tonight at ten... the final hours before hurricane milton makes landfall in florida. already, the impact is clear with power lines brought down amid the wind and rain. tornadoes are developing. president biden calls the extreme weather a matter of life or death. winds will be fierce at well over 100 miles an hour. the storm surge will reach up to 15 feet. up to 18 inches of rain. it's looking like the

storm of the century. benjamin netanyahu speaks with president biden as a senior israeli minister says this country's response will be precise, deadly and surprising. and a record—breaking day forjoe root as he becomes england's top test match run scorer ever. on newsnight at 10.30pm tonight — we'll bring you fresh insight on the stories of the day, with big interviews and our regular panel of newsnighters —

and of course, look at what the papers are saying about tomorrow's news. good evening, welcome to the bbc news at ten. hurricane milton is now only hours away from reaching the west coast of florida, but ahead of it high winds and torrential rain have already caused damage and destruction. president biden�*s calling it the worst storm for 100 years and it's forced more than 7 million people out of their homes and into shelters or safer areas. from space, this is from space, this is what it looks like — what it looks like — as captured in these as captured in these images filmed from the images filmed from the international space station. international space station. currently over the gulf of mexico, currently over the gulf of mexico, the hurricane is expected to hit the hurricane is expected to hit the coast of florida the coast of florida overnight local time. overnight local time. it'll then travel east it'll then travel east across the state. across the state.

0n the western coast, 0n the western coast, this is the scene now — this is the scene now — you can see the wind and rain have where it vould be 15 feet high. you can see the wind and rain have already picked up. already picked up. a number of tornadoes have also a number of tornadoes have also appeared in the last few hours appeared in the last few hours and there are warnings of flash and there are warnings of flash flooding and possible storm flooding and possible storm surges too as water pushes surges too as water pushes in to coastal areas. in to coastal areas. those likely to be worst affected those likely to be worst affected are marked here in purple, are marked here in purple, including around tampa, including around tampa, where it vould be 15 feet high. 0ur correspondent, gordon corera, is there.

but everyone knows the full force has yet to hit. it's already been creating tornadoes like this one, with more expected, making life even harderfor those who are trying to flee the hurricane�*s path. president biden issued the latest warning of its power. winds will be fierce at well over 100mph, with storm surges reaching up to 15ft. up to 18in of rain. it's looking like the storm of the century.

tampa today had the feel of a ghost town, a city left to the wildlife. the few people still out were mainly trying to make desperate efforts to protect what they could. like fatum, who'd kept her shop open so people could get last minute supplies before boarding it up. she's written her name on her arm in case something happens to her. i have my name here, just in case i got flooded, nobody knows where i am. so you're that worried you've written your name on your arm? it's better for people to know my identity, you know, just in case. you don't know. this is, this is the worst one, it's going to come, so, hopefully, hopefully everybody is safe. hopefully it's not bad, just electric and that's it. 0k. yeah, losing power is no big deal. yeah. losing lives is, that's what matters. yeah. thank you. this is tampa's entertainment district. normally, it's bustling, but today it's boarded up. it lies just outside

the mandatory evacuation zone. but everyone here seems to have taken the advice and either got out or hunkered down. at least half the city has left and police are focusing on those who have remained in the high risk areas. so we've evacuated - nearly 200,000 people. but the challenge is there's just a few that are still out there, i |and our officers are going door| to door to try to convince those people to actually evacuate. some are reluctant, but our goali is to save lives here and the more people we can get evacuated, the more lives we can save. l diggers have been cleaning up the debris from hurricane helene, which hit two weeks ago, to try and reduce the risk of milton throwing all of this around and causing more damage. but time has now run out and officials are focusing on preparing for the next stage. you need to prepare for catastrophic impacts. this is going to be a serious storm. one that could forever change communities that are still recovering from helene. now, with the storm about to make

