this is bbc world news, i'm kasia madera. our top stories: hurricane irma is lashing caribbean islands, as it continues its path of destruction. in barbuda, a mass evacuation is under way before the next storm arrives, as despair sets in. we're not coping. we're definitely not coping. everybody will tell you the same — they're not coping. everyone is in the same situation. the hurricane is heading towards florida, where officials are warning this could be the most catastrophic storm the state has ever seen. and the strongest earthquake in a century strikes off the southern coast of mexico. at least 58 people have been killed, and the damage is widespread. as the un warns of an unprecedented refugee crisis in myanmar, our correspondent has found evidence in rakhine of the operation to drive out rohingya muslims. what we have seen here tells us a very different story, a story of ethnic cleansing, driving muslims

out of this part of myanmar. also in the programme: at a huge, open—air ceremony, the pope beatifies two colombian priests killed during the conflict with farc rebels. hello and welcome to bbc world news. hurricane irma has torn across the caribbean, leaving death and destruction in its wake. so far, at least 20 people have been killed and more than a million people affected. the massive storm, one of the most powerful atlantic hurricanes ever recorded, is still passing through the caribbean, and is forecast to hit the united states on saturday night. and there is another hurricane coming up behind irma in the atlantic. jose has strengthened to a category four, with driving winds of 200km/h, that is 125mph, and forecasters warn it could strengthen still further. our correspondent laura bicker is the first foreign journalist

to reach barbuda, already devastated by irma. islanders there are racing to evacuate to neighbouring antigua beforejose makes landfall. this is her report. the island of barbuda was once a caribbean paradise. now, it is lost. hurricane irma has reduced it to rubble. homes are unrecognisable. the ruins lie scattered, torn, and ripped apart. having survived the worst storm in living memory, and knowing another is on the way, people are exhausted, hungry, and just desperate to leave. i don't know. i'm just waiting to get evacuated from here, and then i'm going to come back and try and salvage something, and help. i don't know. my whole life is here, so...

we're not coping, we are definitely not coping. everybody will tell you the same — they're not coping. everyone is in the same situation, and nobody can help one another. the core of the hurricane carved a cruel and deadly path through these streets. a two—year—old died, drowned as her mother tried to move her to safer ground. but, incredibly, the rest of the people on this island survived the storm's wrath. don't worry, we're going to get you off the island, and we're going to get you to safety, and you'll be taken care of. the prime minister has travelled from neighbouring antigua to provide some reassurance. be patient, we're going to get you all off the island very soon. he knows this is a race against time before hurricanejose arrives, in just a few hours. we heard him haggling for every boat, helicopter or plane, to help with the evacuation. can it land here, though? but fear starts to spread that not

everyone will get out in time. don't worry. this woman has just been told she doesn't have a place on the next boat. the sheer, horrifying scale of the devastation here means that barely a building is salvageable. that means that the whole island will have to be rebuilt, and the government has already admitted it simply doesn't have the money. the hope is that the funds will come from somewhere. we're hoping that, you know, friendly governments and international partners will step up to the plate and assist us. they should not see this as a form of, let's say, the prime minister and the people of antigua and barbuda coming with a begging bowl, cap in hand. this is a disaster, a national disaster. the fragments of people's lives now lie in ruins. they can only hope that, one day, they will once again call this island home. but for now, they must leave by any means possible, including this towed barge, and they don't know when they will return. laura bicker, bbc news, barbuda. there has been criticism both here in the uk and in the caribbean

of the british government's response to the hurricane. three raf aid flights are being sent to provide relief to the british overseas territories. a ship from the royal fleet auxiliary is on its way to the british virgin islands, where a state of emergency has been declared. irma is lashing cuba and the southern bahamas, as it heads towards florida. nick bryant reports from nassau, the capital of the bahamas. the turks and caicos, where the palm trees that usually attract people to these islands reeled under the violent onslaught of hurricane irma. a storm people here had been tracking through satellite images, a monster hurricane that looked terrifying from space. now, a horrifying, on—the—ground reality. picture—postcard holiday destinations like the british virgin islands, pummelled by 160mph winds. this uk territory has now declared a state of emergency. the bahamas are starting to be blasted, the only sightseeing this

