dozen people, many believed to be from the same family, was travelling from nottingham towards london. also involved in the accident, two large trucks. images suggest the minibus was crushed between the two huge

lorries and broken up into at least two pieces. it happened in the early hours on the m1 motorway southbound carriageway between junction 15 for northampton and junction 1a for milton keynes, and caused huge delays for drivers heading south. fresh marks on the road reveal the desperate attempt to avoid the collision. the six men and two women who were killed were all travelling in the minibus, as were four others who were seriously hurt, one of them a five—year—old girl. all but one have life—threatening injuries. both lorry drivers have been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. one is a 53—year—old man from stoke—on—trent, and the other is a 31—year—old man from worcestershire, who is also being held on suspicion of drink—driving. police say some of the victims may not have been from the uk. some of those involved were visiting the uk from india. we're working to keep the families abroad informed. the scene facing officers who attended was complex

and the recovery operation was particularly challenging. tragically, eight people have lost their lives. it's our duty to establish what happened. the m1 motorway, one of britain's busiest sections of road, was closed here for ten hours on a bank holiday weekend that was always going to see high levels of traffic with people visiting friends or family or major events like the notting hill carnival or the british motogp at nearby silverstone racing circuit. both lorry drivers remain in custody. it is not known if the driver of the minibus is among the dead. exactly what caused this devastating crash remains under investigation. in the philippines, hundreds of people have been to the funeral of a teenager who died after being arrested during an anti—drugs operation. officials say kian de los santos was involved in the drugs trade, and died while resisting arrest. but video evidence seems to show him being dragged away by plain clothes police officers —

and his supporters are demanding an inquiry. our philippines correspondent howard johnson reports. tears and grieving. raw emotions on display at the funeral of kian de los santos. around 1,000 people packed the small church in the north of manila close to where the high school student grew up. hundreds of others lined the streets on the approach to the church, some holding placards denouncing the president's war on drugs. 17—year—old kian was killed in a police raid last week during an upsurge in anti—drug operations. the official police report at the time of the killing said delos santos resisted arrest with a gun. but this was later contradicted by cctv footage and eyewitness reports. a senate committee hearing into the killing last thursday heard how the police force responsible

for the operation only confirmed the boy's alleged drug ties after his death and by using social media. the parents of kian loyd delos santos have filed murder charges against the police. three other official enquiries into the killing have also been launched. howard johnson, bbc news, manila. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come, all the sport for you as las vegas prepares for one of the biggest boxing bouts ever. this is bbc world news. the top stories. american authorities are warning of the possible continued impact of the hurricane harvey. spain's king felipe has led thousands of people on a march of defiance in barcelona in the face of attacks by militant islamist. after victory in mosul, iraqi forces have been trying

to re—take the city of tal afar, one of islamic state's last strongholds in the country. and it seems that victory could be in sight. tal afar is in the north of iraq, near the syrian border. elite forces are believed to have raised the iraqi flag in the centre of the city. rylee carlson reports. after six days of fierce battle in the is holdout of tal afar, the iraqi army has raised its flag from the top of the citadel. commanders here say they have cleared 70% of the city from militants, forcing them to leave behind weapons and evidence of how they tried to escape. the resistance of snipers, there also be the chance, mortars. —— there are also booby—trapped cars, mortars. they have been defeated. tal afar lies in a strategic position, sitting on a supply route from the former is stronghold of mosul to syria. us and iraqi military say as many as 2000 militants are still in the city.

the iraqi army is fighting neighbourhood by neighbourhood to clear the final pockets of resistance. reminders of the terror the group left behind in graffiti, but troops tear down the symbols where they can. the offensive here follows weeks of coalition air strikes, while visiting soldiers in the area, the iraqi defence ministry said victory is close. the enemy is no longer able to face up to our troops. the enemy has completely collapsed. our troops are advancing steadily. god willing, the liberation of tal afar shall be announced soon. between 10,000 and 20,000 civilians are still thought to be in tal afar. even if this battle is swift, it won't be the last. there are still more cities near the syrian border where is is holding out. much of northern india is still on high alert after widespread violence which left at least 30 people dead and more than 200 injured. it was sparked by the conviction on rape charges of a popular guru

