this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top story: 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. french and british boats clash in the english channel in a vicious scrap over scallops. and a final farewell to the queen of soul. fans in detroit pay their last respects to the legendary aretha franklin. in business briefing: her next stop is nigeria, as theresa may continues her charm offensive to win more trade for post—brexit britain. a warm welcome to the programme,

briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. and you can be part of the conversation, tell us what you think about the stories we are covering or what are you spotting online. just use #bbcthebriefing. hurricane maria, which struck the caribbean almost a year ago, was the most powerful storms to hit the region in nearly 90 years. it devastated the island territory of puerto rico,

and officials now say that almost 3,000 people died as a result of the storm — that's nearly 50 times the original estimate. many died as a result of poor healthcare facilities and a lack of clean water. 0ur north america correspondent david willis has more. hurricane maria was the most powerful storm to hit the caribbean island in almost a century. a monster of a weather system, which made landfall with winds of 250km/h, leaving millions of dollars of damage in its wake. comparing the storm to katrina in 2005, president trump initially marvelled at what appeared to be a relatively low loss of life. but now it seems that the death toll from maria might dwarf of the hurricane that devastated new orleans. a study undertaken by researchers

here puts the number of people who died either directly from the storm's wroth or from its aftermath at nearly 3,000. we are officially changing... we are actually putting an official number to the death toll, and we will take the 2975 number as the official estimate. hurricane maria took what little this impoverished island had and reduced it to rubble. power supplies were knocked out, power lines were cut, roads became impassable. worst affected were the poor and the elderly. the governor concedes puerto rico wasn't prepared for a storm like maria, but hopes it can learn from the experience. translation: it's a time to show solidarity with all those who have

lost family and friends. it's also a time to reflect on what we did well and what we did badly. so that we can have a better response in future. making such improvements won't be easy. parts of the island are still without power nearly a year after the hurricane, and some 60,000 homes are still said to be a lacking proper roof. the trump administration has said it will continue to support the island's government, but puerto rico was bankrupt long before maria pitched up on its shores and its best hope may be to pray that such a disaster never happens again. president trump has warned google, twitter and facebook they are treading on troubled territory amid a row over perceived bias. earlier, he accused google of rigging the search results for the phrase "trump news". google said its search engine set no political agenda and was not biased towards any political ideology.

a white house aide says the administration is now "looking into" the issue of regulation. 0ur silicon valley reporter dave lee has more. he's echoing something that we have heard from several members of congress in recent months, the suggestion that some of the silicon valley giants, the people based here, the tech elites, as many refer to them, are using their power, this immense power to somehow silence the views of conservatives and instead boost liberal views they are said to hold themselves. the companies of course deny it strongly, however donald trump, in his early—morning tweets, amplified some rather anecdotal evidence, it must be said, from a conservative blog that suggests that as much as 96% of results when you search for "trump news" were from left—leaning outlets. it's very complicated to judge how

reliable that kind of information is because of course everybody gets google results tailored to them personally. many experts don't give the research much credibility at all. google certainly doesn't. but regardless of what google thinks, it does have this new problem. well, an enhanced problem on its hands and it may be facing much more scrutiny about how its results are displayed in future. we will have more on that story in the business briefing. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. the united nations‘ attempts to prosecute military leaders in myanmar have suffered a setback, after china criticised the approach to solving the rohingya muslim crisis. a report has called for six senior military figures to face criminal charges after almost 700,000 people fled violence a year ago. china said putting pressure on the country is not the way to resolve the issue.

