welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is gavin grey. our top stories: hurricane irma's150mph winds tear through cuba's north coast as one million people are moved to safety. as the eye moves towards florida, forecasters say irma is strengthening and will form a major storm surge as it raises water levels. the impact is already being felt in florida. over 6 million have been ordered to leave their homes. property is replaceable, but lives are not, and safety has to come first. don't worry about it, just get out of its way. the death toll rises to 65 in mexico as emergency workers continue to hunt for survivors after thursday's earthquake destroyed thousands of homes. and an emotional night as manchester arena re—opens with a benefit concert for victims

of the terrorist attack which claimed 22 lives. 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. 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 reports from havana. 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 isn't in a good state, so i hope the hurricane stays away and starts moving out to sea. translation: it's one of the biggest storms we've ever seen, so we have to get ready. as hurricane irma rumbles down 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 were evacuated here, well, they are 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 have had the holidays ruined, though, this could also cut short cuba's efforts to rebuild its crippled economy. tourism has been the island's main economic motor recently. irma could set that 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, because you can see the effect of a 20—foot storm surge. those boats lie scattered all across the island,

and then 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 underway after criticism here of the british government's response to this crisis. i've been speaking to the royal engineers, who are here. now, they've been repairing this runway. that has 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 for law and order to prevail. very difficult conditions for people to really deal with the aftermath of hurricane irma, because they're also worried about hurricanejose, which is on its way. the latest forecasts show that

skirting the island and heading north, rather than being a direct impact. so that may bring some relief as they try to continue their recovery efforts. in the united states, the national hurricane center says wind gusts of near hurricane force are now being felt in the florida keys. but president donald trump says he's confident florida is as well prepared as it can be. the bbc‘s aleem maqbool is in miami. there is little left for people to do in florida but to get somewhere safe and wait. this hurricane shelter, like so many more across the city, is packed to capacity. wejust decided, you know, we're going to leave, and then we got up and saw on the tv all the traffic backed up. they say it's backed up to atlanta. and we said, well, we've waited too late to leave, so we stayed. i mean, we left everything, you know. our furniture, you know, our apartment.

but, like i would say, you know, material things, we can build them again. i think the most important is the family, you know? well, after days of talking about it, 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 has recorded this spectacular footage of the eye of irma and its massive cloud mass, all on a projected course for florida. in spite of the huge evacuation of the state, there are many in florida, like vince, who want to stay in their homes, with their belongings, right through the hurricane. 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, making sure there's no big trees next to your house...

do you think you'll be ok? i do. but thousands don't want to risk gambling with nature. they are anxious, though, about the city they will emerge out into, once irma has passed. aleem maqbool, bbc news, florida. mexicans have observed a day of national mourning for the victims of thursday's major earthquake. the authorities say at least 65 people died but more victims are being found among the rubble. aaron safir reports. clearing the rubble injuchitan, in southern mexico, the town worst—hit by the earthquake. rescuers had told the bbc they do not believe there is anyone left under the 7,000 buildings that collapsed here. and while the machines, men, and sniffer dogs continue their work, others continue to bury their dead. at least 36 people are reported to have been killed here,

translation: he didn't have time to get out and the building completely collapsed. and unfortunately, out of the seven people who were inside, only four were able to be rescued. the other three unfortunately died. tabasco, chiapas and oaxaca states are among mexico's least developed. the quake was 8.1 in magnitude. the most powerful anywhere in the world since 2015. tremors were felt in mexico city, some 500 miles away. but the earthquake was deep, so the shaking felt at the surface was less strong than it would have been for a shallower one. that is little comfort for these people, picking up the pieces in juchitan. one in three houses were affected, and thousands of families have lost their homes. food and water are scarce, and parts of the city don't have electricity.

the hundreds of aftershocks felt since thursday have left people fearful. translation: a lot of people are sleeping on the streets because they fear another quake. because they fear the aftershocks, that have been happening continuously, and it is a very ugly fear that we are experiencing. the authorities say tens of thousands of ration packs, blankets and cleaning kits are arriving to help the recovery efforts. for the homeless and bereaved of southern mexico, it is help that can't come soon enough, but will only be the first step to rebuilding their lives. bring the insurgence in myanmar declared a month—long ceasefire from sunday the groups can help to ease the growing humanitarian crisis. arch numbers of wrecking the muslims have fled to neighbouring bangladesh because of fighting between the militants and police in myanmar—

bachinger. the violence has left hundreds of thousands of people hungry and traumatised. 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. rahida and tens of thousands of others will not be so lucky. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: an emotional night as manchester arena re—opens with a benefit concert for victims of the terrorist attack which claimed 22 lives. 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 world news.