morning, from the relative safety of the balcony, watching the approaching storm. old imperial buildings that have stood for centuries in this former british colony are braced, shuttered, prepared for the worst. elton smith had onlyjust finished rebuilding his business from the last hurricane that caused such devastation, less than a year ago. this is one of the worst storms in living memory. so, you know, you've got to get as much together as you can, and plan for the worst, hope for the best. there are five low—lying islands in the archipelago, which the authorities are particularly concerned about, which is why the government here has ordered the biggest evacuation in the history of the bahamas. but there are fears already for people who have stayed behind, people who have defied those evacuation orders, people who believe they can ride out this storm. in hurricane—hit st martin, this natural disaster has been

exacerbated by the man—made problem of looting, which is why, in the dutch part of this territory, the streets are being patrolled by troops, who could be helping the relief operation. as for britain, it has stepped up its aid effort, following criticism it has been slow to respond. raf planes carrying equipment are now on their way, and the government says it is planning for the longer—term. what will be the reconstruction needs for these islands in the future? what support will they need, and what can we give? and we remain committed to ensure that that long—term work is done, and that reconstruction work is done, and we provide the support necessary. so far, it is small caribbean islands like st martin that are being hit, by winds with the power to hurl containers through the air. but, all the time, irma is barrelling towards the american mainland, threatening destruction on a much larger scale. nick bryant, bbc news, the bahamas. florida's government has warned the state's 20 million residents to prepare to evacuate.

about 500,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes, and the highways out of the state are clogged with cars. 0ur correspondent aleem maqbool reports from miami. they are now calling this one of the biggest mass evacuations in american history. the roads heading out of southern florida are clogged, fuel in short supply. today is the day to do the right thing for your family and get inland for safety. this storm is wider than our entire state, and is expected to cause major and life—threatening impacts from coast to coast. at miami's airport, people scramble for the last chance to get out by air. in one corner, we find a couple from liverpool. luke decided to bring megan here as a surprise. now, they are preparing to weather the storm of a lifetime. we spent two days trying to get out of here, so we've just sort of given up on the idea of getting out of here.

our plan is to just wait in the airport until sunday, ‘cause they‘ re adamant that our flight‘s leaving on sunday. but ijust can't really see that happening. but i think it's more the inconvenience of being here and not knowing when you're going home, what's happening. i feel like the airport's quite a safe building to be in. the area they had been staying in, normally packed with tourists, is in the evacuation zone, and has been all but abandoned. well, just extraordinary to see miami's iconic south beach as deserted as this. but it is an indication ofjust how seriously people here are taking the warnings, particularly having seen the type of destruction that has been wrought by this hurricane already. if they are coming here, it is to fill pillowcases with sand, to barricade their homes before irma hits. donald trump himself will be affected. his florida resort, mar—a—lago, has been forced to close, and is in the projected path of the storm.

the national guard has been deployed here. they are stockpiling commodities that could become scarce in the coming days, like drinking water. but they are also preparing for what is likely to be a massive rescue operation. right across this state, there is a sense that time is running out to protect property and lives. there is much more coverage of hurricane irma on our website, including a look at how dangerous irma is compared to other superstorms which have caused havoc in the region in previous decades. just log on to bbc.com/news. and, as if the destruction in the caribbean wasn't bad enough, an earthquake has hit mexico. it is being described as the worst there in a century. at least 58 people have been killed, and that figure is set to rise still further. it had a magnitude of 8.1, and struckjust off the pacific coast to the south of the country. buildings shook in the capital,

mexico city, hundreds of miles away. the tremor is reported to have lasted about a minute. sophie long reports. daylight revealed the destruction the most powerful quake to hit mexico in decades had delivered. in less than a minute, yucatan‘s town hall was reduced to rubble. at least 17 of its citizens were killed. translation: it was all horrific. everything collapsed, everything. the truth — i have no words to explain what happened. look at my home, everything is destroyed. this is the moment it hit a bowling alley in chiapas, the closest state to the quake‘s at epicentre. 600 miles away, the tremors rocked mexico city. as people pick through the remnants of their lives, there are fears that there could be more strong aftershocks to come. translation: so far,

