welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: a dramatic rise in the death toll from hurricane maria. puerto rico says nearly 3,000 people lost their lives last year, up from just 64. google strongly denies claims by president trump that it skews search results to portray him in a less positive light. several countries call for myanmar‘s military leaders to be brought to justice following a report detailing atrocities committed against the rohingya minority. innocent human beings were raped, murdered and burned alive for no other reason than their religious and ethnic identity. the whole world is watching what we will do next and if we will act. and a final farewell to the queen of soul. fans in detroit pay their last respects to the legendary aretha franklin.

hurricane maria hit puerto rico almost a year ago, but only now is a clearer picture emerging of a far more serious disaster than the official figures suggested. the death toll is now estimated at nearly 50 times higher than previously thought. a study commissioned by authorities in the us territory suggests almost 3,000 people died in the most powerful storm of the past 90 years. the original, official figure was 64 dead. the findings come from a new report by researchers from george washington university. it also found that those from poorer backgrounds in puerto rico were at much higher risk of being killed. 0ur correspondent david wilkis is in washington. what more do you have on this? this

figure of 2975 is 50 times the original figure figure of 2975 is 50 times the originalfigure for figure of 2975 is 50 times the original figure for deaths in that harry kane. it is based on research from researchers at george washington university hero at washington, dc who looked at a six—month period from the time when hurricane maria struck in september of last year through until february of last year through until february of last year through until february of last year. they took into account not just those of last year. they took into account notjust those in heat by debris all who drowned in hurricane maria but those who died of heart attacks and bacterial infections that have been blamed on this weather system. it is an estimate, still, but an estimate that the puerto rican government believes will now be the official,

it says it will now be the official death toll for hurricane maria. to put that into context, that figure of 2975 is over 1000 more than are known to have died in hurricane katrina. the weather system that hit new katrina. the weather system that hit n ew 0 rlea ns katrina. the weather system that hit new orleans back in 2005. president trump has long had a contentious relationship with the press, and today it was social media companies he unleashed on. in an early morning tweet he took aim at the likes of google — saying they purposefully surpressed conservative voices. in a moment we'll hear from our technology correspondent dave lee — but first let's hear exactly what president trump said in the oval office. i think google is taking advantage ofa i think google is taking advantage of a lot of people and i think that isa of a lot of people and i think that is a very serious thing and a very serious charge. google, twitter,

facebook, they are trading on very troubled territory and they must be careful. it is not fair to large debt at portions of the population. 0ur silicon valley reporter dave lee is in san francisco. what do you make of this? what do you make of thi57m what do you make of this? it is stepping up the attacks from donald trump to these technology companies. he is echoing something we have heard from several members of congress in recent monthss, the suggestion that silicon valley giants, the technology leads as many refer to them, are using their power, these immense power to somehow silenced the views of conservatives and boost liberal views they are said to hold themselves. the companies deny it strongly, however donald trump in his early—morning strongly, however donald trump in his ea rly—morning tweeds strongly, however donald trump in his early—morning tweeds amplified some anecdotal evidence, it must be said, from a conservative blog that suggests as much as 96% of results

when you search for trump news that we re when you search for trump news that were from left leaning outlets. it is very complicated tojudge how reliable that sort of information is because everybody gets google results tailored to them personally. many experts do not give the research much credibility at all. google certainly doesn't. regardless of what google thinks it does have this new problem... well, an enhanced problem on its hands and may be facing much more scrutiny about howard ‘s results are displayed in future. to put this in context displayed in future. to put this in co ntext a nd displayed in future. to put this in context and to be frank, it is part ofa context and to be frank, it is part of a presidential drive to discredit any sources of news that are critical of him or are not 100% supportive of what he says and does. absolutely. we have seen it since before he came into office. he was a lwa ys before he came into office. he was always coining the phrase, fake news media or co—opting that phrase. saying that people in the media and some things in the media were simply

not true. things that we know to be true. that has now shifted to silicon valley. it is notjust google being taken to task here, facebook and twitter are as well. all three of those companies will be appearing in washington, dc next week to talk about some of these issues. i think that will be some very, will include some heated exchanges between the technology companies that are keen to defend themselves and politicians who feel ha rd themselves and politicians who feel hard done by. what we could be seen is the sense that more transparency may be needed by some of these companies. ruble, and its algorithms isa companies. ruble, and its algorithms is a mystery to most people because thatis is a mystery to most people because that is their business and what makes them profitable, those algorithms. the same could be said for facebook and to a lesser ascent twitter. any attempt to make those companies more open about those processes would be damaging to the firms and that is why they would

