Westminster starts debating the governments plans to convert thousands of european laws and regulations into british law. A special report on the inhumane conditions in a Detention Camp for refugees in libya. Ijust need to go home, you understand, because here is like in hell. And england bowl out the west indies for 123 but then struggled on a remarkable first day of the deciding test at lords. And coming up in sportsday on bbc news, premier League Clubs Vote to close next summers transfer window before the season starts, with players still allowed to be sold up until the end of august. Good evening. Hurricane irma, one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the atlantic, is sweeping across the Eastern Caribbean with devastating force. At least 10 people are known to have died. The british overseas territory of anguilla has been badly affected a Royal Navy Helicopter carrier is being sent to the region. The islands of barbuda and st martin were the first to feel the full force of the winds. Then came puerto rico and next in line are cuba and florida. With phone lines down roads, destroyed by flooding and airports damaged communication is difficult. , our correspondent laura bicker sent this report from puerto rico. Hurricane irma, a storm the size of france, has carved a destructive path through the caribbean. In puerto rico, three people were killed as winds battered the island. As daylight came and the clear out began, most felt lucky to have survived such a terrifying storm. I pray god dont come here no more this family told me they felt blessed to be alive and that the only damage was a downed power line and fallen trees in their street. They have kept eight month old aaron safe. There is a collective sigh of relief in puerto rico. There is work to be done. Up to 30 foot waves threw up debris and downed trees. But when it comes to that catastrophic eye of the hurricane, that only skirted this island, unlike others in the caribbean. On the tiny island of barbuda, barely a building was left untouched. Hundreds of families now find themselves homeless. The house, i lose my home. I lose my shop. Also my vehicle. Everythings damaged. And right now, i dont have nowhere to go to sleep. We had cars flying over our heads. We had containers, 40 foot containers, flying left and right, and the story that you are getting from most of the residents here is that the eye of the storm came just in time. Persons were literally tying themselves to their roofs with ropes to keep themselves down. Barbudas Prime Minister said the island was now barely habitable. What i saw was heart wrenching. I mean, absolutely devastating. I would say that about 95 of the properties would have suffered some level of damage. In neighbouring st martin, the full force of the hurricanes eye was caught on camera. Winds of 185 mph hammered the island. More than 70,000 people live in this area, which is made of dutch and french territories. Shipping containers were tossed around like lego bricks. Moored boats were smashed in the harbour and there are warnings that the death toll is likely to rise. France has sent three emergency teams to help with the clear up and has already set up a reconstruction fund. In the british territory of anguilla, there was criticism from residents to the uk response to the hurricanes. It was labelled pathetic and disgraceful. A British Task Force is now on its way there, including the Royal Marines and army engineers, although it could take two weeks for them to get there. Efforts are also underway to try to get supplies to the island of st barts. The french government say their priority is making sure people have food and drinking water. And the British Virgin islands, a sought after holiday destination, is the latest place to be pummelled. The water is going up. A tropical paradise, transformed. And then sat there. Hurricane irma is not finished. She has maintained her wind speeds and is barrelling towards another british territory, the low lying turks caicos islands. The us Sunshine State of florida will be next in her sights. They are nervous, after watching others endure her wrath. Laura bicker, bbc news, puerto rico. Hurricane irma is now the longest lasting category 5 hurricane ever recorded, surpassing the record set by typhoon haiyan, which hit the philippines in 2013. So how and why has it gathered so much energy . And are these types of storm becoming more frequent . Our science editor David Shukman explains. A menacing swirl of cloud stretching over the caribbean. This view from space of Hurricane Irma shows its extraordinary scale. More than 400 miles across. A Brave Research team flies right inside the eye to gather Vital Information about temperatures and pressures inside the towering wall of cloud to help forecast where its heading next and already theres a new record for dangerous winds for the longest time. On the ground the effect is shattering. This part of the world knows all about hurricanes and Early Warning has definitely saved lives but this one is stronger than most. So how do hurricanes become so destructive . Well the strongest like irma form off the coast of west africa. Warm waters cause the air to rise, industryingering thunder storms, warm waters cause the air to rise, triggering thunder storms, thats when the wind can circulate. As the weather system crosses the atlantic, it grows and becomes stronger. If the wind is moving in the same direction at all levels, as with irma, they reached devastating speeds. But then closer to the caribbean, the hurricane gets another boost as it passes over yet more warm water and Ocean Temperatures are unusually high this year, making the winds even more aggressive. On top of all this, the low pressure inside the hurricane creates a storm surge, a huge wave that strikes the coast and because Climate Change is raising the level of sea, the impact is all the greater. As the people of the caribbean cope with the terrible aftermath, many are asking if Climate Change was behind this . Well, hurricanes have always happened but scientists do think that our warming world may be making them more violent. One of the things we know about Climate Change is that a warmer atmosphere can hold more water. That means when a