landfall, everyone is waiting and bracing for impact. gordon corera, bbc news, tampa. speaking at the white house this evening, president biden warned the irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation is undermining confidence in the preparations for hurricane milton. mr biden accused former president trump of being at the forefront of spreading what he called outright lies. merlyn thomas from bbc verify reports from washington. dangerous weather events like hurricanes are often accompanied by misinformation, the fact we have had two of these in the middle of the election campaign has magnified the false claims online. agencies dealing with these on the ground and even the president are now calling them out. the hurricane is about to make landfall, but the deluge of misinformation online has already begun. there's been a reckless,

irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies that are disturbing people. after hurricane helene, donald trump has repeatedly highlighted the payment of $750 offered to victims by fema, the government agency that deals with disasters in the us. they're offering them $750. they've been destroyed. these people have been destroyed. but this isn't all they're getting. this is an upfront payment for emergency supplies. fema says those affected will be able to apply for additional funds for repairing damage to homes and personal property. trump, who president biden singled out in his comments on misinformation, has also made this claim. kamala spent all her fema money — billions of dollars — on housing for illegal migrants. this is false. fema has a protected fund for disaster relief and a separate pot of money to support migrants. it says no money has been diverted from disaster response needs.

and biden also called out republican congresswoman marjorie taylor greene, who tweeted, "yes, they can "control the weather." her tweet has been viewed more than 43 million times. there's been a slew of conspiracy theories that the government is somehow behind these hurricanes. of course, these hurricanes aren't being engineered. climate scientists have said no such technology exists, and these are natural weather systems. all of this, officials argue, is making it harderfor relief workers to do theirjob and convince people to get the help they need. merlyn thomas, bbc news, washington. and victoria derbyshire will have more on hurricane milton on newsnight on bbc two shortly. tonight we are talking to some of those who can't or won't leave the area and the mayor who has told them to go, plus the meteorologist who broke down in tears while reporting

on it and use night explores how this hurricane could become a huge political issue ahead of the election. —— and newsnight. the next leader of the conservative party will be either kemi badenoch or robertjenrick afterjames cleverly was unexpectedly eliminated in mps' last vote of the contest. there were 42 votes for kemi badenoch, 41 for robertjenrick, and 37 forjames cleverly. now ballot papers will go out to tory members to make the final decision. 0ur political editor, chris mason, has been talking to some of them in 0xfordshire. for the first time since 1777, 0xfordshire has no conservative mps. people here in banbury have sent conservatives to westminster for over a century, but they didn't injuly. so what do the tory party members in this county make of the contest to replace rishi sunak? nervous? table, chairs,

pumpkins and a laptop. time to watch the result at a farm shop. kemi badenoch, 42 votes. james cleverly, 37 votes. and robertjenrick, 41 votes. wow! kemi badenoch and robertjenrick through, james cleverly out. what do you think of that? i mean, that is quite something, isn't it? that's a shock. given yesterday's results and how he was at conference, i thought he would walk it at this stage. turning to you, you have your badge proudly, proudly there. and your man has made it to the last two. the exact reverse of what i was expecting. as it stands right now, jenrick's got steadier hands to steer the unstable ship. what is it about kemi badenoch that you like? many moderate—minded l conservatives like myself,

faced with the choice - of robertjenrick, who i think is a steady candidate, - and kemi badenoch, who has quite a lot of potential, - whether upwards or downwards, we know not at this time, - would prefer to go for the latter. well, i'm really pleased because i'm just disappointed i'm not wearing my kemi badge. and james wanted james cleverly to make the last two. i'm very disappointed to see that he didn't get through. i think he would have been the unity candidate that could have really brought the party together, but also, you know, delivered for people across the uk. back in westminster today's victors offer their reaction. my message is one of change, to change our party not with platitudes, but with policies that will address the big challenges facing our country, on the nhs, on the economy and immigration. we need to unite behind a real conservatism that means something to the country. throwing out policy without rooting it in values doesn't work. and that's what we saw at the last election. we cannot make the same mistake again. hands up for kemi badenoch? and hands up for robertjenrick?

