after another conservative leadership contender is eliminated, mps vote again today to cut the number of candidates to the final two. and joe root overtakes sir alastair cook to become england's highest test run—scorer of all time. more now on our top story. millions of americans have been urged to evacuate parts of florida before the arrival of hurricane milton. it is a category five storm, the highest rating, and is expected to make landfall tonight. steve paris lives in tampa, which is expected to be in the path of the hurricane and he told us the difficulties he's experienced in

the evacuation process. it wasn't easy, first off. there was a lot of different variables, a lot of different factors that came into that decision. one of them was financial. really don't know if we can come back or not. you know, if the storm hits really bad, you know, our area might be fine, but the pathway back down the home might not be. and to risk not having that cheque every week that we, you know, depend on, could just be a major issue down the line as well. some people would think that maybe that's just the wrong way of thinking, but it's really hard to leave everything behind, pack everything up, take, you know, yourfamily, your friends, animals and just trying to, you know, go wherever is safe. on top of that, if we were to have left,

we would have needed to go two or three days ago, according to many of the people reporting the storm. i know the governor has said different things and other officials have said, you know, you're still safe to go. but there was also reports, you know, recently, today or yesterday that people were running out of gas. there wasn't enough gas stations fuel to, you know, stop and fill up and putting ourselves at risk to being on the highway. not sure if we're going to get out in time. and then being in the storm, itjust it doesn't make really much sense to us. so for me and my girlfriend, we figured it'd be safer to stay instead of going out into the unknown. matthew cappucci is a meteorologist for the myradar app. he told us what makes milton different from other storms. fortunately, i've been through many storms before and i can tell you this one is a little bit different from many others.

the reason being, you know, we have records dating back to 1850, and there's never been in all our 174 years of observation, never been another hurricane at or above category two strength that has hit tampa from the west. this is a very unusual track, and for that reason, it's a track that is so primed to produce a really big storm surge, somebody will be devastated, whether it be tampa, tampa bay, down towards, for example, venice or sarasota. i think it will be sarasota, but one of those three, four locations will be. it ultimately depends on exactly where that track goes. but really, this will be a very bad storm for a lot of people. you can really shelter from very strong hurricane force winds, but you can't really shelter from water. and that's why it's imperative people either evacuate vertically or inland or ideally both. you know, when i drove here from orlando, i'm heading actually to the landfall zone. the highway is virtually empty. people, for the most part, got out of dodge already. gas stations, this is the first gas station in over two hours of driving

that i've been at that has actually had gasoline. and by many metrics, this is the biggest evacuation in the united states and especially florida since irma hit back in 2017. so i think folks are taking it seriously. it's about two weeks ago we got helene, which brought only half the storm surge and still left devastation. so i think the fact that we're predicted to see twice as much surge this time around is really showing folks the power that milton will yield here. this milton will yield here. is the scene live in tampa, this is the scene live in tampa, florida. rain coming down hard. hurricane milton expected to hit in the coming hours, a category five storm, around 270 kilometres an hour wind. the israel defence forces have warned people they will be risking their lives

if they travel into southern lebanon. the idf said it was expanding its ground operations in the south west. nick eardley from bbc verify has been looking at the damage in lebanon so far. there has been a significant exchange of fire in recent days, as we've been hearing, dozens of rockets have been fired into northern israel today by hezbollah and there has been significant damage done by israeli strikes in lebanon. this footage here is from yarun in the southwest of lebanon. and you can see buildings have been flattened over a pretty large area. we've been mapping the wider picture and if we have a look at this screen here and focus in on the region, i can show you a map which is based on data from the institute for the study of war. it's up to date as of yesterday morning, so it doesn't include the most recent strikes today. it includes reported strikes, we haven't verified them all, and there may be some that we don't know about. but if i focus it in here, if we zoom in down on the border area in purple here, you can see recent hezbollah attacks on israel. and in red you can see