wa nt to firms and that is why they would want to avoid that at all costs. in new york the un security council has been holding an open meeting on myanmar. the un secretary general called for accountability as the council looked at the findings of a report accusing myanmar‘s top brass of a long list of atrocities in rakhine state. several countries, including the united states, called for myanmar‘s military leaders to be brought before internationaljustice. the bbc‘s nada tawfik has more from new york. this was the first time that the security council met to discuss this report, which is the strongest yet out of the united nations, and the secretary general antonio guterres said that the security council should seriously consider the conclusions in these reports. he said that accountability was necessary for any kind of reconciliation, and for stability in the region. and so, he really outlined what still needs to be done to get this crisis to be resolved. it is clear that conditions are not yet met for the safe,

voluntary, dignified, and sustainable return of rohingya refugees to their places of origin or choice. and i ask members of the security council tojoin me in urging the myanmar authorities to co—operate with the united nations and to ensure immediate, unimpeded, and effective access for it agencies and partners. we must also continue to press for the release ofjournalists who have been arrested for reporting on this tragedy. well, myanmar‘s representative was also speaking to council members. myanmar has denied ethnic cleansing, they say that their operation was in response to an attack from rohingya rebels. he, in the council, again said that there were numerous attacks that were being ignored by the mainstream media, and he wanted that issue to be brought to the council's attention. but these facts were conveniently

discounted or ignored by mainstream media. the violent attacks were not coincidence. as the terrorist and the foreign muslim minds knew too well that the myanmar military forces would respond to the attacks with full force, they must also have anticipated the exodus of people from northern rakhine to bangladesh. these events were well planned and executed with the help of foreign terrorist organisations. this debate really laid bare the divisions on myanmar, because china and russia still believe that this issue needs to be addressed through diplomacy — and that is an issue that myanmar agrees with. so certainly in the days and weeks to come, when the full report is presented to the security council and the world's leaders descend on new york for the un general assembly, the conclusions of this report and the issue for the rohingya people will continue to be addressed by international leaders. ahead of that meeting

of the security council, nada tawfik caught up with un goodwill ambassador cate blanchett. the actress was recently in bangladesh where thousands of rohinja muslims have been forced to flee. well, i think that they're — you know, part of the security council's remit is to highlight and to continue unveiling, not give up. just coming from speaking to the secretary general, when the situation is impossible, you have to push harder, and despair is something we cannot give into. and when you see the resilience of the refugees themselves, and when you sit in a school with children who have lost parents, you know, children who have seen their grandparents pushed back into burning buildings and set on fire — you know, i sat with one particular girl who was 1a, who had her three—year—old brother dismembered

and thrown into a fire in front of her. and when you see them, you know, moving forward, positively, trying to go to school, it galvanises me, and makes me want to not forget those individual faces in the magnitude of the numbers that we hear. and i think it's beholden upon the international community to shine a spotlight on it. it may seem impossible, but it's not an excuse for not doing anything. have you been disappointed that aung san suu kyi, as the de facto leader, and with the moral authority from her nobel prize, has not done more? i think it's imperative that the government of myanmar now set about concrete paths towards giving the rohingya citizenship. every human being has — we're sitting here, and we have a nationality. we're able to vote, we have the right to an education and basic healthca re, and these people have none of those rights. and so i think it's absolutely vital

that the government of myanmar now, a year on from the crisis, starts to make positive, concrete steps towards making sure these things happen. it is, you know, of paramount importance. and after visiting the camps, being here to speak to international leaders, iwonder, have you reflected at all on the fact that there had been warning signs for decades, incitement to violence against the rohingya for decades, and yet international leaders did not prevent this from happening? i think when we're dealing with a stateless people, the problem can often be invisible, and you can feel, you know, particularly in the west, that there's cultural barriers. but when you sit with a mother, newly arrived, who has not even unpacked her bags, because she's worried that the latrine she's built right above us will collapse

when the rains come, you realise that there are human beings inside this crisis. and i think it's really important that, even though we talk about the numbers, that we don't lose sight of the human beings. and i suppose part of my role as a goodwill ambassador is to restore that human face. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: air pollution may damage the brain and cause a massive drop in intelligence. a shock warning from china. he's the first african—american to win the presidential nomination of a major party, and he accepts exactly 45 years ago to the day that martin luther king declared "i have a dream." as darkness falls tonight, an unfamiliar light will appear in the south—eastern sky. an orange glowing disk that is brighter than anything save the moon — our

neighbouring planet mars. there is no doubt that this election is an important milestone in the birth of east timor as the world's newest nation. it'll take months and billions of dollars to repair what katrina achieved injust hours. three weeks is the longest the great clock has been off duty in 117 years, so it was with great satisfaction that clock maker john vernon swung the pendulum to set the clock going again. good to have you with us. the latest headlines from bbc news: puerto rico has acknowledged a dramatic rise in the death toll from hurricane maria.