there have been 65 aftershocks. the strongest was magnitude 6.1. however, it's possible that, over the next 2a hours, we could see a shock that's as strong as the earthquake. this is a country used to earthquakes, but not of this magnitude. it has left families devastated, and infrastructure destroyed. sophie long, bbc news. more now on our main news this hour, and in particular the preparations being made in florida. my colleague jane 0'brien is in miami, and we asked her to find someone who is planning on staying in the city, despite the imminent arrival of irma. well, here in florida, of course, the focus is firmly on hurricane irma, which is why the governor of florida has told people to simply get out. but a lot of people we have been talking to have said, well,

where do we go? because this is now a storm that is bigger than the state itself. roads are clogged, hotels are booked up, and although the storm is expected to really make la ndfall the storm is expected to really make landfall and be as strong as it will be on sunday, i am speaking to christian folland and christian. you two completely mad ? christian folland and christian. you two completely mad? maybe, i guess that will be determined. the just a little, just a little. but we also don't have a choice. we have rental properties that we manage, we have tenants that we care about, and after the storm we have to be there to help boarded—up windows and fixed route and things like that. aren't you scared? not really, and we were here through wilma, so we have some idea of what the impact is going to be. at this is a song that is so much bigger. i think the devastation is going to be enormous. so we are going to do everything we can to be safe, and then try to help out tenants to be safe as well. describe the scene here. because i have witnessed a

city that has been slowly shutting down. the airport closed shortly after we arrived. there are hardly any cars on the street. you live here, what would normally be like? normally on a day like this you would properly have several thousand people on the beach. there would be people on the beach. there would be people in the water, there would be voters out in the water. there might be somejetskis. there voters out in the water. there might be some jetskis. there would be music playing. literally thousands of people past year, even as we are talking. i don't think we have ever seen talking. i don't think we have ever seen the beach this empty, and normally there are concessions, they have the boxes here for the chairs. we have never seen... have the boxes here for the chairs. we have never seen... i mean, the beach looks beautiful this clear, but this is something we have never seen. but this is something we have never seen. it certainly is beautiful. i mean, you need to take advantage of it while the going is good. but what are people telling you about the reasons they haven't left? because i think it is something like 10% of the people in this area have decided to stay put. well, just walking over here, we have a friend, she had a flight here, we have a friend, she had a flight booked out of miami airport to new york. that flight was cancelled. she was going to stay with friends in a hotel, and that hotel said no, we're not taking

anyone, we are evacuating. those same people decided to go to tamper for a hotel. so they booked a room, they went to tampa, and tampa is now evacuating, so they were told that their room there is cancelled. sounds pretty chaotic. would you rather be in a car, or would you rather be in a car, or would you rather be in your home in concrete? well, you have clearly pick the latter, so thank you forjoining me, and good luck. jane 0'brien, speaking to miami residents candice and christian folland, on an unusually deserted miami beach. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: we will hear from an unusually deserted miami beach, ahead of the arrival of hurricane irma. freedom itself was attacked this morning, and freedom will be defended. the united states will hunt down and punish those responsible. bishop tutu now becomes spiritual leader of 100,000 anglicans here — of the blacks in soweto township, as well as the whites, in their rich suburbs.

