one of the most powerful atlantic hurricanes ever recorded has hit the caribbean, causing major damage. hurricane irma is a life threatening category 5 storm, with winds of up to 185 miles per hour. there are warnings of catastrophic effects. it hit [and a few hours ago, knocking out power and damaging buildings. it could hit florida by the weekend. the biggest cause for concern right now, is we seem to have completely lost contact with our sister island of barbuda. they are getting the full force of this right now. all floridians, keep a close eye on this incredibly dangerous storm. do not sit and wait to prepare. get prepared now. we'll have the latest live from cuba as the hurricane approaches. also this lunchtime... the government insists it won't shut the door on eu migration, but says the current system can't continue after brexit. overall, immigration has been good for the uk, but what people want to see is control of that immigration. fears of an emerging crisis in dentistry, as research finds half of dentists

in england are not accepting new adult nhs patients. and the unmistakeable voice of football for 50 years, john motson, says he's hanging up his sheepskin coat and microphone in may. i did my first—ever commentary for bbc television from this very gantry, and in those days nobody had heard of the internet, although i can vouch for the fact i did say once upon a time, it's in the net. and coming up in the sport on bbc news... andy murray says he'll be back challenging for grand slams in 2018. he'll miss the rest of the season to recovers from a hip problem. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one.

one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the atlantic has been battering the caribbean islands of antigua, barbuda and anguilla causing major damage. the category 5 storm — with sustained winds of 185 mph and gusts of up to 225 mph — is now heading towards the british virgin islands, puerto rico and then may hit florida by the end virgin islands, puerto rico and then may hit florida by the end of the week. airports have closed on several islands and people have flocked to shops for food, water, and emergency supplies before taking shelter. officials have been warning of potentially catastrohpic effects. richard galpin reports. the leeward islands of the caribbean are now being battered by this huge storm. this unverified video, a p pa re ntly storm. this unverified video, apparently showing winds of more than 180 apparently showing winds of more than180 mph, apparently showing winds of more than 180 mph, hitting the tiny island of saint martin. in the sky

above, this special us research plane also takes a battering as it flies right through the hurricane, collecting vital data. for the crew, it's a wild ride. from higher up, a satellite captures the seething, churning power of this, one of the biggest atlantic storms on record. and from the international space station, a sense of how big an area the storm clouds cover. knowing that the storm clouds cover. knowing that the islands of antigua and barbuda would be amongst the first to be hit by the hurricane, people here started moving to safety yesterday. here we are, this is market street, usually a very, very busy street in stjohn‘s. not busy today, it's a ghost town. while antigua may not have been hit too badly, the situation in barbuda is not known.

the biggest cause for concern right 110w the biggest cause for concern right now is we seem to have lost complete contact with our sister island of barbuda. they are getting really the full force of this right now. i think they are currently in the eye and that should be coming to a close $0011. and that should be coming to a close soon. and then they will get those 185 mile winds happening again shortly. so we will be very grateful when we hear and finally get news back from barbuda. hurricane irma is steadily moving west. according to latest reports its already caused major damage. so now, even as far away as florida, people are stuck in up away as florida, people are stuck in up with supplies. the hurricane is expected to make landfall here by the weekend. the storm is massive, and the storm surge predicted will go for miles and miles. it's incredibly important that all floridians keep a close eye on this incredibly dangerous storm. do not sit and wait to prepare. get prepared now. and already, the us

authorities have ordered everyone living in the very vulnerable area of key west to leave. richard galpin, bbc news. our correspondent will grant is in the cuban capital havana. it certainly looks like the calm before the storm now, but is cuba expected to field a full force of the hurricane? it's a calm and very quiet day in havana but that belies the fact that irma is on her way. cubans, as people across the caribbean, know that, and are taking steps to prepare for it. here particularly people are focusing on getting enough clean drinking water, getting enough clean drinking water, getting fuel for their homes, cars and obviously trying to batten down the hatches, literally, get hardware to board up their homes. there is a feeling that particularly here, the winds that would be so devastating

elsewhere in the caribbean, it might be worse in terms of rain here. vast amounts of rainfall in a short space of time, and that will cause those storm surges everyone is so of time, and that will cause those storm surges everyone is so worried about. as you see, havana is a coastal city. if those storm surges come rushing onto the streets, it will make flooding extremely widespread, notjust here in the capital but across the island. the government are taking steps, trying to make people aware ofjust how serious the storm is. they have a good track record of hurricane preparedness, but we will wait to see how devastating the storm is when it moves through the rest of the caribbean and comes to cuba here. our weather presenter, chris fawkes is here — how bad is irma looking chris? this is a brute of a storm. we have talked about it being a powerful hurricane, a category five, the top category. the second strongest

