welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: hurricane irma causes chaos in the caribbean — now puerto rico braces itself for one of the atlantic's worst ever storms. the full force of hurricane irma is still hours away and you can still feel its effects. myanmar rejects accusations its armed forces are targeting rohingya muslims, as thousands continue to flee the violence. you can see what a dangerous voyage it has been for them, the boat is listing dangerously on its side. did russia use facebook to interfere with last year's us presidential election? new evidence emerges. and lights, catwalk, curves — the nigerian fashion show celebrating the african woman's body. it's one of the most powerful

atlantic storms on record. hurricane irma, a category five storm, is bringing with it gusts up to 320 kilometres an hour — that's 200 miles an hour. the hurricane has already battered several of the leeward islands. the prime minister of antigua and barbuda says 90% of buildings on barbuda have been demolished — barbuda now is literally rubble, he said. the centre of irma smashed into the island, which was home to about 1600 people. six people are reported dead on saint martin and the neighbouring french territory of st barts. the eye of the hurricane has passed over the british virgin islands. president trump has declared a state of emergency on the us virgin islands and puerto rico as the storm approaches.

our correspondent laura bicker reports from the capital, san juan. this is what it sounds like to be at the heart of one of the strongest storms recorded in the atlantic. the winds, like a jet engine, roared through the eastern caribbean. the category 5 hurricane ripped roofs off homes and devastated parts of the french territories of st barts and st martin. two people have lost their lives. translation: i want, firstly, to say a few words to express our profound compassion and solidarity to our fellow citizens who today were affected by hurricane irma on st martin and in st barts. these pilots flew into the eye of the storm, a unique view of the sheer scale of this hurricane and, at its core, are those catastrophic 185 mile an hour winds, and that is what they fear on the island of puerto rico. the aim is to try to save as much as possible. neighbours are handing out wood boarding and supplies.

this shop owner describes them as angels. we're a strong island. you know, we've been through this before, so... you know, it's a lot of emotions going on, you know. the governor has been inspecting one of the shelters set up for the thousands who are expected to evacuate low—lying areas. we are hopeful that it'll skid off somewhere north—east of puerto rico, but we're prepared for the worst as well. we can't leave anything to chance, and our priority right now is to make sure that the people of puerto rico are safe. these families hope they will be safe here. the full force of hurricane irma is still several hours away and already you can see and feel its effect. the preparations have been made over the last few days and the governor says that could be the difference between lives lost and lives saved. in florida, they're taking no chances, evacuations are already under way. the storm could hit the sunshine state this weekend. president trump has declared

a state of emergency, freeing up relief funding for florida and puerto rico. we have a lot to discuss, including the fact that there's a new and, seems to be, record—breaking hurricane heading ight toward florida and puerto rico, and other places. we'll see what happens. we'll know in a very short period of time, but it looks like it could be something that will be not good. believe me, not good. hurricane irma has proved to be a terrifying, unstoppable force. all those in her path can do is hunker down and hope. laura bicker, bbc news, puerto rico. babita was devastated. and antigua is actually open for business —— barbuda. flights will open tomorrow

morning from six a.m.. so antigua is fine. the problem is barbuda. barbuda sustained winds of up to 225 mph. and as a result of that the country is in shock. oliver holmes are practically decimated. up to 90% of homes are damaged. —— all of the homes are practically decimated. it isa homes are practically decimated. it is a really terrible situation there. and we are trying to bring some early relief to the people of barbuda and then hopefully start the rebuilding process shortly afterwards. do you have any realistic figures at the moment on casualties? we have been told so far there has been one fatality. a lot of people have suffered injuries. we have had one fatality so far, a toddler, two—year—old. it would

appearas toddler, two—year—old. it would appear as though the property in which the property are mother and her were staying in... it seems as though the child suffered an injury and died. for people who don't know about barbuda, could you describe it about barbuda, could you describe it a little more. i think there were 1600 people living there. it is very flat. there wasn't anywhere for people to go with the wind and the storm surge as well. absolutely. it isa storm surge as well. absolutely. it is a flat island. and only about 1800 inhabitants. that is one of the issueis 1800 inhabitants. that is one of the issue is why the devastation would have been so bad. there were no hills and so on to break the wind. so clearly the wind would have literally destroyed everything in its path. the prime minister of antigua there. the government in myanmar has rejected accusations that the armed forces are conducting a campaign of indiscriminate violence against rohingya muslims.