a man's been arrested in the netherlands on suspicion of planning an attack on the far—right politician geert wilders. the plot was allegedly made in response to the anti—islam politician's intention to hold a prophet mohammad cartoon competition. the suspect, who hasn't yet be identified, was detained at the central train station in the hague. president michel temer of brazil has ordered the army to be deployed along part of the border with venezuela. the president said the situation in venezuela threatened the peace of the whole of south america. more than a million venezuelans are estimated to have fled their country over the past year. a new study suggests that the arteries of teenagers who drink and smoke show signs of hardening by the age of 17. the damage was found to be greater among those who drank and smoked than those who did only one or the other. but the research, by university college london, also found that when young people give up, their arteries return to normal. french fishermen have been accused of throwing insults,

rocks and smoke bombs at their british rivals in the english channel in a vicious scrap over scallops. the clash happened around 22km off the normandy coast. british boats are legally entitled to fish in the scallop—rich area, but their presence has infuriated the french. lebo diseko has more. this is what is being called the scallop wars. french fishermen clash with their british counterparts in the sea off the normandy coast. rocks and smoke bombs just some of the things reportedly thrown at english and scottish vessels in the early hours of tuesday morning. it is the latest instalment of ongoing tension overfishing in these waters. french law says its fishermen can

only harvest scallops here between 0ctober only harvest scallops here between october and may. the brits face no such restrictions and the french fishermen, like this one, think that's fair. translation: they have no hours, no quotas, theyjust fill their boats. they come, scrape and leave. they start working a month before us and they leave us the crumbs. in previous years the two sides have been able to come up with an agreement to harvest more fairly, but this year that didn't happen. with about 35 vessels to five, the french are far outnumbered the british and ultimately chase them away. now uk fishermen are demanding government protection. the british prime ministerflies to nigeria today on the latest leg of her tour of africa. theresa may is expected to discuss trade and security matters. she arrives from south africa after making her pitch for the uk to help develop africa, particularly in the post—brexit world. iain anderson, founder of the international

communications agency, cicero groupjoins me now. lovely to see you, iain. so, give us your take on her trip — there is a lot of discussion about her dancing and how that went down, that's trending on social media, apparently. but she obviously is going with 29 business leaders, she wa nts to going with 29 business leaders, she wants to sort of lay the foundations of future trade talks, doesn't she? yes, so, it is good to see the uk prime minister actually pushing forward on trade. you know, a lot of the newspapers this morning are talking about this as a trade deal. it is not a trade deal until the uk actually leaves the european union. but what i would say, sal, it is good to see the prime minister actually getting out and about doing this. now, there is a lot of criticism as to whether or not it's

all a bit too little too late. some of the newspapers have added up the numbers in terms of the deal. certainly the biggest trade partner in terms of all the countries she is seeing this week in south africa. that's the really important one. and she is trying to cement that relationship as much a she can. it's quite interesting actually because oui’ quite interesting actually because our article on this on bbc news online looks at the trade volumes of various countries in 2015, so a few yea rs various countries in 2015, so a few years ago, and by far the eu is the biggest, with the uk quite far behind, china, the us as well, and, you know, theresa may saying, and we also have, which is interesting, if you want to look online, uk trade with nigeria, what we import with nigeria, what we export, the biggest export is refined oil, which i found fascinating. it is. given that nigeria is an oil rich nation. there is an opportunity, hopefully this is

the start, and, you know, some have suggested she might actually be expectations and do a deal at the 0ctober european summit. now, if that happens, alongside the opportunity to do more of this kind of thing, i think business sentiment will significantly improve. all right, thank you for now. iain will be back. we have plenty of other stories to get our teeth stuck into in the news briefing, along with the fifa corruption probe. the former head of football's governing body in south america will be sentenced later. 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. you are watching the briefing. 0ur headlines: puerto rico has acknowledged a dramatic rise in the death toll from hurricane maria. it says nearly 3,000 people lost their lives last year, 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". refugees from syria who fled to neighbouring lebanon in order to escape the war are being told to go home, despite international warnings that it is not safe to do so. not only that, the united nations says the situation for the million or so who have crossed the border is only getting worse. bbc newsbeat‘s james waterhouse reports from lebanon, close to the syrian border. atan impromptu at an impromptu setting. ten miles away from their homeland. this camp has been set up for syrian refugees in lebanon. there is little water or electricity. the un says three quarters of the refugees are living in poverty, on less than $4 a day.

