is with these winds. —— until it is past _ with these winds. —— until it is past you — with these winds. —— until it is past you will. it's an area that hasn't been hit by a storm in over 120 years, so many of those folks obviously have had no experience with the strong storms, and the concern was about whether the homes in those areas, structures in that area could withstand that high storm surge and the winds coming in. water was still low, sol water was still low, so i went back to bed. _ water was still low, so i went back to bed. then— water was still low, so i went back to bed. then he_ water was still low, so i went back to bed, then he woke _ water was still low, so i went back to bed, then he woke me - water was still low, so i went back to bed, then he woke me up- water was still low, so i went back to bed, then he woke me up at- water was still low, so i went back| to bed, then he woke me up at 730 and told _ to bed, then he woke me up at 730 and told me — to bed, then he woke me up at 730 and told me we _ to bed, then he woke me up at 730 and told me we had _ to bed, then he woke me up at 730 and told me we had water- to bed, then he woke me up at 730 and told me we had water in the i and told me we had water in the house — and told me we had water in the house so — and told me we had water in the house. so that _ and told me we had water in the house. so that is _ and told me we had water in the house. so that is where - and told me we had water in the house. so that is where we - and told me we had water in the . house. so that is where we are at. hurricane idalia made landfall on florida's gulf coast as an "extremely dangerous" category 3 storm. it's now down to a category one, but moving across georgia and the carolinas as the first damage assessments begin. nearly quarter of a million people in florida tonight without power, we will bring you the latest. also tonight, cleverley goes to china. but what is in it for the uk? the foreign secretary says he is "clear eyed" about the disagreements between the two countries. we will assess whether how far

the diplomacy will go. and a 56—year dynasty comes to an end in gabon — another coup, the eighth in former french colonies injust the past three years. good evening. idalia's power has waned some as it heads towards georgia, but maximum sustained winds were still over 100 miles per hour. and it's worth remembering a storm's category doesn't necessarily indicate how much damage there will be. this storm surge that was pushed into the big bend area of the gulf coast peaked at 15 feet high. and that area of north—west florida acts like a giant baseball mitt, it's flat, it's low lying, there's every reason to fear that the waters will have washed right over it. the federal emergency management agency said idalia is the strongest storm to make landfall in this part of florida in more than 100 years. more than a quarter of a million people in florida and another 100,000 in georgia

are without power right now. the national guard and the federal emergency teams are staged ready to respond. the search and rescue is beginning tonight, but the main damage assessments will not start until the morning when the waters begin to recede. here's the governor of the state, ron desantis. right now, tampa airport is going to be open for incoming for incoming flights at apm. at 3am tomorrow, it will be fully reopened. gainesville airport will be open tonight and tallahassee airport will reopen first thing in the morning. the ports in tampa and manati are currently undergoing assessments, and when those assessments are concluded, they will be able to resume operations, assuming all is well, which we anticipate it will be. there are, as of now, no confirmed fatalities. and those fatalities are things that are confirmed by the florida department of law enforcement through medical examiners.

we do not have any confirmed fatalities yet. we are still assessing what is all going on and on the ground in the places that had to initial impact, and so we are probably going to be, and i'm probably going to try to get down to some of those counties today. it got a lot of people that are going in offering assistance from the state perspective, helping these counties be able to stabilise the situation. a short time ago, president biden wrapped up his press conference and this is what he had to say. it has moved over— this is what he had to say. it has moved over land _ this is what he had to say. it has moved over land and _ this is what he had to say. it has moved over land and shifted - this is what he had to say. it has moved over land and shifted to l moved over land and shifted to category— moved over land and shifted to category one. it is still very dangerous with winds of up to 70 mph _ dangerous with winds of up to 70 mph the — dangerous with winds of up to 70 mph. the impact of the storm are being _ mph. the impact of the storm are being felt— mph. the impact of the storm are being felt throughout the southeast, even as_ being felt throughout the southeast, even as it _ being felt throughout the southeast, even as it moves up the eastern coast _ even as it moves up the eastern coast of— even as it moves up the eastern coast of the united states, affecting georgia, south carolina and north carolina. we have to remain vigilant. there is much more to tie _ remain vigilant. there is much more to tie i_ remain vigilant. there is much more to tie liust— remain vigilant. there is much more to do. ijust came from the oval office _ to do. ijust came from the oval office where i met with the fema