the jeopardy of elections and now the next one begins. rishi sunak�*s successor will be announced three weeks on saturday. chris is here now. it was an upset today, what do you make of it?— make of it? there was universal surrise make of it? there was universal surprise that — make of it? there was universal surprise that james _ make of it? there was universal surprise that james cleverly - make of it? there was universal surprise that james cleverly did | make of it? there was universal- surprise that james cleverly did not only make it over the finishing line but actually went backwards, there are theories as to why, with some suggesting not in any coordinated way but some mps who had backed him thought it was safe to vote elsewhere to try to knock out who they did not want to make the final two, only to see the person they had backed end up below the line and ends up getting knocked out himself. whatever did happen, but we now have is a run—off where if you regard yourself as a centrist within the conservative party or on the left, you don't have a barrier in the final two, you don't have a barrier in the finaltwo, robertjenrick you don't have a barrier in the

final two, robertjenrick has moved to the right, he says he is experiencing shifts in immigration, he and his campaign see himself as that challenge and underdog, he will give a speech in westminster tomorrow, kemi badenoch's supporters think she is a star but acknowledge that she is not the finished article and that she is vulnerable to slip ups as well as being able to make the political weather, so it will be quite the contest, it gets under way, those ballot papers heading out to members of the next couple of days. to members of the next couple of da s. , . ~' , ., , to members of the next couple of das. , .mg , . president biden and israel's prime minister spoke to each other on the phone today as international concerns grow about widening conflict in the middle east. let's join clive myrie injerusalem. thanks, mishal. it's been a while — months, in fact — sincejoe biden and benjamin netanyahu last spoke, and this time round the vice—president, kamala harris,

joined the conversation. here's the israeli leader taking the call from the white house and on the agenda clearly would have been israel's invasion of lebanon and the expansion of military operations there in recent days. there are reports tonight of at least four people being killed in an israeli air strike on the lebanese village of wardaniyeh and two people killed by rockets in kiryat shmona, a town close to the lebanese border in northern israel. in a moment, we'll get the latest from there with lucy williamson, but first 0rla guerin has been in southern lebanon for much of the past week and sent this report. ground invasion, day nine. there may be many more to come. israel has released this footage said to show its troops on lebanese soil. and this is the view from tyre.

an ever expanding war. israel's bombardment has killed around 1,500 people across lebanon in the past two weeks. as we watch, israeli air strikes get close. then, closer still. well, this strike has just come in right behind our hotel. incredibly loud, incredibly close. we can hear sirens now, first stage, rushing to the scene, and there are some civilians i can see very close to the area of the blast. emerging from the smoke, a mother and child who had tried to escape the war with a trip to the beach. this building was hit leaving one dead. it housed a pro—iranian tv channel. israel says it's

targeting hezbollah. tell that to this grieving son. his elderly mother, leila, was killed in an earlier strike. she willjoin 18 others in this mass grave. they will be exhumed and reburied when it is safer. the rituals of life and of death destroyed by war. he rages at israel. "until our last breath, we won't leave our land," he says. "if we die, we will all be buried here." then he helps to lay her to rest and is left to shoulder his grief. 0rla guerin, bbc news, tyre.

the latest in lebanon there. well, what about the situation on the other side of the front line in northern israel? lucy williamson has travelled along the border from east to west on a day when heavy rocket barrages were coming in. all along israel's northern border today, the sounds and the skies were the same. israel's air defences meeting hezbollah missiles. sometimes they missed. in kiryat shmona, long a target for hezbollah rockets, more than a dozen landed. 0ne killing a couple out walking their dogs. when we arrived, firefighters were still battling the blaze at this house. watching from the pavement was katie, whose father lives next door. i see red. "i see red," she said. "it's not fear, it's this, just anger."

