welcome to bbc news. our top stories. storms in decades — floodwaters reach rooftops in parts of florida, as hurricane ian leaves more than a million properties without power. as millions of people flee, a small few do the opposite. we'll speak to a hurricane hunter and show you footage from the eye of the storm. here in the uk, an emergency intervention by the bank of england seeks to calm the panic on the markets over the government's new economic strategy. iran's president ebrahim raisi accuses protesters of misusing the death of a young woman in police custody to cause riots.

coolio, an influential figure in coolio, an influentialfigure in the west coast rap scene of the 90s, has died at the age of 59. hurricane ian is battering the us state of florida with powerful winds and a severe storm surge, that has flooded communities along the southwest coast. there's also been flooding inland as the category four storm advances. more than a million people have been left without electricity. azadeh moshiri reports from tampa. 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 sometime 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 jason dunion, who leads the hurricane field programme at the university of miami cooperative institute for marine and atmospheric studies. i asked him what it was like to fly through the eye of a storm. it's been an interesting storm. we started flying it way back over the weekend, it was a cape verde storm that came from a hurricane nursery over africa and came across the atlantic. slowly but surely it started to get its act together and align itself, and some of the models even over the weekend suggested this storm might become a major hurricane, and of course that forecast has beared out today. seeing some of your pictures now, you have been on these flights yourself, what

on earth is it like? it really is a surreal experience. mother nature has thrown up a very interesting set—up with hurricanes. a very calm eye where you can get out of your seat, surrounded by the strongest part of the storm, the eye wall, which can cause the most damage and generates the storm surge. very interesting as you are coming in, today's flights were quite rough with ian, some flights had 36 forces, similar to what an astronaut might feel taking off into space. very surreal experience today, and getting into the eye, ultra—calm, but knowing we have a category four storm bearing down on florida, it's also a sobering experience. you mention space, i can't help but think we have thousands of satellites monitoring the earth. what are you finding out that we can't find out

from the relative safety of command centres and satellites above us? that's a great question. satellites give a lot of information, we have a lot of tools, including a radar, you can think of it as an x—ray of the storm, the satellite gives you a view, but this radar picks it apart in a three—dimensional sense. it tells us how the storm is reacting to the environment and whether it will rapidly intensify, which we did indeed see with this storm. once we go in there, we can start measuring and looking at the storm in ways we couldn't do if we just relied on satellites. we are seeing images now from one of the aircraft that you use, but you also release various measuring devices into the storms, as well as a drone, what does that do? a real goal has been to look at the rapid intensification of the storm. increased speed of 35mph in just one day. we dropped mini parachuted weather stations into measure the winds, the pressure,

the humidity. and then a cutting edge drone launched today, it has spring—loaded wings, so we launched it out of the hurricane hunter, the wings open up and it begins to fly. we got it to fly for about two hours in the eye and then it penetrated into the strongest part of the storm, the eye wall. we are able to take a drone into places where we don't take the crude aircraft. the measurements we get, we can learn a lot about the storm and how it might change stop, the crewed aircraft. 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 cuba which were not badly hit by the storm. louisa pilbeam reports. in the darkness of cuba's capital, food rots in freezers. hurricane ian has knocked out the power across the whole island, leaving more than 11 million of its people losing food they can't

afford to replace. translation: in general, the power never goes out. | it goes out in phases — that is to say in some blocks, but the rest of the blocks have electricity. but this time it was a total blackout. restaurants watched their food go off, unable to trade with the power off, in a country with an economy already ravaged. translation: we are | always running the risk of our product spoiling. there is no alternative, and we have no power plant or way of storing the food. when the light of day came, the full devastation could be seen. two people so far reported dead, an island swamped, homes pulled apart. and no wonder. this is hurricane ian from space — the category 4 storm now turning its power on florida. cuba, with crumbling infrastructure, has seen its electrical system collapse. translation: the country's | westernmost region is affected by damage caused

by hurricane ian. many places suffer damage. on the isle of youth, the damage caused by the hurricane has yet to be recovered. in the last of the provinces, we are working on restoring the system. hurricane ian has moved on, but in cuba this destruction will take months — perhaps years — to recover from. louisa pilbeam, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. european countries say they will ramp up security around oil and gas installations, after the suspected sabotage of two major pipelines. the eu, us and nato have suggested damage to the pipelines between russia and germany was deliberate, but have not blamed russia directly. russia has said it was not involved, and asked if the us was instead. a study has found that over the past decade, on average, an environmental activist was killed every two days.

