Month: November 2019

Sham thinks I should learn to milk a cow. Her new enthusiasm for farming bursts forth over a Skype call between London and Damascus, along with a loud and confident laugh.

She has been to visit a farm with her local Girl Guide group in Syria.

From Damascus and Hama to Aleppo and the seaside city of Latakia, through six years of war in which hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives and more than 12 million have been forced from their homes, the Girl Guides have continued.

‘Sense of normality’

Women first started holding Guide meetings in Syria in the 1950s and they are being granted full membership of the movement’s worldwide body this week.

The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (Wagggs) praised the Syria groups’ “incredible work” at giving their more than 1,000 members “a sense of normality” and “a safe space to play and make friends”.

“Everyone thinks that we’re all dying. Actually we are having a normal life,” says Sham, a 22-year-old student who lives in Damascus, the capital.

That might seem incongruous – Damascus has been rocked by suicide bombings and air strikes and has seen battles between rebels and the government.

• Why is there a war in Syria?

But in any war the intensity of conflict depends on where you are. In government-held Damascus, cafes and markets have stayed open against a backdrop of shelling, even as other cities have been destroyed, displaced families have been left destitute, and millions more people have left Syria altogether.

Living in a middle-class part of the capital, Sham knows how lucky she is.

Image copyright Handout

“The war has taken its toll on my country, however, I am thankful it hasn’t affected me in person,” she says.

“Instead, it’s made me stronger and helped me realise what I want to do in life. I know now that studying is the key to everything.

“Girl Guides has helped me no end and it’s one of the reasons I consider myself successful.

“I am a part of the efforts of rebuilding Syria because I am a leader in the Scout movement.”

• From cooking to campaigning: Girl Guides modernise

Sham even went to Sudan earlier this year to train Girl Guides there in body confidence. Since she took part in the scheme, she has stopped wearing make up altogether and wants other girls to feel proud of their bodies.

Image copyright Handout

While in the UK Guides have traditionally been associated with Christianity, Sham is a Sunni Muslim and says the members come from different religions and celebrate both Eid and Christmas together.

“No one would even ask” her religion, she says.

• Girlguiding UK drop God vow from promise

Girl Guides were banned in Syria in 1980 along with other youth organisations, as the ruling party tried to consolidate power.

One woman, Rim, had been a member since she was six years old and the movement meant so much to her, she flouted the ban to hold meetings in a local church.

Image copyright Handout

Girl Guides groups started to re-form in 2000 after the ban was lifted, and Rim is now a leader, a board member and a training co-ordinator. She says it has made her a “strong, confident woman” and she tries to pass that on to the girls in her charge by organising guest speakers including writers and businesswomen.

“Not only in Syria but in the Middle East women have not reached the position that they should be in yet,” she says.

“The community still thinks that women cannot be decision makers or independent. It is hard to persuade people that even though I am a woman, I can still be a leader, a decision-maker and be able to create positive change.

“Girls are the key to our future. They are capable of amazing things.”

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Syria’s Girl Guides Promise:

“On my honour, I promise that I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country, to help others and to obey the Girl Guide law.”

Image copyright Handout

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Some of Rim’s friends have died or had to leave, and she can no longer travel around the country to go hiking at the weekend as she used to.

When the Girl Guides in Syria go camping, they have to check with the army beforehand that the area around their campsite is safe.

And in such a divided country, it is difficult to be as inclusive as they might like. They operate in government-held areas. Their events use the national flag of Syria, the anthem and the national motto – contentious symbols all.

Even the Syrian version of the promise – a pledge Girl Guides are invited to make when they join – mentions duty to one’s country. It is not inconceivable that this would stop families who oppose the government of Bashar al-Assad from sending their daughters to meetings.

Rim says that is not the case and some parents who “object to” the government do send their children.

“The Guides and Scouts is a movement that is not political,” she says.

“The promise is promising for the country and not for a specific government.

“It is for the country. It is for Syria.”

Sham agrees: “We never talk about politics. It’s open for everyone. Christians, Muslims, everyone.”

