hello and welcome to bbc news. the most powerful storm to hit cuba in more than 80 years is moving slowly along the island's north coast, causing floods and widespread damage. the government has extended its maximum alert to more provinces, as well as havana. fierce winds from hurricane irma have ripped off rooftops, uprooted trees and torn down power lines. one million people, nearly a tenth of cuba's population, have been evacuated. our correspondent will grant is in havana with the latest on the situation. cubans had hoped they might avoid the worst of hurricane irma. they had no such luck. with the full force of a category 5 storm, the hurricane tore through the island's northern shore. the storm surge almost completely engulfing several small fishing villages. electricity and communication links are out across swathes of the country. as some communities along the coast are wondering how they will ever rebuild, others are bracing themselves for irma's impact. even in the big cities, people are getting nervous. translation: i'm really worried.

my home is not in a good state so i hope the hurricane stays away and moves out to sea. translation: it's one of the bigger storms we have ever seen so we have to get ready. as hurricane irma rumbles along the coast of cuba, even those places that were supposed to serve as safe havens, like the capital havana, are now under hurricane warning. and for the many thousands who are evacuated here, they're just hoping they still have homes to go back to. cuba was in the middle of a tourism boom when the storm struck and thousands of holidaymakers found themselves suddenly trapped in the biggest hurricane to hit cuba in 80 years. beyond those who've had the holidays ruined, this could also cut short cuba's efforts to rebuild its crippled economy. tourism has been the main economic motor of the island recently, this could set them back for many months. there's also been widespread damage

in the british virgin islands. laura bicker is in tortola. well, it's five people died here in the british virgin islands and you can see the devastation wrought by hurricane irma. as we flew in we saw homes that looked like they've been blasted away by the hurricane. they lie tattered and in ruins and scattered across the island, as do boats. you can see the effect of a 20 foot storm surge. there's boats scattered all across the island and when they've been moored together they've obviously crashed into one another and they're now in pieces. there is a massive effort now under way after criticism here of the british government's response to this crisis. i've been speaking to the royal engineers, who are here. they've been repairing this runway, that's been their first priority. and the reason for that is they need to get aid in and people out.

so now that they've done that they say they can try to re—establish communications. when it comes to other problems on the island, there have been reports of looting, especially in the east side of the island. now, i spoke to the deputy governor, he said he'd get things back under control but there is an appeal for calm and law and order to prevail. very difficult conditions for people to really deal with the aftermath of hurricane irma because they're all so worried about hurricanejose, which is on its way. the latest forecasts say that is skirting the island and heading north rather than being a direct impact, so that may bring some relief as they try to continue the recovery efforts. in the united states, southern parts of florida are already beginning to feel the effects of irma. governor rick scott said the southeast was already experiencing tropical storm force winds and that thousands of people were without electricity.

the bbc‘s aleem maqbool is in miami and sent this report. we got up and saw on the tv all the traffic backed up, they say it's backed up to atlanta. we said, we have waited too late to leave. so we stayed. i mean, we left everything, you know. our furniture. our apartment. but like i would say, material things, we can build them again. i think the most important is the family, you know? after days of talking, after all the warnings, it is now starting to feel real for the people of florida. the skies have darkened, the winds have picked up, and in the coming hours, people here expect to be in the firm grip of hurricane irma. nasa's recorded this spectacular footage of the eye of the hurricane and its massive cloud mass, all on a projected course for florida. there are many in florida who won't leave their homes like vince, preparing this house before the rains came. it's out of your hands, it's in mother nature's hands, you can't control it but what you can control is boarding

up, protecting it, having water, generators, gas. but thousands don't want to risk gambling with nature. they‘ re anxious, though, about the city they will emerge out into once irma has passed. aleem maqbool, bbc news, florida. relief work is under way in mexico after thursday's massive earthquake. at least 65 people have died and many more are afraid to return home after thousands of buildings were destroyed or damaged. more than half of the victims were in the southern state of wahaca and many others in neighbouring chiapas. i spoke to pressia arifin—cabo, deputy representative of unicef mexico, about the most pressing challenges they are facing. in the biggest challenge so far here is not the destruction but, particularly for the children and women, the trauma and the fear that the earthquake will return and they

will not be safe in their homes. just now we have visited some shelters where these children are and you could see that they were stressed. the space is cramped and hot, there are no play areas for them and they have requested unicef to help with support for the children and for school materials because they want the children to come back to school on monday. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: after a career spanning close to half a century, the bbc‘s veteran cricket commentator, henry blofeld, gives his final broadcast at lord's. let's get more now on hurricane irma as it bears down on florida

