rohini this is bbc news. the headlines at ham. hurricane irma strengthened again, pounding cuba with wings more than 150 mph. next in harm ‘s way is florida where more than 5 million people have been told to leave their homes. we care about your safety, you've got to get prepared, if you are in an evacuation zone, get out 110w. are in an evacuation zone, get out now. mexico declares a day of national mourning after the most deadly earthquake in 50 years kills more than 60 people. also in the next hour, almost 300,00 rohingya muslims have now fled myanmar. the un calls for urgent action and warns of an unprecedented refugee crisis. and the manchester arena reopens tonight with a benefit concert, more than three months after the terrorist attack which killed 22 people. good morning and

welcome to bbc news. hurricane irma is continuing to sweep its way across the caribbean, en route to the us coast, leaving a path of devastation. cuba is the latest island to be hit. the category five storm made landfall off the north—eastern coast overnight bringing strong winds and heavy rain. communities have lost power and communication is becoming increasingly difficult in more remote areas. the bahamas have largely been spared after the storm changed course. this is irma's trajectory. it's expected to make landfall with us coast tomorrow, before heading inland. in florida, more than five million people, a quarter of its population, have been told to evacuate. and there's another hurricane coming. jose has strengthened to a category four, driving winds

of 125 miles an hour, and forecasters warn it could strengthen still further. jane o'brien reports from florida, were preparations are well under way. clouds gather over miami's south beach, all but deserted, as irma lurks on the horizon. millions of people have been asked to evacuate. irma has already devastated parts of the caribbean. barbuda is an island in survival mode, and now bracing for hurricanejose. 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... in florida, those images are a stark warning of what may come. miami is putting up shutters and preparing for the worst. these people on the beach are really the few diehards who, for one reason or another, have decided to stay put and wait out the storm. and even if they wanted to leave, at this point, quite frankly, it is probably too late.

even those who planned ahead found themselves caught, as airports closed, roads backed up, and hotels ran out of rooms. we care about your safety. you've got to get prepared. if you're in an evacuation zone, you need to get out now, and get either to a friend, a family, a hotel, a shelter. but get where you need to go, and do not wait. this is a storm not seen in a generation, since hurricane andrew laid waste to the state 25 years ago. irma is bigger, and unpredictable. different projections show various paths, but all life—threatening. on sunday, its full impact will be felt. jane o'brien, bbc news, miami. let's cross to miami in florida and cbs correspondent meg oliver. it's still relatively milder here in

miami, there are some light breezes but nothing out of the ordinary. off the coast, it's a much different story. as you know, hurricane, —— harry kane irma hit cuba, before it is advancing towards the florida keys. everybody is being told to hunker down, today is not the data be on the and evacuate. authorities wa nt be on the and evacuate. authorities want people in shelters or safe places. the big fear after this storm hits is losing power. it's estimated that more than nine people would be in the dark for weeks. talking of this being one of only three storms in the last 150 years to reach category five to hit the united states, all of the prep period —— preparations and the experience that florida has, it's not going to be enough to prepare

people for what they are likely to experience? it's hard to imagine, the director of fema says he can guarantee that no one in florida has experienced anything like irma. even the police officers have been ordered to evacuate the florida keys which left them in shock, they have been spending days helping other people evacuate, and they were left frazzled because they have not spent much time preparing for themselves. they had to leave the keys yesterday as well. everybody that i have talks to, some people feel safe, they are hunkered down in their homes, they are boarded up, one person told me he feels like he's living in a bunker, but they've never been to anything if this magnitude. hurricane andrew came through here and the devastating but this was so much bigger and faster and stronger. a helicopter has air—lifted six dolphins to safety from an aquarium in cuba threatened by the approach of hurricane irma. wrapped in moist towels, the six male dolphins were placed

on foam mattresses in a helicopter and, along with their trainers, they were flown away from the storm's path. the dolphins are being kept in a pool but if the weather gets worse, they'll be moved to a salt water pool at a hotel. tourists fleeing the caribbean are arriving at gatwick airport this morning. our correspondent adina campbell is there. dozens of flights from the caribbean and florida have already arrived here at gatwick, and many more are expected throughout the day. it's as thousands of british holiday—makers are being told to follow evacuation orders as a result of hurricane irma. and many now face big disruption and to their travel arrangements. in terms of travel advice, the british association of travel agent is advising anyone on a package holiday did check with their airline ortour package holiday did check with their airline or tour operator, keep up—to—date with ongoing news report and keep in touch with the local authorities. and the same advice

