welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is tanya beckett. our top stories: hurricane florence is hearing down on the east coast of america with warnings it could bring catastrophic flooding. stay on guard. this is a powerful storm that can kill. today, the threat becomes a reality. and in the philippines, there's more extreme weather — tens of thousands of people begin evacuating as super typhoon mankhut heads towards the island of luzon. the two russian suspects accused of the nerve agent attack in the uk break their silence. they say they were in salisbury, but only as tourists. and bye—bye beetle — german car manufacturer volkswagen announces it's stopping production of the iconic car next year. america's eastern seaboard

is getting its first taste of the wind and rain from hurricane florence. the storm itself is still a few hours away, but it's a prelude of the damage florence could inflict when it does make landfall. the us national hurricane center is warning of life threatening floods. this imaging from our forecasting team shows the hurricane‘s final approach. we'll hear from some of those who have decided to sit out the storm in a moment, but first our north america correspondent chris buckler sent this report from wilmington, north carolina. for days people have been preparing, and now the first of the strong wind and rain has really arrived. in 12 hours‘ time this weather is expected to deteriorate rapidly, causing real problems here. storm surge pushing water inland and this time tomorrow the eye of the storm is expected to be over the carolinas,

potentially causing 2a hours or more of deeply disruptive weather. on the edge of the carolinas, the wind is strengthening and the water is rising. and this is just a taste of what florence threatens. the hurricane has been making a slow approach from the atlantic. and if what has been forecast comes true, days of flooding lie ahead. there is talk about storm surges of maybe nine feet and if it stalls like they are saying we could be going for two high tides, so i'm not sure, i'm nervous. i would be lying if i was saying different. the hurricane has been downgraded to a category two storm but the authorities are doing everything they can to emphasise how dangerous it remains. don't get complacent. stay on guard. this is a powerful storm that can kill.

home after home lies boarded up here. families have been listening to the warnings. this storm is likely to threaten both property and lives. in the middle of the afternoon, downtown wilmington was deserted. shops abandoned, with sandbags placed optimistically at their doors and a few people making last—minute efforts to protect their stores. it didn't feel like a panic probably until maybe yesterday. you can just see the look on their faces when they are picking up batteries or last—minute water. emergency teams have gathered in towns along the coastline. no—one can be sure exactly where we will feel the full force of florence, but they fear they will be needed as the storm pushes onto land.

our correspondent paul blake is on the line now from morehead city, north carolina. florence expected to make landfall on friday? that's right, we got the latest advisory from the national hurricane centre here in the us and its moving north—west of about six miles per hour, no commenters per hour and they say interesting, here in morehead, the storm surge could be ten feet, that's the rising sea level brought in by this storm, seawater being pushed inland and where i am sitting, i'm ankle—deep, going on the deep. the window and the rain had been battering this area of the past couple of hours. certainly feeling it here in more head. we are going to start viewing it in the coming hours. millions of

people affected by this. authorities there have been warning residents across the south—east to get out of the way of the storm. earlier in the week, there was a category 4 storm. they were worried about flying debris or even structures being blown down, blown around by the strong storms. it's been downgraded. the gusts are much higher, the sustained wind at about 90 miles per hour. the big threat remains this wind or storm surge in the storm could potentially linger over the region. it could stall out over the region, keeping that storm surge here. and what about the emergency response being planned by fema? that

is the us national response. the local level managed by the state authorities, certainly they are a lwa ys authorities, certainly they are always under tremendous scrutiny after these disasters. remember the response to the puerto rico disaster. they have got supplies in the area, repair crews, telecommunication. they are planning to shelter and medical of admiration for anyone who might need it. they are ina for anyone who might need it. they are in a wait and watch mode. they say that they are ready for the recovery and rescue efforts in the way of this storm. i've been speaking to rick jones, who lives in southport in north carolina. he's the secretary of the local residents association and has decided to baton down the hatches and ride out hurricane florence at home. the hurricane has been downgraded

to a category two storm but the authorities are doing everything they can to emphasise how a number of residents. 75% of the homeowners in our area have evacuated but we are approximately 30 feet above sea level. when hurricane hazel came through in 1954, our town of southport was ground zero at the time, and they had a 17 foot storm surge. so where we are we think is safe for the moment. obviously we need to keep our eyes on it. what preparations are you making? we have 15 or 20 of us going from home to home to make sure that all the patio furniture has been cleared out, along with grills or anything that could be a flying object that could damage a home. 0ur neighbourhood has been sanitised of those things. some homes have been boarded up. most of them know, but we have made sure, we were under mandatory evacuation here.