in the united states. bradley devlin has been hunkering down in preparation for the arrival of hurricane irma. he lives at lehigh acres near fort myers in florida and has an absolute house full! thanks forjoining us. this is because members of your family have effectively joined you on because members of your family have effectivelyjoined you on a slightly less exposed site? my mother, father and sister had to evacuate earlier this morning because the storm surge went into effect their area. how are you coping at the moment? certainly a 2—bedroom apartment? it's a bit small, we're on top of each other. i'll be on the couch, my mum and dad will be in my bedroom, my sister and nephew will be in my daughter's room. my daughter and her mother

world be in the other bedroom so it will be tight for the next two days. —— will be. as long as the lights stay on we shouldn't kill each other. what type of provisions have you got in? we've got about six cases of water, about four or five single gallons, and then we've got a pretty big five gallon jug full of water as well. we've got about two oi’ water as well. we've got about two or three totes full of canned food and nonperishable is and we also have a generator my father brought from this house —— nonperishables. you mentioned one or two days and you should be fine but in reality you should be fine but in reality you might have to stay a lot longer? that's always a possibility that we may end up being here for a wee court two depending on how bad the storm surges or could be. —— week or

two. we're florian is, we're strong, we know what we got into when we moved here —— we're florida jens. we'll just take this moved here —— we're florida jens. we'lljust take this out. you weren't tempted to take the advice of the governor and go? -- we're floridians. we considered it at the beginning of the week and the middle of the week and yesterday, but, you know, as time grew closer we kind of figured instead of being in traffic oi’ figured instead of being in traffic or in another state, possibly being stuck in another state for another couple of days all waiting another couple of days all waiting another couple of days all waiting another couple of weeks depending on how bad the damage is, we thought it was better to stay home, stock up and bunker everything up, boards on the doors, get the generator and the food and everything ready and wait it out and see what happens after. of course you're expecting it to be

at its peak in, what, anotherfew hours from now? i think the last update the peak was going to be around six or 7pm tomorrow night i think it was. we wish you all the best. thanks to you and your family and don't get on too many nerves now! no, i think and don't get on too many nerves now! no, ithink we'll be and don't get on too many nerves now! no, i think we'll be all right! thank you. thank you. thousands of people have attended the manchester arena tonight for its first event since the bomb attack which killed 22 people. among the acts playing at the benefit gig are noel gallagher's high flying birds and rick astley. our entertainment correspondent colin paterson reports. manchester arena, back, open for business. there is heightened security with armed police and after the show, a cordon will be in place around the arena. but that wasn't stopping those going in from having fun. even if many were experiencing mixed emotions. obviously there is, like, a little bit of scaredness but not

as much as excitement. it's the over—riding emotion of hope, just to show that the event's open again and what the terrorist did won't overcome us. we just want to come back to the opening and show that nothing's going to stop people from coming here. we're manchester and we're proud. and it's going to be a challenging evening for this family who bought tickets for tonight despite having been in the foyer when the terrorist bomb went off. scary, nervous, but we're going to enjoy it. we are here for the 22 people what died, we've got to make memories. they can't make memories any more, can they? no. inside, the first people to sit in these seats since the bomb exploded in may. before the concert, greater manchester's mayor read the names of the 22 victims. saffie rose, of megan, of courtney and philip, of wendy. and then the poet tony walsh started proceedings. always remember, never forget. to make sure that happens, the proceeds from tonight will go

towards a permanent memorial for those who died. this is bbc news, our top story this hour: hurricane irma is pummelling the northern coast of cuba, lashing towns and villages in its path with strong winds and heavy rain. the hurricane is also beginning to batter the us state of florida. the governor there says the southeast is already experiencing tropical storm force winds. joining me know from las vegas is jude holmes, co—ordinator and medic for the virgin islands search and rescue in the british virgin islands. let's start by saying what you know of the recovery effort there so far.

good night. the recovery effort is starting to get out and around the island. currently the rsa ship is deployed to tortola and it's in situ. we have reports the military planes landed this evening, bringing with them supplies and troops. of course there's a second ship on its way, how big a task are they facing? 0h way, how big a task are they facing? oh my god! i can't put into words how large the destruction has been across the bvi and everyone i know has been completely shocked and saddened by the level of destruction. there's barely a house standing, people are without shelter and now people asked i think you run out of food and water. what is the british virgin islands search and rescue british virgin islands search and rescu e tea m british virgin islands search and rescue team able to do? the virgin islands search and rescue is a