many have been here for years, and have no idea when they will be able to return home. translation: i might be here for another month, three months, or a year. be here for another month, three months, ora year. it be here for another month, three months, or a year. it depends on the safety. i don't want to go back when there is still a war going on. for some time now, more than a million syrians have been living in lebanon in conditions like these. the president he says he wants them to go home. the assad regime wants them to come back. at the united nations says it is not safe to do so. almost 90% of refugees said they do want to return to syria. however, you know, certain refugees expressed concerns with regards to property, with regards to military conscription. so certain guarantees need to be, you know, officially in place. one person looking unlikely to go back

is this man. he left government controlled damascus almost two years ago to pursue his music. he is now going to canada with his acoustic group on a scholarship, but is still haunted by what he left behind. even if it's more safe now back in syria, evenif if it's more safe now back in syria, even if the war stopped, you can't just forget what you have been through. and in the middle of all those thoughts and ideas, you just need to find the purpose of your own life, your goals. the war in syria is complex. the future of its people is complex. the future of its people is likely to be just as difficult. after all, a nation will have to be rebuilt. a white police officer in the us, who fired five bullets into a car carrying a group of teenagers, has been found guilty of murdering a black 15—year—old. roy 0liver, who no longer works for the police, killed jordan edwards in texas last year. the teenager was unarmed and leaving a house party. 0liver had claimed that the car

was moving towards his partner, but his colleague told the court that he didn't fear for his life at the time, and felt no need to use his weapon. a passengerferry with more than a thousand people onboard has returned to the port of piraeus after a fire broke out on board. the eleftherios venizelos ship was en route to the island of crete when a fire started on a car deck. the greek coastguard say the situation is under control and there are no reported injuries. the queen of soul, aretha franklin, is lying in state in an open coffin 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 her funeral 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 from 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 her, the mood here was melodic, not morose. # r-e-s-p-e-c-t, that's just what it means to me. # r—e—s—p—e—c—t, take care, tcb... 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.

you know, she means a lot to me, to my family, you know, to everyone. she is the queen of soul, but she paved the way for a lot of black singers, and the d has turned it up 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, never forgot her hometown roots, and this week, her hometown is showing the world they will never forget aretha franklin. this week is all about celebrating the life of aretha franklin. former us president bill clinton is due to speak at the service. she was a global superstar, neverforgot speak at the service. she was a global superstar, never forgot her hometown roots, and this week her hometown roots, and this week her hometown is showing the world they will never forget aretha franklin. now it is time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello, i'm chetan pathak, and this is your wednesday sport breifing. coming up: rafa nadal readies himself for round two of the us 0pen. and how a football team missed theirflight and ended up travelling for over 24

hours for their game. the former president of south american football's governing body will be sentenced today for corruption charges, as part of an ongoimg probe into historical wrongdoing at fifa. juan angel napout was found guilty of corruption earlier this month, at the same time as when the first former fifa official to be sentenced was given four years in prison. napout served as president of conmebol between 2014 and ‘15. team dimension data's ben king says he is still in shock after winning stage four of the vuelta a espana. the american out—sprinted kazakh nikita stalnov in the race's first summit finish, fullfilling his goal of winning a grand tour stage. team sky's michal kwiatkowski did enough to retain the leader's red jersey. he is now seven seconds clear of emanuel buchmann. britain's simon yates moved up to third in the overall standings — 10 seconds off the pace. now, at the us open,

defending champion rafa nadal is one of the men in second round action on wednesday. nadal faces canada's vasek pospisil on arthur ashe later. the spaniard will be hoping he is not short of match practice, after his first—round tie was cut short when david ferrer retired hurt. aiming for a 14th grand slam title, novak djokovic beat hungary's marton fucsovics in four sets after struggling in the extreme humidity. the two—time champion looked unsteady on his feet at times, and needed the trainer to give him tablets for sickness. but after losing the second set, he steadied to win the next two, 6—4, 6—0, making it through in four sets. australian open champion caroline wozniacki eased into the second round with a straight—sets win over sam stosur. wozniacki is the highest women's seed left in the draw,