hurricane on records, and those records go back a long time. only alan had sustained winds of stronger, 199 mph. irma has a sustained wind of 185 mph. irma made la ndfall sustained wind of 185 mph. irma made landfall right in the wrong place, barbuda. this was the centre, the eye of the storm right over the top of barbuda, so it went straight across the island. from there, just in the last hour or so we have seen secondary landfall as it worked across saint martin with anguilla just to the north. the second most powerful hurricane in the series. what sort of damage can we expect from the storm? with wind gusting to around 225 mph, that will bring catastrophic damage in its own right. as well as that, there will bea right. as well as that, there will be a storm surge near to the centre of the storm which in places could beat 11 feet high. i am six foot three, imagine two of me in a wall of water coming in from the seat and

coupled with torrential rain. where is the storm going next? it's going straight across saint martin and from there it moves to the british virgin islands. it will affect puerto rico with torrential rain. perhaps the strongest winds just offshore but close enough to do damage. and then we are looking to florida, that may well be hit as well as we move into the second half of the weekend, sunday night into monday. this storm still has a long way to run. the prime minister has told the commons that people want to see control of immigration after brexit. she was speaking after a leaked draft home office document suggested that heavy restrictions should be placed on the number of low skilled workers coming to the uk, and that employers should be encouraged to hire british people first. but the government's insisting it won't shut the door on eu migration. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports. for many voters it was the key issue on which they made their choice in the brexit referendum. what should britain's immigration policy before

eu citizens? today a government document, lead to journalist from guardian newspaper but i do some a nswe rs , guardian newspaper but i do some answers, the key issue being immigration should benefit notjust migrants themselves, but also make existing residents better off. those who have campaigned for years follow immigration are delighted. it's broadly on the right lines. it's to be welcomed. if implemented as proposed then we see a considerable, significant reduction in the sort of numbers coming from the eu, which is what people broadly voted for a year and a bit ago. the document is clearly a recent draft of the home office's long—awaited white paper on immigration after brexit. officials here insist it's not the latest d raft, here insist it's not the latest draft, it's very much a work in progress and the cabinet is still arguing over it. that said, it's not back of the envelope stuff either, more than 80 pages of proposals. one

of the key phrases in the draft says that where ever possible uk employers should look to meet their labour needs from resident labour. but businesses insist they are already doing that. they will do everything they can to employ british workers, it'sjust everything they can to employ british workers, it's just very difficult. sometimes you have skills gaps you need to fill from outside the uk. that's just gaps you need to fill from outside the uk. that'sjust how gaps you need to fill from outside the uk. that's just how it is. gaps you need to fill from outside the uk. that'sjust how it is. the d raft the uk. that'sjust how it is. the draft proposes that any eu citizen already living here before a certain not yet specified date would be allowed to stay. and even after brexit there would be a transition period of at least two years. but at that point, the key proposals suggest that free movement for eu citizens ends, they would need passports, not id cards at the border, and two—year work permit would be available for eu citizens, although highly skilled workers could get longer permits. for the holiday and hospitality industry, like butlins in bognor regis, the future could be a real challenge.

30% of their workforce are eu citizens and they may find themselves applying for lots of work permits. i think nationally, you know, coastal resorts struggle to recruit, so recruiting from the european market is really important for us. today's leaked document will only fuel the debate about britain's future immigration policy. daniel sandford, bbc news. there's been a mixed reaction to the leaked draft document on immigration. in the commons this afternoon, the prime minister told mps that overall immigration has been good for the economy. but migration needs to be controlled to ease the impact on infrastructure and to protect those at the lowest end of the income scale. but businesses have been warning of the impact heavy restrictions on immigration could have. here's our political correspondent ian watson. when britain leaves the european union, the government wants to reassure businesses that the economy won't, as they put it, fall off a

cliff edge. so there won't be massive changes to eu migration for at least a couple of years. but the lea ked at least a couple of years. but the leaked document points to a sea change in attitudes after that, with far more restrictions on unskilled workers. in the commons today, the snp asked the prime minister to restate the benefits, rather than the burdens, of immigration. overall immigration has been good for the uk. but what people want to see is control of that immigration. that is, i think, control of that immigration. that is, ithink, what control of that immigration. that is, i think, what people wanted to see as a result of coming out of the european union. we are already able to exercise controls in relation to those who come to this country from outside the countries within the european union. and we continue to believe as a government that it's important to have net migration at sustainable levels. theresa may knows the only way she can get net migration down to the tens of thousandsisif migration down to the tens of thousands is if she cuts eu immigration significantly. that said, non—eu migration is way above that level, even with tighter controls. so some leave campaigners