administrator, ourfederal office where i met with the fema administrator, our federal response folks, _ administrator, our federal response folks, and _ administrator, our federal response folks, and early monday morning, lon- folks, and early monday morning, long before the storm made landfall, i spoke _ long before the storm made landfall, i spoke with the governor of florida and approved an early request for emergency declaration to enable him to have _ emergency declaration to enable him to have the _ emergency declaration to enable him to have the full support ahead of time _ to have the full support ahead of time to— to have the full support ahead of time to protect the people of's lives _ time to protect the people of's lives of— time to protect the people of's lives of the state of florida. in a moment, we will hear from reporters on the ground in cedar key and in tampa. but first, our correspondent in houston, john sudworth, sent this report. the storm surge was always the biggest threat and, as expected, idalia has brought serious flooding to florida's west coast. these residents are being brought out of the evacuation zone, an area where the authorities had been telling people for days that it wasn't safe to stay in their homes. about three o'clock, the water was still two feet below the sea wall. so i went back to bed,

and he woke me up about 7:30 and said, "we've got water in the house". so, that's where we're at. did you guys not get the warnings to leave? yes. but we left the last one and didn't have to, so... right. ..we thought we'd be able to sit it out. guess not. don't ever trust the weatherman! the whole front building at the faraway end, - where the swings were, _ just came apart and it's washing up the street towards us. the hurricane made landfall on what's known as florida's big bend, a relatively less populated area of the coast. but once again, the warnings were clear, the floods pose a major threat to life. but while many thousands have followed the advice, others — worried about damage or looting — have taken their chances with the storm. it's just one of these things that in florida, we live with these storms, you know? we live in florida because we don't like snow, but in the fall, we have to deal with storms like this. and unfortunately, these storms move about. they come to the left,

they go to the right, we don't know which way they're going. so a lot of times, people just become, "oh, it's not going to hit us, it's not going to hit us." well, sometimes, we get punched in the mouth. another rescue vehicle is heading into the flooded area. they tell us they've brought out around a0 trapped residents so far. more are still inside. tens of thousands of —— the damage to property is expected to be severe, and tens of thousands of engineers and members of the national guard are on standby to deal with the aftermath. our correspondent helena humphrey joins us now from cedar key. one of the hardest hit areas. good to see that you are on dry land and your feet are dry at the moment. i guess there is not much dry land around at the moment. absolutely. i think it is fair _ around at the moment. absolutely. i think it is fair to _ around at the moment. absolutely. i think it is fair to say _ around at the moment. absolutely. i think it is fair to say that _ around at the moment. absolutely. i think it is fair to say that this - think it is fair to say that this is just about dry land. if we pan over this way, you can see the storm

surge that came in here at cedar key. this is much higher than it is meant to be. in fact, this morning we saw a lashing rain is coming driving that water from the gulf, and then we saw that six foot seven foot storm surge. this is as far as we can go into cedar key. this is the city limits. a railroad committee that has been hard hit. to give you an idea of what is happening behind me. he cannot go any further. speaking to law enforcement and anyone trying to get in, essentially that downtown area is underwater. that's all people have been telling me, other people telling me that one hotel, essentially, a chunk of it broke off and was washed into the ball. now, in the past hour or so, law enforcement have confirmed to me and the people in this community have been accounted for. we were a little bit concerned when we saw some of the boats trying to get into this community. we did hear some reports that some families, some individuals were still inside. and he spoke to

other locals trying to get in, we asked did you get adequate warning? they said the warning was very clear. when i asked them why others stay behind they said you've got to understand where we are here in this state. we haven't seen a hurricane like this one in over a century. so some people heard the warning saying that it's like other tropical storms that it's like other tropical storms that they have seen in the past, stayed in offices, stayed in homes with a bottle of wine, a pack of playing cards and were determined to write out the storm. but it is certainly a very different picture now. we are understanding all power knocked out, sewage not contained here in this area, and, of course, that concern for the storm surge. just talking a little bit more about has made this quite so destructive and dramatic when it comes to that water is the super moon effect. you've got high tide and that strengthened by the gravitational pull with the super moon. not to mention the fact that this is something the head of fema pointed

