this is bbc news. i'm rachel schofield. the headlines at seven. the disgraced american financier jeffrey epstein has been found dead in his prison cell after an apparent suicide, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. national grid says it will "learn lessons," after nearly a million people across england and wales, were affected by yesterday's power cut. what we saw was an exceptionally rare event that we have not seen since 2008, but we will be looking very hard at what happened to make sure we minimise disruption in the future. wet and windy conditions cause disruption to travellers, with the west coast mainline hit by flooding. michael gove says there'll be a bail—out fund for businesses hit by brexit. the family of a 15—year—old girl missing in malaysia make a fresh

appealfor information to help find her. we are extremely impressed with the effort, your expertise, your dedication and we hope you find nora. more than a million people are evacuated from their homes as a powerful typhoon hits china's east coast. and off to a flier — manchester city begin their premier league title defence — thrashing west ham 5—0. that and the rest of the day's sport coming up in half an hour on sportsday.

good evening and welcome to bbc news. the billionaire businessman and convicted sex offender, jeffrey epstein, has died in prison in new york. he's believed to have taken his own life. epstein once counted among his friends bill clinton, donald trump and prince andrew, and was charged last month with trafficking dozens of underage girls for sex. he was due to stand trial next year. from new york, our correspondent nada tawfik reports. jeffrey epstein extravagant lifestyle saw him party with us president donald trump, wants a math teacher in may have to come of the financier accumulated a fortune that gained him entrance into high society. he was once close friends with prince andrew, who will be hosted at vacation with. but his social status his accuser saved max to his lord crimes. for decades epstein face allegations that he sexually assaulted young girls who he hired to give him and other

wealthy men massages. he avoided federal criminal charges in 2008 and a widely criticised plea deal that is now under investigation by the department ofjustice. he was arrested again thisjuly in charge in new york what sex trafficking, he was injail awaiting in new york what sex trafficking, he was in jail awaiting trial. in new york what sex trafficking, he was injail awaiting trial. epstein was injail awaiting trial. epstein was found unresponsive on the floor of his prison cell in manhattan early this morning. many are questioning how he could've taken his own life and the fbi is investigating. just over two weeks ago, he was found semiconscious and crying with injuries about his neck. his victims say he would have preferred for him to live to face justice. say they wish he would have lived. ali watkins is a new york times journalist who has been covering the case so far. inc. you very much for being with us. inc. you very much for being with us. what did you make when you heard of hearing this news?” us. what did you make when you heard of hearing this news? i think we we re of hearing this news? i think we were all a little stunned. —— thank you very much. this comes right on the hills of thousands of new documents being unsealed in a related case yesterday, working his

way through the court system. that just kind of further drew into focus what this world around epstein was brought up this whole story has been come every few days there's a new turn andi come every few days there's a new turn and i don't know any of us were expecting this. yet, as we heard in oui’ expecting this. yet, as we heard in our report there, only a few weeks ago epstein found it in a cell having apparently tried to take his own life. a lot of questions being asked how somebody in a secure unit could have attempted something like that. yes. i think where we are explain right now and we found that jeffrey epstein was actually not on suicide watch. he had been placed on suicide watch. he had been placed on suicide watch. he had been placed on suicide watch three weeks ago when he was found in the sale after an apparent attempted suicide, and he was put in a special unit that is designated in the us prison system for people who are at imminent risk of suicide, he was thereby taken off of suicide, he was thereby taken off of that unit onjuly 29. a few days ago, he was moved to a separate cell. still separate housing

facility but no longer under 24/7 surveillance. a lot of questions are not going to be asked this fbi investigation that will get under way. —— are now going to be. investigation that will get under way. -- are now going to be. and the justice department said this morning they the fbi is looking into the death and in addition to back him prisons and justice department at start of own internal, inspector general investigation looking to how and why jeffrey general investigation looking to how and whyjeffrey epstein was taken offa and whyjeffrey epstein was taken off a suicide watch and how this could have been allowed to happen. and of course he was awaiting trial on the sex trafficking charges. there will be people who will be helping to have their day in court and hoping to have these allegations aired. what do we know about the legal proceedings now? we know the criminal case against sc specifically is likely dead at this point. —— against epstein. several different avenues this could take. prosecutors have made it clear in court documents here in new york that they were investigating other individuals that were involved in