we are not a low—lying area cleared by police. by mandatory that means you have to be prepared to survive for 72 hours. you have to have enough food and water, flashlights, batteries if the power goes out. those are the major preparations that we have done. you said earlier you would keep an eye on it. is there a point at which you could change your mind? not really. we are now past the point of no return when it comes to evacuating. 0urfinal residents of the neighbourhood evacuated around 11 o'clock this morning when there was still safe passage. the intensity of the flooding is supposed to hit southport. we are across the river from wilmington and that is supposed to hit overnight. it really is no longer safe. we need to count on things like social media. we have homes here with seven days of generator power. we will relocate to those homes if we need to and charge our cellphones and pay attention

to media coverage such as yours. thank you very much and we wish you the best of luck. there's a major storm on the other side of the world as well. hundreds of thousands of people are being evacuated on the philippines island of luzon as typhoon mangkhut approaches with winds of more than 250 kilometres an hour. it's due to make landfall on the northern tip of luzon over the weekend. up to ten million people are in the storm's path. rajid ahmed reports. heavy rocks tying down houses in the north in the hope it might save the roofs of their vulnerable homes when typhoon mangkhut arrives. the philippines is hit by about 20 typhoons and storms a year, the destruction killing hundreds and leaving millions in a cycle of poverty.

but this super typhoon has been described as the strongest yet of 2018. schools and offices have been ordered shut, thousands are evacuating. at about 900 kilometres in diameter, the storm is expected to pack powerful wind speeds with heavy rains, triggering landslides and flash floods. storm surges, too, are big threat, with high waves likely to inundate the coastline. but the biggest fear is for the estimated 10 million people in the path of the storm, with worries authorities and rescue services will be stretched thin. but the important thing is for the government to make sure that evacuation happens. in the evacuation centres, there is no panic and they can provide food.

the government is ready with food. 0fficials do not want to see a repeat of the super typhoon haiyan which killed thousands in 2013, forcing many from their homes. this time, as people prepare and stock up on supplies, some even say they plan to stay, in the hope they can protect their property. as super typhoon mangkhut draws ever closer. reged ahmad, bbc news. in the last few minutes, our reporter howard johnson sent this update from the philippines. i'm outside the provincial government headquarters were they just held an emergency briefing. the governor has a plan where he wants people to help their neighbours. if you live in a shack or a flimsy house, move to a more robust house. help a neighbour by letting them stay with you go a church or to a school. he is also saying there is a

liquor ban or alcohol banned in place, to stop people drinking through this period and get exposed to the weather. i asked him if there we re to the weather. i asked him if there were any faults in his plan and he said potentially telecommunications could go down on roads were impassable. lots of bread was being loaded into baskets, ready to be taken up around the province. he is also appealing for air support for the national government to be able to spread that food around the province. last time the storm hit here, 2016, there were four casualties in this province. this time around, usurping a0 casualties and that seems somewhat optimistic given the magnitude of this super typhoon. let's get some of the day's other news. police in the us state of massachussetts have reported dozens of fires and explosions in communities north of the city of boston. pictures show fire fighters battling flames in the towns of lawrence and north andover. local media reports said the explosions may have been caused by the rupture of a gas line. cynthia nixon has failed in her bid

to become the governor of new york. the former sex and the city actress was defeated by the incumbent andrew cuomo, who won the democratic party nomination for a third term. mr cuomo will face republican candidate marc molinaro and independent stephanie miner during november's election. thousands of people have marched through the streets of argentina's capital, buenos aires, to protest at the government's austerity measures. teachers have demanded an increase in salary and students want more funding for education. president mauricio macri has announced budget cuts to tackle the country's currency crisis. the peso has lost more than half of its value this year. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: volkswagen lose the love bug for their beetle. production of this iconic car is to end next year. 30 hours after the earthquake that devastated mexico city,

rescue teams still have no idea just how many people have died. there is people alive, and there is people not alive. we just can help and give them whatever we've got. it looked as though they had come to fight a war, but their mission is to bring peace to east timor, and nowhere on earth needs it more badly. the government's case has been forcefully presented by monsieur badinter, the justice minister. he has campaigned vigorously for the abolition, having once witnessed one of his clients being executed. elizabeth seton spent much of her time at this grotto, and every year, hundreds of pilgrimages are made here. now that she has become a saint, it is expected that this area will be inundated with tourists. the mayor and local businessman regard the anticipated boom as just another blessing of st elizabeth. this is bbc world news.