israeli strikes in lebanon. let's focus in on a few examples to show you the extent of some of the damage we've been seeing in lebanon. firstly, this one is from arabsalim in southern lebanon, 16km from the border with israel. we verified this by looking at footage from the surrounding areas. it matches satellite images before this raid and the buildings still standing in the footage. now, we're confident this is from this morning when it was first posted online. and what it clearly shows, as you can see here, is a considerable level of damage to buildings and to the local infrastructure. let's also show you a piece of footage we've got from beirut. israel says it's targeting hezbollah strongholds, particularly areas where weapons are being stored. and this footage does appear to show secondary explosions. you can see here this big ball of fire, the building

is clearly on fire. then about a0 seconds into the footage that's been posted online. it will come up in a second. here you can see another explosion. what looks like fireworks going on there, that's likely been caused by ammunition blowing up. there are other examples of verified footage that we've found and shown to experts who say the same, that it looks like secondary explosions, ammunition exploding. now, the damage is against a backdrop of israel sending more troops into lebanon. this morning, the israeli defence forces confirmed they were expanding operations into the southwest. and like has happened in gaza, we're seeing these sorts of warnings being circulated by the idf. this one, as you can see, is in arabic. it tells people in the south to be careful. it tells people not to move south. and it says to those in the south that they shouldn't return to their homes for their own safety. in recent months, hundreds of thousands of people

in lebanon have been displaced, and much of that has been happening in the south of the country. the post office chief executive, nick read, is due to begin giving evidence today at the inquiry into the horizon it scandal. mr read joined the post office in september 2019, but has been accused by sub—postmasters of presiding over an insufficient level of change at the organisation. our business reporter peter ruddick has the details. he was the man tasked with moving the post office from scandal to success. but nick read has been accused of leading an organisation that has failed to change. a regular in the inquiry public gallery over recent months, today it's his turn to face questions. nick read joined the post office as the permanent replacement for paula vennells in september 2019. within months, he agreed to settle a case brought by a group of subpostmasters

led by sir alan bates. that opened the door to financial redress for victims, and the first scheme was launched in april 2020. cheering. but, more than four years on, many are still waiting for their money. nick read will be asked why the process is taking so long and if it should really be his organisation handling it. he will also face accusations he has been too focused on his own pay and that some in his team still think the post office is the victim. keith bell was falsely prosecuted and lost his life savings. like many, he's eagerly following the inquiry and wants nick read and others to put subpostmasters back at the heart of the post office. ijust hope he takes the opportunity now to try and come clean, answer the questions that are put to him and not sort of go around them. you know?

just take the chance to put the record straight. today won't be nick read's first time in the firing line — he's been quizzed by mps after being accused of bullying a female colleague and presiding over a toxic culture. mr read denied the claims and an internal report cleared him of wrongdoing. but criticism remains and after being brought into the post office as the face of change, the next three days could well determine nick read's legacy. we will have full coverage on the bbc website. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

tiktok is being sued by more than a dozen us states which allege the app has knowingly contributed to a mental health crisis among children and teenagers. the company denies this. michael malone is a veteran silicon valley journalist and gave us more information

about this case. the conversation has briefly, until after the election, shifted to the states. and what we have is 13 states, along with the district of columbia, that have all brought suit against tiktok, against claiming that it's causing mental health problems because of its addictive features. and among these health problems, they sort of threw in, these are the attorney generals of these states, the chief legal officer. and in their suits, they said such impacts "included disrupted sleep, depression, increased loneliness, loss of analytical skills, memory formation, contextual thinking, conversational depth, empathy and increased anxiety," which i think is a pretty accurate description of the zoomer generation as a whole. so it seems as if they're litigating tiktok as the chief source of all the problems of the young generation.