the global witness report says more than 1,700 people died while trying to prevent fossil fuel extraction and mining on their lands. it attributes the rise to the growing global demand for commodities, combined with the rise of authoritarian governments. most of the killings took place in latin america. danish football officials have announced that the national team will wear a "toned down" monochrome kit for november's world cup in qatar. it's to protest against the host nation's human rights record, and the alleged mistreatment of thousands of migrant workers building the tournament stadiums. denmark's training kit sponsors are also withdrawing their logos, to give space for messages critical of qatar. here in the uk, faced with growing alarm on the financial markets about the government's economic strategy, the bank of england, the uk's central bank, 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. our 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 for 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 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, an iou called a bond, decreases. for some long—term loans, their worth 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. ordinarily, 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. 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. rana rahimpour reports. she reads out list of names. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe

names the women who died while in custody as she cuts her hair. she is a british iranian national who spent six years in prison in iran, and named herformer inmates one by one. also her mother and her 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 22—year—old mahsa amini by cutting their hair and burning their hijab. her death has sparked the largest anti—regime protests since the islamic revolution of 1979. here, a woman mourning the death of her brother, who 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 won't be tolerated. murtaza hussain is a national security journalist focusing on iran with the intercept news website. he joins us now from new york. thank you so much for your time. why is there such sustained protest and dissent within iran? thinking back to the presidency of mahmoud ahmadinejad, that was repressive itself, why is this different? what is different? you have to look at the context

in iran even before the tragic death of mahsa amini, iran is facing economic crisis, rapid inflation, currency devaluation, unemployment. there is an entirely new generation of people in iran who say, generation z, people who say, generation z, people who came up in iran very different from what it was 15 years ago, far more economic chaos, far less hope. the reality, the death of this young woman was a spark to set off a lot of social tension which had been growing, clearly, beneath the surface for quite some time. it's not surprising that this law, hated by many people in iran, especially young people, the forced hijab, ended up being the precipitating event, it struck a nerve with many people who could see themselves, their sisters and their mothers in this young woman.- sisters and their mothers in this young woman. mahsa amini

was kurdish. _ this young woman. mahsa amini was kurdish, how _ this young woman. mahsa amini was kurdish, how significant - this young woman. mahsa amini was kurdish, how significant is l was kurdish, how significant is that in all of this? iran was kurdish, how significant is that in all of this?— that in all of this? iran is ethnically _ that in all of this? iran is ethnically divided. - that in all of this? iran is| ethnically divided. azeris, kurds, persians. her being kurdish has led to greater protest in the kurdish regions, which had tension with the government even before the islamic republic was founded and certainly since too. the iranian government has tried to characterise some of the protests as being separatist in nature. today they carried out a military operation in the iraqi kurdish region, justified on the grounds that this is an attempt to destabilise iran on separatist grounds. it's hard to evaluate the veracity of those claims. certainly mahsa amini being kurdish house struck a chord with kurdish iranians and even kurdish people in other countries who have had issues with the islamic republic or tehran in

general, a persian dominated government for a very long time before this death. [30 government for a very long time before this death.— before this death. do you think that is what — before this death. do you think that is what we _ before this death. do you think that is what we should - before this death. do you think that is what we should expect i that is what we should expect to see more of, the authority is taking a tough stance to snuff it out and, in their view, restore order? it snuff it out and, in their view, restore order? it is a difficult — view, restore order? it is a difficult issue _ view, restore order? it is a difficult issue for _ view, restore order? it is a difficult issue for the - view, restore order? it is a. difficult issue for the islamic republic, because they have made the mandatory hijab a symbol of their government and regimes. since 1979, overfour decades they have enforce this law. they are concerned that if they bowed to public pressure to change this law or enforce it less, they risk seeing a glasnost style unravelling where they lose control and the public starts demanding more and more reforms and eventually and more reforms and eventually an unravelling of the entire system. as a result, i think they are quite adverse to that change. that said, it's very difficult to enforce a law that so much of society is rebelling against, so we wait to see what takes place. but i think there

are reasons they are conscious about this, the fear it could be the first domino in a broader change of the system, the manner of governance in iran. ., ~ the manner of governance in iran. . ~ ,, the manner of governance in iran. . ~ ., the manner of governance in iran. . ~' i” ., i” iran. thank you for your time and your— iran. thank you for your time and your comments. - stay with us on bbc news, still to come. we find out how artificial intelligence and high—tech helmets could come to the aid of firefighters on the front line. 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. after 45 years of division, germany is one. in berlin, a million germans celebrate the rebirth of europe's biggest and richest nation. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines. the us is battered by one of its strongest storms in decades — floodwaters reach rooftops in parts of florida, as hurricane ian leaves more than a million properties without power. here in the uk, an emergency intervention by the bank of england seeks to calm the panic on the markets over the government's new economic strategy.

