Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20170906

Theyre conducting a campaign of indiscriminate violence, against the rohingyas. Also on the programme fears of an emerging crisis in dentistry. A bbc investigation finds half of dentists in england arent able to provide the kind of care they want. And john motson, with one of the most distinctive voices in football commentary, is calling it a day, hanging up his mic. I did my first ever commentary for Bbc Television from this very gantry and in those days no one had heard of the internet, although i can vouch for the fact that once upon a time i did say, its in the net. Hurricane irma, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the atlantic is now causing major damage on a number of caribbean islands. It first hit Antigua And Barbuda, before moving on to saint martin and st barts. Communications with those islands are down but irma is believed to have caused widespread flooding and damage to buildings. The category 5 storm with sustained winds of 185 mph and gusts of up to 225 mph is now heading towards the British Virgin islands, puerto rico and then may hit florida by the end of the week. Airports have closed on several islands, and people have rushed to shops forfood, water, and emergency supplies before taking shelter. Our correspondent laura bicker is in puerto rico. You can see the effects of Hurricane Irma already. We believe the eye of irma already. We believe the eye of irma is currently over the Virgin Islands. It was last recorded with wind speeds of measuring 185 mph. They have not seen a storm like this in the region of this strength since 1928. All the preparations have been made on this island and now the only thing they can do is wait and see what the next few hours will bring. Strong winds gust. This is what it sounds like to be in the heart of one of the strongest storms recorded in the atlantic. The winds, like a jet engine, roar through the eastern caribbean. The category five hurricane ripped roofs off homes, devastating some of the oldest buildings in saint martin. And all communication was lost to 2000 people stuck on the island of barbuda where there are reports of a 20 foot storm surge. Irma has become known as a beast. And as she barrelled towards the Virgin Islands, hundreds tried to get to safer ground. This rare view from the air gives you an idea of the sheer scale of the storm. Around the eye are catastrophic 185 mile an hour winds. And this is what they fear on the island of puerto rico. The aim is to try to save as much as possible. Neighbours in this area are handing out wood boarding and supplies. This shop owner describes them as angels. We are a strong island, you know, we have been through this before. Its a lot of emotions going on, you know . The governor inspects one of the shelters set up for the thousands who are expected to evacuate low lying areas. He says the next few hours of preparation could be the difference between life and death on this island. A big impact, should those hurricane winds hit puerto rico. We are hopeful that it will skid off somewhere north east of puerto rico, but we are prepared for the worst as well. We cant leave anything to chance and our priority right now is to make sure the people of puerto rico are safe. These families hope they will be safe in this school. This woman tells us her house is already filled with water. Irma is closing in and all people here can do now is watch and wait. Laura bicker, bbc news, puerto rico. 0ur weather presenter, ben rich is here. As we have been hearing, causing u ntold as we have been hearing, causing untold damage already. And there is a long way to go before this thing is spent. There certainly is. The warnings were for a catastrophic storm. From the early reports we are starting to get from the eastern side of the caribbean, thats exactly what we are seeing. The storm system made landfall across the leeward islands. The eye of the storm moving across the island of barbuda. In the eye itself the winds are extremely nice. But the edge of the eye of the storm, the wall, thats where we have seen winds of 185 mph, a strong category five hurricane. Next it moved west, over saint martin. We have seen pictures from there with significant damage, no great surprise when you imagine the intensity of the storm. The way developed from you can see on the moving satellite picture, when you see a storm like this with a big cloud shield, a very clearly defined eye, you know we are talking about a major hurricane. The big question is, what happens the Virgin Islands are going downhill rapidly. Then puerto rico, seeing wet weather through thursday and extremely windy weather as well. The north of espanyol, weather as well. The north of espa nyol, parts weather as well. The north of espanyol, parts of haiti and the Dominican Republic. And then the south east of the usa and the bahamas gets in on the action. The track is a little bit uncertain, as so track is a little bit uncertain, as so often with all these weather stories, the track becoming more uncertain the further out we look. Its no great surprise that large swathes of florida have already been evacuated, when you think of the low lying areas there. The storm surge, big waters from the sea rising potentially 12 feet above sea level in a day, could well devastate whole communities along the coast. What is horrific and fascinating about this at the same time, this storm is island hopping. As it hits la ndfall storm is island hopping. As it hits landfall with barbuda, some of the winds might die down a little, but thenit winds might die down a little, but then it gets over warmer water and gets refuelled and goes on. It gets more powerful as it island hops across the caribbean. What you need to break one of these hurricanes up, cooler water can do it, but you will not get that because the sea temperatures are above where they should be in this part of the caribbean. We also have very little land mass. Youre talking about little, smaller islands. You need a big landmass with mountain to break it up. One interesting thing, the track it takes across hispaniola and cubais track it takes across hispaniola and cuba is crucial to its future development. They are big islands with