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A guide to Guides

• Girl Guides are aged between five and 22
• They started in 1909 in Britain as a girls’ version of the Boy Scouts
• The Damascus unit meets once a week in the winter and three times a week in the summer
• Members can earn badges for new skills including learning an exercise, having an adventure or for learning facts
• Guides wear a uniform
• Associate members do not have voting rights at annual conferences of the movement; full members do
• Along with Syria, groups in Aruba, Azerbaijan and the Palestinian territories will become full members this week

Hillary Clinton says she would not “rule out” questioning the legitimacy of the US presidential election if Russia is found to have deeply meddled.

The former secretary of state told NPR’s Fresh Air programme, however, she did not believe there was a “mechanism” in place to challenge the outcome.

US intelligence agencies believe Russia tried to tip the election in favour of President Donald Trump.

Mrs Clinton spoke just before her top aide testified to Congress.

John Podesta, the former chairman of her Democratic presidential campaign, appeared on Monday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is leading one of several investigations on Russia’s alleged role in the 2016 election.

• What Happened: The long list of who Hillary Clinton blames

Mr Podesta was one of several Democratic figures whose email account was breached by suspected Russia-backed hackers.

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The ghost of elections past?

Analysis by Anthony Zurcher, BBC North America reporter

The day after her 2016 election defeat, Hillary Clinton told a crowd of shell-shocked supporters that “we must accept this result and then look to the future”.

Now, the former Democratic nominee seems open to adding a big asterisk to that sentence. Everyone can move on – unless there’s clear evidence of Russian interference.

Needless to say, that’s a big “unless” and a bridge that will likely never be crossed in the minds of many Americans.

It could come as sweet music to some in the Democratic base, who are hanging on every unconfirmed report or rumour of Trump campaign malfeasance and waiting with bated breath for the day the presidential house of cards comes crashing down.

Democratic officeholders and those aspiring to higher office – including the growing list of 2020 presidential aspirants – aren’t quite so thrilled.

For them, Mrs Clinton is threatening to become the ghost of elections past; an unwelcome spectre reminding the party of its failings.

Mrs Clinton’s recent statement – indeed, the tone of her book tour and the book itself – shows that while many Democrats may want to look to the future, she’s still got one eye on what could have been.

Follow @awzurcher

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His emails were subsequently released to the public by Wikileaks during the election campaign.

NPR’s Terry Gross pressed Mrs Clinton on Monday about whether she would “completely rule out questioning the legitimacy of this election if we learn that the Russian interference in the election is even deeper than we know now”.

“No, I wouldn’t rule it out,” Mrs Clinton said in the interview, which was to promote her new book about how she lost, What Happened.

But she emphasised that she did not believe there was a legal option to challenge the validity of the election.

“There are scholars, academics, who have arguments that it would be, but I don’t think they’re on strong ground. But people are making those arguments. I just don’t think we have a mechanism,” she said.

Republican Senator Cory Gardner fired back at Mrs Clinton on Monday, saying he is aware she has a book to plug but “she should be ashamed” for her “wildly irresponsible” comments.

Last week, Mrs Clinton called for the abolishing of the US electoral college as she sought to explain why she lost the election.

“I think it needs to be eliminated,” Mrs Clinton told CNN of the institution. “I’d like to see us move beyond it, yes.”

As Mrs Clinton often points out, she won the popular vote last November by nearly three million ballots.

But she still lost the White House because Mr Trump prevailed in the electoral college.

Despite winning the presidency, Mr Trump has himself questioned the results.

He has claimed millions voted illegally for Mrs Clinton, even though the Federal Election Commission certified the results.

The Trump administration has been dogged by claims that members of its campaign team had ties to the Kremlin.

Mr Trump denies any wrongdoing and has repeatedly called the Russia investigation a “witch hunt”.

Ryanair has published full details of which of its flights are being cancelled between now and 28 October.

Customers whose flights have been axed will also receive an email, chief executive Michael O’Leary has said.

The budget airline is cancelling 40-50 flights every day for the next six weeks, after it admitted it had “messed up” the planning of pilot holidays.