so far, more than 100 and a0 thousand rohingyas have fled so far, more than 140,000 rohingyas have fled into neighbouring bangladesh. bangladesh has acussed myanmar of laying landmines along their border to stop people returning to their villages — an allegation denied by officials in myanmar. the united nations says it expects the number of rohingya refugees seeking safety in bangladesh to more than double. our correspondent sanjoy majumder sent this report from the border. these are myanmar‘s boat people, dazed, confused after an exhausting trip over the choppy bay of bengal. stepping on shore with their possessions, whatever they could grab in a hasty escape. this boat carrying rohingya refugees has just arrived on the south—eastern coast of bangladesh. you can see what a dangerous voyage it has been for them, the boat is listing dangerously on its side. but it's the only way they could have made their way here.

they've been frightened, running for their lives. on the beach they collapse in a heap, many of them severely dehydrated and sea sick after an eight—hour voyage. some can scarcely believe they're alive, others let their loved ones know they made it. a brother and sister united after days, separated after their village was attacked, unsure if they would ever seen each again. but some, like dilbar, continue to relive the horror of a village being attacked? translation: it has taken us 20 days to come here. our village was attacked by the army and buddhist mobs. they burned our house and my aunt was killed. her grandson was shot, his injured arm now encased in homemade splint.

when my village was attacked i tried to run, he says. the soldiers fired indiscriminately. many people died. they are sometimes described as the world's most persecuted minority, driven from their homes, the rohingyas now have to find a way to rebuild their lives. sanjoy majumder, bbc news, bangladesh. myanmar‘s leader and nobel laureate aung san su kyi has consistently refused to condemn the humanitarian crisis affecting the rohingya people. we'll look at why she's refused to address the issue despite international condemnation — that's a little later in the programme. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. un human rights investigators say the syrian air force did carry out a chemical weapons attack on a rebel—held town in april. at least 83 people died when a bomb filled with the nerve agent sarin was dropped on khan sheikhoun in idlib, a report says. the syrian regime insists the incident was faked and denies using chemical weapons.

excited crowds have greeted pope francis on the first papal visit to colombia in three decades. in places his car was forced to a halt as the throngs surged forward, cheering and shouting his name. pope francis has said his visit is a plea for lasting peace following last year's accord between the government and farc rebels. catalonia's parliament has called for a referendum on independence from spain on october 1st. the government in madrid is opposed to the measure, which it deems illegal. it's asked the spanish constitutional court to nullify the catalan assembly‘s vote to hold the referendum. facebook says it has discovered that a russian—funded campaign promoted divisive messages on the website during last year's american presidential election campaign. it says adverts were posted that directed users towards nearly 500 bogus accounts spreading false information. the company said it was co—operating with a us investigation into the affair. joining us from san francisco is our silicon valley reporter,

dave lee. did we not already suspect exactly this? that is the view of many people, especially after the us election. we have seen fake news, the famous phrase, flying around facebook. that is one of the main places for that. what we have discovered now after facebook‘s own investigation is apparently there was a co—ordinated effort by a group known as the internet research agency based in petersburg in russia, giving pro—kremlin information. the suspicion, that facebook has, though we haven't been able to confirm this. but this group was undertaking co—ordinated attempt to spread misinformation on facebook by buying advertising, $100,000 worth of advertising,

and pushing information to many users over a two—year period ending in may of this year. what is to be done about it? you know perfectly well. facebook denies responsibility for what is on facebook and responsibility for curating material. in a perfect world for facebook, they would like to think their algorithm is clear enough to spot these advertisements and purchases before it goes live. i think that is very, very difficult. one of the tactics they used to discover this particular scheme was they were looking at accounts buying advertisements the display to us users, but the users buying the advertisements were using the russian language version of facebook. that was a clue they should look at it. that is manual work and it is expensive. that is very difficult. but i am sure mark zuckerberg, as well as wanting to deal with misinformation, wanted to put his best engineers to work to figure out how

to automate that checking process. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the not—so—great escape. find out what happened after this alleged shoplfiter managed to break free from her handcuffs. freedom itself was attacked this morning, and freedom will be defended. the united states will hunt down and punish those responsible. bishop tutu now becomes spiritual leader of 100,000 anglicans here — of the blacks in soweto township, as well as the whites, in their rich suburbs. we say to you today, in a loud and a clear voice, enough of blood and tears — enough! translation: the difficult decision we reached together was one that

required great and exceptional courage. it's an exodus of up to 60,000 people, caused by the uneven pace of political change in eastern europe. iam free! this is bbc news. the latest headlines: hurricane irma is causing chaos across the caribbean. there's been widespread damage. it is now threatening the us territory of puerto rico. the governor of myanmar has did allegations the armed forces have undertaken indiscriminate violence against rohingya muslims. let's get more on hurriance irma now. returning to our other top story this hour,

