welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines. millions of residents are told to evacuate florida, as hurricane ian brings dangerous winds and heavy rain. there will be catastrophic flooding and life—threatening storm surge on the gulf coast region. we will hear from the tampa fire rescue department as they try to help those affected. us vice president kamala harris heads for south korea with a visit to the demilitarised zone as tensions run high on the korean peninsula. and iran's president accuses

protesters... we start in florida where the state is being battered by hurricane ian. there are warnings of catastrophic damage both from from the high winds which are gusting at up to 235 kilometres per hour, that's around 145 miles per hour. you can see the image that this is the seen life in florida at the moment. the gusts of wind that are blowing throughout that are blowing throughout that state as i was saying at around 230 kph that is around

145 mph and also the damage thatis 145 mph and also the damage that is being caused by the heavy rain. combine that with what experts are saying could be the highest storm surge on record and there are fears for the safety of thousands of people. azadeh moshiri is in tampa for us a life—threatening hurricane is now barrelling towards america's sunshine state. and put millions under evacuation orders across the west coast. ian is unpredictable. it's already caused widespread damage in cuba, wiping out power to the country's entire grid, with some residents killed. but now its hurricane force winds are leaving the gulf of mexico and taking aim at florida's coast. this satellite image shows the eye of the hurricane packed with lightning. clearly, this is a very powerful, major hurricane, that will have major impacts, both on impact in south west florida, so this will be a nasty, nasty day, two days. probably we think now it will be exiting the peninsula

some time on thursday. the problem is, while officials are warning of life threatening consequences, with storm surges that could reach as high as 3.5 metres in some areas, they don't know exactly where hurricane ian will hit, and so communities are bracing themselves, unsure of exactly who will face the worst of the hurricane. every hour counts, as the storm surge begins to build, and when it does hit, there isn't much time to react. that's why the message has been consistent to those in danger. leave, shelter, and ride out the storm. azadeh moshiri, bbc news. earlier, i spoke to barbara tripp, who is the tampa fire rescue chief and emergency manager. she started by explaining how conditions in tampa have intensified. so here in the tampa bay area as you see a lot of wind that has been coming through.

the winds have been up anywhere between 30—40 mph. first responders are responding to calls. we have a couple calls about power lines being down but overall we haven't seen the aftermath of the storm we know we will get a lot of the rain which will flood a lot of the low—lying areas of the tampa bay area. since the storm has hit we know there is a lot of flooding down south which is the counties below us and of course with all of the resources we were able to prepare for, we have the resources available and ready to assist the other counties down south. where hurricane ian had a big impact on. just listening to what you are describing there how do you start to prepare for something like this? what sort of resources do you put in place? so one of the things is, of course, communicating with different partners

throughout the national weather service to see what type of storm it will be and what potential damage we will face. if the eye actually came through tampa bay and we noticed that the storm will produce a lot of water. so we reached out to the state for additional resources and he called in additional first responders for extra manpower. we have communicated with our utility services to call in different you utility services from out of the area as well. so we have been working with the local and state agencies to help out with whatever we need. since those assests are here we are ready to employ the down south to neighbouring counties. just looking at the pictures of the scene right now while we have been talking to you, just heavy rain and those gusts of wind that we have been talked about on the programme. talk us through the big challenges that you are facing

in trying to help people. and what people have been saying to you? we had an evacuation that was put in place and we still hold that evacuation order due to the fact that even though some of the areas have a low tide right now we know that there will be a high tide soon. so we happy evacuation which we ordered a few days ago we have been communicating through e—mails as well as websites as well as social media to get the information out. we provided sandbags for individuals that wanted to help secure their homes. we have also over 46 shelters that are open throughout the county. we have special needs shelters and pet friendly shelters. we also reached out to the vulnerable community as well to assist them with placement throughout the storm. thank you so much forjoining us on the programme

hurricane ian has already struck cuba on its way to the us. and the island is still struggling to recover from the damage caused. there have been country—wide power cuts even in parts of the country which were not badly hit by the storm. some areas have had their power supplies restored. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. there are heigtened fears over europe's energy security following explosions that ruptured major undersea gas pipelines. 0fficals say the leaks in nord stream one and two appear to have been caused deliberately. europe's biggest gas supplier norway is beefing up security at its energy installations, which experts say could be vulnerable targets. earlier, the eu commission president, ursula von der leyen, stopped short of accussing russia of sabotage but said deliberate disrpution would be met with a strong response. the eu has proposed an eighth set of sanctions against moscow over its latest