or holy man, gurmeet ram rahim singh. thousands of his supporters went on the rampage after the verdict. justin rowlatt has more from sirsa, near the guru's headquarters. this is effectively the front line. what you see out here is a convoy of indian army soldiers. they are ensuring the security of the spiritual headquarters of the guru, which is two kilometres away from where we are standing. it is a vast complex, 800 acres or more. i was baking trade journalist who spent time in there yesterday. he described a palace as the headquarters of the guru. he said there is a hotel, a resort, a huge auditorium, where the guru's followers could gather to year him

speak. he said there are thousands of people inside there. —— to hear him speak. the ra reckoned that there are 40,000 followers in there. —— the indian army reckon. they have sticks and other weapons. there are other layers of security to protect the central core of the compound. they are so well organised, the user ‘s virtual currency, this token as a means of exchange inside the compound. what we have at the moment is the army that you see here containing the people within the compound. they want to stop them getting out and causing the kind of trouble we saw yesterday. obviously, there is a lot of tension. the guru will be sentenced on monday and they don't want any more violence. they wa nt to don't want any more violence. they want to know where his supporters are and make sure they are not causing any trouble. that is why you

see a great show of strength of the indian army here in this town in northern india. let's bring you up—to—date with all the sport. we are just hours away from the multi—million fight between floyd —— floyd mayweather and colin mcgregor taking place in the early hours of tomorrow morning. here las vegas, the hours and minutes counting down to one of the richest fights in boxing history. conor mcgregor set to earn $70 million and floyd mayweather set to earn over $100 million. the build—up has been going on and some criticise it as has been going on and some criticise itasa has been going on and some criticise it as a circus because of conor mcgregor‘s lack of boxing experience. that has not stopped bets going in on him. and all to make here has said the big money has

gone on floyd mayweather, £1.3 million has been bets on the american. if mcgregor wins, will it be the biggest upset in sports history? we will find out. now to the english premier league where manchester united have managed to keep a 100% start to their season. that's after a 2—0 win over leicester at old trafford. goals from marcus rashford and marouane fellaini kept the run going forjose mourinho's men. i'm very happy. our performance was very solid and the fact that we lost a penalty at 0—0 and we kept playing at the same level of quality makes me even happier because it is a good feeling. the team was solid emotionally. it was a bittersweet day for manchester city's raheem sterling. he grabbed his sides 97th minute winner in their 2—1 win at bournemouth, but was then shown a second yellow card for his celebrations and sent off. he'll now miss city's next match against his former club liverpool. manager pep guardiola was far

from happy after the game. we play 15 minutes plus 90 minutes. today sent off the next game against liverpool. he will not be able to play and i don't understand why so hopefully they can call me explain. after winning, i can say that. i cannot understand the second yellow card. in the day's other premier league matches crystal palace are still without a win this season — they were beaten 2—0 at home to swansea. it was goalless between huddersfield and southampton. newcastle secured their first win of the season over west ham — 3—0 the score at st james‘s park. miguel britos was sent off for a terrible tackle in the goalless draw between watford and brighton. world number two andy murray has pulled out of the us open.

he'd been struggling with a hip injury since losing his wimbledon semifinal match to american sam querrey. we understand murray travelled to new york last weekend and after a week of practice he decided he wasn't fit enough to do himselfjustice. he went on to say his hip is too sore to win the tournament and ultimately that's what he aimed to do. no decision has been made about the rest of his year yet. lewis hamilton secured the 68th pole position of his career for sunday's belgian grand prix, equalling michael schumacher‘s record. the british driver will be lining up his mercedes, in his two hundredth grand prix in spa on sunday. world championship leader sebastian vettel is also on the front row of the grid having posted the second fastest time. vettel has also just re—signed with ferrari, for another two years. finnish pair valtteri bottas and kimi raikkonen were third and fourth respectively. west indies are in control of

the second test after an impressive day with the bat against england. centuries for kraigg brathwaite and shai hope ensured that the windies reached 329 for 5 at the close of play at headingley, a lead of 71. the pair put on 246 for the fourth wicket until stuart broad bowled brathwaite late in the day as england toiled. just a quick update from the women's rugby world cup final. between england and new zealand. new zealand are at the brink of being crowned champions. the lead england 41 to 25 with ten minutes to go. that's all sport for now. a reminder of our top story. hurricane harvey has been downgraded