and in her latest comments on wednesday, myanmar‘s leader, aung san suu kyi, has made no mention of the tens of thousands of rohingya muslims who've fled her country. also on wednesday, the united nations secretary general, antonio guterres, said he feared a "humanitarian catastrophe. " so, why has aung sang suu kyi refused to condemn the suffering of the rohingya? our special correspondent, fergal keane, who's interviewed her several times, has this report which does contain flashing photography. against the tyranny of dictatorship, she was the perfect symbol — a compelling voice, articulating the language of universal human rights. great prizes follows, a nobel laureateship for peace. but house arrest, the destruction of her family life were the price for what seemed an unbending commitment to human rights. and yet she defends a brutal military crackdown that has uprooted more than 100,000 people. today, she was welcoming india's supportive prime minister and denouncing terror attacks on police and border posts by rohingya militants. so we believe that together we can work to make sure that terrorism is not allowed to take root on our soil or on the soil of our neighbouring countries. decades of discrimination and anti—rohingya violence helped

create the animosity out of which militant violence grew. in a place where is most of their buddhist neighbours live in extreme poverty, the rohingya exist at the bottom of the social scale. stigmatised as foreigners, though many have lived here for generations. five years ago, i made my first journey to report on the violence against the rohingya, 100,000 were displaced back then. denied citizenship, many were corralled into camps, enduring disease and hunger. the world looked to aung san suu kyi to intervene, but she was conspicuously reticent. over several encounters, i pressed this devout buddhist about the violence against the rohingya muslims. can you promise that if your party win this is election, the human rights, the civil rights, of all people who live in this country, whatever their religion, whatever their ethnic background, that those human rights

will be respected ? so if we are able to form a government, certainly we'll abide by our commitment to human rights and democratic values. what hope can you give to those people in this country who have been discriminated against, targeted on the basis of their religion? it's not going to be easy, that they must understand, because prejudice is not removed easily and hatred is not going to be removed easily, but we can work at it together. do you ever worry that you will be remembered as the champion of human rights, the noble laureate who failed to stand up to ethnic cleansing in her own country? no, because i don't think there's ethnic cleansing going on. aung san suu kyi doesn't control the powerful military elite, but her words provide the army with political cover. her diplomats are working with russia and china to prevent criticism at the un. it's a stance that prompts an unsettling question —

is her longstanding commitment to human rights partial, never to embrace the beleaguered rohingya muslims? fergal keane, bbc news. let's get more on hurriance irma now. joining us now is michaeljoseph, the president of the red cross in antigua and barbuda. thank you very much for your time. antigua seems to have escaped. how ha rd antigua seems to have escaped. how hard is it on barbuda? thank you for having me on your show. we were fortu nate having me on your show. we were fortunate in antigua. the first report came from the prime minister today when he took his first trip as telecommunications went down. said 90% of the island is damaged or destroyed. the devastation is not like we have never seen before. we

are talking about the entire population of barbuda being significantly destroyed. it seems they faced absolutely ferocious winds and a very high storm surge. what can you do to help quickly? the first thing we need to do is to get the damage assessment done. resources will be going over to barbuda tomorrow to get a picture of what the immediate and long—term needs are. we will start the relief effort based on that. we have met with the government. we just came out of a meeting with cabinet to identify what kind of resources we need to make relief efforts available. relief aid will start pouring in tomorrow. water is a major priority and health concerns.

that is what the focus is on in the next 2a hours. that is what the focus is on in the next 24 hours. unfortunately you get a lot of storms. have you ever had it before on this scale were virtually the entire population needs help? never. the last major hurricane that was even close was 1985. we had significant devastation in antigua and we did rebuild. but what you are seeing in barbuda, it is something we never thought would never happen, which is where you see the entire population pretty much desolated before your eyes. this is something that is difficult for people to deal with. especially the fa ct we people to deal with. especially the fact we had one fatality, such a young individual. it is a lot to deal with in the barbuda community. thank you very much for speaking

with us. no problem. thank you for having me. several french owned fashion brands have decided to ban overly skinny models. a well charter has banned the size zero. models have been a lot of criticism through the industry, of course. well, nigeria is for the first time ever hosting a fashion week dedicated to the plus—sized industry. the idea was born out of the need to stop the stigmatiza?tion and body shaming of the plus—sized woman. didi akinyelure reports from lagos. lights, catwalk, curves. afashion event with a difference. poised to celebrate the african woman's body. africa's fashion industry is said to

be worth billions of dollars, but the plus—sized scene is largely ignored. i feel like it is time for the plus—sized woman to be celebrated in a unique way. there is a market for the plus—sized woman in nigeria and africa as a whole so we should cater to that. still, many designers see the plus—sized segment as high risk and expensive. to keep the cost low, designers on this ru nway the cost low, designers on this runway events tend to use the same models to show off their work. sizes are kept small, meaning many of the women he struggled to get work. but some fashion designers are willing to ta ke some fashion designers are willing to take the risk. i respect the bigger size. it makes sense. most of my clients, asking for it. that is why we started doing it. we want to