escalation in ukraine. moscow has held self—styled referendums in four—occupied areas of ukraine tojoin the russian federation, announced that mobilization of reservists and issued nuclear threats. the eu says the latest measures would include new import and export bans, as well as a price cap on russian oilfor developing countries. police in the pakistani city of karachi say unidentified gunmen have opened fire inside a dental clinic, killing one chinese national and seriously injuring two others. they said the deceased had been identified as a chinese doctor who also had pakistani nationality. he had been running the clinic for a long time. no group has admitted responsibility for the shooting. us vice president kamala harris is on her way to the south

korean capital seoul. once there, she's expecting to visit the demilitarised zone separating north and south korea. tensions are high on the korean peninsula at the moment, with pyongyang firing a missile in response to large—scale naval exercises jointly held this week by the us and south korea, which resumed for the first time in five years. duyeon kim is a senior fellow at the centre for a new american security in seoul and gave me her assessment of what the trip is all about. i think vice president harris�*s trip is intended to send a message to south and north korea. south korea to demonstrate and show its commitment security and defence and a message to north korea that the united states again is

committed to the south korean defence and it will not tolerate and accept north korean provocations. but we are already seeing this provocations in it doesn't look like pyongyang is backing down. it doesn't and that will be a challenge and homework so to speak for both the united states and south korea and evenjapan on how to deal with north korea. how to stop, prevent them from future complications and the biggest challenge has been notjust stopping weapons tests but trying to bring north korea back to the dialogue table. so i think vice president harris�* trip is important. notjust among the political leadership but the united states ending its military hardware as you saw. a visit in the port city and engaged in bilateral naval engagement. both a political message and a security message. that the united states has

south korea and japan's back when it comes to north korea but also china. i was just going to ask you about china because that is such a big player in this part of the world. how do you think beijing is viewing all of this? beijing certainly would not be happy about this. it would certainly aggravate and annoy beijing. but the fact of the matter is that the united states presence in the region is not going anywhere. vice president harris�* visit clearly seems to be aimed at strengthening and building a united front in asia to not only promote a free and open indo—pacific but also

defend a rules based order. and also sending a strong message to china that has been increasingly aggressive and courses in the region that it is being increasingly provocative. let's turn to iran now, where — in a national television address — president ebrahim raisi has accused protesters of misusing the death of mahsa amini to cause riots. as protests continued for a twelfth day, mr raisi said the death of the young woman while in the custody of the morality police had saddened everyone and was being investigated with transparency. at least 75 protesters are reported to have been killed so far, as police have fired live ammunition to try to break up the demonstrations, which have taken place across the entire country. 0ther protests are taking place around the world. rana rahimpour reports for mahsa. she names the woman

who died in the custody of iran morality police as she cuts her hair. a british iranian national who spent six years in prison in iran names herformer prison in iran names herformer prison inmates one by one. also her mother and daughter. and for the women of iran for freedom and justice she says. for nearly two weeks women in iran have been protesting the death of the 22—year—old mahsa amini by cutting their hair and burning their hijab. it has sparked the largest anti—islamic protest since 1979. here a woman mourning the death of her brother

was killed in the protests is cutting her hair. from new york to spain, women are showing their support. iranians�* demand for freedom has been heard across the world but in iran so far it has fallen on deaf ears. in iran today, the president said everyone is saddened by mahsa amini death but warns that protests will not be tolerated. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme. you have to be careful with those knitting needles you never know. british tv host and best—selling author richard 0smond inspired several of his novels. in all russia's turmoil, it has never quite come to this. president yeltsin said today would decide the nation's destiny. the nightmare that so many

people have feared for so long is playing out its final act, here. russians are killing russians in front of a grandstand audience. it was his humility that produced affection from catholics throughout the world. but his departure is a tragedy for the catholic church. this man, israel's right—winger ariel sharon, visited the religious compound, and that started the trouble. he wants israel alone to have sovereignty over the holy sites, an idea unthinkable to palestinians. of europe's after 45 years of division, germany is one. in berlin, a million germans celebrated the rebirth of europe's biggest and richest nation. this is newsday on the bbc.