hurricane does hit, more rain can come out of that hurricane and cause a lot more flooding. This comes as the people of texas are still recovering from Hurricane Harvey last month. There are plenty of quiet years but this one is shaping up to be one of the most violent on record. This sequence shows how right behind irma there is another distinctive swirl of clouds, hurricane jose. The research patrols have been kept busier than ever before. David shuckman, bbc news. Lets go to our colleague, aleem maqbool. What can you tell us about the preparations in florida and the impact it is having on people . Tens of thousands of people have been issued evacuation orders in this pa rt issued evacuation orders in this part of florida. You can imagine what this airport, miami airport was like today, chaos as people scrambled to get on flights before the hurricane hits. Amidst all of this, we have come agenetically modified crops british tourist, some of whom are supposed to be here until next week but in limbo as they have been told by hotels to evacuate, and then come to the airport but there are no seats on flights left to the uk before the hurricane hits. We found one man who paid more than £6,000 so desperate he was to get a first class seat as he was to get a first class seat as he was to get a first class seat as he was told that was the last one to the uk. The others dont know what to do and are full of anxiety about what the coming days will bring. But of course, there are tens of thousands of people in this area and beyond, millions across the state, who are now being told to prepare this weekend forcedcyan yeah, ok for that once in a lifetime storm. Thank you very much. The house of commons has started to debate the bill which will reverse the decision taken 45 years ago to join the European Economic community, as it was called then. The brexit secretary david davis told mps not to defy the democratic will of the people. But there are deep divisions in the commons. Some conservatives who strongly support brexit want a clean break with brussels, while others are reluctant to back the legislation, because they say it will give far too much power to ministers. Our Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg reports. From brussels to westminster, laws have landed here from the continent for 44 years. Todays government bill will use 66 pages to try to transfer it all. With 28 clauses, the withdrawal bill cuts and pastes the european rule book onto ours but if the government riles just six rebels, theyd face defeat. Ministers say its nothing to worry about, just a paper exercise. Their opponents fear on these harmless looking pages there is a power grab on a huge scale. European Union Withdrawal bill, second reading. Put simply, this bill is an essential step. Whilst it does not take us out of the European Union that is a matter for the article 50 process it does ensure that on the day we leave, businesses know where they stand, workers rights are upheld and consumers remain protected. This bill is vital to ensuring that as we leave, we do so in an orderly manner. But there is so much to sort out that affects all of our lives the government says there is not time for mps to take over every detail, so ministers will be able to make tweaks here and there. That gives them the same powers as medieval monarchs, says labour. The combined effect of the provisions of this bill would reduce mps to spectators as power poured into the hands of ministers and the executive. It is an unprecedented power grab rule by decree is not a misdescription. Its an affront to parliament and accountability. Therell be arguments aplenty, in the commons and in the lords down there. Ministers privately concede they will have to give some ground, but they also know that it is far from the only scrap they face, either at home or abroad. If talks about the overall brexit deal are going well, the official negotiator in brussels did a good job of hiding it this morning. Complaining about the british unwillingness to talk about the cash. Translation i have been very disappointed in the british position. There is a problem of confidence. Accusing the uk of backtracking. Closer to home, a letter doing the rounds among tory mps has been leaked to the bbc. Dozens of brexit supporters demanding the Prime Minister sticks to a crisp exit and not a longer, softer transition warning ministers they must not allow the country to be kept in the eu by stealth. And it was circulated, if not signed, by a Junior Member of the government. The letter states very explicitly that we are in favour of leaving the Single Market and the customs union. We want to take back control of our laws. We want a strictly time limited transition period, that we want to be able to strike free trade agreements with the rest of the world. All of that is consistent with government policies. Remainer tory mps dont buy that, fearing conservative divisions could burst again. In the tory party, in parliament and in the power struggle with the eu. No brexit theres not much chance of keeping the peace. Laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. In brussels, the eus chief negotiator Michel Barnier said he was worried by slow progress and by some of the uks proposals. He told a News Conference in brussels it was britain that had chosen to leave and so it was up to britain to come up with an acceptable plan. Our europe correspondent Damian Grammaticas is in brussels tonight. Tell us more about that and indeed the other things being said there today . You are right, what Michel Barnier told us today was that he does not believe theres been enough progress in the talks. He wanted to send that stern message, obviously. Now on money, he identified that as the biggest issue. He believes that the biggest issue. He believes that the uk has both moral and legal obligations to the eu. Moral obligations, he said as there were decisions taken as 28 countries, which could not be left to 27 to pick up the bill for. Things like funding for science and research project, for development for universities. And legally as the budgets were approved, signed by david cameron, approved by the uk parliament, that those obligations must be met. So he accused the uk of