Mr O’Leary said most people would be transferred to an alternative Ryanair flight on the same day.

If not, they would be moved to flights the day before or the day after, and the airline would meet its obligations over compensation.

Details of all the cancelled flights are available on the Ryanair website.

More than 200 of the cancelled flights are either into or out of London Stansted, with a handful in Edinburgh, Manchester and Birmingham also affected.

• Ryanair faces up to 20 million euros in compensation claims
• Cancelled by text: Ryanair passengers react
• Ryanair: What should I do if my flight is cancelled?

The airline said it was cancelling flights at airports where it ran the busiest schedules, so it would be easier to accommodate passengers on alternative flights.

Rome, Milan, Brussels and Barcelona airports will also see a significant number of flights, either or in or out, cancelled.

Mr O’Leary said around 400,000 passengers would be directly affected, but he said a decision had been made to disrupt the plans of 2% of travellers in order to offer a better service to the remaining customers.

Changes to the way the airline organises its holiday year have left Ryanair with a backlog of staff leave, meaning there is a shortage of pilots on standby over the next six weeks.

That meant any minor disruptions to flights, due to problems with air traffic control capacity, strikes, or weather disruptions were causing knock-on delays, because the airline did not have the flexibility it needed from back-up crews, said Mr O’Leary.

After 1 November, when the lighter winter schedule begins, there will not be any need for cancellations, he said.

He said they were also asking to buy back leave from pilots and alter the holiday schedule.

Image copyright Getty Images

Mr O’Leary said Ryanair would honour all of its obligations to compensate passengers under EU regulations but would not book passengers onto flights with rival carriers.

“We will not pay for flights on other airlines, no. It is not part of the EU261 entitlement,” he said, referring to European passenger rights legislation.

He said the airline did not have an overall shortage of pilots, but said they had “messed up” the rosters for September and October.

“This is our mess-up. When we make a mess in Ryanair we come out with our hands up,” he said.

“We try to explain why we’ve made the mess and we will pay compensation to those passengers who are entitled to compensation, which will be those flights that are cancelled over the next two weeks.”

If passengers are given more than 14 days’ notice of a cancellation, they are not entitled to compensation.

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Image copyright Reuters

The EU compensation rules for cancelled flights are as follows:

• Passengers are entitled to assistance and compensation, if the disruption was within an airline’s control.
• Airlines have to offer full refunds, paid within seven days, or rebookings for a flight cancelled at short notice.
• In addition, passengers can also claim compensation.
• Cancellation amounts are: 250 euros (£218) for short-haul, 440 euros (£384) for medium-haul and 600 euros (£523) for long-haul.
• Passengers who reach their destination more than three hours late can be compensated from 200 to 600 euros, depending on the length of flights and delay.

Wisconsin has approved a package of subsidies worth up to $3bn (£2.2bn) to Taiwanese manufacturing giant Foxconn in exchange for a new US factory.

Republican Governor Scott Walker signed the controversial deal into law on Monday.

He told reporters that work on the plant, which is to make LCD panels, should start this spring.

It is believed to be the largest incentive package for a foreign company in US history.

Foxconn, which has pledged to invest $10bn in the facility and hire thousands of workers, is still negotiating a final location.

Critics have branded the deal “corporate welfare”, and questioned whether Foxconn would follow through with 13,000 high-quality jobs, as lawmakers hope.

The amount of money the firm ultimately receives is tied to its investment and hiring.

Even under optimistic projections, an analysis for Wisconsin state lawmakers found it would take more than 25 years for the state to break even on the deal.

Bullets from Nerf guns can cause serious eye injuries, doctors from a London eye hospital are warning.

They treated three people with internal bleeding around the eye, pain and blurred vision after they were shot with the toy guns by children.

Writing in BMJ Case reports, the doctors recommended wearing protective eye goggles and said the safe age limit for the guns may need to be reviewed.

Hasbro warns players not to aim Nerf guns at the eyes or face.

On its packaging, it also advises that only bullets designed for the product should be used.

The BBC contacted the company for comment but has not yet received a reply.