with mr epstein and we know they have been allegations trailing several high—profile rich powerful man for years of having been involved in some of his activities. so where the case goes from there, it will be interesting to see how prosecutors handle this. thank you for joining prosecutors handle this. thank you forjoining us. let's get the latest from our correspondent in washington, chris buckler. a lot of talk about the stock which which this news was received. yes. shock amongst the victims or alleged victims ofjeffrey shock amongst the victims or alleged victims of jeffrey epstein shock amongst the victims or alleged victims ofjeffrey epstein as well. some of the lawyers have been saying as far as they're concerned, the truth needs to come out. about what happened at his parties. what happened at his parties. what happened whenever it was alleged he was involved in procuring under age girls essentially for sex and trying to force them into having sex with some very prominent individuals. so they say they will push ahead with civil cases and they will do their

best to get what they describe as the truth out there. what a great deal of political fallout of this as well. jeffrey epstein was an individual who was so well—connected, he knew the goods, he held party for the rich and famous, including donald trump, who he has been picked or with any number of occasions. and indeed, at one stage president trump described him asa one stage president trump described him as a great guy who like beautiful women like him, although he did say that epstein like some of those women a little younger than others. that is a comment that is come back to hot president trump although in recent days, he has been doing his very best to distance himself from those comments and from jeffrey epstein. as many others have as well. we have had already some court filings from a related but separate civil case that is taking place. in those, a number of very prominent individuals were mentioned, for example, there is a mentioned, for example, there is a mention of the duke of york, prince

andrew, which suggestions that he groped somebody, that has been firmly denied by buckingham palace who have said it is categorically untrue, but you do get the sense that this is not going to die down with jeffrey epstein that this is not going to die down withjeffrey epstein dying, there is going to be an attempt to push things very strongly and partly that is the response to that case a decade ago when he made a plea deal that saw them him serving just over a dealer injail, whenever it seems that the defects were investigating cases, was of something like 36 alleged underage girls. —— cases, was of something like 36 alleged underage girls. -- just cases, was of something like 36 alleged underage girls. —— just a yearin alleged underage girls. —— just a year injail. alleged underage girls. —— just a year in jail. thank you for filling in the background for us. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers — our guestsjoining me tonight are martin lipton, chief sports reporter at the sun, and jane merrick, who's the policy editor at the i.

national grid says it will "learn the lessons," after nearly a million people across england and wales, were affected by yesterday's power cut. the company's confirmed to the bbc, that the simultaneous failure of two power stations, wasn't the result of a cyber attack. the regulator, 0fgem, has demanded an urgent report into what went wrong. the supply failure left thousands of train passengers stranded, homes up and down the country without electricity, and ipswich hospital lost power when back up generators failed. ben ando has more. it was the biggest and most disruptive power failure in over a decade. major stations, in chaos, passengers stranded or trapped, traffic controls inactive and a large nhs hospital without power. one of the many caught on electric trains that went dead was lily winin. the power cut off and i was sat in a carriage by myself and the storm had started outside, so all of the rain was coming

onto the windows and it was pitch black and then we all started to sit together to try and piece together what was going on, because no one could really understand and the announcements were failing because of the lack of power. and then we all had to walk to the very end of the carriage in the pitch black, going through a tunnel. after four hours, lily and her fellow passengers were led along the tracks to the nearest station. at ipswich hospital, the main power cut was followed by a failure in emergency back—up generators, but hospital managers say essential equipment was able to keep working on batteries. so what went wrong? two generator plans, one a gas—fired power station in cambridgeshire, the other a large wind farm in the north sea failed almost simultaneously. to protect the rest of the network, power was cut to certain areas. a double failure has happened before, in 2008, but with far less impact. so why so much worse this time? the energy regulator has asked for an urgent report. we need to do a detailed technical examination of the event and we will be sending that report through to 0fgem and we will build that analysis over the coming days

and weeks as we review it. and then, off that, i am sure we will learn lessons and want to review how this works to avoid some other significant impacts in future. national grid could now face a fine of up to 10% of its annual turnover. but some argue that years of underinvestment by successive governments is partly to blame, leaving the uk with a power network that works fine, most of the time, but is exposed when the unexpected happens. that was ben ando reporting, and a little earlier, ben updated us on the situation at kings cross station — which was one of the worst hit stations in london. this evening, things are becoming back to normal as far as they can. i had a look a short time ago and of the 18 departures scheduled from kings cross in the next hour, four have been cancelled. so the majority are running and the majority of people are able to complete theirjourney.