backtracking, having agreed earlier in the process it had obligation it is would meet, now going through picking everything through line by line. On ireland, the issue of the border, he was worried as the uk proposals were not good enough, that they had to come back with Something Better there. And concerns too that arose earlier, Michel Barnier, Jean Claude Juncker worried about david davis, whether he was fully committed to the talk, if he would be here for all of them. Today they did not repeat that but laid out about the substance, that they dont believe enough is being done. Thank you very much. Bbc news has witnessed around 1,000 migrants, mostly african, being held in detention in libya in inhumane conditions. The medical Charity Doctors without borders said today that migrants and refugees who want to cross the mediterranean to italy are being detained in nightmarish conditions. But the eu is still encouraging libya to prevent migrants leaving its shores and wants the libyan coastguard to intercept those who do. The bbcs orla guerin has gained rare access to the main Detention Centre in tripoli. Cramped together in punishing heat. The migrants europe doesnt want. Trapped in libya, a country in chaos, that doesnt want them either. Most travelled from sub saharan africa. Some were stopped at sea, others on dry land. Now they are in triq al sika, the largest Detention Centre in tripoli. We were given unfettered access to those suffering here. Ijust need to go back home. You understand . Because here, it is like, you know, in hell. It is like in hell for me. Thats how i feel. Well, this is the reality for those being held in detention in libya. The men here have asked us to show these conditions. They are very anxious for all of this to be seen. This is prison by any other name. The only hope of release for these men is to be deported back to their home countries, but that can take time to arrange. Some of those here have been languishing in this centre for six months. Its really hot and they close the door, so it really gets that people cant breathe well. People faint sometimes. Its pretty hot in here. My guide, hennessy, is 18 and from south sudan but for three years, he was a london schoolboy while his father worked in the uk. Hennessy paid traffickers to get back to london but was kidnapped by an armed gang in libya. He escaped by leaping from a moving truck. The time we jumped off, there was a chad man, an old chad man. He was shot, so blood went all over my t shirt so i thought i was shot as well. I was so scared. I just ran away. Grim as things are here, hennessy says conditions were far worse in another Detention Centre where there were daily beatings by the guards. If people make noise, or if people rush for food, you get beaten. If people want to use the bathroom, or if people want to drink water, theyjust make you lie down on your stomach, the whole jail, and everyone gets about five, five. Everyone. Everyone gets beaten . Everyone gets beaten. And thats only one risk on the migrant trail through libya. The men are pawns, to be bought and sold by militias. Some forced into slave labour. It was horrible, horrible. Emmanuel was beaten by a gang linked to the traffickers. But what pained him most is what he heard them do to two teenage girls. They went into the second room and they raped the girls. They raped two girls, yeah. And we couldnt do anything because we didnt have anything to defend ourselves with. Staff here call them broken men, starved of hope and nourishment. For breakfast, just bread and butter. Officials tell us they have no funds to pay food suppliers so they rely on donations. And among those going hungry, women and children, held in a separate section. Sola is just three months old. He was at the mercy of the mediterranean when a smugglers boat broke down. Police arrested us, said his mother, wasila. Since then, we have been in five prisons. Outside, the latest arrivals, weary, barefoot, turned around at sea by the coastguard. Young dreams dashed. Instead of a new life in europe, returned to the nightmare of libya. The green paint daubed on by their traffickers, proof they paid their fare. Human beings, branded like cattle. Appalling conditions in libya. And orla is with me. Is the conclusion of your report that the eu is so determined to stop the flow of people that it is in effect turning a blind eye to the conditions you were reporting on there . The European Union says its main priority in relation to the migrant is to protect them in libya. Aid agencies say the eu is so blinded by the single goal of keeping people out of europe that it is turning a blind eye to the abuses and actually perpetuating them. Theres no doubt european and british policy is that libya must do more to stop the exodus from its shores. It is now the main departure point for people going to europe. Just last week, the foreign secretary Boris Johnson just last week, the foreign secretary borisjohnson was in tripoli, meeting senior officials and emphasising the need for the coastguard to control the departures and the royal navy is actually part of the effort to retrain the libyan coast guard. But the reality of all of that, if you stop people at sea, rescue them at sea, even if you are saving their lives, you are returning them to the kind of conditions that we saw, conditions that have been described by the united nations, for example, as inhumane. They have complained about the arbitrary detention, the fact people have no access to a Legal Process , people have no access to a Legal Process, and that they face a long list of abuses. And libya, lets not forget, is a fragile and unstable country with no central authority, three competing governments and a collapsing economy and there are powerful militias that are heavily involved in the smuggling industry will stop libyan officials said to us, they are struggling to provide for their own people and they cant cope with the 5000 6000 migrants they currently have in detection and one of them also said they are tired of being yours policeman. They currently have in detention. Thank you forjoining us. A brief look at some of the days other news stories. Britains biggest carmaker, jaguar landrover, has announced all its new cars