Force and speed

Nerf guns, made by Hasbro, are designed for children aged eight and over.

The company also sells replacement bullets or darts – but cheaper versions are also available online from other retailers.

The eye experts, from Accident & Emergency at Moorfields Eye Hospital, said the unlabelled bullet heads were harder and could potentially cause more damage – something that parents may not realise.

In their report, they describe the injuries of two adults and a child in separate incidents linked to Nerf guns.

One 32-year-old man was shot in the eye from eight metres away by a child with a Nerf gun. He suffered blurred vision and a red eye.

Image copyright BMJ Case Report

A 43-year-old woman was shot in her right eye from a distance of one metre and complained of blurred vision and a red, sore eye.

An 11-year-old child also suffered a shot in his right eye from a distance of two metres, and complained of pain and blurred vision.

He developed swelling of the outer layer of the eye (cornea), and the inner layer of the eye (retina), from the force and speed of the bullet fired by the gun.

All the patients were examined and treated with eye drops, the researchers said.

Check-ups after a few weeks showed that their sight had returned to normal.

‘Protective eyewear’

While it was good skyypro news for the three patients, the doctors said that projectiles like Nerf gun bullets travelling at speed could cause long-term loss of vision.

One patient told the doctors that there were “numerous online videos which show children how to modify their guns to make them shoot harder, faster and further distance”.

They added: “This case series emphasises the seriousness of eye injury from Nerf gun projectiles and calls into consideration the need for protective eyewear with their use.”

But they said more research was needed to find out if eye injuries were on the rise as a result of toy guns.

The authors said they could not advise on a safe distance for shooting to avoid eye injuries on the basis of three patients.

The biggest and the smallest of the world’s animals are most at risk of dying out, according to a new analysis.

Size matters when it comes to extinction risk, with vertebrates in the so-called “Goldilocks zone” – not too big and not too small – winning out, say scientists.

Action is needed to protect animals at both ends of the scale, they say.

Heavyweights are threatened mainly by hunting, while featherweights are losing out to pollution and logging.

“The largest vertebrates are mostly threatened by direct killing by humans,” said a team led by Prof Bill Ripple of Oregon State University in Corvallis, US.

“Whereas the smallest species are more likely to have restricted geographic ranges – an important predictor of extinction risk – and be threatened by habitat degradation.”

Image copyright Jurgen Leckie

The research adds to evidence that animals are dying out on such a scale that a sixth extinction is considered under way.

This has prompted efforts to determine the key drivers of extinction risk.

One clue is body size. Research on birds and mammals has shown that those with larger bodies are more likely to go extinct.

Yet, when the researchers made a data base of thousands of birds, mammals, fish, amphibians and reptiles at risk of extinction, they found disproportionate losses at the large and small ends of the scale.

“Surprisingly, we found that not only the largest of all vertebrate animal species are most threatened, but the very tiniest ones are also highly threatened with extinction,” Prof Ripple told BBC News.

Image copyright Dave Young

Large charismatic animals, such as elephants, rhinos and lions have long been the target of protection efforts.

However, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians that are the giants of their kind, such as the whale shark, Somali ostrich and Chinese giant salamander, tend to be overlooked.

Meanwhile, small species at risk – such as frogs and shrews – receive very little attention.

“I think, for the smallest species, first of all we need to bring higher awareness to them, because the larger ones get a lot of attention, but the smaller ones get very little,” said Prof Ripple.

In the study, researchers from the US, UK, Switzerland and Australia compared body mass and extinction risk for more than 25,000 vertebrate species.

Of these, around 4,000 are threatened with extinction, as assessed by the Red List of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Vertebrates with the smallest and the largest bodies were found to be most at risk of disappearing, whether they were on land or living in oceans, streams or rivers.

Image copyright R Hutterer

Threats facing the heaviest included:

• Regulated and unregulated fishing

• Hunting and trapping for food, trade or medicines

The lightest were mainly at risk from:

• Pollution of lakes, streams and rivers

• Farming

• Logging of forests

• Development.

Image copyright Factcatdog

The researchers say that while different approaches are needed for the conservation of large versus small species, there is an urgent need to step up efforts for both.