marine emergency service that provides emergency medical services and emergency transportation across the 16 islands of the virgin islands. at present while bayard operating emergency services, we have advanced medics and emergency co—ordinators and first responders on the island —— while they are not. we wa nt on the island —— while they are not. we want to be operational by monday. you're in las vegas, you caught the last evacuation plane out of british virgin islands, your husband is still there, how is he getting on and when did you last speak to him? he is still there. i heard this morning that he is safe. are not entirely sure of this whereabouts. considering everything —— i'm not. there are thousands of people unaccounted for to their friends and families so i consider myself lucky so families so i consider myself lucky so i'm glad i know paul is a life. today we spoke and he said the situation on the ground is

desperate. the islands are incredibly mountainous. they are sometimes rough terrain. we know it will take a couple of days for those populations to be reached with aid 0!’ populations to be reached with aid or to populations to be reached with aid orto climb and populations to be reached with aid or to climb and cut themselves out of the debris around them. with regard to what they're going to do —— you're going to do, speak to him as much as you can, but communications must be difficult? communication is incredibly difficult. i'd like to reassure friends and families of islanders back home that the cellphone networks are currently down. every effort is being made to restore the internet signal and the commune acacia and links, the internet signal is patchy but there are a couple of hotspots in tortola and other areas —— communication links. communication is hard. there's occasional words here and there. there's communication around the island occurring more with the use of the vhf radio but we're hoping with the military and the satellite

phones they are bringing that communication will get to those families desperately seeking news of their relatives. very important. jude hollands talking to us as a co—ordinator medic for the british virgin islands search and rescue team, thank you. rohingya insurgents in myanmar have declared a month—long ceasefire — from sunday — so that aid groups can help to ease a growing humanitarian crisis. large numbers of rohingya muslims have fled to neighbouring bangladesh because of fighting between the militants and police in myanmar. that ongoing violence has left hundreds of thousands of people hungry and traumatised. justin rowlatt reports on their continuing plight — from teknaf — close to the border. they fled persecution and now they are desperate, fighting just for a bag of rice. many refugees arrive with nothing. well—meaning bangladeshis arrive in trucks to hand out food but the refugees need much more than this. yesterday, we met rashida.

she is nine months pregnant. her baby is due any day. like most of the refugees, she says she escaped myanmar after the radical buddhists attacked her village. 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. guards moved her and herfamily onto some land but there isn't room for everyone. tempers were high. today we tried to find her to get some help. but there was no sign of rashida and herfamily.

after we left, the owner of this area told them, "if you want to stay here, you have to give money otherwise you have to go away." but how do you find someone in amongst all this chaos? as night falls, it begins to rain. beside the road is a family who crossed the border today. their baby girl is nine days old. she was born in the jungle on the way here. they too have nowhere to stay. if there is one thing, there is no shortage of here, it is misery. this mother and her baby are on their way to hospital. they will get some care tonight. rashida and tens of thousands of others will not be so lucky. let's get some more news from the uk now and here in london,

50,000 anti—brexit campaigners have marched on westminster to demand that britain stays in the european union. the rally — called the people's march for europe — carried the message "unite, rethink and reject brexit". on monday, mps are due to vote on the repeal bill for brexit. the new leader of the scottish labour party will be announced on november 18th. the contest was triggered by the resignation of kezia dugdale, last week. so far, two candidates have put themselves forward for leader, msp's anas sawar and richard leonard. archaeologists in egypt say they've discovered the tomb of a goldsmith that's more than 3000 years old. it was found in a burial site on the west bank of the nile, near the city of luxor. our middle east editor alan johnston has more. staring out of the past, remains from the world of ancient egypt. they lay here in the darkness, deep beneath the banks of the river nile for well over 3,000 years.

now they're emerging from their grave. every detail of their surroundings is being examined. and slowly, the story of this burial place and it's dead is becoming clearer. it's believed that this was the tomb of a goldsmith, and we even find an image of this man captured in the sculpture. he sits beside his wife, who is closed in traditional headwear, and a long dress. lower down, between their legs, is the outline of another figure, thought to be one of their sons. the archaeologists believe the goldsmith would have dedicated his work to the glorification of the god amun. along with the mummies and decorated cottons, the tomb has given up other bridges, including masks, jewellery and figurines. all now on show for the first time. and it's thought this place may have even more to offer, there are plans to keep searching

for other burial chambers. alan johnston, bbc news. tennis — and america's sloane stephens has won the us open in new york. she beat madison keys in straight sets — to pick up herfirst grand slam title. the bbc tim allman has more. six weeks ago, sloane stephens was 957th in the world rankings after nearly a year out with a foot injury. now she is the us open champion and a grandslam winner for the first time. but in truth, it wasn't all that much of a competition. her opponent, fellow american madison keys, never really got started. a series of unforced errors helping stephens to an early lead. the nerves were perhaps understandable.