goes for anyone travelling independently. some travel companies are offering travel waivers and free moments to cancellations and bookings. and the foreign office has also set up a hotline for those affected by hurricane irma which friends and families can also contact as well, that is 0207 008800. the experiences of some of the travellers coming back from the caribbean this morning having flown back overnight. let me bring you some breaking news from the national hurricane centre, the us government federal agency which monitors activities, they have got a full—timejob activities, they have got a full—time job with three hurricanes in quick succession in that part of the state. there are now saying that irma has been downgraded to category four hurricane, as a result of a slight lowering of wind speed. doesn't mean anything is over, that

is still very serious. but it's not as bad as it was costing originally. the winds have fallen to 155 mph, only two miles per hour lower than the threshold for category five. every possibility that it will go up against the category five, that's what overnight happened when it hit cuba. at the moment it's being treated as a category four hurricane. 155 miles an hour winds, as opposed to 157. if that changes, we will bring it to you. mexico's president has declared a day of national mourning after a powerful earthquake killed more than 60 people. more than half of them in a single state. andrew plant reports. almost 2a hours after the earthquake, rescue operations are still under way because one person is still missing. it is a policeman

that works in the city. part of this 19th—century building collapsed. this was the most affected place by the most powerful earthquake to hit the most powerful earthquake to hit the country in almost a century and it was also the biggest experience anywhere this year. a few seconds well enough to leave behind a trail of destruction —— when enough, —— we re of destruction —— when enough, —— were enough. this is a tragedy in one of the poorest parts of mexico and many people are grieving not only over the deaths of their relatives, friends and neighbours, but they're also deeply distressed by the of their hometown and concerned about their own immediate future. they simply don't know where they're going to live. hundreds of thousands of muslim people fleeing violence in myanmar say the country's military has been burning their villages

to the ground. the united nations now believes almost 300,000 rohingya refugees have crossed the border to bangladesh, creating a humanitarian crisis on an epic scale. our south asia correspondent, justin rowlatt, followed one family for a day to see how its coping. roshida is nine months pregnant. her baby is due any day. she is just one of the hundreds of thousands of rohingya muslims reckoned to have fled myanmar into bangladesh. they say the army and radical buddhists attacked their villages. translation: they came at 2am. they set fire to our houses and started shooting. that's when we fled. i walked for seven days to get here. it has been so hard, but we had to escape. but roshida and her unborn child's ordeal is far from over.

guards tell them they have to move on. they say there is land they can stay on over hill. but there isn't enough for everyone. so it is really chaotic here. the forest guards told everybody to come into this little area of land. everybody is desperately trying to stake out a plot before it gets dark and also before it begins to rain. there is no drainage, no water, no aid agencies handing out food, no one, even, to help sort out the squabbles. roshida's husband and father tried to claim some land,

but other refugees take it. translation: i've taken this land, but they are saying that i had to move. they say they want a plot here, so they won't let me make a shelter. so, despite being heavily pregnant, roshida and her entire family will now have to sleep out in the open. translation: we were building a house, but a woman broke it. she had a knife. i don't feel well. i am feeling sick. ijust need somewhere to stay. the family only have a plastic sheet to to cover them. justin rowlatt, bbc news. let's return to hurricane irma.

there are other hurricanes expected to hit florida. louise, give us a sense of how the momentum of this storm is building. it still continues, irma. she really is quite relentless. if we look at what has happened overnight, she moved into a westerly, north—westerly direction and moved across cuba during the early hours of the morning. it's moving across the archipelago area and is starting to whip up at the moment so in fact it has weakened as it has moved across the archipelago and we're expecting it to. the other storm, jose, is not as big but it's still pretty intense and is moving towards the leeward islands as we speak. it might hit bermuda but not

as extreme as it has been. it is going to move north and we're expecting it to weaken but irma really does still mean business and she is going to move towards florida over the next ten hours or so. wait mac what is it trajectory you expecting? it has weakened just a touch, not by much, its category four, but it's moving at about ten miles an hourand four, but it's moving at about ten miles an hour and a 90 miles between cuba and florida quay. moving for warm waters means it could and may well intensify again. whether it is a category for mac or five —— category four or five, it has slowed a little and it looks as though the

location of that moving across the west coast of florida so over the next 2a hours it is going to make landfall. it will push north and we turn off, but the extent of rain that we are talking about and a huge storm surge is going to cause issues as far as carolina. this is what we know about it for the next 2a hours, the track could change. we need to keep an eye on it as it moves north across warmer waters. the sustained winds at the moment because it's a category four, 155 miles an hour, a torrential storm surge, so it's going to be a problem. jose heading further north, any rain storms they get at the moment is not welcome views but it does look as though it is potentially on the same track as irma was a few days ago. wait mac