“Ultimately, reducing global consumption of wild meat is a key step necessary to reduce negative impacts of human hunting, fishing, and trapping on the world’s vertebrates,” they write in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which published the study.

“Indeed, based on our findings, human activity seems poised to chop off both the head and tail of the size distribution of life.”

Extinction can be a natural process, affecting a handful of species each year.

However, estimates suggest the world is now losing species at hundreds of times the “background” rate.

Co-researcher Thomas Newsome of the University of Sydney in Australia said for large animals lessening the negative impacts of hunting, fishing and trapping was key.

“But it’s ultimately slowing the human population growth rate that will be the crucial long-term factor in limiting extinction risks to many species,” he said.

Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said her government does not fear “international scrutiny” of its handling of the growing Rohingya crisis.

It was her first address to the country about the violence in northern Rakhine state that has seen more than 400,000 Rohingya Muslims cross into Bangladesh.

Ms Suu Kyi has faced heavy criticism for her response to the crisis.

She said there had been no “clearance operations” for two weeks.

In her speech in English to Myanmar’s parliament, Aung San Suu Kyi said she felt “deeply” for the suffering of “all people” in the conflict, and that Myanmar was “committed to a sustainable solution… for all communities in this state”.

Ms Suu Kyi, who has decided not to attend the UN General Assembly in New York later this week, said she nevertheless wanted the international community to know what was being done by her government.

Hours after her speech, the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva called for full access to the region so it can investigate the situation “with its own eyes”.

What is the crisis about?

Rakhine has faced unrest and sporadic violence for years, but the current crisis began in August with an armed attack on police posts which killed 12 people.

Image copyright Reuters

That was blamed on a newly emerged militant group, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (Arsa).

The Rohingya, a mostly Muslim minority, are denied citizenship and equal opportunities by the Myanmar government, which says they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. They are largely despised by the wider Burmese majority-Buddhist population.

• Who are the Rohingya group behind attacks?
• What sparked latest violence in Rakhine?

The attack lead to a massive security crackdown by the military, which the UN’s human rights chief later said seemed like a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.

Rohingya Muslims started leaving in vast numbers, crossing into Bangladesh with tales of their villages being burned and saying they were facing persecution at the hands of the military. Thousands of Rohingya had already fled to Bangladesh in recent years.

Access is restricted to the area, but on a government-controlled trip for journalists the BBC found reason to question the official narrative that Muslims were setting fire to their own villages.

• Seeing through the official story in Myanmar
• How much power does Aung San Suu Kyi really have?

What did Suu Kyi say in her the speech?

The Myanmar government does not use the term Rohingya – calling the group Bengali Muslims instead – and Ms Suu Kyi did not do so in her speech.

Delivering her address in a tone of measured defiance, she said she and her government “condemn all human rights violations and unlawful violence”.

Among the key points:

• She did not address allegations against the military, saying only that there had been “no armed clashes or clearance operations” since 5 September.
• She said most Muslims had decided to stay in Rakhine and that indicated the situation may not be so severe.
• She said she wanted to speak to both Muslims who had fled and those who had stayed to find out what was at the root of the crisis.
• She said the government had made efforts in recent years to improve living conditions for the Muslims living in Rakhine: providing healthcare, education and infrastructure.
• She also said that all refugees in Bangladesh would be able to return after a process of verification.

How was the speech received?

Ms Suu Kyi has overwhelming support in her home country, where she was a political prisoner for years before coming to power.

But her speech has been criticised internationally for failing to address the allegations of abuse by the military.

The BBC’s Jonathan Head, who is in neighbouring Bangladesh, disputed the claim that there had been no clearance operations since 5 September, pointing out that he had seen villages being burned days after that date.

Amnesty International said Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi was “burying her head in the sand” by ignoring the abuses by the army.

“At times, her speech amounted to little more than a mix of untruths and victim blaming,” the rights group’s director for South East Asia and the Pacific, James Gomes, said in a statement.

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‘Blind to the realities?’