big mountains and a direct hit would take out some of its energy. But at the moment the track doesnt give a direct hit, it takes just to the north, remaining over the warm waters so it gathers more fuel and it is likely to remain a major hurricane, perhaps category three or four as it arrives at the usa. We saw what happened with hurricane harvey, downgraded to a storm, but thats when the trouble began because it simply sat over parts of louisiana and texas and dump its reign. Harvey was a much weaker storm, briefly a hurricane and then weakened back to Tropical Storm status. The wind wasnt really the story, but it sat there very long pulling in tropical moisture and dumping more and more rain. This storm is moving more quickly. It will take a few days to get to its final destination, but it is moving more quickly. The big question will be, how quickly does it move up the east coast of the usa. How quickly does it continue itsjourney . Given that talking so many days ahead, well have to keep a close eye on that. At the moment it looks like a different storm to harvey. Much stronger in terms of wind, but its moving much quicker. We can show you these live pictures from puerto rico. This is in sanjuan, the capital. You can see the wind, and the hurricane is heading towards the British Virgin islands. It hasnt actually reached puerto rico yet, but the outer edges there and you can already see the surf building up. The wind is pushing the palm trees over. The overall weather picture there is grey. The people of puerto rico, we heard from laura bicker earlier, they are braced for irma to do its worst, sadly. Lets talk to david 0valle, a hurricane reporter for the miami herald. He joins us from there now via webcam. Good to see you, thank you for being with us. First of all, lots of preparation where you are to try to combat this thing when it could perhaps hit over the weekend. Year, this will be my 16th storm that i have covered. Most of them in florida. Most of them have a different feel about it. People have had a lot of time to look at the different tracks and general direction. Its impossible to find water. The very few stations that still have gas are backed up for hours. I got back from the park next door to the office where they are giving away sandbags. The line there is three hours long. People are definitely taking this very seriously. Now its just a couple more days of fear and loathing and anxiety. Are there shelters that the public can get to, and if there are shelters, one assumes they are filling up quickly. So far they are opening a couple of shelters. I suspect they will open up more in the coming days. Right now they are urging people who live in the coastal areas to find other places to ride out the storm. The mandatory evacuations are not in place yet, but a lot of people will be leaving from the florida keys, that low lying chain of islands directly to the south. They have already started doing mandatory evacuations for visitors to the florida keys. A lot of moving parts still underway in miami. This is your 16th storm, is this the most powerful you have come across . I have been in a lot. Inaudible david, can you hear me . Inaudible david, can you hear me7|j inaudible david, can you hear me . I can. You we re david, can you hear me . I can. You were saying you have been in a lot of storms but this one is different. Hurricane dean in mexico was category five. But if you look at the track of this one, as the guest before was explaining, there is very little to weaken the storm before it hits our area. The way we are going right now, it could go up the spine of florida, which will affect everybody. People talk about evacuations, but there really isnt anywhere to go. Its sort of a wait and see situation. To see how best we can ride it out. The florida keys could be the first hit as far as florida is concerned. Thats correct. The florida keys will definitely start to feel it first. They are directly to our south. For a while it was aimed directly at key west. Even in key west where people are notoriously lax about these things and shrug it off, the attitude there is very worried. I will be down there in key west starting friday morning. Good luck to you david and keep safe. The miami herald hurricane reporter. We were showing the pictures from the latest radar on the Weather Service from the us. The eye of Hurricane Irma is to the right of the screen, beginning to whip its way across the caribbean. We have heard from laura bicker in puerto rico, which will be one of the places next hit by Hurricane Irma. Its approaching the British Virgin islands. It has already caused destruction in antigua, barbuda and saint martin and st barts. After puerto rico, according to the satellite imagery and the forecasting, it will head a bit further west to cuba. 0ur correspondent will grant joins us from havana. All the folk across the caribbean used to hurricanes the problem is, this is the biggest that has been recorded in the atlantic basin. This is the biggest that has been recorded in the atlantic basinlj think thats the issue, isnt it, that the whole region knows how they should react in the face of a hurricane, or a Tropical Storm, should react in the face of a hurricane, ora tropicalstorm, but one this magnitude really is a different experience altogether. So for now they are sticking to the regular drill, if you like. They are going and trying to find sufficient clea n going and trying to find sufficient clean drinking water. They are trying to find enough fuel for generators and taping up windows and boarding up homes. But we wait and see whether that will be sufficient for something that is this size and magnitude, irma. We are looking again at the satellite imagery showing the ferocity of this thing as it heads east to west across the caribbean. Are there public shelters people can get into . Whats the level of preparedness as far as the authorities are concerned . What are they doing . Cuba is slightly different to the rest of the caribbean in that people tend to obey the orders given out by the state quite closely. This is obviously a very controlled state. Its a government with a lot of people on the ground in the forms of what are called the committees for the defence and