i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. 0ur headlines. millions of residents have been told to evacuate florida as hurricane ian brings dangerous winds and rain. the us vice president has to south korea as the north has more missiles harris will visit the demilitarised zone at the border. now to the uk and faced with growing alarm on the financial markets — about the government's economic strategy the bank of england has been forced to take emergency action to try to stabilise things. last week's widely—criticised mini budget unveiled by the chancellor, has been followed by a collapse in the pound and a sharp increase in the costs of government borrowing. 0ur economics editor faisal islam has the latest. what started as an attempt to grow the economy with the biggest tax cuts in half a century led to havoc on currency markets, more importantly on debt markets, and then within days,

led to a tidal wave of interest rate rises reaching every corner of the economy. in an emergency statement, the bank of england said, "were dysfunction in this market to continue or worsen, there would be a material risk to uk financial stability." it said it was "seeking to restore market functioning and reduce any risks from contagion to credit conditions to uk households and businesses,". this explains the intervention. since the mini budget, the effective cost of borrowing long—term for the government has shot up and was spiralling above 5%, a 20—year high. these were rises in two days that would normally take years, increasing the cost of borrowing for the government and everybody. the bank of england intervened today, buying up those debts in unlimited quantities, which brought down those interest rates, but they remain high. high interest rates

mean the value of the government debt decreases. for some long—term loans, they were effectively halved, with severe consequences for one sector in particular. this was a dramatic, surprise intervention by the bank of england to save a trillion pound corner of the pensions industry. 0rdinarily, these funds buy up government debts because they're safe as houses, no risks. but their value fell so rapidly in two days that they had to be saved in this way. but this also helps the government at a tricky time by finding a customer, the bank of england, for the tens of billions of pounds of debt that they have to raise. so this is an emergency intervention, it is a crisis. and, whilst this will help buy some time, it doesn't solve the underlying problem, which is the government's economic credibility with the markets. so this intervention staved off market turmoil turning into the collapse of some types

of pension fund. but, in terms of growth and the roots of this crisis, they're still there. activists in the philippines say they are fighting a wave of misinformation which aims to whitewash one of the darkest periods of the country's history. it's now 50 years since president ferdinand marcos declared martial law in the country. thousands of people were arrested, tortured, forcibly disappeared, and killed during that decade. but since the former dictator's son came to power earlier this year, there have been a series of false and misleading claims posted online. laura bicker has been speaking to the victims of that time who fear their stories will be lost. 50 years on, these victims of the time of trauma and fear are no longer worried about being heard. they are worried

about being believed. santiago kept records after he was dragged off the street in 1977 by soldiers who demanded he falsely confess to being a communist. translation: i was beaten using a cane, and they hit . my body many times. they used ice and let water drip through my nose. i went through almost all kinds of torture, even my genitals were tortured by the militaryjust to make me confess, but you should not confess. yet santiago�*s son is one of millions who helped vote in another president marcos. translation: you want me to just disregard what i wentj through, that cannot happen. the sufferings i went through are already embedded in my mind.

president ferdinand marcos declared martial law in 1972, a response to what he described as a communist threat. he and his glamourous wife, amassed a fortune. her decadent shoe collection just one symbol of their accrued wealth. public anger at ongoing abuse and corruption led to an uprising in 1986. the family were forced to flee. but his son and namesake has led to an extraordinary rule as a golden era. i haven't read all of the stories. and each one represents a life. the written accounts of more than 11,000 victims of martial law are in this archive. i tremble every time i try to read their stories. fears the past may be rewritten have led to a push to preserve the stories and hope they can

be placed in a museum. it's for the younger generation, that this happened to our country, and if we can come together, they can determine what type of country consists of a government and rules of liberty and democracy they want for the future. searching for the truth about the country's dark past is tricky for generation z. it can be a struggle to pin down the facts on social media. historians now run games and tours to help people navigate the maze of martial law myths. and many find it emotional. they've lost their dreams, their lives, and i wanted to recognise that, i wanted to tell my fellow friends that. in order for us to have the liberty and democracy that we are having today, in order for us to speak freely, there were actual people who sacrificed their lives and their dreams.