are hoping the government will officially adopt some of the ideas in this document for further restrictions. people were fed up with people just coming restrictions. people were fed up with peoplejust coming in restrictions. people were fed up with people just coming in from the eu into this country, putting public services under pressure. that was the number one issue are people voted to leave, i would say. the cove na nt is voted to leave, i would say. the covenant is acting on a promise to end free movement. the document is marked sensitive. but restrictions on immigration are far more sensitive in some parts of the country than others. this extreme, ha rd country than others. this extreme, hard brexit is a blueprint for strangling the london economy. why doi strangling the london economy. why do i say that? on a regular basis i speak to chief executives and employers, speak to businesses in london, and i know the positive impact eu workers make. this summer the home secretary commissioned research into the impact of immigration, so, some mps say, she shouldn't be floating the idea of new restrictions until she sees the

result. they really must wait for the evidence from the advisory committee about the overall impact and what the needs are in different sectors of the economy before they ta ke sectors of the economy before they take decisions. the cabinet is yet to finalise what restrictions it wa nts to to finalise what restrictions it wants to see on immigration. but critics say it's important that skilled workers who might benefit the economy will still feel welcome. iain watson, bbc news. let's speak to norman smith, who's at westminster. this is a draft document but does it give us a good idea of how immigration will look in the future? it is just immigration will look in the future? it isjust a immigration will look in the future? it is just a draft document, a p pa re ntly it is just a draft document, apparently it has already been rewritten about half a dozen times. what's striking is that nobody around theresa may is going out of their way to play down or dismissed their way to play down or dismissed the thrust of the thinking. in fact one source said to me, we are not going to apologise for trying to bring down immigration. and in the commons as well, listen to theresa may against dressing the way immigration can drive down the wages of the lowest paid in public

services. so this document probably does reflect or chime with mrs may's thinking. the difficulty is, there are others in the conservative party, including in the cabinet, who are much more uneasy, particularly on the impact on business. business saying that they're simple isn't the pool of british labour out there to do all thesejobs, pool of british labour out there to do all these jobs, and we pool of british labour out there to do all thesejobs, and we have pool of british labour out there to do all these jobs, and we have to recruit from abroad if we want to grow our companies. and that division is reflected in exactly the same way in the labour party. it means broadly we may have to wait some time before a post brexit immigration regime is finalised. norman smith in westminster, thank you. our top story this lunchtime: hurricane irma, one of the most powerful atlantic hurricanes ever recorded, has hit the caribbean with winds of up to 185 miles per hour and is causing major damage. it hit the islands of barbuda, saint ba rts it hit the islands of barbuda, saint barts and st martin where it knocked out power and damaged buildings. it

could sweep into florida by the weekend. coming up in sport... at the age of 37, venus williams becomes the oldest semi—finalist in us open history. she beat petra kvitova overnight, in a thrilling final set tie—break at flushing meadows. tens of thousands more people are streaming over the border between myanmar — formally known as burma — and bangladesh. the rohingya muslims are escaping what they say is a bloody campaign by the burmese military against insurgents. but myanmar‘s leader aung san suu kyi says fake news is fuelling the crisis in rakhine state — where most rohingya muslims live, and she made no mention of the exodus of refugees. caroline hawley‘s report contains flash photography. the human toll of this crisis is growing by the day. more and more rohingya's are fleeing from burma for their lives. there is little for them in bangladesh but even less across the border. in rakhine state.

the terror they have endured, the difficulty of reaching safety is written on their faces. translation: they burned our houses. we couldn't take our belongings. we were hiding in the hill for two days. we were there in rain without food and with my children. when we heard the sound of shooting, we took a boat across the sea to come here to bangladesh. aung san suu kyi is under international pressure to use her moral authority to speak out, but today during a visit by the indian prime minister, the former human rights icon instead appeared to back the military crackdown and blamed the crisis on terrorists. we would like to thank india particularly for the strong stand it has taken with regard to the terrorist threat that came to our country a couple of weeks ago. we believe that together we can work to make sure terrorism is not allowed to take root on our soil or on the soil of any of the other countries.