the revolution, among other entities, like the police and so on. So if there is an order that a certain region needs to be evacuated, people will turn out to make sure its carried out. Its also complicated in terms of being cuba by the fact its under at us economic embargo, things like building materials, Construction Materials to board up those homes, they are harder to come by. Nevertheless, cuba has a strong track record with this, and i think the authorities are confident they can duck this one as they have done in the past. Will grant in havana, thank you. The top stories on bbc news. Hurricane irma has caused major damage as it sweeps across the caribbean. You can see pictures from saint martin and the devastation thats already been wrought. A lea ked thats already been wrought. A leaked government document shows eu citizens could face tighter border controls with cuts in the number of low skilled workers allowed in. Tens of thousands of rohingyas are fleeing to bangladesh, but the government in myanmar rejects activation is its military is currently conducting a campaign of indiscriminate violence. Its a leaked document of an early draft, but the revelation of the governments thinking on immigration after brexit has produced both political opposition and business concern. Today ministers have been explaining why they believe low skilled immigration from the eu should be restricted. Theresa may said Free Movement hurt some of the lowest paid workers in the uk. Heres out Political Editor laura kuenssberg. There in black and white, a plan for immigration after we leave the eu. Leaked ideas to answer the demand the Prime Minister believes millions made when they voted to go. Prime minister, is your immigration policy going to hurt the economy . A draft of a tighter system of control that could come with its own costs. Overall, immigration has been good for the uk, but what people want to see is control of that immigration. That is, i think, what people want to see as a result of coming out of the european union. We are already able to exercise controls in relation to those who come to this country from outside the countries within the european union, and we continue to believe as a government that it is important to have net migration at sustainable levels. The document from august says freedom of movement, where unlimited eu citizens can come here, will end when we leave. New arrivals after 2019 would have to register to stay long term. There will be tighter rules for lower skilled workers, to prioritise british employees, perhaps even with a cap on numbers. And for eu citizens who do come to the uk, itll be harder to bring family along. This Birmingham Food factory is already losing one italian chef whos worried about brexit. And boss rosie is concerned it will make it harder to attract new arrivals, the staff she needs. It will definitely hinder ourjob as an employer but actually as a food manufacturer. We do have chefs from all over the world. It will impact our ability to recruit people. Officially, labour is rather silent on the leak, not yet government policy, but prominent voices fear cutting off low skilled immigration could choke business. The idea that we stop eu citizens coming here, the lower skilled ones, who are important in hospitality, construction and social care, will somehow lead to us being more prosperous, is ridiculous. Thats why im hoping this leak is not genuine government policy, and if it is, i hope the government rethinks. Is it not time we took back control of our immigration policy . The government wont budge on its view that the referendum was an instruction from the public to control immigration. Exa ctly how . Well one minister admitted it wont be an easyjob. Since this draft was put together only last month, there have been six more versions of the plan. With notjust the home office but the treasury, the Brexit Department and number ten all determined to chip in. And dont forget, whatever they decide here, they have to try to persuade the eu. Leaving the eu is notjust about obscure negotiations in the back rooms of brussels, but Government Departments right now engaged in rewriting the countrys rules. Laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. Lets speak to our Political Correspondent vicki young at westminster. This was a leak of a draft. So we are not 100 sure if its government policy, but we know a lot of issues have been raised as a result of this week. Not least the suggestion from business that if this is government policy, then it will hit the economy hard. They have come out fighting, saying the kind of things i suppose you would expect them to say, and they have been saying throughout the referendum on brexit and since the result. They fear they will not be able to fill the jobs that they have. The answer from the government and from theresa may on all of that is that you have to train british workers. Her argument is being able to dip in, if you like, to cheap immigrant labour has meant they havent done enough to train up and give skills to those who are already here. Youre right, this is a leak, its a draft. Downing street says there have been several more versions since that one in august. Nevertheless, significant and it shows a sense of direction. I didnt feel today that theresa may in Prime Ministers questions, when she was asked about it, disowned it completely. If you listen to things she said as home secretary and since the brexit result, we know she feels strongly it. Today she pointed the repeated the pledge to bring immigration down to the tens of thousands. A pledge that has been missed many times by the conservative government. So she is sticking to that, i think. Whats interesting as well, during the Referendum Campaign there was a lot of talk about immigration and many people felt it was a central issue. But we were talking generally. This shows some of the ideas, and even if it doesnt make it through to the official paper when it comes, it shows some of the things that can be brought forward and they are proving pretty controversial at westminster and beyond, particularly with companies who are very concerned it will have a negative impact on the economy. It is tricky because this isa economy. It is tricky because