it says nearly 3,000 people lost their lives, up from just 64. and president trump has accused google, facebook and twitter of prioritising fake and biased news, warning them to be "very careful". more now on that story. dr safiya noble is associate professor in communication at the university of southern california. she joins us now from los angeles. what do you make of what the president is saying, and whether you agree with him or not, there are grave concerns about big tech and how it operates in democracy. certainly there has been a lot of concern about the way big tech companies have unbridled access to any kind of information, including disinformation, in our countries, but it's an interesting take from the white house considering the disinformation and propaganda

proliferating in social media and large tech companies work in favour of the white house and the republicans taking over congress. so it is an interesting moment. the real story is concern about coverage of collusion, crimes, corruption happening in us politics and a desire to silence the critics. yes, your research, if i read it right, points out the ways in which right—wing organisations have been able to manipulate google and facebook in mr trump's favour and also racial and ethnic minorities, in fact, the big tech works against them, they feature less prominently. absolutely. what we find in the research is racial and ethnic minorities, women and girls, are often the kind of fodder, the more disposable communities, on these big platforms, and who have very little voices. actually the powerful elites

in politics have a tremendous amount of voice. so i don't think the evidence really stacks up to bolster this argument. what i think instead we see is a real desire to silence the media, who are trying to investigate very real issue is happening in the white house right 110w. happening in the white house right now. and it has to be said that the president and the sources that he cites class just about every mainstream news outlet as left—wing. the only things that escape our fox news, the wall streetjournal, the economist and the daily mail .com. people might quibble with that. yes, if you look at the thin model that is being used to declare all media left—wing, kind of, everything short of infowa rs, left—wing, kind of, everything short of infowars, one would wonder why we spent a whole day talking about the

news cycle rather than the real issues. we can certainly look at consumer protection from big tech companies, and you can talk about the fact that the administration wa nts to the fact that the administration wants to silence political critique and fact—finding and evidence and those things don't have to be mutually exclusive. professor, thank you very much indeed. white police officer in the us has been found guilty of murdering a black 15—year—old. royall of no longer works for the police and kills jordan edwards in texas last year. the teenager was unarmed and leaving a house party. 0liver claimed the bottle is moving towards his partner. the colleague told him he did not fearfor partner. the colleague told him he did not fear for his life and partner. the colleague told him he did not fearfor his life and did not feel the need to use his weapon. could air pollution make us less intelligent. —— could air pollution make us less intelligent? research carried out in china suggests it might. the four year study found that the longer people were exposed

to dirty air, the greater the damage to their cognitive abilities. and men are affected more than women, as our science editor david shukman now reports. a wave of pollution rolls into the centre of beijing. dirty air is a reality of life for many in china. in fact, for billions of people around the world. scientists now know how it can damage the lungs and the heart, how it can shorten lives. some of the pollution we breathe in gets trapped in the nose, but tiny particles can slip into the lungs and then make their way into the bloodstream — there is evidence they can even reach the brain. so pollution may not only have a physical affect, but a mental one as well. to explore what pollution might be doing to the mind, scientists in china embarked on a massive investigation. they say breathing dirty air can make people depressed and also affect their ability to focus. this was one of the largest studies of its kind. it looked at levels of air pollution

in dozens of cities across china. and at the results of tests of verbal reasoning in maths taken by 25,000 people in those places. the researchers conclude that long—term exposure to air pollution, impedes cognitive performance. that is a bold claim and it doesn't provide direct evidence of cause and effect, but it does follow a few other studies that have also suggested that polluted air may affect the brain, so a link is thought to be possible. we asked one of britain's leading pollution scientists to look at the chinese research and he says it's another red flag warning that pollution may mental ability. what they find is older men were more susceptible, uther studies have shown older women, so there's a few things we need to resolve. but certainly, those red flags and there's more of them and itjust adds to the weight of evidence that air pollution has a wide range of effects in your body. this matters because most of the world's population lives

in air that's polluted. india, for example, has some of the dirtiest conditions. and as the research into pollution advances and we learn more about the impacts, it may turn out to be that they're not only physical, but mental as well. air pollution is a threat from africa to here in britain. and its true implications may only become obvious in the decades ahead. david shukman, bbc news. the queen of soul, aretha franklin, is lying in state in an open coffin for two days in her home city of detroit, as fans pay their last respects. thousands queued from before dawn outside the african american history museum in the city to see her for one last time before herfuneral service later this week. rajini vaidya nathan was with the crowds who went to celebrate her life. # the moment i wake up, before i put on my make—up. # i say a little prayerfor you... for fans of aretha franklin,

it has been the ultimate pilgrimage. # what you want, baby, i got it. # what you need, you know i got it... crowds lined up in the early hours as they waited to say a final farewell to their beloved queen of soul. but, before she said goodbye, she made one last entrance. ever the diva, a white vintage cadillac transported her in a golden casket. for those waiting patiently to see here, the mood here was melodic, not morose. # r-e-s-p-e-c-t, that's just what it means to me. why have you decided to queue up here to pay your last respects? i couldn't have did it for a better person. she is all of that and a bowl of soup. i am honouring her today.