so it seems voices from the past, however painful, are keeping this country's collective memory alive. laura bicker, bbc news. i want to tell you now about the crime novels by television presenter richard 0sman. they have sold more than five and a half million copies — and a third book in the series has now become the fastest—selling adult fiction hardback by a british author. the books were inspired by his own mother and the retirement village where she lives. now for the first time — our arts correspondent rebecca jones has been behind the scenes — to visit the real—life setting for the books. i should warn you — her report contains flashing images. it may look a tranquil scene, but this retirement village in sussex holds a dark secret. lots of the stuff in the book is in the geography of this place, and in the first book someone is murdered in this car park, right here, and plenty more murders this way. these are the sedate surroundings that inspired richard 0sman to write his

thursday murder club novels, about four elderly amateur detectives who live in a retirement village. it's home to his mother brenda. we have a thursday knit and natter club, but we don't have a thursday murder club. not yet any way. you have to be careful with the knitting needles. you never know. you could be right there. richard, one of the joys about the books is the way they portray elderly people. this is a group of people who are overlooked, who become invisible, who are underestimated and actually, culturally it is important to represent the fact they're not, but also, as a detective, being invisible is perfect, so i sort of have my cake and eat it. so thank you for your cultural invisibility. but while the village and its residents inspired the book, the characters aren't based specifically on brenda and herfriends. you have a little bit of that person and a little bit of that person, rolled into one. there's some very interesting people here. and we've had a couple in the secret service, haven't we. we have, we have. real spies.

mi5. it was fascinating, - having coffee with them. so no thursday murder club, but friday line dancing instead. plenty to spark richard 0sman�*s imagination for the next two books in the series, and while brenda is his biggest fan, you can always rely on your mum to keep your feet on the ground. i think the books are very good. i've thoroughly enjoyed then. come on, you prefer hilary mantel to... no, i don't. really? no. cj sansom. yes. yes, there we go. absolutely. sorry, you can't compete there. listen, it's good. murders up here, murders up here. and there's still more to come from the thursday murder club. steven spielberg has bought the film rights. rebecca joan, bbc news, east sussex. as we say bye i want to leave

you with as we say bye i want to leave you with the as we say bye i want to leave you with the scene as we say bye i want to leave you with the scene live at florida you can see on your screen now fort myers near with those storm made landfall a couple hours ago. vehicles have been blown over. that is it from us. hello. yesterday was a day of sunshine and showers. today, it's a pretty similar theme, but if anything, i think more in the way of sunshine and fewer in the way of showers. still quite a cluster around first thing on thursday on the tail end of this weather front that's sliding off towards the continent, but actually this little finger, a brief finger of high pressure is going to try and settle things down for this thursday. so, there's some showers to start the day across the south—west of england and pembrokeshire, gone through the morning, but winds in off the north sea will feed some scattered showers into northern england, the north midlands, perhaps the north of east anglia through the afternoon, a few across scotland, too. but predominantly, i think, dry and sunny and temperatures

up a degree or so on wednesday, 15-17. through the evening and overnight, it's going to turn quite chilly across eastern areas of england, winds fall light and the skies stay clear. different picture towards north—west, winds kick up, cloud comes in and rain by the end of the night for northern ireland and western scotland. so, 10—11 the overnight lows here. perhaps the odd three across the south—east of england. friday, we are going to be dominated by low pressure. we start the day fine with some sunshine across central and eastern england, but wet towards the north—west. and this whole system will swing its way through during the course of the day, brighter but with some showers through the afternoon for scotland and northern ireland. temperatures dipping behind the weather system yet again, and then it's a wet end to the day across eastern england. that whole frontal system, though, does push away quite quickly, and in time for the weekend, we're left with low pressure, yes, but i think more in the way of sunny intervals again. some showers, just the chance of some more persistent rain running into the south of the uk later on on saturday.

so, in comparison to friday, well, yes, it's still quite breezy on saturday, but we shouldn't see so much cloud around and outbreaks of rain will come and go rather than being persistent, aside from potentially this area pushing into southern england later on in the day on saturday. and that could linger on overnight saturday into the early part of sunday, too, but sunday daytime, of the two days, perhaps the one offering up less in the way of showers. it's still quite a notable westerly breeze. our greatest chance of getting caught in the rain will be along many of our west coasts, but in the east, with some shelter, it should feel pretty pleasant again. temperatures getting up into the mid—teens.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top

of the hour as newsday continues straight after hardtalk.