but i think in the aftermath of what happened yesterday, there are two words that have come to the fore, one is resilience, the other is impact. when it comes to resilience, people are asking why have two power stations or two power generators gone down, what happened then? was to cut power to people to cut power to businesses and cut power to hospitals or to railways? what is clear is that when using renewables, it is not always easy to immediately ramp up more generating capacity. the other question people are talking about is impact. why is it that even though power was restored by half past six, for the rest of the night and well into today, there have been huge problems on the railways and one thing has become clear. there is a new fleet of trains from king's cross where i am now. they do not react well when power is cut. they get stuffy and get hot and have not got windows

that passengers can open, conditions inside get quite difficult. and also, in certain circumstances, it is impossible, even when power was restored for the driver to restart the train, it has to involve an engineer or a fitter coming got to do that. and that i think it is certainly something about the department for transport who specified the trains and the train operating companies will want to look at. let's get more on this with nigel harris, who's managing editor of rail magazine. he joins us via webcam from lincolnshire. thank you for being with us this evening. just to pick up on some of what ben was saying there. a lot of people asking how does the failure of two power generators mean people getting stuck on trains? network rail has got standby generators and all of this big signal boxes and control centres, so the technically system stays lie. as soon as the main power goes off, the generators kick in so they technically system stays clear. if we had a 100% diesel

railway, then the railway would just continue, but of course we haven't in our main lined as overhead electric, and the southern railway, third rail electric them if you pull the plug on that, the railway would need its own power stations. too energised 25,000 votes overhead wires. so if you lose the power, the network just stops, you wires. so if you lose the power, the networkjust stops, you literally unplug the national network. how unusual and of the event do you think this was or something that has been troubling people as a possibility in the rail industry for a while? i guess he gets... i've edited railfor 25 a while? i guess he gets... i've edited rail for 25 years a while? i guess he gets... i've edited railfor 25 years next a while? i guess he gets... i've edited rail for 25 years next year. i cannot recall, one other instance where there was a power failure like this but it was very regional. nothing on this scale. the idea that you get a power outage that takes out the quarters of our main line, it is just outrageous. the national grid should not be so like a

resilient terms of having reserve online that you lose two power stations and the whole system seems to just collapse. if the railway was so... to just collapse. if the railway was so... we will be having a very different interview. do you think the rebel industry will be lobbying the rebel industry will be lobbying the energy industry to say something needs to be done about this and this is what we would suggest? i'm sure the points will be made. but for goodness sakes and she didn't need the railway. it is affected when million people. it tech hospitals, hundreds of thousands of homes, with the fifth biggest economy in the world, we cannot have our main national power system so poorly resilient. it just will national power system so poorly resilient. itjust will not national power system so poorly resilient. it just will not work. national power system so poorly resilient. itjust will not work. is there a break though to be done as well by the railways and the train operating companies? we heard that some people and their situations stuck on trains had their lives made somewhat worse by the way the trains themselves are set up for example. those new units working on tinsley, which the government designed a

specified, let's be clear, do seem to have an issue when the power goes off and are very sensitive and that will be looked at urgently. maybe the rail industry can specify the trains are not the department for transport. that is a question that needs asking. and that is want to ask. with individual trains breaking down, then certainly we spent too long rescuing the trains but when the whole network goes off, and every electric train stops, then there is nothing you can do until that power comes on. let's take a second just to salute the thousands of railway men and women who also had a terrible day is today trying to do their best to keep people happy, fed watered and comfortable while they sat on those trains. they did a hell of a job. absolutely. dealing with pretty cross people. a final thought. we hurt even though the power was back on, the knock on

effect inevitably will last sometime. why is that? it isjust like in aviation. when there is a problem, all the flight stop. it is such a busy network, all the trains come all the people, the day after 01’ come all the people, the day after or in the wrong place to sign on duty for thejobs or in the wrong place to sign on duty for the jobs they want to do or need to do. it takes a good couple of days to get everything back in the right order and right place and working in the right sequence to rebuild that very complex timetable. 100 million people we carry. now 1.6 billion, the system is under intense stress. when it collapses like this commit takes a little while to get it back. indeed. thank you, nigel for joining it back. indeed. thank you, nigel forjoining us. well meanwhile — there has been more disruption for travellers today after heavy rain and strong winds led to the temporary closure of the west coast mainline between england and scotland and the cancellation of several ferry services. alison freeman reports. dramatic scenes in london, as the predicted high

