this is bbc world news, the headlines: the us has accused north korea of begging for war. in response to pyongyang's latest nuclear test, the american ambassador to the un urged the security council to adopt the strongest possible measures in response. she's set to circulate the draft of a new sanctions resolution later. a state of emergency has been declared in florida in the face of hurricane irma — now a category four storm and bearing down on the eastern caribbean. it's likely to make landfall on tuesday night. vladimir putin claims that 4,000 russian citizens are fighting in syria on the side of so—called islamic state. many are from the russian republic of dagestan in the north caucasus. researchers believe nearly 30 sperm whales which became stranded on european beaches early last year may have been the victims of large solar storms. scientists say other factors such as global warming may have been as important. now it's time for world business report. a pr disaster for bell pottinger.

the boss of the uk trade body that's expelled the public relations firm for the worst breach of ethics in its history is here. brick—by—brick! leaders of the largest emerging nations are discussing how to build a brighterfuture. welcome to world business report. also in the programme, as cuba opens up its domestic economy, we'll be taking at how fresh investment is sparking a revival in the country's mining industry. the public relations firm

bell pottinger has been expelled from the pr trade body in the uk. the public relations and communications association says the company was unethical and unprofessional and brought the industry into disrepute. in an unprecedented move its expelled bell pottinger for 5 years. this follows the companies media campaign for the wealthy gupta family of south africa that was heavily criticised for stirring up racial tensions in the country. the guptas have been accused of benefiting financially from close links to south africa's president zuma and hired bell pottinger to change its image. the trade body says the secret media campaign is the worst breach of ethics in its history. well francis ingham, director general of the prca. thank you for coming in. it was a

difficult decision. we have expelled bell pottinger for at least five yea rs. bell pottinger for at least five years. the breach of ethics is the worst i have seen in my ten years as director general and it is important to show the industry has standards. james anderson's decision to resign was not enough? it was necessary but not sufficient. the industry needed to make a stand and a kind of work, staring up racial tension in a fledgeling democracy, in many ways, is just unacceptable and we have expeued is just unacceptable and we have expelled them. we have not done anything of this magnitude before and we wanted to make clear we have standards and we will enforce them. it isa

standards and we will enforce them. it is a very well—established pr company, one of the world ‘s biggest and it has been around for a long time. either they knew what was happening and turned a blind eye all the internal processes were so bad that a few people could do this. either way it is not acceptable. this contract, i.e. providing media pr for the guptas was worth 100,000 pounds a month. it is a big contract. it is not one he did not keep a close eye on. that is the question people in the industry are asking. something clearly went badly wrong. if bell pottinger is even to be considered to come back after five years, they would have to prove they have changed fundamentally. will the companies survive these? in my view, it is highly unlikely. it

is an astonishing lapse ofjudgement and ethics and that is why we have expeued and ethics and that is why we have expelled them. i must admit, the cynical of us in journalism expelled them. i must admit, the cynical of us injournalism i thinking this is how pr parades. cynical of us injournalism i thinking this is how pr paradesm is not. the vast majority of prca members are ethical and run their companies well and care about doing the right thing. that is why we expeued the right thing. that is why we expelled bell pottinger because they did the wrong thing. thank you for coming in. more detail on our website. it's the final day of the summit involving leaders of brazil, russia, india, china and south africa — also known as the brics. the group has been quick to condemn north korea for their nuclear missile tests, but discussions have also centred around kick—starting global growth. while the white house is pushing a protectionist trade agenda, china's stance is different.

president xi jinping wants to use this summit to promote what he describes as "an open world economy". then there's the brics bank — a smaller, alternative to the world bank— used by governments to fund infrastructure projects. it handed out $1.5 billion of loans last year and has pledged $2.5 billion in funding for this year. china itself has pledged $80 million in funding for brics projects, including an economic and technology cooperation plan. but there are doubts about whether the brics summit is as relevant as it used to be. beijing is busy with its own hugely ambitious belt and road initiative, pledging $124 billion to expand trade links between asia and europe. who better to find out than from

rico hizon on. the group represent 3.6 billion people, about 40% of the world population and the five nations together have complained to gdp ofaround nations together have complained to gdp of around 17 trillion dollars, equivalent to 22% of the gross world product and an estimated four trillion us dollars in combined foreign resources. they are focusing on the feasibility of a free trade area. china wants a position as a ca ta lyst area. china wants a position as a catalyst of localisation in the face of president trump's america first agenda and detection is initiative. the president, xijinping, said they wa nt the president, xijinping, said they want more trade liberalisation and facilitate a global chain and global