fascinating but alarming stuff and i know you and your colleagues will keep us up to date. hurricane irma strengthens pounding cuba with winds of more than 155 miles an hour. more than 5.5 million people have been told to leave their homes. mexico declares a day of national mourning after the most deadly earthquake it has experienced in 80 yea rs kills earthquake it has experienced in 80 years kills more than 60 people. the manchester arena reopens tonight, just over three months after the terrorist attack there which killed 22 people. extra security measures will be in place for the we are manchester benefit concert. headlining the event will be noel gallagher and his band, alongside acts courteeners and rick astley. we can speak now to kate sweeting who's in manchester. live. kate, a big night tonight. kate, a big night tonightm

kate, a big night tonight. it is and mixed emotions because it isjust over 100 days since a suicide bomber detonated a device amongst crowds who were leaving and arianna grandi concertina manchester arena. —— concertina manchester arena. —— concert here at manchester arena. the youngest to be killed was just eight years old and many were paid who are collecting their children but tonight is about celebrating manchester and remembering those victims. the bands that are playing from the city ignored gallagher, rick astley —— noel gallagher. those who are at the concert when the bomb went off, it is about trying to replace the horrific memories of something more positive and some of the families have been here visiting the families have been here visiting the arena, senior refurbished to help them come to terms with what has happened. james allen is from the arena. i think it's going to be

emotional for everybody. not only will we have our staff here, we will also have people that read heard on the night that have bought a ticket and came back. i think this is emotional for the whole of manchester. what we are hoping to do is give people confidence to come back to the arena not just tomorrow night but going forward and finding that they will have a safe environment to come into and we're asking people to bring us little stuff with them because the security process will be different to how it has done before. there will be extra security measures, extra checks, backpacks will not be allowed, only small handbags will be allowed and there will be trauma units on site for people to get help, anyone who is struggling, but this is about celebrating manchester, the solidarity of this city and showing that manchester arena is very much open for business. let's return to the main story of

the day, of the weekend and several days to come, hurricane irma heading towards florida. florida are making preparations of course of what is expected to be 25% of its population, big traffic jams, problems with the airports being shut and the difficulty of getting out. let's go live to florida. you staying put by choice or because it is impossible to get out? at this point in time it's impossible to get out. we've had the first few bands of this. we decided to stay by choice. there was a mandatory evacuation but with the projected path up until yesterday, are house and where we are, we thought that we

could withstand it is now the path has changed so here for the ride. it's not going to be pretty, we're probably going to equate a bit of damage. our house is ten feet up in the airand it damage. our house is ten feet up in the air and it was built after hurricane andrew. with all the devastation that had, we feel confident. wait mac that was 25 yea rs confident. wait mac that was 25 years ago in 1992. but you will have been glued to the weather news as much as we have here. it isa it is a terrifying prospect even for people as hardened to storms as you

add in florida. it is, but right now we're keeping the faith and hoping for the best. what preparations have you made? we have three generators, gas, freezers full of food, £2000 of ice, we have everything secured down as best we can and the house was built to withstand 175 as best we can and the house was built to withstand175 mph winds and we are ten feet high in the air. wait mac so you're confident that if anywhere it is safe or comparatively safe, it's where you are right now. i think safe, it's where you are right now. ithink so, safe, it's where you are right now. i think so, plus we have five animals, three dogs and two cats and that's not always easy to travel

with. it's a pleasure to speak to you, thanks so much. i hope will be able to talk to you may be in a day or so when things have calmed down to see how you got on. yes, it looks like we should be over the worst pa rt by like we should be over the worst part by monday morning so you can call me back if you like. wait mac we will do our best and we will be thinking of you in the meantime. thank you for talking to us. you can keep up—to—date with developments on the categorisation of the storm on the bbc news website. sport now and a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. good morning. it didn't take england's jimmy anderson to get another wicket today, to add to his record breaking total of test wickets for his country, as england try to restrict the west indies lead in the final and deciding test. four balls, that's all it took forjames anderson to strike a huge blow. roston chase is the man to go,

giving a simple chance to wicketkeeperjonny bairstow. west indies would have wanted some solidity first thing, instead england might be one step closer to a three—day win. the latest is 96 for four. a lead of 27. both manchester city and liverpool will have the chance to move to the top of the premier league table for a few hours at least when they meet in the day's early kick off. extra incentive might be the opportunity to move above rivals manchester united. liverpool managerjurgen klopp has decided to leave out brazilian forward philippe coutinho, who's returned to training following liverpool's refusal to allow him to move to barcelona. he could have played 15 or 20 minutes, but again in the city game, maybe longer, but i think really it makes sense and by the way he agreed completely. it was not that he said no, i don't need training, i want to play or whatever. it was a good conversation.