to, you have got these warm temperatures. it's humid here right now, but a lot of these waters are kind of bath water like, 2—3 sunak celsius. higherthan kind of bath water like, 2—3 sunak celsius. higher than normalfor this celsius. higher than normal for this time celsius. higher than normalfor this time of year. as meteorologists put it here, warm water is essentially rocket fuel for hurricanes. ——kind of bath water like, 2—3 celsius. it was able to pick a power and made landfall early in the morning. there is nowhere for _ landfall early in the morning. there is nowhere for the _ landfall early in the morning. there is nowhere for the receding - landfall early in the morning. there is nowhere for the receding waters to go, that will be part of the problem over the next 2a hours. he said people will try to write it out, difficulty in a situation like this is if you are writing it out, you are told to go to the lower floor is, stay at the lower floors of the property that you are in, but you cannot do that if it is flooding, and that is why there will be real concern for those who stay behind. , ., be real concern for those who stay behind. , ,, . . , behind. yes. i think that was the gut-wrenching — behind. yes. i think that was the gut-wrenching warning - behind. yes. i think that was the

gut-wrenching warning this - behind. yes. i think that was the - gut-wrenching warning this morning. gut—wrenching warning this morning. last night, we were listening to the governor, ron desantis, he said get out while you still can. you cannot run from this storm. he cannot ride this storm out. this morning when we woke up and he had that early morning press conference just before it struck and beside that power outage while he was speaking, he essentially said you are going to have to hunker down if you are still in place, because there is nowhere now to go. they said there was the potential for this storm surge to beach 16 feet. that is the potential with these tidal currents. it was quite alarming. he said this isn't just a case of being on the second floor. we are talking about the third floor. we should also point out that there are places to go in terms of some high ground. he says you don't necessarily have to go out of state. if you just take a look around, the vista. to put it kind of bluntly, it is so flat. it reminds me of the netherlands or norfolk in the uk, places where flooding is likely and they have had to do something significant about it. that

is the issue here. in tampa, for example, a very shallow bay in tampa, so even if you have a storm surge of around four feet, when you have got a shallow bay, there is not much room for that water to go. and thatis much room for that water to go. and that is really the issue we have been seeing here. the that is really the issue we have been seeing here. the authority say it could even _ been seeing here. the authority say it could even washing _ been seeing here. the authority say it could even washing three - been seeing here. the authority say it could even washing three miles . been seeing here. the authority sayj it could even washing three miles in land in those flatter areas. so that will be the concern. good to talk to you. stay safe. let's pick up with jayda williams, from abc action news. she is travelling around, as he can see, with the national guard. ——jada williams. what are you seeing in tampa? yeah, we have been — what are you seeing in tampa? yeah, we have been going _ what are you seeing in tampa? yeah, we have been going through - what are you seeing in tampa? yeah, we have been going through a - what are you seeing in tampa? if�*ll we have been going through a lot of communities throughout the day, we are currently a county over from where tampa is. and this truck can drive through anywhere from 30—a0 inches of water and we have been going through a lots of water earlier this morning. there was a rescue operation that we went along

for. two mobile homes on fire. the fire department could not get back there because of all the water on those roads. so they had to get inside this truck to take all their equipment and fight those fires. and thatis equipment and fight those fires. and that is really one of the more extreme things that we have seen. we have been on this truck all day long. we've also gone along with them as they are going into these communities, where those roads are impassable and they are knocking on doors making sure that everyone who may have stayed inside their homes are fine and doing well.— are fine and doing well. obviously florida no stranger— are fine and doing well. obviously florida no stranger to _ are fine and doing well. obviously florida no stranger to hurricanes. | are fine and doing well. obviously| florida no stranger to hurricanes. i mean, michael in successive years and we all remember the distraction that ian left behind. do you think travelling with the national guard, do you think the authorities have learned a lot from that and will have incorporated some of that into their preparations? its, have incorporated some of that into their preparations?—