in a phone call with turkey's president, she reportedly spoke of a huge iceberg of misinformation calculated to create problems between different communities with the aim, she said, of promoting the interest of terrorists. it is a line that has been echoed by other government officials. i am deeply disappointed and saddened by the campaign being waged around the world with regard to the situation in rohingya. —— in rakhine state. these fabricated news items are written and published with the intent to mislead the public. they cannot be accepted and it will only exacerbate the situation. but the burmese government has denied the world free access to rakhine state. the latest military campaign that has forced so many people to flee began after insurgent attacks last month on police posts.

the response has been collective punishment of the rohingya, a people described as the world's most persecuted minority. caroline hawley, bbc news. the un is warning that the situation in myanmar could spiral into a "humanitarian catastrophe" after almost 140,000 people fled across the border in just two weeks. our correspondent, sanjoy majumder, is near cox's bazaar on the myanmar bangladesh border from where he's sent this report. all these boats are carrying royingya refugees fleeing persecution in myanmar and they have been coming through the night, through the day. i am told there are several other boatloads of refugees just waiting off the coast of bangladesh. this is one fresh lot of refugees who have just arrived. they have come off this boat here, and you can see how they are carrying with them their household belongings, things that they have just managed to grab as they ran. several of them have told me that their villages were attacked, they were burnt.

there are some people here with gunshot wounds, some people with other injuries, but most of all, they are extremely tired. they are exhausted. this is a really dangerous voyage, and it has taken them several days to come here. from here, they will move on to one of the many refugee camps that have been set up for these arrivals — and there are more coming in every hour. that was our correspondent, sanjoy majumder on the bangladesh border with that report. a 14—year—old boy has died after two teenagers were shot in east london on monday afternoon. coreyjunior davis — and another boy, who's 17 — were found with gunshot injuries in forest gate. the second victim is said to have "life—changing injuries". police have launched a murder investigation. no arrests have been made. over the past ten years, scientists in the uk have received £8 billion in funding from the european union to help fund their research into all kinds of projects. but since the brexit vote last year,

there've been serious concerns that that money will be lost. now though, the government has said that it wants to negotiate continued membership of the european union's main research funding bodies after brexit. pallab ghosh reports. british science is among the best in the world. much of its funding comes from the european union. the decision to leave the eu left that funding uncertain but now the government has said it wants to negotiate to have access to those funds after brexit. i think it's very encouraging in both its tone and aspirations but it's clear that there's going to be a lot of work that needs to be done to hammer out the details of an eventual agreement. the francis crick institute in london is one of the most prestigious research centres in the world and attracts top researchers from across the globe. the government has said it values the relationship the uk has with european research funders and it wants that to continue.

that's obviously been welcomed by the researchers here but many of them are concerned about restrictions on immigration coming into force after brexit. this group has received £3 million from the eu. their work could lead to much better vaccines. there are 12 researchers working on the project, ten of them are from the european union. it is a concern and it is one that plays on all of our minds and it is possibly leading to at least some people beginning to contemplate offers elsewhere which they may not have contemplated before. full membership of the main eu research funding body requires free movement of people. that's been ruled out by the government so campaigners are calling for a quick and simple visa system that will make it easy for scientists to work here. a big concern is the future of our migration system. it's very important to our scientific companies and universities to be able to attract people from the eu

and the rest of the world to work and study in science in the uk. there are also uncertainties over britain's nuclear research. the government wants to withdraw from the body that regulates it. ministers want to negotiate a special status for the uk so that it can continue to have access to eu funds for research and a say in how it is spent. pallab ghosh, bbc news. the bbc has announced that it is launching three wide—ranging reviews into pay following the controversy over presenter salaries this summer. two will look into equal pay across the corporation — the other will be a review of pay and diversity for on—air stars. our media editor, amol rajan is here. what exactly will it look like? sophie, tony hall made a significant announcement today, the first big response to the fear rory earlier this summer over bbc pay. there are three responses, they will look at gender pay, an internal investigation that will be reported

back on after six weeks and an independent audit. an external audit from pricewaterhousecoopers will look at pay across the whole of the bbc, whether or not people doing the samejob are bbc, whether or not people doing the same job are paid bbc, whether or not people doing the samejob are paid different bbc, whether or not people doing the same job are paid different amounts. a third review, led by the news operation, looks at on—air talent and issues beyond the gender pay gap and issues beyond the gender pay gap and diversity. it's a classic way of buying time before making difficult decisions, and the bbc faces difficult decisions on the issue of equal pay. if it raises the salary of those at the bottom, it could be accused of spending licence fee payers money. at the top, and it could face legal action. the announcement today says it is easy to find the problems, and much harder to find the solutions. the speech from tony hall was more about the direction of travel rather than an answer on this issue of equal pgy- an answer on this issue of equal pay. thank you. half of dentists in england are not