cater to both. some critics say the industry sends out the wrong message. the world health organization estimates 40% of the women in the world are overweight or obese. the plus—size industry could be seen as glamorising health issues. by four young models like this one who has just won a one—year contract in london, it is the start ofa contract in london, it is the start of a promising career. —— but for. at the start, plus—sized women were not appreciated. thanks to this, it brought all of them out and made them proud of their body to show they are beautiful in their own way. a positive message that proves that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. bbc news, lagos.

let's head to texas now. a police operation didn't quite go to plan. officers were carrying out a routine arrest and seemed to have the situation perfectly under control. but then things got a little out of hand, as the bbc‘s tim allman explains. the woman on the ground, toscha sponsler, was arrested by officers after they were called out to a possible shoplifting at a beauty parlour. once suitably restrained, she was placed in the backseat of a police car. but it seems ms toscha was not terribly happy about this turn of events. somehow she managed to slip out of her handcuffs. then, after a quick look around to see if anyone was watching, she slid into the front of the car. all of this coming as something of a surprise to the officers who,

at the time, were examining her bag. thus began a car chase that lasted over 20 minutes and at times reached 100 mph. you can see the fugitive vehicle avoiding a stinger as it sped along the highway. police eventually forced her off the road. she lost control of the vehicle. toscha sponsler was back in custody, apparently unhurt, but now facing various charges including aggravated assault and unauthorised use of a vehicle. local police are now fitting new security measures to all their cars. tim allman, bbc news. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @bbcmikeembley. thank you for watching. there is

more on the bbc news website. good morning. there is wind and rain in the forecast for the british isles over the next few days but nothing like the wet and windy weather that is being brought in the caribbean by hurricane irma. a huge, lumbering storm system with the eye showing up on our earlier satellite. during the day ahead the storm will move away from puerto rico, just clipping the north of the dominican republic and haiti and moving towards the eastern side of cuba late in the day. back home we have our own area of low pressure, a far less potent one, obviously. isobars beginning to squeeze together, showing that the wind will be picking up as the day goes on. we will also see some outbreaks of rain. central and eastern areas particularly it could be a fairly dry and bright start but further north and west, cloud will thicken and outbreaks of rain slide across northern ireland, scotland and northern england with increasingly blustery winds. at four o'clock in the afternoon, a lot of cloud for the likes of belfast, temperatures around 16 degrees. the rain turning heavier across western areas of scotland and even some outbreaks of rain across eastern scotland and temperatures in

aberdeen just 13 degrees. that rain stretching across northern england from newcastle to manchester and down into the midlands. we will see cloud and showers into the afternoon. similar weather for wales, cloudy weather with showery rain at times. 17 degrees in cardiff. a grey afternoon in prospect in the south—west of england. again, with showers coming and going at times and the wind increasing building here. even here cloud thickens up with a couple of showers into the afternoon. as we go on through the night we will see bands of rain progressing erratically southwards and eastwards, getting stuck across southern areas by the end of the night. temperatures dropped to 10 degrees in aberdeen and 15 in plymouth. during friday, this band of rain will get stuck across southern areas and some rain could be quite heavy. there will be blustery wind around as well but the further north and west you are, the better the chance of seeing some sunshine albeit with some very thundery downpours mixed in. as we go into the weekend, things look decidedly unsettled

and dare i say autumnal. cool windy weather with some rain at times. the rain on saturday coming in the form of showers. some of these could be heavy, fairly breezy, the wind not coming from a warm direction at all so the temperature just 16—18 degrees. a bright start on sunday towards the south—east, heavy rain pushing in from the north—west and late in the day western areas particularly will turn very windy indeed. this is bbc news. the headlines: hurricane irma's caused absolute devastation to the tiny caribbean island of barbuda. the prime minister of antigua and barbuda has told the bbc a two —year—old child had been killed by the storm and almost all the buildings had been damaged. six people are reported dead on saint martin and the neighbouring

french territory of st barts. bangladesh has lodged a strong protest with myanmar over the violence that has caused more than 140,000 rohingya muslims to flee across the border. myanmar has denied its troops are committing abuses and accused rohingya militants of burning villages to force civilians to flee. facebook says it's discovered a russian—funded campaign to promote divisive social and political messages during last year's us presidential election campaign. it said $100,000 was spent on around 3,000 advertisements over a two—year period, ending this may. now on bbc news, it's time for click. this week: robot nurses.