she means a lot to me, to my family, you know, to everyone. she is the queen of soul. she paved the way for a lot of black singers, and the d has turned it out for aretha. she will lie in state at the city's african—american museum for another day, her style, her grace and her ruby—red heels on show for one last time. it was beautiful. she looked like she was just sleeping. she had on red shoes, her dress was so elegant. she looked really pretty. herface isjust like she was relaxed. aretha franklin will be remembered as america's voice in more ways than one. she fought for gender and racial equality, supported charities and communities she cared about, and remains a role model to so many in detroit and beyond. she was a global superstar who never forgot her hometown roots, and this week, her hometown is showing the world they will never forget aretha franklin.

just finally, something very different. it is full—blown scout wa i’s different. it is full—blown scout wars in the channel, with french fishermen throwing smoke bombs and rocks at british rivals in best out over scots, 22 kilometres off the normandy coast. british fishermen are allowed to fish in this area, but there presence has infuriated the french, who they accuse of depleting the stocks. shamelessly depleting shellfish

stocks is not something you really wa nt to stocks is not something you really want to say at 2:30am london time. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter, i'm @bbcmikeembley. thank you for watching. come again. hello. wednesday starts with a bit of umbrella weather across some parts of the uk, but it should turn dry and sunny for many of us as the day goes on. two weather systems to talk about early on. this one clipping parts of south—east england and east anglia, with either showers or some rain, could be some heavy bursts. and this one moving out of scotland and northern ireland, taking some increasingly light and patchy rain further south through england and wales. starting temperatures double figures for england and wales, but something fresher for scotland and northern ireland, and it's less humid behind this weather front, and there'll be some sunshine around. a few showers pushing into north—west scotland, maybe along to the west of northern ireland. rain clears east anglia

and the south—east lunchtime at the very latest, and then a weakening weather front takes a few late—day showers towards this part of the world. sunny spells developed elsewhere in england and wales. here is a look at things at a:00pm in the afternoon, and on the breeze, a feed of a few showers into north—west scotland. but most other parts here in scotland, and indeed in northern ireland, it'll be dry. you mayjust catch the odd shower in the west. good sunny spells developing across northern england, wales, the midlands and into the south—west. but a weakening weather front, with still maybe the odd shower associated with it, moves into east anglia and the south—east towards the end of the day. but hardly any rain left, really, and then it clears away and we've got clearing skies. and there mayjust be the odd patch of mist and fog as we go into thursday morning, but overnight into thursday, our weather systems have cleared away — clearing skies, and temperatures dip away. a much cooler night to come going into thursday morning, and into low single figures in some spots. under those clearing skies, we have an area of high pressure starting to build into the uk,

which means although it's chilly first thing on thursday, there'll be plenty of sunshine to come first thing. it may not last all day. you see the band here showing that we've got clear skies. as we go deeper into thursday, you could see some cloud starting to build. it may produce the odd shower, maybe more so into western scotland. most will be dry, just expect a bit more cloud to come, but still some sunny spells, and temperatures high teens, for a few into the low 20s. so, once we get past that chance of umbrella weather in the day ahead, for the rest of the week, it's looking mainly dry. but do note — again, the night will be chilly. and then, as we go into the weekend, we'll see a theme of cloud coming into western parts of the uk. that may produce a bit of patchy rain. the emphasis is on the plenty of dry weather, but as the weekend goes on, it will start to warm up a little bit too. that's your latest forecast. this is bbc news.

the headlines: the authorities in the us territory of puerto rico say nearly 3,000 people died as a result of hurricane maria — forty—six times more than originally thought. until now the official death toll from the storm last september was just sixty—four. the revision follows a report by researchers from george washington university. they found that those from poorer backgrounds were at a higher risk of being killed. of being killed. president trump has accused google, facebook and twitter of prioritising fake and biased news — to portray him in a less positive light. he said they had to be "very careful". google has strongly denied the claims. several countries have called for myanmar‘s military leaders to be brought to justice following a report detailing atrocities committed against the rohingya minority. the report also criticised myanmar‘s de facto leader, aung san suu kyi, forfailing to intervene to stop attacks. now on bbc news, hardtalk.