hello. this is bbc news. i am david eades. our top stories: florida police launch a criminal investigation into the deaths of eight residents at a nursing home hit by hurricane irma. the public inquiry into the fire at grenfell tower in london opens shortly. at least 80 people died in the tragedy injune. the man dubbed the most hated man in america, disgraced drugs company executive, martin shkreli, is jailed in the us. ajudge says he posed a threat to the public. hello. i am sally bundock with the business stories. panic on the high street. it was britain's first bank run in 150 years. but a decade on, have the lessons of northern rock been learnt? plus the oil age may be ending, but what comes next? toyota is betting on hydrogen. we hearfrom the european boss at the frankfurt motor show. hello. thank you for being with us

here in bbc news. eight residents of a florida nursing home have died after hurricane irma knocked out its power and air conditioning, when it hit the state on sunday. 115 other residents of the home were evacuated, a number of them were in critical condition. police are now conducting a criminal investigation into the deaths. sarah corker reports. a state of emergency at a nursing home in florida. without air—conditioning since hurricane irma hit, four days ago, police say the deaths at the home in hollywood hills, north of miami, may be related to high temperatures inside the building. a tragedy described by one florida senator as inexcusable. 115 elderly and vulnerable residents, some in significant distress, were taken to safety on wednesday. at this time we have other patients in critical care. right now the building has been

sealed off and we are conducting a criminal investigation inside. we believe as this time, it may be related to the loss of power in the storm, but we are conducting a criminal investigation, not ruling anything out at this time. among those who died, men and women in their 80s and 90s. others are being treated for heat—related issues, including dehydration. the scene was chaotic when i arrived. we mobilised at least 50—100 of our employees, that left the hospital, ran down the street and pulled all of these patients out of the facility., and made sure that they got to a safe place. care homes across florida are now being checked by hte authorities. around 10 million people are still without power, in three us states, after irma's trail of destruction. homes in the florida keys hit by the full blast of the hurricane, were brutally ravaged, boats dumped on shore. they keys are still dramatically impacted.

the watermain...we still haven't figured out where the break is — got that back on. the sewage system down key west is not working. we do not have the power in the keys. but everybody is working hard with that. as people tried to start rebuilding their lives, president trump is due to visit florida on thursday, to see the damage first—hand. but concern is growing for the safety of florida's 3.6 million senior citizens, as officials struggle to restore power amid sweltering temperatures. sarah corker, bbc news. the relief efforts after irma are well under way. on many islands across the caribbean, the relief efforts continue. the british foreign secretary boris johnson visited the british virgin islands, to see the full extent of the damage. more than a thousand troops have now been deployed, to help with the recovery operation. our correspondent laura bicker is there and sent us this report. when you have devastation

on this scale, where do you start to rebuild? thousands of people are homeless, businesses have been destroyed and, as the shock subsides, reality kicks in. the people on the island are willing, but they know they need help. is this where you live? yeah, i live right around the corner, you don't want to see my house. after days of criticism that the uk government response has been slow, the foreign secretary is on tortola to assess the damage himself. these roads were completely impassible with debris. i can believe that. it has taken a week for some to get basic supplies. i'm feeling hungry. and everyone takes the opportunity to eat when they can, even when borisjohnson is in what remains of your front yard. you've really come together and got through it. yeah. well, that's what you have to do. there are a lot of security concerns

in the area. it is having else in the local and national government to deal with. walking around the neighbourhood, you get the sense that it neighbourhood, you get the sense thatitis neighbourhood, you get the sense that it is notjust about dealing with rebuilding lives and homes, but about rebuilding trust. some just want to leave or at least get their family of the island. how have things been for you? it's really difficult, there's no food, there's no water. we have been hearing that there are some people bringing some help, but we haven't seen anything. they're kind of organising the logistics and while that happens, people are suffering. you're gone! that's how people just pass. you're alive, there is hope. but others, like doris, will stay.

if we had any animosity among anyone of us, this is the time now to pull together and get stronger and move on. and i think that we have to keep hope alive and, when we do that, we're going to make it to where god have us to go. there is a special spirit on these remote islands. so many are working hard to help themselves. they now have but one dream, to restore tortola to its former glory and, once again, it will earn its local nickname as nature's little secret. laura bicker, bbc news, tortola. and of course irma covered so much ground. there is a much more coverage that we can bring you, and we have put that on the website for you. we have the latest live updates there. more on how it has had so many people in different parts of the caribbean, and of course, cuba and mainland us as well. that is all on our website. go to bbc.com/news.