accepting new adult nhs patients and two—fifths are not accepting new child nhs patients — according to research carried out by the bbc. the british dental association says it is evidence of an ‘emerging crisis' in dentistry. but nhs england says 95% of patients do manage to get an appointment if they want one. david rhodes reports. this is a familiar sight for fozia, who's been trying to find an nhs dentist in bradford. i was absolutely gobsmacked in a sense, i was quite devastated there are none locally. a mum of two on benefits, she needs a local nhs dentist for her son mansoor, who has an overcrowded mouth and a mineral deficiency with his teeth. i tried calling up, going through the yellow pages, using the internet, and then i used 101, where they find you the nearest nhs dentist. they said there wasn't one in bradford. now, open really wide for me... the bbc has analysed the data of 2500 dental practices across england, and provided information about whether they were accepting new nhs patients. 48% stated that they were not

accepting new adult patients, while 40% were not accepting new child patients. there is an emerging crisis about more and more dentists not accepting new patients, simply because they are not allowed to see more patients. the government has only commissioned enough dentistry to treat about half the adult population, which is an absolute disgrace. people that need an nhs dentist should be able to get one. nhs england says the latest patient survey found that 95% of people seeking a dental appointment were able to get one, and overall, the number of dentists offering nhs care is now 3800 higher than a decade ago. david rhodes, bbc news. andy murray says he's likely to miss the rest of the season, as he looks to find ways to overcome his hip injury. the three—time grand slam champion hasn't played since his wimbledon quarterfinal defeat injuly and has lost his world number one ranking. murray says he'll begin the 2018 season in brisbane ahead of january's australian open. for 50 years he has been

the voice of football. but nowjohn motson has decided to hang up his microphone and sheepskin coat. ‘motty‘ — as he's famously known — has covered ten world cups, 200 england games and 29 fa cup finals. his final bbc commentary will be for the fa cup final in may. our sport's editor dan roan went to meet him. and there it is! the crazy gang have beaten the culture club. here is gascoigne. .. brilliant! yes! oh, yes! goal! platini for france! it's dramatic, it's delightful, it's denmark! they are the european champions. what was, for you, the secret, the key, to be able to call those moments in time so quickly?

it's like saying to your postman, how do you prepare the letters? you know, people don't have do know that, do they? and people didn't need to know that i was spending two days in this office banging myself over the head with who the substitute was going to be for this team on saturday. they were only concerned with the end product, and i had to make that as good as i could. that'sjohn motson, reporting for us tonight of course on the southend and liverpool match, looking there rather like an orphan in the storm. your big breakthrough was the ‘72 cup match? oh, ronnie's goal... without that, would you be here? it changed my life. newcastle winning1—0 with five minutes to go. radford. .. now tudor has gone down for newcastle. radford again! what a goal! when i see ronnie radford, i always say "you changed my life, ronnie!" and he said, well, "that goal changed my career", which it did. and when i see it again, as i have hundreds of times, i still think to myself, please go in.

don't hit the post. because if that had not nestled in the newcastle net, i would not be here now. i'm afraid that mark west and martin o'neill are going to have to wait a few days longer if they are to add another chapter to wycombe's famous cup history. the sheepskin coat, it has sort of entered folklore now. did you ever think at the time it would become a trademark? no, ididn't. i bought it for the warmth, because you could not buy a sheepskin full—length coat. it was only a jacket that you could get in the shops, so i started having these made—to—measure. people started saying "oh, you are the bloke in the sheepskin." "where were you when you were in the snow?" and that's when it grew. i didn't set out to make that a trademark, honestly. but it hasn't done me any harm. so we can't get down there to actually find out what's happened. but i think trevor brooking's is next to... well, he is next to me. and i think... laughter i did my first—ever commentary for bbc television from this very gantry, and in those days, nobody had heard of the internet, although i can vouch for the fact that i did say once upon a time, it's in the net. what do you think made you a great commentator, looking back now?

i think you've got to be passionate about it. i also feel you've got to remember as well that it's only part of life, you know. i mean, while people are listening to football matches or commentating on them, there are people going to the theatre, and the cinema, and reading books. i think one or two people tend to forget that. i was going to say it was like being paid for your hobby, that's what people always say to me, but there is a little bit of hard work involved. you know, the preparation and the homework, and watching players and going to see games so that you could do the one that you are doing next a bit better... it was a challenge, but it was a challenge that i always enjoyed. our sports editor dan roan talking to match of the day commentator, john motson. time for a look at the weather, here's chris fawkes. a quick reminder