this is a leak of a draft, it is not set policy, but are there any suggestions about whether or not the government will get involved in trying to improve skills and training in order to have more british workers doing jobs that perhaps european workers are doing now . They say they are already trying to do that with apprenticeship schemes and the like. Others will point to the fact that the Unemployment Rate is relatively low. That is what is alarming some. The point here is that this hasnt even reached cabinet level for discussion. And we know there are differences of opinion even within the cabinet, and there are differences of opinion within the labour party as well about how far they should go. How much immigration should be reduced by. Theresa mays line appears to be, we are not saying we should have no immigration. We want to control who comes here, choose who comes here. The problem the government has though, i think, the problem the government has though, ithink, if the problem the government has though, i think, if this were to become policy, is they want to keep highly skilled and encourage a highly skilled and encourage a highly skilled and encourage a highly skilled workers from the european union, and reduce the numbers of low skilled. But if those highly skilled people do not feel they are welcome here, cant bring families here, they wont come here and the economy could suffer. How eu laws are turned in to uk laws after brexit will be debated in the house of commons tomorrow. You can get a chance to ask your questions on bbc news. Director of the hansard society, ruth fox, will be on hand to take your questions tomorrow at 3 30pm. If you would like to put a question to them, send them 61124 on text, or use the hashtag bbc ask this on social media, or email us at askthis bbc. Co. Uk five men charged in connection with the investigation into the Hillsborough Disaster have appeared at Preston Crown court. They included the former chief constable, sir norman bettison, who is charged with misconduct in a public office. The hearing was taken up with procedural matters and no pleas were entered, although all the men have previously indicated they will plead not guilty. This time yesterday we reported on the plight of Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in myanmar. Today the countrys civilian leader the Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi described reports of the crisis as a huge iceberg of misinformation. In the last twelve days nearly 150,000 rohingyas have arrived in neighbouring bangladesh. Many have accused myanmars military of murder and rape. Caroline hawley reports. The exodus seems to be accelerating. Terrified rohingyas are fleeing from myanmar however they can. Several children are said to have drowned today trying to escape to bangladesh. Translation they burned our houses. We couldnt take our belongings. We were hiding near a hill for two days. We were there in the rain without food and with my children. When we heard the sound of shooting, we took a boat across the sea to come here to bangladesh. The refugees bring with them new reports of atrocities that have drawn international condemnation. The world had hoped the countrys de facto leader would use her moral authority to speak out. Aung san suu kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her nonviolent struggle for democracy and human rights. Here she was accepting it in 2012. She had spent 15 years under house arrest during the countrys military rule. But today, at a press conference with the indian Prime Minister, Aung San Suu Kyi was conspicuously silent on the victims of myanmars military crackdown. She said misinformation was distorting reality, and she blamed terrorists for the crisis. We believe that together we can work to make sure that terrorism is not allowed to take root on our soil or on the soil of any neighbouring countries. So who are the rohingya . They are muslims whove faced discrimination and persecution for decades in mainly buddhist myanmar, which considers them Illegal Immigrants from bangladesh. But bangladesh denies they are its citizens. Many were forced from their villages by communal violence in Rakhine State in 2012. The latest refugee crisis has been caused by what the military is calling clearance operations, following attacks by rohingya militants on police positions. 150,000 rohingyas have fled myanmar in the last two weeks alone. More than 230,000 have escaped to bangladesh since last october. Malala yousafzai, a fellow recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, this week called on Aung San Suu Kyi to condemn what she called the tragic and shameful treatment of the rohingyas. Aid agencies havent been allowed into the areas they are fleeing from, and the un secretary general has warned this crisis could spiral into a humanitarian catastrophe. Caroline hawley, bbc news. A new review into the rotherham Child Sexual Exploitation scandal during which more than 11100 children were sexually abused has found that there was widespread systemic failure, rather than anything for which individual practitioners can be held to account. A series of six reviews into various aspects of the scandal have been published. The author of one, into the conduct of senior managers associated with Rotherham Councils failings, said while there may have been errors ofjudgement they found no culpable behaviour which could nowjustify any form of legal action. Our correspondent emma glazby has more details. We have heard today again about the repeated failings at Rotherham Council that left more than 11100 children at risk of sexual abuse. Six reports were commissioned by the council. They were published today and they found there was no culpable behaviour which could justify any legal action against the most senior former officers at the council during the time this abuse was happening, between 1997 and 2013. The author of the report into the conduct at the council, mark greenburgh, has said many of the former offices had refused to cooperate with this report. Some didnt respond. And others had surprising lapses of memory. He said nobody turned a blind eye to Child Sexual Exploitation at rotherham, but nobody took personal responsibility. The report