the public inquiry into the causes of the grenfell tower fire is due to have its first public hearing this morning. at least 80 people died in the blaze three months ago. frankie mccamley reports. it was a catastrophic tragedy that killed at least 80 people. many questions remain an acid. today, the public enquiry is being launched. it aims to get to the bottom what happened, and find out what can be done to stop selling like this happening again. —— remain unanswered. the frames of reference have been identified as... but for some, like thomasina, who lost a home, there are still concerns. it would look at social housing. i do bigger will look deep

enough into the arms—length organisation and the government. i am not sure it will go into depth to identify which individuals are responsible for which decisions, which i think is really important, if we are going to hold them to account. the government says social housing questions will be directed to the housing minister. 105 new homes had been made available within the borough, but out of 196 households, only three have been moved into permanent accommodation. frankie mccamley, bbc news. that was a joint tally for the business news, now. a bit of a throwback, here? —— sally. exactly ten years ago today the bbc broke the news that high street lender northern rock had been forced to ask the bank of england for help. what happened next was an early sign of the global financial crisis to come.

it had huge implications for the industry and led to major changes, but some say not nearly enough. so these were the scenes — hopefully you will see them, there we are — these are the scenes at branches of northern rock around the uk. the news sparked the first run on a british bank in 150 years, with savers queuing to try and get their money out. five months later the bank was nationalised. northern rock had borrowed too heavily on international money markets in order to lend to customers. and as fears of a financial crisis began to grow, the cash dried up, forcing the bank to the brink of collapse. so what has changed? well, here in the uk, savers get much more protection now. as of this year, the government guarantees you will get back up to £85,000 — that's around $112,000 — if a bank fails.

that's well over double what was before the financial crisis. and what about the banks themselves? they are now obliged to keep more money in reserve. and they have had to ring fence their retail services from the investment arms to protect consumers' money better. is that enough, though? to stop this from happening again? we'll be hearing from the boss of insurer equitable life, which also came to the brink of collapse in 2000. he says lessons have not been learnt. we are also at in germany at the frankfurt motor show. the environmental lobby group greenpeace held a protest outside on wednesday proclaiming the end of the oil age. inside, the big carmakers have been unveiling their visions of a battery—powered electric future. but one of the biggest, toyota, has made a major bet on hydrogen fuel cells.

we'll be hearing from the european boss. all that in 20 minutes time. a busy day today. lot is make going on. let's catch up on some of the other stories making news around the world. —— lots going on. a fire at an islamic boarding school in malaysia has killed at least 25 people, all but two of them students. officials said the blaze had broken out in a dormitory of the school in the capital, kaula lumpur, early on thursday morning. seven people were injured. theresa may is to travel to a historic european city to unveil further details of her vision for britain's future outside the european union. the british prime minister's high—profile brexit speech in the italian city of florence and is likely to be seen as a bid to break the deadlock in withdrawal negotiations. that speech is on the 22nd of

december —— september. president trump has met the top two democrats in the us congress, to discuss issues including tax reform, border security and immigration. chuck schumer and nancy pelosi had dinner with the president at the white house. officials said the meeting had been constructive. and here is one. spain's public prosecutor has summoned more than 700 catalan mayors to appear for questioning over their support for a banned independence referendum due to be held on october 1. jose manuel maza said that any of the municipal leaders who agreed to help stage next month's vote should be arrested if they fail to appear. the former drugs company boss martin shkreli has beenjailed in the united states after a judge found that he posed a threat to the public. shkreli had offered $5000 to anyone who could get him a strand of hillary clinton's hair. we get more from peter bowes. it takes

a bit of explaining, this. a bizarre case. extremely bizarre. just to fill ina case. extremely bizarre. just to fill in a few of the gaps, a little bit of the history. this man became famous around the united states a few years ago as the head of a drug company, increasing the price of a drug from something like $13 to dose. this is a drug that is used by aids patience. that is an increase of about 5000%. he was vilified about. last month, he was convicted of securities fraud, and is awaiting sentencing on that. in the meantime, he goes on to twitter, onto facebook, and posts that he is offering $5,000 for a strand of hillary clinton's out. his lawyers said it was free speech. —— hair. he has said it was satire. a judge in new york has disagreed, saying that it was not protected by the first

amendment, and was not free speech, and was a solicitation of assault in exchange for money. therefore, she said, he was a danger to the public, and must go straight to jail. he will await his sentencing back, which will happen next january. certainly a maverick. people would understand that. the most hated man in america, that is down to his drugs approach, apparently? yes. that is what they have been saying for a couple of years. he is a character who likes, it seems, to get into fights with people. he was banned from twitter because of some comments that he made about 18 a journalist. it is so ordinary that when he is in the headlines, it is to be for different reasons each time. i don't think anyone could have predicted the circumstances surrounding this incident, and this is the one that has finally put him in jail, is the one that has finally put him injail, and he will be injailfor at least six hours before sentencing. peter bowes, thank you very much. do stay with us on bbc