every social media platform and most video games, they're all designed to be addictive. they actually use the techniques of casinos. they began that way, using that style in order to get kids involved. and now we look at our children and they're looking at their phones 15 hours a day. i don't think this is going to work. i do think that the states, though, are putting a spear in the sand for individual lawsuits in those states based upon injuries to kids, changing behaviour, that sort of thing. here in the uk, conservative mps will decide today which two candidates to succeed

rishi sunak will make it to the final round of the contest. james cleverly, robertjenrick and kemi badenoch are vying for a place on the ballot papers that will be sent to party members. tom tugendhat was eliminated from the race yesterday. eliminated from the race let's speak to anna mikhailova, who is deputy political editor for the mail on sunday. he said there is intrigue, phone calls, quiet chat. that is how he is describing the current back and forth as mps continue to decide which they well pick. do you agree with that assessment? i well pick. do you agree with that assessment?— well pick. do you agree with that assessment? i agree, as usualwith — that assessment? i agree, as usual with chris. _ that assessment? i agree, as usual with chris. it _ that assessment? i agree, as usual with chris. it is - that assessment? i agree, as usual with chris. it is a - that assessment? i agree, as usual with chris. it is a big i usual with chris. it is a big scramble going on today. the vote is this afternoon and it is all about trying to get tom tugendhat supporters to back

one of the other three candidates. a few have already come out. generally they were expected to side behind james cleverly but to be honest his surgeon yesterday to first place, i think the key to understand this is that it's a secret ballot. no one knows how any of the mps vote including the candidates themselves. they just see the number and it's the most duplicitous electorate you could think of. we the most duplicitous electorate you could think of.— you could think of. we talk about underhand _ you could think of. we talk about underhand tactics i you could think of. we talk. about underhand tactics and plotting. how would that work with people trying to decide in a strategic way who the final to make the person they most want? , . ., ., ., want? they are narrowing down to the final _ want? they are narrowing down to the final two _ want? they are narrowing down to the final two that _ want? they are narrowing down to the final two that will- want? they are narrowing down to the final two that will be - to the final two that will be presented to members and each candidate has an idea and their teams have an idea of who they would prefer to be up against.

it robertjenrick would prefer to be in the final two. the accusation which of course they

i think part of what has happened here is james cleverly was a bit of an outsider. he was a bit of an outsider. he was not the favourite for a long time. he has had a surge and i wonder if he makes it through to the final two, as is now assumed, does that mean his record in government will get a bit more scrutiny? just record in government will get a bit more scrutiny?— bit more scrutiny? just remind us what comes _ bit more scrutiny? just remind us what comes next. - bit more scrutiny? just remind us what comes next. we - bit more scrutiny? just remind us what comes next. we are i us what comes next. we are expecting the announcement of the final two later this afternoon and then it goes out to the party membership. take us through the timeline for our viewers. 50 us through the timeline for our viewers. , ., viewers. so the timeline is a members — viewers. so the timeline is a members will _ viewers. so the timeline is a members will be _ viewers. so the timeline is a members will be allowed - viewers. so the timeline is a members will be allowed to | viewers. so the timeline is a - members will be allowed to vote and the final decision doesn't get announced until the 2nd of november. there is actually quite a few weeks of this now and we expect the final two to go out and do various hustings but it has been seen as a slightly bizarre timeline and there has been a push within there has been a push within the party to bring it forward. some candidates have suggested they support that in order to have a leader in place before

the budget, which is such a key moment and is something you need and organise opposition for. the suggestion was that some candidates preferred to keep the schedule as is, but if it is robertjenrick versus james cleverly, there is a chance they might agree to push the timeline a bit forward. at the timeline a bit forward. at the moment there is quite a few more weeks of tory leadership stories and hustings and then the members vote at the start of next month.— the members vote at the start of next month. always good to talk to yom — of next month. always good to talk to you. great _ of next month. always good to talk to you. great to _ of next month. always good to talk to you. great to have - of next month. always good to talk to you. great to have you | talk to you. great to have you on. thank you very much. an eighteen—year—old mountaineerfrom nepal has become the youngest person to climb the world's 11; highest peaks. nima rinji sherpa achieved the record by reaching the top of mount shishapangma in tibet early on wednesday. he started his challenge to climb all the world's peaks over 8,000 metres when he was 16. nima rinji has dedicated the world record to his