israel says it's launched its ground invasion, partly to stop attacks like this. rockets and shrapnel have been landing in israeli towns along this borderfor a year now, and residents tell us they want their army to do whatever it takes to make this stop. israel has expanded its ground invasion to the western end of this border. hezbollah says it attacked troops with artillery this morning, just over this hill. towns on the israeli side now part of a new closed military zone. shelly moved here a0 years ago and refuses to leave. she says sirens sound here eight or nine times a day. i've got pieces of rockets in my garden, 0k? did anyone warn me? do they shout to us that we are going to be bombed? no.

a suggestion that makes

washington very nervous. he's been speaking tojeremy bowen. israel's onslaught against its enemies — this was an attack in beirut last saturday on a senior hezbollah leader — wouldn't have been possible without american weapons and diplomatic support. even though israel's military hardware depends on us resupply, washington has been reluctant to pressure israel when, asjoe biden has put it, they go over the top. since april, when iran attacked israel with missiles after an israeli airstrike on their embassy in damascus, the us has been telling the israelis not to escalate by hitting iran's nuclear sites, even after the latest iranian attack last week. now, influential voices in israel want to ignore us wishes. former prime minister naftali bennett is one of them, saying this opportunity should not be missed. so we're at the 11th hour, which was not the case three years

ago, but there's also an ability that didn't exist until now because essentially, iran was defending itself with two arms, hezbollah and hamas. they were sort of its insurance policy against a strike. but now both of those arms are pretty much neutralised. so the defences are down, is that what you're saying? exactly, and the road is paved. is it the case you want the americans to do it for you? i can tell you, we've never asked, in our history, of america to fight our wars or to send soldiers to fight our wars. iran, from iran's point of view, they might think they're defending themselves, because you think about it, israel escalated the war in lebanon. israel decided to assassinate the leader of hezbollah, hassan nasrallah, a very big ally of theirs. and so they were pushed into a position, weren't they, where they had to respond? quite the contrary. you're mistaken, the events. there is a regional war

taking place, but the, the head of the octopus that's conducting all this war is the only part that's immune. it's unbelievable, if you think about it. all of this mess, all of this chaos, all of this death is being governed and managed from tehran. isn't the danger you might speed that up? provoke them into creating a bomb faster? fast forward 2007. israel took out syria's nuclear reactor. again, people don't like it, but we saved the world from assad with nuclear weapons. we have the thankless job of taking out nuclear facilities of the worst regimes in the world. everyone likes to criticise us, but we're doing thatjob. and if they get that bomb, it's everyone's problem, it's not our problem. i want to see how londoners will feel when there's an intercontinental ballistic missile with a nuclear bomb. we cannot allow that to happen. israelis are getting on with their lives

while their government decides how to retaliate for the ballistic missile attack last week. the next steps in this spiralling war depend on that decision. jeremy is here now. it seems odd, given everything going on in recent months that biden and netanyahu haven't spoken for months and what came out of the talks today? and what came out of the talks toda ? , . ,., today? the state department officials talk _ today? the state department officials talk a _ today? the state department officials talk a lot. _ today? the state department officials talk a lot. biden - today? the state department - officials talk a lot. biden however, like previous american democratic presidents who have dealt with netanyahu, has a poor relationship with him. they do not get on. netanyahu has a tendency to lecture them on what they should be doing and as presidents as powerful countries in the world, they resent that. biden has done so much for israel. the white house has put out a readout which read very little,

pretty anodyne stuff. they will defend israel steadfastly, israel has a right to defend itself etc. no more knowledge about what they might do with iran. there are two things at work here. joe biden trying to calm things down, yes, retaliate but don't do too much. and their occurrence in israel that say we have an opportunity to hurt our worst enemy, do it.— have an opportunity to hurt our worst enemy, do it. thank you. that is it from us — worst enemy, do it. thank you. that is it from us here _ worst enemy, do it. thank you. that is it from us here in _ worst enemy, do it. thank you. that is it from us here in jerusalem. - is it from us here injerusalem. back to you in the studio. it has been revealed that a 15—year—old girl stabbed to death in northumberland last year was killed by her ex—boyfriend, who was 16 at the time. ajudge has now allowed holly newton's killer to be named as logan macphail, saying the nature of the relationship was a key factor in the case. macphail was found guilty of murder last summer and will be sentenced at the end of the month.