coolio rocketed to fame with gangsta's paradise which he recorded the soundtrack to the film dangerous minds. an official cause of death has not been released. i am joined by peter bos in los angeles. what more do we know? we peter bos in los angeles. what more do we know?— peter bos in los angeles. what more do we know? we don't know a lot about — more do we know? we don't know a lot about the _ more do we know? we don't know a lot about the circumstances. - a lot about the circumstances. from reports in los angeles, we believe he was visiting a friend at the time, he excused himself to go to the bathroom and was away for a long time. according to reports, the friend found him collapsed on the floor, call the paramedics and he was pronounced dead a short time later. only 59 years old. this has come as a huge

shock to his many, many fans. gangsta's paradise came out in 1995. he was a west coast legend. tell us more about the man, the artist. he legend. tell us more about the man, the artist.— man, the artist. he was a huge leaend. man, the artist. he was a huge legend- from _ man, the artist. he was a huge legend. from his _ man, the artist. he was a huge legend. from his success - man, the artist. he was a huge legend. from his success in - man, the artist. he was a huge| legend. from his success in the mid—90s, his career kicked off in the 80s but it wasn't until gangsta's paradise that he cap belted himself into the higher echelons of fame in the music business. —— he catapulted himself. it won him a grammy award and it was used in the film dangerous minds starring michelle pfeiffer, and that really did kick—start his music career. he had other successes, he was a consummate actor as well, appearing in many tv shows. perhaps a little known fact about him, he was a consummate chef, he trained as a chef and created the internet series about cooking, cooking with coolio, it was called. so

he was a man of many talents. he managed to be successful not only in the music industry but generally in mainstream entertainment as well. he was one of those much—loved characters. he appeared on celebrity big brother in 2009 and did quite well in that show. �* ., ~ and did quite well in that show. ~ ., ~ , ., a team of researchers in scotland have developed a new kind of helmet that could help firefighters save lives. the team used artificial intelligence to boost its ability to detect people in burning buildings. the new technology has been described as a potentially massive game changer, as the bbc�*s tim allman reports. they're as close as we get to real life superheroes — the men and women who run towards danger when almost everyone else is running the other way. firefighters save countless lives, but could technology help them save even more? this new bit of kit,

devised by a team of scientists at the national robotarium in edinburgh, just might help. firefighters are heroes, everyone knows that. but what we are doing, not only they are heroes, we also want them to have this superhero ability. to see through smoke and darkness and have the visibility to find effective solutions. this is how it works — attached thermal cameras and sensors to a normal helmet, then adding a dash of artificial intelligence. that will give the firefighters real—time information that can help detect victims, recognise colleagues and quickly map their environment. having a thermal image capacity helps us massively in terms of the location of someone. we can scan a room a lot better, it could take five or ten seconds compared to a couple of minutes without that technology. so for us to have that would be

a massive game changer. this isjust a prototype, and the researchers are looking for partners to help develop a version that could be used worldwide. a super helmet that saves time and ultimately could save lives. the white house says the united states will rally global opposition to russia's attempts to annex ukrainian the white house says the united states will rally global opposition to russia's attempts to annex ukrainian territory through what it called sham referendums that recently took place in occupied parts of the country. president zelensky has once again condemned the votes. in his nightly address, he had this message for the ukrainian people. translation: if someone over there in russia think they can . get away with everything they are doing in the occupied territory, if someone over there in russia hopes the world will betray its own values, frightened by some other russian announcements about annexation, then they are wrong. if you want to live,

fight on the streets for your freedom. the united states has announced another $1.1 billion package of military aid for ukraine. it includes funding for 18 more himars rocket artillery systems — a weapon seen as key to ukraine's recent success on the battlefield. there will also be systems to counter russian drones, as well as ammunition, radar and armoured vehicles. this is the scene at daytona beach where hurricane ian landed a couple of hours ago. more details on the website, the live page includes the warning from the mayor of tampa that the worst is yet to come, the next 2a hours will be the most dangerous, and also footage from inside one of

those hurricane hunter planes we told you about earlier. you can reach me on twitter — i'm@garethbarlow. 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, the headlines... hurricane ian is battering the us state of florida with powerful winds and a huge storm surge that has flooded communities along the southwest coast. governor ron de santis said the hurricane would rank as one of the top five ever to strike the state. the bank of england's taken emergency action over the market turmoil in the uk saying it would buy government bonds to protect the uk's financial stability. the pound plunged — and the cost of government borrowing soared — after the conservatives announced their new economic approach last week. iran's president's accused protesters of misusing the death of mahsa amini to cause riots. as protests continued for a 12th 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.