By Jonah Fisher, BBC News, Nay Pyi Taw

Aung San Suu Kyi is either completely out of touch or wilfully blind to the realities of what her army is up to.

It is simply not credible to say we don’t know why more than 400,000 Rohingya have fled. The evidence is being gathered every day in the testimony of refugees.

There were other moments that raised eyebrows. Like when she presented as good news the fact that more than half the Muslims in Rakhine haven’t fled. Or when she said that there had been no clashes in Rakhine for the last two weeks.

To say as she did that “all people in Rakhine state have access to education and healthcare without discrimination” is simply wrong.

The Rohingya, particularly those in camps around Sittwe, have long been denied access to the most basic services, in particular healthcare.

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What is Myanmar’s position?

While Ms Suu Kyi is the de facto head of the government of Myanmar, also known as Burma, it is the military which holds real power in Rakhine state as it is in charge of internal security.

The Burmese military says its operations in the northern Rakhine state are aimed at rooting out militants, and has repeatedly denied targeting civilians.

Ms Suu Kyi has previously said the narrative was being distorted by a “huge iceberg of misinformation” and said tensions were being fanned by fake news promoting the interests of terrorists.

Police are continuing to question two men on suspicion of terror offences following Friday’s attack on a Tube train in south-west London.

It comes as CCTV images emerged showing a man carrying a Lidl supermarket bag 90 minutes before the bombing.

An 18-year-old and 21-year-old are being held over the explosion, which injured 30 at Parsons Green station.

The UK terror threat level has been lowered to severe after being raised to critical, its highest level.

On Saturday, the 21-year-old, believed to be Yahyah Farroukh, was arrested in Hounslow, west London, and the 18-year-old was detained at Dover port.

Local council leader Ian Harvey said he understood the 18-year-old was an Iraqi orphan who moved to the UK when he was 15 after his parents died.

Police are searching two addresses in Surrey in connection with the arrests – one in Sunbury-on-Thames and another in Stanwell, near Heathrow airport.

Mr Harvey, who leads Spelthorne Borough Council, told the Press Association it was “widely known” the 21-year-old was a former foster child who had lived at the property being searched in his ward of Sunbury East.

Mr Farroukh, who is originally from Syria, is believed to have been in the UK for at least four years and is understood to be living at the Stanwell address.

Neighbours there have told the BBC he was a “friendly” and “chatty” young man who had been visited by family from Scotland.

• Residents in Sunbury told to get out of homes
• Terror threat lowered after Tube bombing

A third property in Hounslow has also been searched as part of the investigation, Scotland Yard said.

The BBC understands it is a Middle Eastern chicken shop called Aladdins in Kingsley Road.

Mr Farroukh, whose social media says he is a student at West Thames College, was arrested outside the shop shortly before midnight. A manager confirmed he had worked there for a number of months.

ITV News has obtained CCTV showing a person leaving the property in Sunbury that is currently being searched by police.

The person can be seen carrying a Lidl bag at 6.50am on Friday morning.

At 8.20am, a device exploded on a District Line train.

The “severe” terror threat level means an attack is no longer imminent but is still highly likely.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said police had made “good progress” in the investigation and urged “everybody to continue to be vigilant but not alarmed”.

Assistant Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said police had gained a “greater understanding” of how the bomb was prepared but said there was “still much more to do”.

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Analysis: No ‘all clear’ yet

By BBC home affairs correspondent Dominic Casciani

The lowering of the threat level is an important sign.

It means that intelligence chiefs have looked at the developing picture in the Met’s huge operation – and other threads we will never see, from perhaps MI5 and GCHQ – and concluded that detectives now have a good handle on what happened on Friday at Parsons Green.

Or, to put it another way, the threat level would not have been reduced if anyone within the counter-terrorism network still thought there was a bomber, or accomplices, on the loose.

This is not the same as an “all clear” – intelligence is only ever fragmentary.

Detectives now appear to have time on their side.

Providing they make evidential progress, they could conceivably hold both suspects for up to a fortnight before they have to charge or release them.

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Speaking to the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Ms Rudd said there was “no evidence” to suggest so-called Islamic State was behind the attack.