we say to you today, in a loud and a clear voice, enough of blood and tears — enough! translation: the difficult decision we reached together was one that required great and exceptional courage. it's an exodus of up to 60,000 people, caused by the uneven pace of political change in eastern europe. iam free! this is bbc news. the latest headlines: at least 20 people have been killed by hurricane irma, with one organisation claiming that more than a million people have been affected by the storm damage. the governor of florida has warned

all 20 milion of his state's inhabitants that they need to be ready to evacuate ahead of the arrival of hurricane irma. the united nations is warning of an "unprecedented" refugee crisis in myanmar. it says more than 250,000 people have fled the country in recent days. it's a dramatic increase on previous estimates. the refugees from the country's muslim rohingya minority are fleeing an army crackdown against insurgents in rakhine state. the un says 270,000 people have crossed into bangladesh in just a fortnight. many of them accuse myanmar‘s army of indiscriminate atrocities. myanmar denies the claims and says militants are behind the violence. 0ur correspondentjonathan head reports from the north of rakhine province, where he's seen evidence of the operation to drive rohingya muslims from their homes. this is northern rakhine state, two weeks after attacks by rohingya militants provoked a ferocious

backlash from the army and local buddhists. muslim villages are still being razed to the ground, their inhabitants driven in vast numbers over into bangladesh. these are scenes i was not supposed to see. i'd been invited on a government—run tour of the troubled area for journalists. we could only see places the government approved of. even so, the devastation we witnessed was staggering. village after village, destroyed or deserted. entire communities reduced to ashes. the military officer in charge of border security told us that it is the muslim terrorists, as he calls the rohingya militants, who are burning down the villages to force the people away and to block the security forces.

of all the villages that have been burnt down, have they all been burnt down by muslim militants? is that what we are saying, all of them, 100%? but why, then, is this town still smouldering, two weeks after it was first attacked and days after its muslim inhabitants had left? why could we see more smoke rising ominously in the distance? we were taken to a rakhine buddhist village. hatred and fear of muslims is intense here, all the more so since some took up arms. like the government, they don't accept that rohingyas, bengalis, they call them, belong in myanmar. we don't like, never liked bengali people. they say rohingya. it's not rohingya. they lie. bengali, they lie. this is my mother land, my father land, not bengali land. this is the result of that hatred.

by chance, we spotted a fire close to the road, which had just been started. it was a muslim village called goduthaya. the roof of the madrassa had just been set alight. islamic school books were strewn across the path. this happened within walking distance of a large police barracks. we've just arrived at this village, and, as you can see from these fires, they've onlyjust been lit. in fact, we bumped into the people who almost certainly lit them, carrying machetes, not wanting to talk. but one did admit, yes, they set these buildings alight with the help of the police. they are ethnic rakhine. this was a muslim village. the government has claimed that all of the village destruction is at the hands of muslim militants and rohingya inhabitants. what we've seen here tells us a very different story, a story of ethnic cleansing, of driving muslims out of this part of myanmar. we still don't know the fate

of the people who once lived here, who left many of their possessions behind. they may be in bangladesh, or still trapped in a country that doesn't want them. it seems certain, though, that they are never coming home. jonathan head, bbc news, northern rakhine state. pope francis has spent the second day of his visit to colombia in the city of villavicencio, the epicentre of a civil war that tore the country apart for overfive decades. he met both victims and ex—combata nts, carrying a message of peace and reconcilliation that was welcomed by both. from there, our south america correspondent katy watson sent this report. the epicentre of the cemetery tells the story of the country's conflict. more than 50 years of disappearances, murders and separation. when virginia was six,

her mother went to fight with the farq. she says she was made to and she has given up seeing her again, but not her dad who disappeared 13 yea rs but not her dad who disappeared 13 years later. in among the tombs are unnamed graves, victims of the conflict. but even this would ring closure to virginia. she is mystic about a peace process, she might find out what happened to her father. i would love to come here with a flower, she says. to have a plaque with his name on, a place where i could spend time. i want him to be alive more than anything, but this at least would be something. virginia hughes one of hundreds of victims meeting the pope. there is a lot of expectation that he can help heal wounds here. the latin american