i play against a european club, jurgen klopp's team show me a lot and he is a top manager so the team is well organised to defend well and the conditions. when they regain the ball, they had amazing. strikerjodie taylor was named england's player of the year, at the football association's women's football awards yesterday. taylor finished euro 2017, as the tournament's golden boot winner with five goals, as england reached the semi finals. arsenal'sjordan nobbs won the wsl players‘ player of the year award. rafa nadal remains on course to win his 16th grand slam title after he reached the us open final, beating huan martin del potro, in their semi final overnight, at flushing meadows. nadal lost the first set before taking command and at one stage won nine games in a row, eventually taking the match in four sets. the spaniard will be aiming for a third us open crown

and his second major of the season having already won the french open. i played well. i am playing well almost the whole season. so today was the day to play well. it's the real thing. i was playing so—so at the beginning of the tournament and i have been playing better and better every day. and today was the day to play the best match of the tournament. nadal will meet south africa's kevin anderson in the final who reaches this stage of a grand slam for the very first time. he beat spain's pablo carreno busta in four sets at flushing meadows. now it's one of the steepest climbs in spain, and the angliru is all that stands between chris froome and a place in the history books. froome, hiding in the middle here, is hoping to become the first man in 39 years to win the vuelta a espana and tour de france in the same year, and with a lead of over 90 seconds, barring any mishaps today, it will be a victory parade into madrid tomorrow.

west indies needed for four in cricket. —— 98. that's all sport for now. now the weather. hello there. a detailed forecast for the weekend weather coming up, i just want to update you on what's happening with the hurricanes at the moment. this was the satellite picture through the night, irma made landfall across cuba, it's the first category five hurricane to make landfall since 1925. the eye looks likely to stay to the north of the island and at the same time, jose, a category four hurricane, at the moment, continues to push in a westerly direction. it will make a glancing blow to barbuda and then track off into the northwest where it's expected to weaken slightly. but irma will continue to move towards the shores of florida, expected to arrive in the florida keys by sunday lunchtime uk time. for us, we're still under the influence of this area of low—pressure, it's still pretty breezy along the westerly seacoast. that's going to drive

in some showers through the course of the day. they will become more widespread through the course of the afternoon across england and wales and things will quieten down a touch, perhaps for scotland and northern ireland into the afternoon. 14,17 degrees in the sunshine, a scattering of showers continue across england and wales, more widespread through central and south—eastern areas through the afternoon. heavy, slow moving with lighter winds in the south—east as well, maybe with some rumbles of thunder. top temperatures around 15 to 17 degrees. as we go to the latter stages of the day, the showers will gradually ease away. the winds will fall light, we'll see some patchy mist and fog forming, and perhaps it'll be a chilly start to sunday morning, particularly where in the rural spots, low single figures are not out of the question for one or two of us. into the far north—west, we'll see cloud and rain gathering, an area of low pressure moving in, which will bring some wet and windy weather into scotland. as the weather front pushes its way across england and wales, the band of rain with it will weaken off but behind, the gusty showers continue and windy with it.

so it's going to be a showery, windy scenario to the south—west, highest values once again of 18 degrees. now, on monday, there is little in the way of change. it stays windy with plenty of frequent blustery showers on and off throughout the day. 13—19 the overall high. and it looks as though this unsettled theme stays with us into the early half of the week as well, as we move towards tuesday, another area of low pressure could bring gales for a time and a spell of very wet weather as well. hello and welcome to dateline london, i'mjane hill. this week, as hurricane irma courses through the caribbean and us, to what extent is this the impact of climate change? we'll chew over the latest moves in the brexit talks. and we look at the diplomatic efforts to ease the north korea crisis. my guests this week are the chinese author and broadcaster diane wei ling.

john fisher burns, who was for many years chief correspondent for the new york times. the british political commentator steve richards. and the london editor of the french magazine marriane, agnes poirier. welcome to you all. thank you this sharing your day with us. irma, jose and katia. three devastating hurricanes have been tearing their way across the carribbean this week. at the time of our discussion there is a mass exodus from florida, where 25% of the state's population has been ordered to leave. are these storms are a result of climate change? agnes, can i start with you?