the latest headlines: america's eastern seaboard is starting to feel the first effects of hurricane florence. the us national hurricane center is warning of possible life—threatening flooding. and in the philippines, there's more extreme weather as tens of thousands of people begin evacuating from coastal areas as super typhoon mankhut heads towards the island of luzon. two russian men named by the british authorities as suspects in the chemical attack in salisbury in southern england have appeared on russia today, russia's state—funded television channel. the pair, who identify themselves as alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov, claim they are the victims of a fantastical coincidence and insist they are innocent. in their first comments since being accused of poisoning the former russian agent sergei skripal and his daughter,

they said they were tourists on a visit to salisbury cathedral. 0ur security correspondent gordon corera has more details. last week, britain presented ruslan boshirov and alexander petrov as a pair of russian military intelligence officers, assassins, sent with nerve agent to kill. but today we saw a different side. they told the kremlin—funded news channel they were tourists who had come to salisbury to see the sights. translation: what were you doing there? our friends had suggested for a long time we visit this wonderful town. salisbury, a wonderful town? yes. a tourist town. there is the famous salisbury cathedral, famous not only in europe but in the whole world. it is famous for its 123—metre spire. it is famous for its

clock, the first ever created in the world that is still working. salisbury‘s cathedral certainly is a tourist attraction, drawing visitors from all over the world, but just how plausible is the story of these two russians set against the evidence laid out by the police last week? there is the question of the motive for their trip, flying in from moscow to gatwick airport on friday march 2nd, all to see salisbury, and then there's their movements — the russian giving up sightseeing in salisbury on saturday because, they say, there was too much slush. they returned on sunday and here cctv catches them arriving at the station at 11:a8. but rather than head out to be tourist sites they said they wanted to see, like old sarum and the cathedral, they were spotted close to sergei skripal‘s house on wilton road, their images captured on this cctv picture at 11:58. police believe it was around

this time that novichok was smeared on the skripals' front door handle, poisoning sergei and his daughter yulia. the interviewer asked the men if they approached the skripals' house. translation: maybe we passed it or maybe we didn't, i had never heard about them before this nightmare started, i'd never heard his name before. i did not know anything about them. at 1:08, they were seen heading back to the station from the city centre. an hour and 10 minutes is not long to see the sights you've come from moscow for. it is alleged they discarded this perfume bottle which had been carrying the novichok. it was found months later and poisoned charlie rowley and killed dawn sturgess. the russians deny bringing it into the country. translation: when you go through customs, they check all your belongings, so if we had anything suspicious,

any police officer would have questions. why would a man have women's perfume in his luggage? the interviewer never asked why a trace of novichok was said to be found in the london hotel they stayed in. and the interview raised another question — who are the pair? the british government says they are russian intelligence officers using fake names. in the interview, they seemed unwilling to go into details of their back story, such as theirjobs, as they said, sports nutritionists, and they declined to provide identity documents. i don't think any of their interview is plausible, i've watched it a couple of times now and i think, if i was their defence lawyer, my advice to them would be to keep quiet and wait to a trial when your alibi will be tested by our evidence. the war of words over what really happened in salisbury will go on but today's awkward account might have done the russian case more harm than good. over the past few days,

we've reported on russia's biggest war games exercise since the fall of the soviet union. on thursday, president vladimir putin attended the event, and promised to strengthen the army and supply it with new—generation weapons. from siberia, our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg has more. a warning — his report does contain flash photography. from over the hills, the russians are coming. they are the largest russian manoeuvres since the cold war. a third of the entire russian armed forces is taking part, says moscow. and joining them here, troops from china. under pressure from the west, russia tilting east. the army invited us to watch the show. the aim of the exercises across the russian far east, to test combat readiness. the drills, moscow insists, purely defensive. some experts suspect the russians

have inflated troop numbers, but the show of strength was indisputable. we weren't the only ones watching. vladimir putin followed the drills and then pledged to make russia's armed forces even stronger. translation: russia is a peaceloving country. we don't have any aggressive plans. but we have a duty to the motherland to be ready to defend russia's sovereignty, security and national interests. the message russia wants to send with all this is pretty clear, that it has a powerful army and powerful allies in the east, and that moscow has no intention of giving in to pressure from the west. and that's where china comes in. presidents putin and xi have been cooking up a strategic partnership as a counterweight to the west.