an investigation looking into the care of children by the orthopaedic surgeon yaserjabbar at great 0rmond street hospital has been expanded to include four other london hospitals where he worked. an earlier review of his treatment of more than 700 children had already concluded that many had been subject to incorrect and unsuitable surgery. the king has praised the extraordinary resilience and courage of lily ebert, the british holocaust survivor who has died at the age of 100. born in hungary, she was taken to the nazi death camp at auschwitz—birkenau in 19114 when she was 20. four years ago, her effort to discover more about the american soldier who liberated her went viral. she continued to work on holocaust education with the help of her great—grandson, gaining 2 million followers on tiktok. a year ago she was awarded an mbe.

holocaust survivor lily ebert, who died today at the age of 100. joe root has become england's all—time top scorer in men's test cricket after overtaking sir alastair cook's record. it happened during the first test against pakistan in multan leaving him, he said, tired but proud. joe wilson reports. wednesday morning in multan. here he comes once again — classicjoe root. lovely. in a turbulent, complex world, he is composure, certainty, a dozen years of perfect timing. four more runs here meant 12,1173. englishmen have played test matches since 1877 — of them all, root is now

the top scorer. well, in this match, with harry brook excelling, england are 1192—3 — just 64 behind pakistan. root battled cramp in the intense heat, hours of batting, legs barely running. he got to 100 and just refocused to end 176 not out. he did speak to an england camera back at the team hotel. guess how he felt. tired, more than anything. it's been a long day. but, yeah, obviously proud, but still feel there's plenty more left to do and more runs to get. the hungerfor batting began in yorkshire with younger brother billy, who's also a cricketer and was getting married today. that's, of course, where dad was. i've got two sons, both played professional cricket. equally proud of them. but pride only goes so high. you know, i'm as proud watching my kids as anybody else might be watching their children

perform dancing or gymnastics or tennis or cricket or rugby, whatever. it's the same emotion, but i am very proud. joe root first played for england aged 21. he captained the test side 64 times — that's a record. he came through the same sheffield club side as michael vaughan. he makes batting look so simple. not only that, he's probably the greatest role model that english cricket has ever had. to think that he plays under a huge amount of pressure with that smile and has done for many, many years. and joe root�*s not stopping — more of this tomorrow. and aged just 33, there are record—extending years still to come. joe wilson, bbc news. in football, it's been a busy night in the women's champions league. jo currie was watching. manchester city fans have had to wait three and a half years to watch their women's team in the european group stages again. but this would be no walk in the park. the defending champions, barcelona,

made up their welcome back party. that came off the outside of the post. both sides fired warning shots... off the post! ..before the home side took their chance. miedema at the far post. and it's there from manchester city. vivianne miedema keeping the ball alive at the back post, naomi layzell poking home a momentous goal, her first for the club, and what a time to score it. the second half was all barca until city broke. bunny shaw too strong, too fast and then too skilful. city 2—0 winners. the champions humbled, manchester city back in europe with a bang. elsewhere, there was a bruising night for arsenal in munich. having gone ahead in the first half, they collapsed after the break. a 13—minute hat trick from pernille harder saw them capitulate, succumbing to a 5—2 defeat. bayern brilliant. arsenal simply stunned. jo currie, bbc news.

hurricane milton's storm surges and tornados begin. milton is described as the worst hurricane florida has seen in a century. we'll ask why a political battle over the massive storm has started.