their preparations? a very methodically... _ their preparations? a very methodically... a - their preparations? a very methodically... a lot - their preparations? a very methodically... a lot of i their preparations? a very - methodically... a lot of training that goes into this work. we saw that goes into this work. we saw that in their meetings talking about what they want to do before they go out. they are stationed all over the state. they are available. here is the good thing... support in particular parts of the state. a lot of times you hear the difference between a windstorm and a water storm. a windstorm will bring down trees and more likely to have a power outage. this one is more of a water storm, the bigger issue here is the flooding, things like that. a lot of these communities weren't prepared. and we are seeing that. that's why this big operation for this crew is making sure that they are able to get to those flooded neighbourhoods so that they are not stuck, waiting for someone to come and help them. find stuck, waiting for someone to come and help them-— and help them. and guessing the --eole in and help them. and guessing the peeple in that — and help them. and guessing the people in that situation _ and help them. and guessing the people in that situation will - and help them. and guessing the people in that situation will be i people in that situation will be very pleased to see you guys. it is

good to have you join us. outwit the national guard with abc action news. —— outwith... around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the government has announced that the inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the murders and attempted murders of babies by lucy letby will now be a statutory inquiry. it means it will have greater legal powers to force the people who might have been able to stop the nurse from attacking babies to give evidence. following the case of lucy letby, judges in england and wales will be given the power to order an offender to attend a sentencing hearing, including by force if necessary orface more time injail. rishi sunak confirmed plans to introduce a new law when parliament resumes, but labour says it should have been done earlier. a man's been charged with conspiracy to commit burglary after a break—in at the home of the chelsea footballer raheem sterling during the qatar world cup. the player left the england squad to return home to his family after the incident last year.

23—year—old emiliano krosi from essex has been remanded in custody to appear at guildford crown court next month. you're live with bbc news. the uk foreign secretaryjames cleverly has defended talks with chinese officials in beijing, saying it would not be "credible" to disengage. he is the first british foreign secretary to visit the country in five years. this morning he met china's vice—president, han zheng, and the foreign minister, wang yi. there has been criticism at home. senior conservatives, like former party leader sir iain duncan smith, said it was weak and has compared the current approach to the appeasement of nazi germany in the 1930s. mr cleverly said he is "clear—eyed" about the uk's disagreements with beijing but he insists it would be a mistake to try to isolate the world's second—largest economy. we have got to recognise that china is an incredibly important trading

partner and countries all over the world have very, very high volumes of trade with china. we have got to make it clear to the chinese government that it is in their interests to have a reputation of acting on a level playing field, about good business practices, about not trying to manipulate their economic relationships, because their economy... and we've seen some headline figures which demonstrates that the chinese economy is not growing at the rate it has done previously and not growing at the rate i think the chinese government would wish. and if they want to do something about that, that is going to be done through international trade. and to be really successful in international trade, you need to be regarded as a trustworthy and reliable partner. so it's in china's interest to maintain that reputation or to build that reputation.

live now to isabel hilton, founder of china dialogue, an independent, non—profit organisation dedicated to promoting a common understanding of china's environmental challenges. live now to isabel hilton, founder of china dialogue, an independent, non—profit organisation dedicated to promoting a common understanding of china's environmental challenges. i think we would all recognise that belligerent policy there from beijing in recent years. how intensely are they listening now to european leaders that are travelling to china? ~ ., , european leaders that are travelling to china? ~ ,, , . to china? well, i think they always listen, whether _ to china? well, i think they always listen, whether they _ to china? well, i think they always listen, whether they act _ to china? well, i think they always listen, whether they act on - to china? well, i think they always listen, whether they act on what . listen, whether they act on what they here is another matter. there certainly has been a change in tone from the very aggressive wolf warrior days, which i think they recognise that a busy —— had a really catastrophic effect on china's standing, particularly in europe, where if you look at the public opinion polling, china is really very low down in public

esteem. and that of course narrows the options for politicians in terms of engagement. that is a number of things, wolf warrior diplomacy, it is coded, it is hong kong. it is a sense that the chinese president is very assertive and not that china of 2010 are the china that was encouraged by the international community to open up and joined the world. we community to open up and “oined the world. ~ , ., , . world. we used to believe that fact bi aer world. we used to believe that fact bigger open _ world. we used to believe that fact bigger open market _ world. we used to believe that fact bigger open market would - world. we used to believe that fact| bigger open market would liberalise the politics in china, as you say, the politics in china, as you say, the reverse has happened. of course, now the investors are walking away. do you think these recent charm offensive is down to the downturn in the chinese economy? i offensive is down to the downturn in the chinese economy?— offensive is down to the downturn in the chinese economy? i certainly do. i think that is — the chinese economy? i certainly do. i think that is fairly _ the chinese economy? i certainly do. i think that is fairly evident. - the chinese economy? i certainly do. i think that is fairly evident. i - i think that is fairly evident. i think they are in a dilemma because this is a structural downturn. it's not something that is going to be easily fixed. and although china has been trying to build its domestic