project to support young sherpa climbers. the wildlife photographer of the year awards have been announced. this image of a leopard seal below sea ice was the winner in the underwater category. it was taken by matthew smith. while filming a wildlife documentary in india's western ghats, robin darius conz saw a tiger on a hillside overlooking a town. he used a drone to track the tiger, to highlight the contrast between protected areas and those affected by human development. and this was the winner of the young photographer competition —17—year—old alexis tinker—tav—alas, from germany, took this close—up of fruiting slime mould and a tiny springtail. you are watching bbc news. to cricket next.

joe root has become england's highest test match run—scorer, overtaking sir alastair cook's record of 12,1172. root reached the milestone while trying to keep england in the first test against pakistan in multan. a short time ago, root had moved to 86 and england were 286—3, chasing pakistan's first innings score of 556. let's take you to multan where the bbc cricket commentator and former england spinner alex hartley is there for us. good to talk to you. a big milestone forjoe root. tell us what it was like to be there. massive milestone, it was a quiet celebration, you would expect someone like joe root who'd got our century, no doubt there is a knighthood on the way at some stage forjoe root, it isjust a way at some stage forjoe root, it is just a matter of when. it was just a little wave to the dressing room, staff and

team—mates on the balcony, the pakistan fans did not really know what was going on so there was not a massive cheer likely would have got in england but a wave to the dressing room. for --eole wave to the dressing room. for peeple not _ wave to the dressing room. for peeple not as _ wave to the dressing room. for people not as into cricket as you, telling us what kind of playerjoe root is when it comes to test matches. i have seen him in a few and he has a huge following. what kind of player has he been? he huge following. what kind of player has he been?- player has he been? he is a leadin: player has he been? he is a leading run _ player has he been? he is a leading run scorer - player has he been? he is a leading run scorer at - player has he been? he is a l leading run scorer at england and i doubt that will be caught up. he scored mountains of runs, he has come through all sorts of circumstances. he literally has it all. the reverse scoops, he can defend till the cows come home. he is literally the best england however had.— literally the best england however had. ~ . , however had. what is the mood there around _ however had. what is the mood there around the _ however had. what is the mood there around the ongoing - however had. what is the mood there around the ongoing test, | there around the ongoing test, but this news forjoe root? the

fans have _ but this news forjoe root? the fans have come _ but this news forjoe root? the fans have come in _ but this news forjoe root? tue: fans have come in today, but this news forjoe root? tte: fans have come in today, it but this news forjoe root? tt2 fans have come in today, it is free entry so we have a few more in than previously. still quite quiet but the pakistan fans are obviously behind pakistan. directly opposite us are the barmy army fans singing jerusalem every morning. it is wonderful to see so many travelling fans. he wonderful to see so many travelling fans.— wonderful to see so many travelling fans. he has taken over alastair _ travelling fans. he has taken over alastair cook's - travelling fans. he has taken over alastair cook's record. | travelling fans. he has taken over alastair cook's record. i am reading some reaction from his team—mates that ben stokes has described him as selfless and incredible. what else have we heard from his fellow team—mates? we heard from his fellow team-mates?— we heard from his fellow team-mates? like i have no idea, i team-mates? like i have no idea. i have _ team-mates? like i have no idea, i have been _ team-mates? like i have no idea, i have been too - team-mates? like i have no idea, i have been too busy l idea, i have been too busy commentating on the match. he is such a team player. he is not thinking of records and saying i need to score 71 to become the best ever england player. he is thinking about what the team needs from him in the situation and that is what makes him an incredible player. it is always nice to break