pontiff is well loved on his home turf. the crowd is excited about welcoming a pope to colombia for the first time in more than 30 years. the pope decided to come to villavicencio because it is seen as the epicentre of the violence the country suffered from more than five decades. the younger generation doesn't know any different. people here want to rebuild and move forward. the pope warned that the peace process in colombia would fail if people didn't see —— seek reconciliation. this came as the fa rq reconciliation. this came as the farq leader wrote a letter to the pope asking for forgiveness. chuan i’u ns pope asking for forgiveness. chuan runs a beauty business now and a few yea rs runs a beauty business now and a few years ago she too was part of the farq. and her sister signed up she said she had little choice but to join too to protect her. translation: they killed my two sisters. she tells me this when i

ask about divisions in the country. i'm a victim but also a perpetrator. imean i'm a victim but also a perpetrator. i mean both camps. she says she wa nts i mean both camps. she says she wants the pope to bring a message of peace, so there's less judgement and more understanding about people who use the big gorillas or paramilitaries. the use the big gorillas or pa ramilitaries. the pope's use the big gorillas or paramilitaries. the pope's words resonate with the millions of colombians tied to the conflict, but once he's gone it is action that is needed. it will be a long road to lasting peace here. the pope is there for the next few days. now, here's an example of sports people keeping cool under pressure. these pictures were taken earlier this week at a golf course near north bonneville, in washington state. you can see that huge wildfire raging in the background, but it doesn't seem to be worrying the golfers. the flames in eagle creek had forced hundreds of people living nearby to evacuate their homes. but it seems the golfers weren't prepared to let a few flames, a bit of smoke and a tangible risk to life and limb to put them off their round.

if you'd like to let me know what you think of that story and all of our stories you can let me know on social media. i'm on twitter. the weather is set to remain in a pretty unsettled theme through this weekend, all thanks to low pressure nearby. this is the picture as we start the weekend. low pressure across the north sea. tightly packed isobars across western parts of the uk, meaning quite windy, even first thing saturday morning. most showers will affect western coastal areas. further east the lengthy dry in the —— interludes. 0n the cool side, 10-11 in —— interludes. 0n the cool side, 10—11 in towns. lower than that in through areas. we start saturday on a fine note for some, with sunshine. plenty of showers in northern and

western scotland and towards northern ireland. those showers affecting the north—west of england, northern and western wales and the south—west of england. the midlands eastwards will start dry, with sunshine. temperatures around 12— 13 degrees at 9am in the morning. not long until showers across western areas begin to migrate eastwards through the day. across central, southern and eastern areas, some could be heavy, with hail and thunder mixed in. further west the showers are blown in quicker on a strong breeze. if anything conditions settle down in scotland, especially through the central belt. y is, 16- 19. -- especially through the central belt. y is, 16— 19. —— temperature wise. not bad in the sunshine. through saturday night it turns drier with lengthy clear spells, but it will be chilly. another system makes inroads across scotland, northern ireland

initially, with strengthening winds. central, southern and eastern areas starting chilly, with mist and fog around. that will clear. then an increasing breeze, outbreaks of wind, begins to push eastwards. it doesn't really reached the far south—east until after dark. conditions go downhill through the day. this weekend it really will feel quite cool for the time of year. windy too and there will be some rain and showers. the on the weekend, it stays unsettled. this is the area of low pressure which will move through. it will still be with us on move through. it will still be with us on monday. tightly packed isobars mean it will be gale force winds across the south—west. dainty of showers rattling through —— plenty. there will be sunshine in between, though it will still remain on the cool side. this is bbc news. the headlines: hurricane irma is continuing to cause devastation

across the caribbean, as some islands are bracing themselves for another powerful storm. strong winds and bad weather are hampering relief efforts. irma is now heading towards florida. there are long queues outside supermarkets and fuel stations, and tailbacks on roads. the state's governor has warned that all 20 million inhabitants should be prepared to evacuate. at least 58 people have died after a magnitude—8.2 earthquake struck off the pacific coast of mexico. the tremor was felt hundreds of miles away in mexico city. the united nations says more than 270,000 rohingya muslims have fled their homes in myanmar to seek refuge in bangladesh. a un spokesman says as many as 1,000 rohingya may have been killed by myanmar forces. now on bbc news, it is time for inside out: terror by text. hello, i'm sean fletcher.

welcome to a new series of inside out.