consumption, become less dependent on exports, it is not with limited success in those endeavours. people in china are keeping their money in their pockets or in the bank. they are too uncertain to go out and spend large. and a lot of young people who might be up for more spending are unemployed. there is a bit of a fix there. in foreign investment and foreign interest are now very much encouraged by china. at the same time, there has been a lot of very unfriendly legislation and unfriendly regulation that have alarmed foreign investors. the wary is about whether china will try to let the nice its own supply chains, whether china is the reliable partner there is a lot of looking around the world scene where al's things may be manufactured. perhaps more reliably with more reliable

allies as tensions mount to. to the forei . n allies as tensions mount to. to the foreign policy _ allies as tensions mount to. to the foreign policy committee, - allies as tensions mount to. to the foreign policy committee, the - foreign policy committee, the foreign affairs committee in the house published a report today which i'm sure you have probably read. they accused the government of being incoherent in their approach to china. are they right? we have a sort of, i don't know, a split view of china when it comes to security and when it comes to trade. i think we are not — and when it comes to trade. i think we are not alone _ and when it comes to trade. i think we are not alone in _ and when it comes to trade. i think we are not alone in that. _ and when it comes to trade. i think we are not alone in that. most - we are not alone in that. most liberal democracies have tried to do this kind of triage, not so much these days talking about decoupling because it's clearly not feasible or at least it would be catastrophically expensive on all sides, but talking about de—risking. trying to segment the relationship so that, for example, we don't create dependencies which make us vulnerable, that we keep china away from critical infrastructure, but at the same time, we talk about things we need to talk about, climate

change, trade, and the broad spectrum of trade. i think the foreign affairs committee do have a point, if you look back at the last decade of british government engagement with china, it lurched from golden era to scary china under leigh's trust. and it hasn't really found its equilibrium. it's not really clear what the government hopes to get out of this relationship. —— scary china under liz truss. relationship. -- scary china under liz truss. , , ., , relationship. -- scary china under liz truss-— relationship. -- scary china under liz truss. , , ., , . . liz truss. they probably want china to come to — liz truss. they probably want china to come to the _ liz truss. they probably want china to come to the ai _ liz truss. they probably want china to come to the ai summit - liz truss. they probably want china to come to the ai summit which . liz truss. they probably want china to come to the ai summit which is | to come to the ai summit which is not that far away. it is about, thank you very much indeed for coming on the programme tonight. good to talk to you. gabon's president ali bongo has appealed for help after the army seized power and put him under house arrest. the military said they were annulling the results of saturday's election which had been announced only an hour earlier and were dissolving all state institutions. the president ali bongo had been declared the winner of the election with 64% of the vote.

if the coup holds and the president is overthrown, it would bring to an end his family's 56—year grip on power. it would also be the eighth coup in former french colonies in just the past three years. france joined the african union and the us in condemning the coup and said it's following events closely. the head of the presidential guard has been confirmed as the leader during a transition period. let's bring in david otto, director for the geneva centre for africa security and strategic studies. what do we know about this man who has taken over?— has taken over? well, i think what we know about _ has taken over? well, i think what we know about the _ has taken over? well, i think what we know about the general is - has taken over? well, i think what we know about the general is that| has taken over? well, i think what i we know about the general is that he was the head of the presidential guard and, of course, he was very close to the president. i think perhaps he was one of those who had

actually protected the president during the military coup, it was kind of a shock that he is now leaving the militaryjunta that has overthrown the family. of course, this is a family that is almost a dynasty. then in power since 1967. that is about seven years before gabon gained independence from france. we have yet to see what he is going to be... as far as a traditional government is concerned, he is the new strongman in the central africa region. so i think it's some kind of equipment... it’s it's some kind of equipment... it's interesting you say that because it does further complicate things for west african union. they are trying to intervene in niger. did they take the same approach to gabon as they do to niger? how do they avoid the