winds hit the city. in russell square, fallen trees ripped an iron fence from the ground and crushed a car. in west london, the wind took another casualty, knocking out a phone line. across the south and wales, railways and roads were disrupted by fallen trees. the high winds also causing speed restrictions for trains and routes to be shot to high—sided vehicles. the welsh coastline was battered like here, the strongest gust of wind, 61 mph, was recorded nearby. strong winds also saw all racing cancelled on the first day of the oldest and largest sailing regatta. 0rganisers said gusts to 45 knots or 52 mph were unsafe. it is not unusual for us to lose a day in the week. usually in august because of not enough wind. this year... it is not unheard of for us to lose it to being too windy.

every two or three years, we end up losing a day because it is too windy. but in the north, it was the heavy rain that was causing most problems. in north yorkshire, this road became a river. passengers on five trains on the west coast mainline were left stranded at one point, as flooding between cumbria and scotland closed the route. it's been really hard. i got on at liverpool to get to preston. we got on at preston and got kicked off. there was no one there to tell us where we needed to go. then there was a bus replacement that wasn't there and some man shouted that the train‘s going, we got on that, but we need to get back to liverpool tonight and we have been told we need to get back on the train now to get the liverpool. we came from surrey, before eight o'clock, it is now whatever time it is, quarter past four, and we only have got as far as carlisle. it has been a big problem for everybody because the trains all ended at preston, so everybody's sitting on the trains going north, we were asked to leave the train. and there wasn't a great

deal of information given out at that time. the line has since reopened, but delays are expected for the rest of the day. a yellow weather warning will remain in place for most of england and scotland into midnight thought more heavy rain forecast overnight. the cabinet minister in charge of preparations for a possible no deal brexit says a support fund for british businesses will help firms deal with any "bumps in the road". michael gove spoke openly for the first time about the package —— known as "0peration kingfisher" —— while on a visit to northern ireland. 0ur political correspondent, tony bonsignore has been giving us more details about the plans... what we understand, it has been planned for a while. it predates borisjohnson becoming planned for a while. it predates boris johnson becoming prime minister. we also know it will be discussed at a brexit committee in the coming week. what the government saysis the coming week. what the government says is this, it once to support fundamentally viable companies assess who might hit temporary

difficulties, so for example lack of cash flow, in the event of a no—deal brexit. beyond that, a lot of questions, how much, what sort of practical help are they going to give, what companies come times newspaper this morning said there is a list already being drawn up of companies that might be helped. a question also about how to decide what is commercially viable company is? that will be controversial, so some thing that is being worked on and concerns about the economic effect of a no—deal brexit on a number of companies, but more details we will have to wait for. the family of a 15—year—old british schoolgirl, who disappeared while on holiday with herfamily in malaysia, have made a fresh appealfor information to help find her. a 200 strong search team is continuing to scour dense forest near the resort, where nora quo—ron, who has learning where nora quiron, who has learning difficulties, was staying. from malaysia, here's howard johnson. it has been a week since their daughter went missing —

a teenager with serious learning difficulties who disappeared while on holiday, suspected missing in the jungle. we are extremely impressed with the effort, your expertise, your dedication. and we hope that you find nora, and thank you so much. the malaysian authorities have used drones, sniffer dogs and thermal scanning technology to try to find nora, but in the last few days they've tried a different tact. "nora!" "nora, darling!" the 15—year—old was born with a condition limiting the development of her brain and it means she needs help with simple, everyday tasks. the family have stressed that given nora's learning difficulties, it is very unlikely she would have walked off alone. they believe she may have been abducted. but today, the police say they are continuing to treat her disappearance

as a missing person's case. this is the seventh day of search and rescue efforts. as you can see, some commandos here and other search and rescue workers are coming down into this area, around 30 of them exploring an area about a kilometre away from the dusan resort. they're looking in a riverbed to see if there are any signs of nora, any traces that might help with this investigation. this time last week, nora's family were arriving for a luxury break but today they remain wracked with emotion, not knowing the fate of their much—loved daughter. howard johnson, bbc news, pantai, in malaysia. russian riot police have arrested dozens of opposition supporters as they tried to make their way to president vladimir putin's offices in central moscow. police and national guards in riot gear detained about 50 people and took them away. they had broken away from an authorised opposition rally outside the city centre in which organisers say 50

thousand people took part. it was the fourth big protest in a month. those taking part are demanding free local elections, and for the authorities to release hundreds of people arrested during the three previous unauthorised demonstrations. in china, at least 13 people have been killed — 16 are missing — and over a million people have been forced from their homes, as a powerful typhoon heads towards the financial capital, shanghai. as sevilla tran—thomson reports, typhoon lekima is thought to be the region's worst storm in five years. super typhoon lekima hit eastern china on saturday, blasting the coast with heavy rain and 200 km/h winds, leading to mass evacuations and widespread transport disruption. the typhoon made landfall around the city and has been making its way to the south—eastern province.