news. lots more to come. back from the dead: this tortoise thought to be extinct for a hundred and fifty years, creeps back out of its shell. 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 — florida police have launched a criminal investigation into the deaths of eight residents at a nursing home hit by hurricane irma. the public inquiry into the fire at grenfell tower in london opens shortly. at least 80 people died in the tragedy injune. the un security general has added his voice to the deep concerns about the violence in myanmar. nearly 400,000 rohingya muslims have fled from rakhine state into neighbouring bangladesh in the past three weeks after a military crackdown. antonio guterres has described

the situation as "catastrophic" and called on the international community to help. i call on the myanmar authorities to suspend military action and the violence, uphold the rule of law and recognise the right of return of all those who had to leave the country. a concerted effort to force so—called islamic state out of their stronghold city of raqqa in syria has been going on forfour months now. a combination of coalition air strikes and us—backed ground forces are trying to drive the militants out of the city. tens of thousands of civilians have fled. but it's unclear how many are still there. quentin sommerville has more. on the one thing you will really notice here in raqqa city, apart from the destruction, which is pretty much everywhere, all around us, is the absence of people. when we've been to other cities, mosul and so on, people

were always coming out. but not here. the reason for that is we just heard some coalition air strikes not that long ago that rattled the shutters here. and the artillery shelling is almost constant. it's because the real fighting is going on from about one or two kilometres from where i am right now. there, people are facing isis snipers, minefields, and coalition bombardments from artillery and coalition jets. the old city is just done here, actually. so imagine living through all that. if you just look up here, this was somebody‘s home. look at the bullet holes all over that. there almost isn't a building in this city that we have passed that has been untouched by the violence. if we just move down here a bit closer, beyond there, right inside raqqa, almost an ironclad death trap has been created for people, where they are facing snipers,

they're facing minefields — and that was another blast from artillery, i think — there's no escape for civilians. it is better for them, there is less risk, if they stay in the midst of that, in is territory, than try to escape. that's why these streets are so empty. more gunfire just in the background there. there are about 20,000—25,000 people still inside in this city, trapped by is, trapped by those coalition air strikes. about half of them are children. their options are very limited at the moment. no—one's coming back to the city any time soon. it is going to take a long time before it is taken. it may take a month or a bit longer. but for the people trapped inside raqqa, it's absolute hell, and they have almost no escape. former world number one tennis player maria sharapova say she's put the doping scandal that saw her suspended from the sport

for a full 15 months behind her and she hopes to win another grand slam tournament. she's been speaking to the bbc‘s laura trevelyan as she also releases her memoir, which tells the tale of a young russian girl coming to the us. what was it like playing here in new york at the us open just a few weeks ago, back there in the limelight after your suspension? i have been training for quite some time and to be able to walk into a court like that with thousands of people, the electric crowd, the emotions, the noise and the feeling that i had walking into it was a feeling of warmth and well come and itjust felt like that's a place that i really miss comic the place where i belong. it has been my stage for so long and i felt that experience. to be in long and i felt that experience. to beina long and i felt that experience. to be in a grand slam after such a long period of time was very special. but talk about the suspension which you

talk about the suspension which you talk about the suspension which you talk about a lot in your book. why do you start taking the substance, which was not banned at the time? after my first grand slam at wimbledon, i was not very healthy for a long period of time. i went to see a children's doctor back in russia that my father took me too. i was still a teenager, he ran some tests a nd was still a teenager, he ran some tests and said i had some abnormalities in my heart and that was one of the supplements that he recommended i take. it was very commonly used in russia, we received certificates that it was completely legal to take for many years and ultimately became illegal for a few first weeks of last year. you get the e—mail in january first weeks of last year. you get the e—mail injanuary 2016 ahead of the e—mail injanuary 2016 ahead of the australian open, which he were competing in. this was an e—mail from the international tennis federation telling you it was banned but you didn't click on all the attachments. why not? they were really buried and hidden and those we re really buried and hidden and those were not the types of attachments that any of the players open up if you really ask them. it was not