criticism that they are trying to restore a dictator? i criticism that they are trying to restore a dictator?— criticism that they are trying to restore a dictator? i think one of the problems — restore a dictator? i think one of the problems that _ restore a dictator? i think one of the problems that africa - restore a dictator? i think one of the problems that africa has - restore a dictator? i think one of the problems that africa has is l restore a dictator? i think one of. the problems that africa has is that it has about eight divisional bodies. unfortunately ecowas is not. it doesn't have business with gabon. gabon is the member of the economic committee of states. all eyes have turned to the african union. the question is do they have the military standby force that ecowas has activated? the answer to that is no. ending with the african union has done is it has nominated three countries, senegal, cameroon, to come up with ideas in terms of how to approach the situation in gabon. but as time drags on, you know, the military sticks to its guns and digging its heels for that. we can see that it is already gaining some

traction by these industries as time goes on. traction by these industries as time noes on. . ., . goes on. david, we have to leave it there, we goes on. david, we have to leave it there. we are _ goes on. david, we have to leave it there, we are about _ goes on. david, we have to leave it there, we are about to _ goes on. david, we have to leave it there, we are about to head - goes on. david, we have to leave it there, we are about to head to - goes on. david, we have to leave it there, we are about to head to a i there, we are about to head to a break, but thank you very much for joining us. an evolving situation they're in gabon. to stay with us. on the other side of the break, we will be talking about ukraine. more attacks on kyiv overnight and more drone attacks by russia. we will talk about the strategy and whether it is working. stay with us. hello. big contrasts in our weather on thursday. many northern and eastern areas will enjoy the sunshine, whereas further south, cloudy with outbreaks of rain. and here's the approaching weather front. you can see it's just to the west of us, ahead of it, the skies are clear. and that's good news because some of us want to still catch a glimpse of that super blue moon. so yes, clear spells

across the bulk of the uk, but later on we'll see those clouds increasing in the south—west and eventually it'll turn wet. why is it called a super blue moon? well super because the moon is at its closest approach to earth this year, so it'll appear bigger and brighter, and it's also the second full moon of the month. normally we get one, but this is the second one. so once in the blue moon, not that the two sayings are necessarily all that related, but anyway, here it is clear skies across many northern and eastern areas through early thursday out towards the west. we've got that weather front approaching. wet weather in the south—west, the west country, of course, wales — not cold here, ten, 12 degrees. but with the clearer skies in scotland, it's closer to seven in edinburgh and aberdeen. so the morning starts off bright, if not sunny, and that's how it's going to stay for most of the day here. beautiful weather, stunning in the north—east of scotland, but out towards the west, thick cloud with outbreaks of rain for northern ireland, for wales, parts of the midlands, but particularly i think across the south here. and that rain will come and go.

it'll be intermittent at times and also heavy, even the possibility of some rumbles of thunder. and if anything come the evening on thursday, the rain could turn heavier still. eventually on friday, that rain shears off to the near continent. but then there's still a few showers here across parts of northern england. the temperatures over the next few days, high teens, low 20s, but it is looking promising for the weekend. here's the jet stream looping around the north atlantic and around the uk. in this loop we've got an area of high pressure building from the azores and that spells fine settled weather for the weekend. we've had so many weekends this summer with low pressure, but this weekend it does look as though it is going to be the high pressure that wins. so, look at the outlook — saturday and sunday, bright or sunny. and that fine weather also lasts into next week as well, and feeling really quite warm, not bad at all. bye— bye.

hello, i'm christian fraser. you're watching the context on bbc news. we bring you an exclusive report from quentin sommerville on ukraine's eastern front as russian drones target ukrainian forces. they're making progress bit by bit, but here in the east,

there are vicious battles going on here in the east and the north. the south are making progress bit by bit, but here in the east, it's russia that's advancing. extraordinary report. before we show it to you, let's get some sport with mark mack,. we're going to �*s start with flushing meadows in new york. where world number1 novak djokovic is on court in his us open second round tie with spains bernabay with spains bernabay zapata miralles. djokovic efficient as always. the 23—time major winner only needed the one break of zapata miralles' serve to go 1 set up and then cranked up the gears to take the second 6—1/ djokovic has just saved two break points. the defending us open men's champion carlos alcaraz wasn't out on court for long in his opening round match. his opponent, dominik koepfer, had to retire hurt after rolling his ankle mid way

through the second set.