800,000 people have been evacuated in the zhejiang province and 250,000 in shanghai. over 200 homes have been destroyed and an additional 2.7 million people have lost power across the province. one of the biggest concerns for emergency workers is that at least 49 reservoirs across the region have registered water levels exceeding the normal capacity. 0ne natural dam has already collapsed. chinese state tv has reported that over 2000 flights have been cancelled across the country since friday because of both the typhoon and heavy thunderstorms. the civil aviation authority says airports are closely monitoring the weather and accommodating affected passengers but warned that the extreme conditions would continue to challenge airlines for some time to come. to exacerbate travel issues, trains have also been cancelled and highways have been closed as roads and some areas had turned into rivers.

the emergency services are working to rescue stranded motorists and search for missing people, though conditions are hugely challenging. the typhoon is expected to lose some of that strength before it hit shanghai, but the slow pace increases the risk of prolonged rainfall and flooding. police are investigating after a shotgun was fired and a man sustained machete wounds in birmingham. officers have described the incident in the saltley area of the city last night as ‘truly outrageous'. the incident — which police believe was a targetted attack — took place only four miles from where a 20—year—old man was shot dead on thursday evening. lindsay doyle reports. a second night of violence on the streets of birmingham. it began with a car chase involving a vw golf in a dark blue bmw which crashed into a wall. the two occupants, targeted with a shotgun and a machete by masked men, not far from the busy

rock road. a car with a couple of people came in brandishing machetes and shooting guns with no care or no consequences of their actions. a 22—year—old man is being treated in hospitalfor cuts to his leg. a 23—year—old escaped with a minor graze from a shotgun pellet, he was discharged from hospital, but arrested on suspicion of also possessing a firearm. the police have described this as a truly outrageous incident, coming to an end in a cul—de—sac with children playing. with several shots being fired, local people have spoken of their relief that none of them were injured. just a day earlier, 20—year—old james tierre died in a drive—by shooting just metres from his home. we don't really know, it's too early to say at this stage, we do not want to speculate, but at the same time, the community is concerned and we want reassurance from the local police and the quick apprehension of the two people will send a lot of reassurance to the community.

the police believe last night's incident was a targeted attack, but do not think the two incidents are linked. as investigations continue, they believe the answer may lie with the public as they appeal for information. headlines in a few moments. now it's time for a look at the weather with alina. hello. hard to believe it is august. torrential rain and thunderstorms are very strong and damaging winds, gusts of 50 and 60 mph all tied in with this low pressure. it is pulling away. it will gradually start to lose the stronger gust but still windy across southeast england. and operates a rain for scotla nd england. and operates a rain for scotland and northern ireland in northern england. this ban will turn more salary. into the south of us, drier and clear skies and by dawn, the winds will be lighter. still quite windy in places but nowhere near the strongest we have seen.

temperature wise, for most between ten and 15 celsius but are concerned tomorrow from heavy rain through the central part of scotland down at the southern scotland and fringing northern england. gathering to the morning, this across the highlands and west of scotland and mainly dry. some smelled the sunshine for northern ireland into the south of our heavy ban of rain, sandy spells but heavy and thundershowers. fairly cool and rain but heavy and thundershowers. fairly cooland rain in14 but heavy and thundershowers. fairly cool and rain in 14 or 15 celsius.

hello this is bbc news with rachel schofield. the headlines. the disgraced us financier, jeffrey epstein, has been found dead in his prison cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. national grid has said it will "learn lessons" after nearly 1 million people across england and wales lost power yesterday. michael gove says there will be a government support fund to help british businesses in the event of a no—deal brexit. wet and windy conditions cause disruption to travellers, with the west coast mainline hit by flooding. the family of a 15—year—old girl missing in malaysia thank the search teams who are scouring the jungle for her. and more than one million people are evacuated from their homes