toa hurricane harvey has been downgraded to a tropical storm fitow but should —— officials are warning that there will be flooding as the storm moves inland. one person has died in a house fire in rockport. the storm made landfall on the texan coastline asa made landfall on the texan coastline as a category four hurricane, the biggest is strike the us mainland in 30 years. texas governor greg abbott told a news conference that there had been 20 inches of rain in corpus christi and 16 inches in huston, another 20 to 30 was inspected on top of that. stay with us for all the latest. they weather is set fair for us for pa rt they weather is set fair for us for part two of the weekend. not clear blue skies, there has been some cloud around. when the sun has made an appearance if felt personally

warm. showers across northern parts of the uk are fading and we are left with mainly clear weather. some mist and fog patches around. temperature isa and fog patches around. temperature is a little lower than last night. into tomorrow, a finger of high pressure has extended across the united kingdom coinciding with the weekend for a change! so most of us will not have clear blue sky but a mixture of cloud and sunshine. warm when the sun makes an appearance as it will do from time to time. light winds across the board with the exception for the far north of scotland. most of us getting patchy rain into the western isles. some temperatures in south—east england injury mid—20s. for the cricket at headingley, it will be breezy by the

time we get to monday and glorious weather for the notting time we get to monday and glorious weatherfor the notting hill carnival. even warmerfor weatherfor the notting hill carnival. even warmer for the weatherfor the notting hill carnival. even warmerfor the bank holiday. there is a range of weather on offerfor the holiday. there is a range of weather on offer for the bank holiday. this is the barbecue weather for sunday evening for most of us. dry, warm sunny spells. on monday, we will see a change. the big picture not looking quite as promising through scotla nd looking quite as promising through scotland and northern ireland because this frontal system is getting closer and that will pick up the wind and cloud pushing rain across northern scotland. some of that rain will feed into northern england and north wales. for the rest of england and wales, further warm sunshine, so quite a range of weather on monday. and a range of temperatures as well. quite cool where you have the strongest winds. other 20s in london. hurricane harvey may have been downgraded to a

storm, but that will not affect its ability to produce further copious amounts of rain over texas over the next few days. at ten o'clock there will be a full round—up of the day's news. first of all the arguments for and against the legalisation of cannabis. cannabis, weed, skunk — call it what you will — for many people, it's a common sight at music festivals, house parties, and, frankly, your local town centre. it's the most commonly used illegal drug in britain and, last year, in england and wales alone, over 2 million people admitted taking it, even though being caught could land you in prison. but all over the world, attitudes to cannabis are changing. these countries have decriminalised the drug, meaning if you're caught with a small amount of weed, you're not going to jail. some have gone further, and legalised it.

and if you want two things to see things changing at pace, look at north america. in the us, 21 states have decriminalised small amounts of cannabis for personal consumption, and eight have gone further, legalising recreational use. but a place that many are watching is canada, with the country set to legalise the drug next year. so with all this happening around the world, some in the uk are asking, "cannabis — time for a change?" i'm in brighton to meet rob. hi, how are you doing? he is the chair of the brighton cannabis club, and thinks the answer to that question is "yes". so basically, we're visiting a venue where they offer a fully medicated meal, food, to brighton cannabis club members. when you say fully medicated, that mean there is loads of weed in the meal. yes, it's cannabis infused. so it will get you high if you consume it. so this meal is all about taking lots of cannabis, basically? yeah. lots of people today — it's a rainy, drizzly day at the seaside — most people willjust go

to the pub at lunchtime. why notjust of a pint, like everyone else? why does it have to be cannabis? for us, we consider cannabis to be a less harmful alternative to basically smoking tobacco or drinking alcohol. and that isn't not for everyone. so where exactly are we going, because we are just wondering the streets a little bit at the moment? i can't tell you the exact location. what it is is a restaurant in brighton that will allow you, 24 hours in advance, to book in a fully medicated menu, if you are brighton cannabis club member. right. that makes it sound quite dodgy. unfortunately, that is just due to the locality. ——jude —— jude to legality.