will be available in electric or hybrid versions by 2020. The companys first fully electric vehicle will go on sale next year. The government says it wants to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2040. One in five people who are gay, lesbian or bisexual have experienced hate crime in the past year, according to new figures. But the vast majority dont report it to the police. The Charity Stonewall says three out of five gay men dont feel Comfortable Holding their partners hand in the street. Universities in england could be fined if they fail to justify paying their vice chancellors more than the Prime Minister, at £150,000 a year. The average basic salary for a vice chancellor, in effect the universitys chief executive, is £246,000, with some earning considerably more. A new regulator for students will also force universities to publish details of all senior staff earning over £100,000 a year. Our education editor bra nwen jeffreys reports. On campus, term is about to start. Student loans pay for most of this, so today, a warning for universities. High pay for your bosses has to be justified. Higher education has to be accountable. Its really important that there is confidence that resources allocated to it by the taxpayer are being used efficiently and for the purposes for which they are primarily intended and that is the provision of great teaching, and a generation of world class research. Students are applying to university, or will be very shortly. Universities need to know. When are you going to confirm the higher tuition fees for next year . We have already confirmed the policy. There is no new policy to be announced. With inflation, fees would rise next year to £9,500. Universities have spent money on facilities but average vice chancellor pay is £250,000 and a few earn as much as £400,000. Vice chancellors salaries are a tiny fraction of the budget of a university, but with living costs going up and tuition fees continuing to rise, itjust makes universities look out of touch with the concerns of students. It clearly looks extraordinary and its really difficult to explain to people. It would be a major mistake for us not to understand the public mood. It is notjust one or two people. Theres a lot of noise about this and we clearly need to be able to give our side of the case. I dont want to read about vc pay in the newspapers any more than any of you do. So the minister told them a new office for students will hold them to account. Obviously, we welcome more scrutiny on vice chancellor pay and in many ways, these proposals dont go far enough but youve got to look at the timing of these announcements. The government has been under a lot of pressure since the election over student funding and student debt and these proposals will do absolutely nothing to change the reality for students on the ground. On campus, students are asking more questions. A sculpture celebrates this universitys past. The question now, what will secure its financial future . Branwen jeffreys, bbc news. This week, weve been reporting from bangladesh, where more than 160,000 Rohingya Muslims have been fleeing the violence in the mainly buddhist country of myanmar. The authorities there have blamed the rohingya people for provoking the crisis by attacking police stations. Our correspondent Justin Rowlatt has been to a refugee camp in teknaf, near the border with myanmar. They arrive barefoot, their shoes lost in the mud on the long journey here. This is an exodus on a truly massive scale. Rohingya muslims have been pouring into bangladesh from myanmar. They say the military and local buddhists are destroying their villages, after rohingya militants attacked police posts two weeks ago. The current estimate is that 164,000 have crossed over, but the truth is no one knows for certain how many have come. So weve justjoined this kind of river of humanity, because weve been told a refugee camp has sort of erupted in the fields here, and thousands and thousands of people have made camp there. A un official was told there were 15,000 people here. This is what she found. She told the bbc she couldnt say how many refugees have sought shelter here. Perhaps as many as 100,000. Everyone needs food, Everyone Needs water. And everyone has a horrific story to tell. Translation my three sons were taken. I dont know where they are. I have nothing to eat. Please give me something. There are horrific images too. Villages burning, allegedly torched by soldiers from the myanmar army. Translation lots, lots, lots of people died. This is my village. First they set it on fire, and then they shot us from helicopters and from the ground. Mr shafiq saw some appalling scenes on his long trek. Bodies floating in the river, Rohingya Refugees drowned in their search for safety, he says. And then the final hurdle the barbed wire fence that marks the border with bangladesh. The bbc cannot verify any of this footage, but the stories the refugees tell are remarkably similar. And still they keep on coming. They have been driven from their homes into this, into what is a rapidly escalating humanitarian disaster. Justin rowlatt, bbc news, teknaf. Some more of the days news, now. Prince george had his first day at school today. The four year old is attending thomass school in battersea, south london, where fees are £17,000 a year. He was dropped off by prince william, but the duchess of cambridge missed the occasion as shes suffering from severe morning sickness due to her pregnancy. The prince will be known to classmates as george cambridge. With the series level at 1 1, england bowled the west indies out for 123 before struggling to 46 4 in reply. James anderson began the match trying to reach 500 wickets in test matches, needing just three more, asjoe wilson reports. This man prepared for the match with no plans for retirement. This man arrived at lords knowing it was his final test. Henry blofeld of test match special, dressed to stop the traffic for his final commentary. Very good to be here, old thing. Will you hope for something of a west indies revival to continue . I do. It would be lovely if they won the series. It would do their cricket so much good, wouldnt it
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