records and i'm sure when he eventually retires he will sit back and realise how good he was but now he has a job to do and that's what we love about him. . ~ and that's what we love about him. . . ., , him. thanks much for bringing us the latest. _ more on the bbc sport website. this is the scene live in tampa, florida. a reminder of the story from the that we are watching from the united states and that is that millions of people in florida have been told to leave their homes in anticipation of hurricane milton heading towards the florida west coast. it is a category five storm, the highest possible rating for a storm, the same that hurricane katrina two decades ago was rated as you can see heavy rain in tampa i is where hurricane milton is expected to hit later this evening. packing ferocious

wind of around 165 miles an hour, around 270 kilometres an hour. joe biden has warned leaving was a matter of life and death. florida has undertaken its largest evacuation in two years. this comes less than a fortnight after hurricane helene hit the gulf coast is a category four storm cooling at least 224 people across florida, georgia south carolina, tennessee, virginia and north carolina. these life pictures are on the bbc website. we have a continuing update. we will have continuing update. we will have continuing crisis updates after a short break. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again. it's been a fairly cloudy and a wet start to the day, particularly so across

the north and the east of the country. what's been happening is low pressure has been driving our weather. it's now pulling away into the north sea, but we still have some remnants of fronts producing the rain. and the other thing that's happening is you can see more of a northerly component to the wind. so feeling cold across the north of scotland, in fact, feeling quite raw now through the afternoon. we hang on to the rain across the north and the east, but it will brighten up across southern parts of england, south wales and northern scotland, with a few showers and some of those showers, down to about 600—700m in the highlands could well fall as snow. temperatures eight to nine in northern scotland, but generally we're looking at 12 to 17. 17 will feel quite pleasant if you're in any sunshine. through this evening and overnight, that band of cloud and rain continues to sink southwards, weakening all the time. clearer skies follow on behind. there'll be some wintry showers down to 300—400m across parts of scotland. and you can see where we've got the blue in the charts,

temperatures could actually fall away to —3 or —4. so a frosty start in the north. but as we head through tomorrow, the cold weather sinks southwards as represented by the blues, eventually chasing away the milder yellows through the day. because we're all going to be in this northerly wind. so we start with the cloud and some showery outbreaks of rain in the far south first thing, then a lot of dry weather, fewer showers around. a lot of those will be on windward coasts and it will feel cold in that wind. temperatures are low for the time of year anyway. add on the wind chill and it will feel much colder than that. it's going to be a frosty start on friday. quite a widespread frost, but a lot of dry weather for southern scotland, england, wales and northern ireland. but we've got some showery outbreaks of rain across scotland later in the day that will get into northern ireland, and we've got more of a westerly wind, but the cold air is already in place, so it still is going to feel quite a cold day. then, as we head from friday and into the weekend, you can see we've got a ridge of high pressure. yes, there's a weather front crossing us, but essentially on sunday the high pressure will keep weather fronts at bay. so during the course

of saturday there will be some rain in the north, drier in the south, but it's looking like a decent day for most as we head into sunday.

live from london, this is bbc news. one of the most powerful

hurricanes in a century is barrelling towards florida. 5 million people have been urged to get out of the area. homes and businesses are being boarded up in preparation. the us presidentjoe biden says getting out is a matter of life and death. getting out is a matter of life and death-— getting out is a matter of life and death. i'm lyse doucet in the northern _ and death. i'm lyse doucet in the northern israeli _ and death. i'm lyse doucet in the northern israeli city - and death. i'm lyse doucet in the northern israeli city of. the northern israeli city of haifa in a day where fighting continues across the border in south lebanon. there has also been a missile fired into the north today. been a missile fired into the north today-— north today. and lisa marie presley's — north today. and lisa marie presley's posthumous - north today. and lisa marie i presley's posthumous memoir reveals intimate details about life with elvis. we have an exclusive interview with her daughter riley keogh. welcome to this hour on bbc news. we begin with the latest on hurricane milton.