rebalancing. 0ther facilitate a global chain and global rebalancing. other countries could expand their reach and growth. thailand, mexico, egypt, guinea, all spread across the continent from where the original brics are located. despite the challenges, economists forecast brics will play an increasingly important role in the world with the world bank expect the world with the world bank expect the growth to pick up to 5.3%. now to cuba which has also been hit by the recent downturn in commodity prices and that's because it is the world's sixth biggest nickel producer. so in an effort to boost the mining sector, the cubans have launched joint ventures with foreign companies, and opened the first new mine there since the soviet era. will grant is there. following an investment of almost $300 million, this new mine in north—western cuba is expected to

produce around 100 tons of zinc and lead concentrate every year. even though the mining sector has been in decline, the swiss company behind it isa decline, the swiss company behind it is a joint venture with the state is confident it will succeed. the first new mine in over 20 years does come ata new mine in over 20 years does come at a certain environmental cost. 0pen mining always will beat is one of the cu ban 0pen mining always will beat is one of the cuban government considers it necessary in order to begin to diversify its economy away from tourism. at the recent national assembly, the president addressed some hard economic realities. last year, the economy shrank by 1%, partly following a drop in support from oil—rich venezuela. but the government points to new investment in tourism as well as construction, and mining, in the hope to kickstart and mining, in the hope to kickstart a new era of growth. cuba nickel is

the traditional driver of the mining. it has seen difficult years with low global prices. the cuban state has again had to embrace a joint venture this time with a toronto —based company. joint venture this time with a toronto -based company. they want to expand, in crisp reduction and fast to do the bestjob we can. to become one of the more efficient producers in the world. an estimated 240 different mining and managing projects are supposedly available forforeign investment. projects are supposedly available for foreign investment. despite projects are supposedly available forforeign investment. despite the optimism, the challenge in cuba is getting such project off the ground in the first place. that's world business report. the news review coming up injust a that's world business report. the news review coming up in just a few minutes, i will see you then. the syrian army is closing

in on the eastern city of deir al—zour, besieged for nearly 3 years by the extremist group that calls itself islamic state. sarah corker reports. the syrian army and its allies have been rapidly advancing through the desert towards deir al—zour, the largest city in eastern syria. so—called islamic state controls half of the city, and much of the surrounding, oil—rich province. these pictures from syrian state tv show burnt—out tanks abandoned by is, some 20 kilometres from deir al—zour. a syrian army reporter says this village has been liberated. and, as troops continue the advance, they cut off is supply routes. deir al—zour borders iraq, and is is‘s last major stronghold in syria, with the group's de facto capital of raqqa under siege. an estimated 93,000 civilians

are living in a government enclave in deir al—zour, dependent on air drops of food and medicine from the un and military. syria's six—year civil war has left more than 300,000 dead. this is what is left of raqqa, after fierce fighting. speaking last week, the un said conditions in both cities are extremely difficult for trapped civilians. there needs to be a way of getting them out. those who want to flee need to be able to do so in safety. secondly, what we're saying is everything then has to be done, in accordance with international law, to protect the civilians who remain. the syrian army, backed by russian airstrikes, says it has reached the edge of deir al—zour. the loss of the city will leave is with only a handful of isolated outposts in syria. sarah corker, bbc news. coming up at 6 o'clock on breakfast

— dan walker and louise minchin will have all the day's news, business and sport. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the us has accused north korea of begging for war. in response to pyongyang's latest nuclear test, the american ambassador to the un urged the security council to adopt the strongest possible measures in response. she's set to circulate the draft of a new sanctions resolution later. a state of emergency has been declared in florida in the face of hurricane irma, now a category four storm and bearing down on the eastern caribbean. it's likely to hit several islands early on wednesday. now, it is time for our news review. let's ta ke

let's take a look through the morning front pages. we begin with the independent and united states who has accused north korea of "begging for war" after its latest nuclear test, urging the un security council to impose the toughest sanctions possible on pyongyang. the south china morning post carries a warning to north korea from china not to launch another ballistic missile, saying it should not continue to worsen tensions on the korean peninsula. the guardian looks at bell pottinger, one of the uk's leading public relations agencies, which has been expelled from the industry's trade associations after an investigation uncovered a secret campaign to stir up racial tensions in south africa, considered one of the worst breach of ethics in its history. the business independent says activity among britain's builders slumped to its lowest point this year in august as firms delay projects

in the run—up to brexit. and finally, on front of the telegraph, we have the smiling couple the duke and duchess of cambridge who have announced they're expecting their third child. the queen and both families are said to be "delighted with the news." the more the merrier, don't they say. so let's begin. with me is stuart thomson who's head of public affairs at pr agency bircham dyson bell. we will get onto royal family shortly, but we have to start with north korea. we have