concludes that the response of the council to the abuse was not the fault or the responsibility of any individual, but was the product of multiple systemic failures. Rotherham mp Sarah Champion has responded to these reports, describing them as a wasted opportunity. She said no individual at the council had yet been held to account. Earlier i spoke to one of the survivors of abuse, who has waived her right to anonymity, sammy woodhouse, to get her reaction. I think its a little bit of a whitewash. If it werent so serious and so ridiculous, it would be quite laughable. I think the fact that professionals are not being charged, but yet somebody like myself, who survived, who was abused, has been prosecuted myself and left with a criminal record. There was applause from the Public Gallery today as one member of the public inside the Council Chamber described these reports as a whitewash. The current leader of Rotherham Council, chris read, took the opportunity to criticise those former officers in charge of the council who didnt cooperate with this report, saying he knew it was disappointing and frustrating for the victims and the survivors of this abuse and they deserved more than their miserable silence. Single figures especially in eastern scotland, cloud into the west, the chance of some showers developing as the night goes on, outbreaks of rain pushing into the west, 10 30d overnight. Tomorrow the wind picking up overnight. Tomorrow the wind picking up quickly, we should see outbreaks of rain through the rest of scotland, northern ireland, towards Northern England as we go through the afternoon and some patchy rain developing, wales and the west of england developing towards the midlands, with the exception of the odd shower the south east should stay dry in daylight hours, sunny spells continuing. South wales and southern england could seek persistent rain on friday, sunny spells and scattered showers elsewhere on a blustery day. Hello. This is bbc news with clive myrie. The top stories just after 7 30pm. Hurricane irma, the most powerful atlantic storm in nearly a century, is leaving a trail of destruction across the caribbean. With winds of up to 225 miles an hour, reports are emerging of flooding, fires and power cuts. Thousands of homes have been evacuated. Well have all the very latest from the disaster zone, here on the news channel. Business leaders are warning that draft government proposals to cut the number of low skilled eu migrants after brexit, could be catastrophic. But theresa may says the Free Movement of workers, has hurt some of the lowest paid in the uk. Overall immigration has been good for the uk, but what people want to see is control of that immigration. As tens of thousands of Rohingya Moslems flee myanmar into neighbouring bangladesh, yangons military leaders deny theyre conducting a campaign of indiscriminate violence against the rohingyas. There are fears of an emerging crisis, as a bbc investigation finds half of dentists in england arent accepting new adult nhs patients. But Health Chiefs say 95 of people do get an appointment, if they want one. For decades now british scientists have been receiving billions of pounds for research from the european union. Since the referendum theyve been worried about what happens to that funding. Well, the governments answer came in the form of its latest position paper. Ministers hope to negotiate a special status for the uks membership of the European Unions science funding bodies. Heres our science editor david shukman. European funding underpins much of british science. It supports the search for a new, clean source of energy, with this experimental fusion reactor near oxford. It helps the exploration of graphene, an astonishing material with huge industrial potential, and it contributes to research into flooding and how best to predict it. And because of links like this, a new government paper recognises that a deep relationship should continue after brexit. Research leaders are relieved. Its very encouraging in both its tone and its aspirations, but its clear that theres going to be a lot of work that needs to be done to hammer out the details of an eventual agreement. Over the years, british scientists have done well with european funding. Between 2007 and 2013, they received £8 billion in grants, and thats 3 billion more than the uk paid to the eu research budget. So where does this go . Well, heres one example. At Imperial College in london, mosquitoes are used to investigate a vaccine for malaria, part of a multinational european project. Dozens of teams here and literally thousands across the uk benefit from eu funding. The government hopes that this can continue, but no one is sure exactly how. What scientists are desperate to find out is exactly what kind of future relationship there will be with the european union. Will it be like norway and switzerland, which are outside the eu, but in its Science Programme . For that, they have to pay and accept freedom of movement. Or will there be some other unique arrangement for britain . Whatever it is, it will take some serious negotiation. A key issue is freedom of movement for scientists. Of this team of 12 at the Francis Crick institute, ten are from eu countries, and they feel uncertain. It is a concern, and it is one that plays on all of our minds and that is possibly leading to at least some people beginning to contemplate offers elsewhere which they may not have contemplated before. From researching the jet stream and how it affects our weather. To investigating the deep ocean, british science is integrated with a wider european effort. Unpicking that, or adjusting it, wont be easy. David shukman, bbc news. More now about the situation in the caribbean as Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful storms ever to strike there, touches land. On the line is james fairs who lives just outside of the capital basseterre in st kitts, which has been hit by the storm. Thank you forjoining us. I hope that you can hear me, james . Yes, i can. Jolly good. How bad is it where you are . The winds arrived at about midnight, local time in st kitts, and between four oclock and five oclock this morning, it was just while the sun was coming up. It was pretty