“But as this unfolds and as we do our investigations, we will make sure we find out how he was radicalised if we can,” she said.

Thirty people were injured – most suffering from “flash burns” – when a bomb was detonated on a Tube carriage at Parsons Green station.

The house being searched in Sunbury-on-Thames belongs to a married couple known for fostering hundreds of children, including refugees.

Ronald Jones, 88, and Penelope Jones, 71 were rewarded for their service to children when they were made MBEs in 2010.

The couple are said to be staying with friends following the police raid, during which surrounding houses were evacuated.

Friend Alison Griffiths said the couple had an 18-year-old and a 22-year-old staying with them recently.

She described Mr and Mrs Jones as “great pillars of the community”, adding: “They do a job that not many people do.”

Police have urged anyone with information to contact them and to upload pictures and video to the website www.ukpoliceimageappeal.co.uk or to call the Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321.

Maria is expected to become a dangerous major hurricane as it nears the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean.

The category one hurricane will rapidly strengthen over the next 48 hours and will hit the islands late on Monday, says the US National Hurricane Center.

It is moving roughly along the same path as Irma, the hurricane that devastated the region this month.

Hurricane warnings have been issued for Guadeloupe, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat and Martinique.

A hurricane watch is now in effect for Puerto Rico, the US and British Virgin Islands, St Martin, St Barts, Saba, St Eustatius and Anguilla.

Some of these islands are still recovering after being hit by Irma – the category five hurricane which left at least 37 people dead and caused billions of dollars’ worth of damage.

• Hurricane Irma: A visual guide
• Damage mapped

In its latest update on Monday, the NHC says Maria has maximum sustained winds of 90mph (150 km/h).

The eye of the storm is 100 miles east of Martinique, and Maria is moving west-northwest at about 13mph.

“Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,” the NHC says.

The most southerly point of the Leeward Islands – where Maria will first strike – include Antigua and Barbuda. The latter island was evacuated after being devastated by Irma.

The NHC says that “a dangerous storm surge accompanied by large and destructive waves will raise water levels by as much as 5-7ft (1.5-2.1m) above normal tide levels near where the centre of Maria moves across the Leeward Islands”.

It also forecasts a maximum potential rainfall of 20in (51cm) in some areas of the central and southern Leeward Islands – including Puerto Rico and the US and British Virgin Islands – through to Wednesday night.

“Rainfall on all of these islands could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides,” it warned.

The destruction of Barbuda

Drone footage of Saint-Martin after Irma

Earlier this month, Irma left more than two-thirds of homes on the Dutch side of the island of St Martin (known as Sint Maarten) uninhabitable, with no electricity, gas or drinking water.

The French government has said its side of St Martin – known as Saint-Martin – sustained about €1.2bn ($1.44bn; £1.1bn) in damage, with nine deaths across Saint-Martin and nearby St Barts.

On the British Virgin Islands, entire neighbourhoods were flattened.

After a visit to the area, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson described the damage as something “you see in images of from the First World War”.

In pictures: Irma devastates British Virgin Islands

Virgin boss Richard Branson, who has a home in the Virgin Islands, has been tweeting ahead of the storm’s predicted arrival, warning people to stay safe.

The Puerto Rican government has issued a statement saying it expects the hurricane to make landfall there as a category three on Tuesday.

The US territory escaped the worst of the damage from Irma – although it experienced widespread power cuts – and it has been an important hub for getting relief to islands that were more badly affected.

“Puerto Rico is our lifeline,” Judson Burdon, a resident of Anguilla, told Reuters news agency. “We had two volunteer flights cancel because of the weather that is coming.”

Irma also hit the US, with 11 deaths being linked to the hurricane. Nearly 6.9 million homes were left without power in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama.

A second hurricane, Jose, is also active in the Atlantic, with maximum sustained winds of 90mph.

The centre of the storm was about 335 miles south-east of Cape Hatteras in North Carolina, the NHC said in its advisory at 21:00 GMT on Sunday.

Tropical storm watches have been issued for parts of the north-eastern US.