and took the match 6—3, 6—2, stosur making 33 unforced errors in total. wozniacki faces ukraine's lesia tsurenko next. i'm feeling pretty good. didn't have the ideal lead—up to the tournament, but you know, body—wise i'm feeling great right now, and it was a good test today, obviously with the heat and playing sam. so i'm pleased with how i'm feeling, and i'm hoping, step—by—step, i can play better as the tournament progresses. japan's kashima antlers took a big step towards the last four of the asian champions league with a 2—0 win over tianjin quanjian in the quarter—final first leg. tianjin missed their flight on the way to the match, because of traffic, and travelled for 27 hours in the end just to make it. but they fell behind to leo silva's

goal before another brazilian, serginho, made it 2—0 with this long—range strike. the second leg is in tianjin in three weeks' time. the nba regular season doesn't get underway until mid—0ctober, which is good news for those who need to get some more practice in. this is san antonio spurs player marco belinelli shooting some hoops. the italian won an nba championship back in 2014, so you would expect him to sink a few. and sink a few he does — nine in a row at one stage from him. but there were some misses in there, showing there is still some work to do to get ten in a row. you can get all the latest sports news at our website. that is bbc.com/sport. from me chetan pathak and the rest of the sport team, that's your wednesday sport briefing. goodbye. times square in new york was abuzz when police had to shut down a busy street because of bees swarming around a hot dog stand. about 30,000 bees gathered at the top of this food cart‘s umbrella on 43rd street at 7th avenue, while the new york police beekeeper

vacuumed the insects into a bucket. it is unknown what attracted the bees to the umbrella. although they do tend to swarm around the queen. trending online, theresa may donning her dancing shoes. many have commented about her dancing ability. sendin commented about her dancing ability. send in your thoughts. should politicians dare to dance when they are visiting other countries? just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. hello. some umbrella weather around for some of us as wednesday begins, but as the beggars on should turn dry and sunny. two weather systems to talk about to begin the day, this one clipping south—east england and east anglia, the potentialfor a one clipping south—east england and east anglia, the potential for a few heavy downpours. this one taking overnight rain away from scotland and northern ireland into parts of england and wales but it as it moves south that will weaken. a fresher feel in scotland and northern ireland, behind the weather front,

and some sunshine to come here from the word go. just a few showers filtering in towards north—west scotland, the west of northern ireland. rain clears east anglia and the south—east. the very latest lunchtime, the further east you are. this weather front gets to you later in the day, perhaps with the odd shower. here is how things look at 4pm in the afternoon. the feed of showers on the breeze coming in the north—west scotland. elsewhere in scotland, some good sunny spells. you may catch a shower in the west. sunny skies breaking out across northern england, wales, south—west england, going through the afternoon. then into the midlands. here is that weak weather front at this stage through lincolnshire, east anglia and the south—east, still capable of producing a late they shower. for some of us it will brighten up before sunset. as we go through wednesday night, weather systems have cleared away from the uk. you may see the odd patch of mr u nfold uk. you may see the odd patch of mr unfold here and there, but essentially it is a dry, clear night to come, and temperatures dip away under the clear skies. mid to low single figures in some spots. a much

cooler night. the chilly start to thursday morning. underneath, though, a ridge of high pressure. and that brings plenty of fine weather on thursday. a lot of sunshine to start the day. some clear skies, and notice how cloud sta rts clear skies, and notice how cloud starts to build during the day. it may produce a shower, more so in the western scotland. the vast majority will be dry. still some breaks in the cloud, but a cloudy afternoon on the cloud, but a cloudy afternoon on the way on thursday, some spots in the way on thursday, some spots in the low 20s. most will be dry on friday as well, so once we get rid ofwednesday ‘s chance for a bit of rain, the rest of the week is looking mainly dry. a chilly night on thursday night. friday into saturday will start to see more cloud pushing into western parts of the uk once again. may see a bit of patchy rain here, the east staying dry with some sunny spells. gets a bit warmer through the weekend as well. goodbye. is

this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. deal or no deal — the pressure is on canada to agree to the reformed trade pact that's been brokered between the us and mexico. is china doing enough to address the problem of air pollution, which claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year? we take a look. and on the financial markets, in asia traders are looking for direction — japan faring better than most with some slight gains in toyko.