scary. I live in a top floor apartment in a hurricane proof building. It was a bit like sitting ona plane,. Building. It was a bit like sitting on a plane,. The noise of the roaring of the engines of the plane. It got louder and louder. Two hours nonstop. It was that road. And think things gradually started to wind down. We still have high winds, things seem to be evening off now. You say it is like being on a plane that hours with noise in your ears as the jet takes off. You say you are ina as the jet takes off. You say you are in a hurricane proof building, did you feel safe in all of that. You have to have faith in these things. Thankfully there has not been any structural damage certainly to my building and the surrounding buildings. I certainly would not have felt safe in any kind of regular building, or house, back in the uk. It was very scary nonetheless because we have a metal roof, with the rain lashing down, as well as the roaring of the winds, it heightened just how terrifying it was. And what about other people on the island . Was. And what about other people on the island . Are their public shelters that they can get into . Several public shelters scattered throughout the island. They have been widely used. I have not heard any reports of anyone coming to any harm. So hopefully everybody is safe on the island. 0k. And what about the situation now. Has it died down completely . No, no. There is stilla significant storm out there. We are still essentially on lockdown. Everyone is remaining, whether in a shelter or a private residence, until we get the all clear. Right. But that could be some time. Who knows. I dont expect it to be today. I hope that by tomorrow we can begin to venture out. Good luck to you. Thank you very much indeed for subs notjoining to you. Thank you very much indeed for subs not joining us. James to you. Thank you very much indeed for subs notjoining us. James fares is in the island of st kitts with Hurricane Irma barrelling its way from right to left from east in the caribbean, heading further along. But as a satellite image ofjust how powerful this storm is. The most powerful this storm is. The most powerful ever recorded in the atla ntic powerful ever recorded in the atlantic basin. And it has already caused problems for Antigua And Barbuda. It is heading towards saint martin, where it has caused a lot of problems as well and onward to the British Virgin islands, puerto rico, cuba, and possibly ending in florida by the weekend. These are live pictures of the situation in puerto rico, the capital, sanjuan. It has not arrived on this island yet. These are the outer lying edges of this enormous storm. Already making the palm trees low in the wind. And you can see how the surf has whipped up you can see how the surf has whipped up as well. Very, very overcast indeed. A lot of people are worried about what this storm could bring with it in terms of damage and destruction as it continues to move inexorably across the eastern caribbean. More than 400 pupils at a comprehensive school in aberystwyth were given detention on their first day back from the Summer Holidays for breaking School Uniform rules. Ysgol penglais changed its uniform policy for the new school term, but a third of pupils, the ones who were given detention, are believed to have been wearing clothes or shoes that didnt comply with the new policy. Some parents have started a petition saying their children have been treated unfairly. Half of dentists in england are not accepting new adult nhs patients and two fifths are not accepting new child nhs patients according to Research Carried out by the bbc. The British Dental Association says it is evidence of an emerging crisis in dentistry. But nhs england says 95 of patients do manage to get an appointment if they want one. David rhodes reports. This is a familiar sight for fozia, whos been trying to find an nhs dentist in bradford. I was absolutely gobsmacked in a sense, i was quite devastated there are none locally. A mum of two on benefits, she needs a local nhs dentist for her son mansoor, who has an overcrowded mouth and a mineral deficiency with his teeth. I tried calling up, going through the yellow pages, using the internet, and then i used 101, where they find you the nearest nhs dentist. They said there wasnt one in bradford. Now, open really wide for me. The bbc has analysed the data of 2500 dental practices across england, and provided information about whether they were accepting new nhs patients. 48 stated that they were not accepting new adult patients, while 40 were not accepting new child patients. There is an emerging crisis about more and more dentists not accepting new patients, simply because they are not allowed to see more patients. The government has only commissioned enough dentistry to treat about half the adult population, which is an absolute disgrace. People that need an nhs dentist should be able to get one. Nhs england says the latest Patient Survey found that 95 of people seeking a dental appointment were able to get one, and overall, the number of dentists offering nhs care is now 3,800 higher than a decade ago. David rhodes, bbc news. It is just it isjust coming up it is just coming up to it isjust coming up to a it is just coming up to a quarter to eight. Lets take a look at the other top stories today. Asda is going to cut hundreds ofjobs at its head office in leeds. Two and a half thousand people work there about one in ten will be affected. The supermarket, which is owned by the us giant walmart, recently reported a drop in sales. The pcs union is to ballot Civil Servants on whether to strike in protest at the 1 cap on Public Sector pay rises. It says Civil Service pay fell by between two thousand and three and a half thousand pounds in real terms from 2010 to 2016. Sinn fein says its ready to restart formal talks with the democratic unionists about restoring the devolved government in northern ireland. The power sharing government collapsed injanuary over a number of issues including the dups handling of a botched green energy scheme. Devon and Cornwall Police and Dorset Police have announced they would like to merge. The two forces have been working closely for the past two years. They say formally amalgamating