neither player had reached a majorfinal before. their combined ranking the lowest in a us open final since rankings were introduced. either way, sloane stephens soon racked up the first set 6—3. she did occasionally have to work for it, producing flashes of brilliance her opponent had no answer for. and to be fair, madison keys did also set show some of the form that got her to this final but all those unforced errors meant it was too little, too late. applause the second set was a walkover. stephens winning in 6—0. cheering and applause she's the first american woman who isn't a member of the williams family to win a major title in 15 years. now she's won one, who knows,

maybe she'll make it a habit. england's cricketers beat the west indies by nine wickets to win the third test at lord's, and wrap up the series 2—1. jimmy anderson, who celebrated his 500—wicket landmark in this match — finished with new career—best figures of seven for a2. the bbc cricket commentator, henry blofeld, also made his final radio broadcast, bringing a career that lasted nearly half a century to a close. "blowers", as he's known to his many fans, has retired at the age of seventy—seven. he signed off to applause from around the ground at lord's in london, where england were playing the west indies. it is 88 for one. ten minutes to seven and that, ladies and gentlemen

is the end. you also you will miss me and! is the end. you also you will miss me and i will miss you all something dreadful. i must try not fall over when i hand to my next commentator. the cricket commentator henry blofeld in his final broadcast earlier on saturday. before we go, we'lljust show you with these pictures. in some parts of florida, last minute preparations for the arrival of hurricane irma include the corralling of pink flamingos. as you can see they're not easy to catch. at the miami zoo, officials have been busy making sure their nearly 3,000 animals are safely out of harm's way. most of the animals including these pink flamingos are being carefully moved to concrete holding areas ahead of the storm. a reminder of our top story.... the most powerful storm to hit cuba in more than eighty years is moving slowly along the island's north coast, causing floods

and widespread damage. the government has extended its maximum level of alert to more provinces, including havana. the storm has been downgraded to category three, but is expected to increase in power again as it heads towards the united states. the outer edge of hurricane irma is already hitting florida. the governor said the florida keys were being buffeted by winds of 200kmh. coming up shortly the headlines. first the weather with phil avery hello once again. thanks very much indeed forjoining me. the weekend started on a pretty showery note to say the very least across the british isles. even underneath the glorious skies here in derbyshire, the spots of rain on the camera belie the presence of the opportunity for showers. sure enough, wait long enough, and along they came. things have quietened down into the first part of sunday thanks to a little ridge of high pressure

just nosing its way in ahead of the next weather fronts coming in from the atlantic. so, a wet start across northern and western parts of scotland. so, too, northern ireland. ahead of that, underneath relatively clear skies, temperatures will have dipped away overnight and it will be a chilly start to sunday through east anglia and parts of the south—east and the countryside. we were looking at four, five, six degrees or so but with a bit of sunshine, a couple of hours of warmth, you will be back up to 12 or 13 degrees and a glorious start to the new day. further west, close to the weather front, more in the way of cloud. maybe the odd showery burst ahead of the main event, trailing its way down across the irish sea. ahead of it, a bit of cloud and rain across the greater part of scotland. the front will have got through northern ireland in the first part of the day and it is heading further east. here's a bit of advice. if you are taking part orjust watching the great north run, and many thousands do, crack on. because the rain will eventually catch up with you. if you linger on the course too long, here it comes. eventually getting across

the pennines in the early part of the afternoon. further south, it stays dry but increasingly cloudy across the greater part of east anglia and the south—east. following on behind the weather front, brightness coming into wales and the south—west but a great raft of showers for the greater part of scotland, northern ireland. wherever you're watching your premier league football through the afternoon on sunday, be prepared for a little bit of rain at the very least falling from the skies. eventually the weather front pushes on its way over towards the north sea, following on behind some very tight isobars here. especially through south wales, the west country and the south—west for a time. the first part of monday, 50—60 mph gusts on what will be a blustery day. if you stay dry, you will have done very well indeed. does it last? thankfully not. the low pressure fills a little bit in and in comes another ridge of high pressure to settle things down for tuesday.

i think we will see new fronts coming in from the atlantic on wednesday. so make the most of tuesday. this is bbc news, the headlines: the most powerful storm to hit cuba in more than 80 years is moving slowly away from the island after causing floods and widespread damage. it's likely to be several more hours until storm force winds subside on the western end of the island. more than a million people have been moved to safety. the hurricane is heading to the us state of florida. the governor there says the southeast is already experiencing tropical storm force winds. water levels have already begun to rise, forecasters estimate a storm surge of five to eight feet. more than six million people have been ordered to leave their homes. in mexico, recovery teams say at least 65 people