Another powerful storm was bearing down on a string of battered Caribbean islands on Sunday, with forecasters saying that Maria had strengthened into a hurricane and would intensify before hitting the Leeward Islands on Monday night. Maria was about 275 miles (445km) east-southeast of the Leeward island of Dominica with maximum sustained winds of 75mph (100km/h) at 4pm (8pm GMT), the US National Hurricane Center said.

The forecaster said: “Maria … could be near major hurricane intensity when it affects portions of the Leeward Islands over the next few days, bringing dangerous wind, storm surge and rainfall hazards.” Maximum sustained winds were expected to accelerate to 120mph within 72 hours, by which time the hurricane could reach the British and US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, a US territory with a weakened economy and fragile power grid. The government of Puerto Rico has already begun preparations for Maria, which is expected to make landfall there on Tuesday, officials said. The storm is moving west-northwest at about 15mph (24km/h) and is expected to cross the Leeward Islands on Monday night, the NHC said. Hurricane warnings were in place for the French island of Guadeloupe, Dominica, St Kitts, Nevis and Montserrat, while a hurricane watch was in effect for the US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Saba and St Eustatius, St Maarten, St Martin and St Barthelemy and Anguilla.(theguardian)…[+]

The second man arrested by police over the Parsons Green terrorism attack has been named as Yahyah Farroukh. Pictures showed the 21-year-old man being stopped by officers outside a fried chicken shop in the Hounslow area of west London on Saturday night. Metropolitan police officers were still searching the area on Monday morning.

Officers were also searching an address understood to be Farroukh’s home in nearby Stanwell, in Surrey, only metres from the outer boundaries of Heathrow airport. Farroukh was the second person to be arrested over Friday’s attack; an as-yet unnamed 18-year-old man was stopped by officers near the port of Dover on Friday evening. According to a Facebook profile thought to belong to Farroukh, he is originally from Damascus, in Syria, and studied English for speakers of other languages at West Thames college, near the Stanwell property. His profile also claims that he worked for an events company in London. Images of Farroukh on Facebook show him with family members and posing in front of a tourist site in central London.(theguardian)…[+]

Business executives implicated in a Brazilian corruption scandal and relatives of an Angolan politician who has been accused of bribery have secretly bought access to Europe via the government of Portugal.A businessman sentenced to 18 years under house arrest and the former president of a scandal-ridden construction conglomerate are also among those named in a leaked document as having paid hundreds of thousands of euros in their pursuit of a “golden visa” in Portugal. The news follows another leak that showed Russian oligarchs and a Syrian businessman under US sanctions were among hundreds of investors granted citizenship from Cyprus in exchange for cash investment. The two leaks offer a detailed insight into golden visa schemes, whereby countries trade passports, citizenship or visas for investment from wealthy individuals.  Portugal’s “golden resident permit” programme requires investors to place €500,000 (£440,000) in property in exchange for permanent residency. After five years, residency can be converted to citizenship, granting investors the right to live and work throughout Europe under EU rules.(theguardian)…[+]