would make them more effective and efficient, given the backdrop of significant funding challenges. If approved by ministers, it would be the first merger of english constabularies since the current a3 force structure was put in place 50 years ago. David george reports. The chief constables chose the seafront at exmouth to announce what they have called a closer relationship but which most of us would probably call a merger. Necessarily they say because new threats like cyber crime and terrorism are expensive to deal with. There is an economy of scale, it is not always better, but size and resilience matters, and size of budget helps you keep those pressures neighbourhood local policing as best we can in communities for as long as we can. Weve been walking together for more than three years in close association. Weve got a good working relationship. Our offices and staff are used to working with each other and this is a natural progression. They claim Police Officer numbers would not be cut and back officejobs are officer numbers would not be cut and back office jobs are already shared but there would be a saving in costs of state inspections and having a Single Police and crime commissioner. 6096 of our services are planned to be shared with dorset. This says, why would you have to chief constables, two command teams, the leadership needs to be slick and it would make total sense. Both chief constables insist their forces dont need to be rescued. They say this is all about economies of scale and resilience. David george, bbc south today, exmouth. The headlines on bbc news. Hurricane irma causes major damage as it sweeps across the caribbean. Several islands including st martin, st barts and barbuda have all been badly hit. A leaked government document shows eu citizens could face tighter border controls with cuts in the number of low skilled workers allowed in. Tens of thousands of rohingyas flee to bangladesh but the government in myanmar rejects accusations its military is conducting a campaign of indiscriminate violence. An update on the market numbers for you. The ftse and the ducks have flipped positions, yesterday that axtell, todayit positions, yesterday that axtell, today it is up, the ftse is down today, and trading in america is up. An investigation is under way after fourteen people had to be airlifted from an Observation Tower in dorset. Some of the group were stuck on thejurassic skyline tower in weymouth for more than seven hours last night. The capsule broke down during a ride in the afternoon but the rescue was trickier than anticipated and the coastguard helicopter had to be drafted in. Laura tra nt reports. It isa it is a south coast attraction that offers panoramic views of weymouth, portland and thejurassic coast. But those on board got more than they bargained for. This footage shows how the capsule that travelled up the 53 metre tower got stuck. Some of the 13 tourists including a baby over 11 weeks and a member of staff we re over 11 weeks and a member of staff were trumped up to seven hours before being winched to safety by a coastguard helicopter. We got quite concerned about what did happen, about what Safety Measures were in place, you have to be taken either adapt to the top one, which takes you upa adapt to the top one, which takes you up a bit fire crews were called to the tower at four oclock after engineers failed to free the stuck capsule. About three quarters of its way to the summit it suffered a mechanicalfailure. Whatever way to the summit it suffered a mechanical failure. Whatever the cause of that mechanical failure it also resulted in the brakes seizing, whatever the back up system have which means that we can lower or raise the tower in an emergency was inoperable. By ten oclock last night all passengers were safely on the ground. The operator of the tower apologised to all those involved and said a full investigation into the cause of the stoppage was underway. Laura trant, bbc south today. A banner waved at some of the largest suffragette rallies of the early 1900s has been returned to manchester where it was made, after a long running campaign. The Peoples History Museum have been crowdfunding to buy the hanging ever since they discovered itd been found at the back of a cupboard in a leeds charity shop now its been returned home, as Juliet Phillips reports. Integrated mass meetings the women present their case forcefully. The year is 1908 and in cities across britain womens campaign for the right to vote intensifies. Everywhere suffragettes throw stones, shout, chained themselves to railings and resist everything including a rest. Majesty is no exception whether womens social and Political Union was founded by Emmeline Pankhurst five years earlier, something proudly proclaimed on this banner. After over 100 years it has now been returned to its home city. It was waved at the 1908 heaton park suffragette rally were more than 50,000 people attended. A story in the Manchester Guardian read, if you are telling banners were displayed, one at the platform where emmeline packers was speaking bore the words majesty first in the fight. It would have been taken on so many marches and used as a symbol of defiance and organisation and when you look at the banner, you can see it not only has the sleeve at the top, it is two at the side. That is where the women would have marched, almost like leading it into battle. They were fighting the people denying them the vote, going to fight the people who did not believe they could do it. The new banner has joined the largest collection of banners around. Theres a small amount of pile loss on the central seam. The water damage from the back has caused some slight fading, and a slight colour change. In terms of surface abrasion it is in very, very good condition. The banner will be displayed at the matters to Peoples History Museum from next year to celebrate the centenary of women gaining the right to vote. Julia phillips, bbc north west tonight. For half a century his voice was the voice of football but now he has decided to hang up his microphone and his trademark sheepskin coat. Motty, asjohn watson was known affectionately, has covered ten world cups, 200 england games and 29 fa cup finals. His final bbc