moscow sees closer ties with beijing as a recipe for surviving western sanctions. russia always wanted to be integrated into the west. now this era is over and russia needs a very strong external partner which can provide technology, new markets and investments. and that's china. so russia is slowly drifting into china's embrace, definitely ignoring the bigger picture and ignoring these tectonic shifts between the two. i think it's very dangerous and shortsighted. but, in courting china, will russia end up thejunior partner? it's determined not to. moscow continues to see itself as a military super power. it's one of the most recognisable cars in the world: the volkswagen beetle. from its roots in nazi germany, it became a symbol of the hippy era. but now the german carmaker

has said it will stop making the vehicle next year. vw says it's focusing on family friendly models and electric power. here's lebo diseko. it's the end of the line for the bug. vw says it. making its much loved beetle next july. bug. vw says it. making its much loved beetle nextjuly. the car has been through many incarnations through the years, with many modern designs replacing the iconic versions seen here. now, though, the company will stop producing the car altogether, it's company will stop producing the car altogether, its left car lovers heartbroken. the beetle makes me feel like i'm losing a little bit of myself. after an official speech from hitler... the car was originally created in 1938 on adolf hitler's orders. he

wa nted 1938 on adolf hitler's orders. he wanted a cheap, reliable people ‘s car. but, by the freewheeling 60s, it found fame with the disney film, the love bug. it's funky designs and cheap price made it a firm favourite but, despite being one of the bestselling cars of all time, sales have fallen in recent years. the company is trying to move forward after the diesel emissions scandal and looking towards new technology. some argue any remaining beetle magic died 15 years ago when the rear engined models stopped being made. the world is changing very quickly, manufacturers are all moving towards electric platforms for their cars. this is an outmoded platform with an old motor in it. vw has got to move into the future. but it may not be the end of the road forever come with some suggesting a new electric version might one day be made. so perhaps it's farewell rather than goodbye for this old friend. new york auction house christie ‘s

has revealed what they say will be the most expensive work of art by a living artist ever sold at auction. they estimate this piece, the portrait of an artist by david hockney, will sell for about $80 million. the 1972 painting, described by christie ‘s is iconic and one of his greatest works, will go and one of his greatest works, will 9° up and one of his greatest works, will go upfor and one of his greatest works, will go up for auction in november. a reminder once again of our top story. within the past half—hour, the national hurricane centre has downgraded hurricane florence to a category one storm. florence is expected to hit north carolina's southern coast on friday before moving west. destructive winds and flooding oral ready affecting coastal regions in north and south carolina. hundreds and thousands of residents have heeded official warnings and evacuated or taken refuge in shelters. that's it from me. by by. hello.

well, before we go to the weather for the uk, an update on hurricane florence battering the east coast of the united states. and the worst of the weather is technically still out to sea. the storm's eye isn't expected to cross land, that is, make landfall, until around about lunchtime on friday uk time. but it has already been battering north carolina, south carolina, areas towards the north as well as further inland, and it is a slow—moving storm, that means it is dumping a lot of rainfall in the same place for a considerable amount of time, and those destructive winds,

the storm surge, likely to be some destructive flooding from this or the system. meanwhile, in the asia—pacific, we have a very powerful storm, even stronger, typhoon mankhut, a super typhoon heading for northern parts of luzon in the philippines, and the effects of the storm could be catastrophic, so two very powerful storms both sides of the globe. meanwhile, here in the uk, obviously it is a lot quieter, thank goodness. showers in the north, much more dry in the south, and this is a satellite image from the last 12 hours, clouds into the northern part of the country, further south the clouds have broken up at bit, so we have clearer weather. and that's how we start friday morning. a lot of dry weather notjust in the south but some eastern areas, whereas in the north—west notice the rain in northern ireland, western scotland and the north—west of england. as we go through the morning into the afternoon, there is the clock, ten, 11, 12, showery spells, in the south—east it should be dry, if not even sunny, 19 in london, fresh in aberdeen at around 15 degrees.

now that takes us into the friday night and eventually saturday. high pressure to the south of the uk will bring warm and sunny weather in the near continent and not so bad in the south of the uk as well and in the midlands. sunshine on the way for saturday. you can see some of the bright weather extends all the way to scotland but a weather front only coming from the north—west, so eventually on saturday in the north—west there will be some rain and a decent breeze. 21 the top temperature on saturday. here is a look at sunday's weather forecast and a weather front is expected to move across the uk. that means the central swathe of the country could have some rain, but either side we have some brighter weather and the warm spot of course in the south and the south—east up to around 22 degrees. that's it from me. destructive winds which are is more than 100 qantas offshore, us

national hurricane centre says storm surges and torrential rainfall will very soon become a serious threat to life and property. extreme weather news, a huge storm is heading towards the philippines. heavy rains and winds of up to 160 miles per hour. two russian men who admit they are the suspects identified by the uk have gone on state tv to deny carrying out a nerve agent attack on salisbury. they said they were merely tourists.