the latest headlines: 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. staying with hurricane irma, and as it bears down on florida in the united states, i spoke to eunicia baker, public information officer with the city of north miami. she told me a mandatory curfew is in place. well, right now, like all of miami—dade county, the city of north miami is working hard to make sure that our businesses and residents are well prepared for the arrival of hurricane irma. so at this time, the city of north miami, we're experiencing tropical—storm—force winds. we've had a couple of re—occurring rain squalls, and some thunderstorms. so we're monitoring hurricane irma very closely. in fact, we're the sixth—largest municipality in the county, so it's imperative that we continue to stay up to speed with all the latest information

from miami—dade county officials. currently, our emergency operations centre is in full operation status, and has been operational since tuesday this week. the centre is — the centre is being manned by essential personnel from various departments, as offices are currently closed for regular business. so we actually have representation by some of our north miami elected officials, as well. some of our local representatives, some of the smaller surrounding cities that surround the city of north miami, are also represented there. so right now our objective is to make sure that we're passing on all essential information, that we're using various information—sharing tools, such as our local cable television station, here in the city of north miami. we're updating our website constantly. we're making sure that we're sending out newsletters to our residents, because that's one way that they're accustomed to receiving information. and we're also utilising our social media platforms, facebook, twitter, instagram, to make sure that we're doing all we can

to keep our residents up to speed. what is the predicted storm surge there, do you know? i do not know, but i think the last update i heard everything from six to 12 feet appearing in the area. wow, so ok, that will mean, of course — have you any estimate to how many properties are going to be affected by this? i do not know how many properties will be impacted, per se, but i do know that we have roughly 60,000 citizens in the city of north miami. so we have had a small section of north miami, san souci, that had to get evacuated as a result of the hurricane. so some of the places that are far east of the city have been evacuated, such as keystone, and some of the universities that lie along the coast in the city of north miami have also been evacuated. and your advice — you say you are using the local tv channels, as well. for anyone watching this, in north miami or that area, what would your advice be? right now we, in the city of north miami, unfortunately we have no essential personnel working here, as i stated. but we are asking that all residents stay indoors. right now the full effect

of the hurricane had not yet been felt, but we are asking that all residents stay indoors. in fact, just this evening, our city mayor, tomas pedro regalado, has implemented a mandatory curfew in our city. so that is going to span from tonight, saturday 9 september, from 10:00am, until sunday 10 september at 6:00am. so we're asking that all residents stay indoors. that means vehicular traffic, pedestrian traffic — we're asking that all residents stay indoors, just to make sure that we are maximising our level of safety in our city. rohingya insurgents in myanmar have declared a month—long ceasefire, —— thousands of people have been attending a benefit concert at manchester arena here in england. it's the venue's first event since a suicide bomber killed 22 people in the foyer in may. 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 overriding 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 is 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. of saffie rose, of megan, of courtney and philip, of wendy. and then the poet tony walsh started proceedings. always remember, never forget. and, to make sure that happens, the proceeds from tonight will go towards a permanent memorial for those who died. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news this hour. pope francis, who's visiting colombia, has been to a children's shelter on the fourth day of his tour. earlier, he celebrated mass in the country's second biggest city, medellin. huge crowds of more than a million people gathered at the airport tojoin the mass. the main opposition party in angola, unita, has asked the country's constitutional court to annul the results of last month's election. unita alleges that in many provinces the published results did not reflect the votes which had

been counted locally. archeologists in egypt say they've discovered the tomb of a goldsmith that's more than 3,000 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 its 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 riches, 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. sport, now, and in tennis, 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‘s tim allman has more. there are comebacks and then there are comebacks. 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 was a walkover. stephens winning it 6—0. cheering and applause. she is the first american woman who isn't a member of the williams family to win a major title in 15 years. now she has won one, who knows, maybe she'll make it a habit. tim allman, bbc news. the bbc cricket commentator,

henry blofeld, 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 77. 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. and that, ladies and gentlemen, is the end of it. thank you all for listening, it's been wonderful talking to you all. you all say you're going to miss me. i tell you what, i'm going to miss you something dreadful. i must try not fall over when they hand over to the next commentator. it's ed smith. how lovely. the cricket commentator henry blofeld in his final broadcast earlier on saturday. staying with sport, britain's chris froome

is on the verge of being crowned the champion of a second grand tour this year. he leads the vuelta a espana going into sunday's largely processional final stage. it will make froome only the third man in history to win both this race and the tour de france in the same year. the stage was won by spain's alberto contador, and there was emotional end to the spanish rider's career as he retires on sunday. a dark fairytale movie the shape of water has won the top prize at the venice film festival — the golden lion. it tells the story of a mute cleaning lady who falls in love with an aquatic animal created by scientists in a government laboratory. it was directed by guillermo del toro, who is the first mexican to win the award. 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. this is bbc news. 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 national hurricane center says winds of up to 175km/h are being felt in the florida keys. water levels have already begun to rise. forecasters estimate a storm surge of up to 2.5 metres. more than six million people have been ordered to leave their homes. in mexico, recovery teams say at least 65 people were killed in thursday's powerful earthquake. one rescue team co—ordinator said it was unlikely that any more survivors would be found. the 8.1 magnitude quake flattened thousands of buildings in some of the country's poorest states. now on bbc news, the week in parliament.