commentary will be for the fa cup final in may. Our Sports Editor went to meet him. And there it is the crazy gang have beaten the culture club. Here is gascoigne. Oh, yes goal platini for france its dramatic, its delightful, its denmark they are the european champions. What was, for you, the secret, the keys, to be able to call those moments in time so quickly . Its like saying to your postman, how do you prepare the letters . You know, people dont have do know that, do they . And people didnt need to know that i was spending two days in this office banging myself over the head with who the substitute was going to be for this team on saturday. They were only concerned with the end product, and i had to make that as good as i could. Thatsjohn motson, reporting for us tonight of course on the southend and liverpool match, looking there rather like an orphan in the storm. Your big breakthrough was the 72 cup match . Oh, ronnies goal. Without that, would you be here . It changed my life. Newcastle winning1 0 with five minutes to go. Radford. Now tudor has gone down for newcastle. Radford again what a goal when i see ronnie radford, i always say you changed my life, ronnie and he said, well, that goal changed my career, which it did. And when i see it again, as i have hundreds of times, i still think to myself, please go in. Dont hit the post. Because if that had not nestled in the newcastle net, i would not be here now. Im afraid that mark west and Martin Oneill are going to have to wait a few days longer if they are to add another chapter to wycombes famous cup history. The sheepskin coat, it has sort of entered folklore now. Did you ever think at the time it would become a trademark . No, ididnt. I bought it for the warmth, because you could not buy a sheepskin full length coat. It was only a jacket that you could get in the shops, so i started having these made to measure. People started saying oh, you are the bloke in the sheepskin. Where were you when you were in the snow . And thats when it grew. I didnt set out to make that a trademark, honestly. But it hasnt done me any harm. So we cant get down there to actually find out whats happened. But i think Trevor Brookings next to. Well, he is next to me. And i think. Laughter i did my first ever commentary for Bbc Television from this very gantry, and in those days, nobody had heard of the internet, although i can vouch for the fact that i did say once upon a time, its in the net. What do you think made you a great commentator, looking back now . I think youve got to be passionate about it. I also feel youve got to remember as well that its only part of life, you know. I mean, while people are listening to football matches or commentating on them, there are people going to the theatre, and the cinema, and reading books. I think one or two people tend to forget that. I was going to say it was like being paid for your hobby, thats what people always say to me, but there is a little bit of hard work involved. You know, the preparation and the homework, and watching players and going to see games so that you could do the one that you are doing next a bit better. It was a challenge, but it was a challenge that i always enjoyed. Motty, as he is known, talking to our Sports Editor, dan roam. You will be missed. Thats motty, not done now the weather. After the direct hit of hurricane on Antigua And Barbuda when next. It looks like it will be the British Virgin islands, then it could head just to the north of the Dominican Republic and haiti and after that its cuba and haiti and after that its cuba and florida going towards the weekend, we will keep monitoring Hurricane Irma. Weve got a fairly benign weather pattern across the uk is to go through wednesday evening, a bit ofa is to go through wednesday evening, a bit of a ridge of High Pressure that has given the uk one of its Better Weather days. We will find overnight cloud increasing to the west, there will be some showers developing but to the east we will continue with clear spells and it will turn out to be chilly, especially rural areas, for most of us, 10 13dc. Things are looking better in north west scotland as this day begins is a case of waiting for the rain to arrive, at a day and there will be some showers to wales and western england but also some sunny spells, not wall to wall grey skies, it could well be a bright and sunny start for many across east anglia and south east england, and to the east of the pennines, whereas north west england could be dry or getting showers at this stage. Rain poised to move through northern ireland, its looking wet and windy to North Western parts of scotland we re to North Western parts of scotland were lost to the east there could be early brightness. This weather system will push ring south eastwards across scotland during the day with the breeze fresh across northern ireland, expect a cloudy and at times wet afternoon, initially for cumbria and north west england it turns out in the afternoon with patchy rain working to the west of wales, towards england. The odd shower in east anglia and the south east yet many places should stay dry given by the end of the afternoon, as we go into evening a greater chance of some outbreaks of rain moving, and the winds. To big up. The big picture as we entered thursday from friday, it looks like parts of south wales and southern england should see a spell of persistent rain pushing south. Elsewhere sunny spells, scattering such one, it could be heavy, sundry with hailstones, we will keep the blustery theme going into the weekend with plenty of showers, some heavy, and throughout the weekend, especially in the wind it will be on the cool side. This is bbc news. The headlines at 8pm. Hurricane irma, the most powerful atlantic storm in nearly a century, is leaving a trail of destruction across the caribbean. The category five storm with gusts of up to 225 mph is now heading west towards puerto rico and the Dominican Republic. These are live pictures of the situation in san juan, puerto rico, where a state of emergency has been declared. Irma has already wreaked havoc on the eastern caribbean, thousands have been evacuated and there are reports of widespread destruction. Business leaders warn government proposals to cut