noticeable at all, they didn't make an effort to show us that it was a very commonly used supplement in eastern europe. and that should have been flagged and it wasn't. the canadian player said you were a cheetah and shouldn't be allowed back into the sport because it sends the wrong message. what you say to that? they are comments not based on fa cts that? they are comments not based on facts and therefore are taken into consideration. the fact that you are not a cheetah? exactly. but talk your path to world number one on five different occasions winning five different occasions winning five different occasions winning five different grand slam. you came here 6.5 years old, you'd spoke no english turning up at the tennis academy in florida. what was that like for you? difficult. academy in florida. what was that like foryou? difficult. much academy in florida. what was that like for you? difficult. much more difficult my father, but i was very young and i took up the language very fast and i was around kids that spoke english, little children speak all the time. can you win and that grand slam? i would love to, and that's my goal. it is certainly up

there with a lot of other things i would like to accomplish. i have been fortunate enough to win five majors and completing a career grand slam, but in my mind, i like to think i had not won, in order to have the hunger and motivation as if i still have a lot more to win. maria sharapova talking to my colleague laura trevelyan there, and the unstoppable sharapova ? will be shown on bbc world and the bbc news channel this weekend. the giant floreana tortoise wasn't so much on the brink of extinction as well and truly gone according to experts. well, not so fast — after 150 years on the list of species lost to the planet, it has made a dramatic, albeit, slow comeback. as the numbers grow, the tortoise will ultimately be returned to the galapagos island of floreana as virginia langeberg explains. nothing happens too quickly in the tortoise world. but this is a comeback worth the wait. the florea na tortoise, once thought wiped out, has been on the extinction list for one and a half centuries. now, with careful conservation,

the species has been brought back from the dead. translation: today, we are announcing to the world some very good news. we have managed to recover a species that was once thought to be extinct and was listed as such for the last 150 years. the species became an extinct from its home island of floreana during the mid 19th century after hunting and exploitation from the first settlers. some floreana were dropped on other islands, breeding with other tortoises. but now, the original species is slowly and steadily staging its return. a breeding programme at the galapagos national park has yielded dozens of floreana pure—bred tortoises, with hopes of thousands more in the coming years. translation: we will recover this floreana species with a programme of reproduction in captivity, using experience that the galapagos

national park has already used for 5,000 other tortoises that have been reintroduced into their habitat. this is the first time we will do the same thing but with a species that was considered to be extinct. this is the gift that we give to humanity. they will be given time to grow into their shells within the national park and then it is hoped within five years the floreana will be released back into the wild to reclaim their island. but there is no rush. they cannot afford to be a rush at that sort of pace. what a great story to a effectively bring it back from the dead. don't forget, you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter. it is always good to hear from you. you are watching bbc news. hi there. the weather's going to stay

unsettled and showery for the next few days. certainly a bit cooler for the weekend, as well. the area of low pressure with the first named storm of the autumn season is now working across to europe. that's aileen. bringing some very strong winds to north poland, lithuania, latvia, estonia, gusts reaching 70 kilometres per hour early in the morning. a blustery start to the day for us, with showers around. if you are heading out early, temperatures will be about 9—10 degrees celsius. across the far south of england, especially towards the south coast, sunshine for a time. but there's a strip of cloud coming down across the midlands, east anglia, and across wales, too, that will have heavy showers in it, and that's going to be pushing southwards as the morning goes by. so the sunshine in the far south will not last long. to the north, for scotland and for northern ireland, yes, there will be some sunshine to start the day. still, though, with that blustery

wind making it feel cool around the coast. as we go through the rest of the day, that band of cloud and showers pushes south across england before clearing. then the sunshine comes out across england and wales, that sunshine triggering one or two heavy showers. clu m ps of clumps of showers will continue to work across the uk. little change in the weather prospects for friday. further bans of showers working southwards following something brighter. showers will continue on the northerly wind. temperatures struggling, 12 degrees across the north of scotland. it is not what we normally expect at this stage of

september. this area of high pressure continues to block things out in the atlantic. this area of low pressure will continue to maintain, particularly cross england. showers might become few and further between. yes, it would be cool, and perhaps cold enough to get some frost this weekend. you are watching bbc world news. i am david eades with the headlines: it's emerged eight residents of a florida nursing home died after hurricane irma knocked out its power and air conditioning when it hit the state on sunday. police have launched a criminal investigation into those steps. —— deaths. the public inquiry into the fire at grenfell tower in london opens later. it will examine the cause and spread of the fire, high—rise regulations, and the actions of the local authority. at least 80 people died in the blaze injune. the former drugs company boss martin shkreli has beenjailed in the us after a judge found that he posed a threat to the public.

shkreli had offered $5000 to anyone who could get him a strand of hillary clinton's hair.