>> this is "bbc world news." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to know your business, offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives. we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations.

what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> hurricane sandy gathers momentum and targets cuba after hitting jamaica. nine-meter waves and a storm surge in southeastern cuba. hello. welcome to gmt with me, zeinab badawi. after the recent spike in violence, a truce between hamas and got and israeli forces -- in gaza. and we looked at the rise and fall of the arab world

dictators. microsoft launches into the world of tablets. is it too late? it's midday in london, 7:00 in the evening in mei xiabeijing. in cuba, hurricane sandy has abandoned to the southeast of the country with a glimpse of 183 kilometers per hour. the category 2 hurricane has cut power, created 9 meter waves and a storm surge. thousands of residents and tourists have been moved from global areas as part of well rehearsed hurricane evacuation procedures. >> strong winds and heavy rain hitting havana. cuba experiencing the effects of hurricane sandy. while residents of the capital saw cover, it was in the southeastern part of the island that the parcel storm had made its landfall.

maximum sustained winds of 180 kilometers per hour. >> the most dangerous for the moment is not the wind but the rain. this cwill be crossing over mountainous territory. >> with people riding out the storm the best they can, the storm is moving the northeast coast with heavy rain in its wake. >> " we are ok with the situation now. >> before its hit, it's a battered and jamaica with flash floods and deluge. many forced to take to emergency shelters. an elderly man is reported to be killed when a boulder crashed into his house. >> we still have concerns lingering for persons trapped.

fishermen were told to evacuate before hand and refused to do so and are now trapped. they called for help, but it was too late. >> while jamaica begins cleaning up and counting the cost and with schools closed, now the bahamas are in the path of the storm and then possibly tropical storm conditions in florida. >> let's get the latest from the cuban capital with our correspondent will grant. give us an update. >> havana got off pretty lightly. most of the impact was in the eastern part of the country, as you said in your introduction. 1 million people in santiago de

cubs, tens of thousands of people evacuated by emergency authorities. rain has caused flash floods and rivers have broken their banks. a pretty serious situation. it is still very early in the morning, so we are waiting for confirmation on exactly how much damage has been caused. authorities were very concerned last night as hurricane sandy was approaching from jamaica. >> will, this is a region accustomed to hurricanes. how prepared are the cuban authorities? >> all the countries in the caribbean are very used to this. this is the intense hurricane of the season so far. -- the 10th hurricane. they aren't mostly prepared. in the case of cuba, there's a tight state control of

everything including information on such events as this. in this case they were particularly concerned about the more rural communities, the livestock in those places, too, so it would not have an economic impact. but the main thing was making sure loss of human life did not take place. we have not learned of any so far. information is still filtering out. we are just waiting to see how bad part of the island. it was a very powerful impact. over 180 kilometers per hour, the wind. >> thanks very much. now let's take a look at some other stories making headlines around the world. a committee of british politicians says the goal of building a viable government in afghanistan may have to be

abandoned. international development committee said the u.k. should instead focus on in alleviating poverty and improving the lives of afghan women. in japan, the governor of tokyo is to launch a new national political party. he wants to work with other right-wing politicians to challenge the two dominant parties in elections that must be called before next summer. in saudi arabia, pilgrims have begun to arrive for prayer and reflection as part of the haj. many programs have made their way from mecca and medina and all the way to visited the place where the prophet muhammad delivers his final sermon. the israeli government and hamas have said an unofficial cease- fire has been reached in gaza and comes after a flare-up in

violence on both sides. how comprehensive is this cease- fire? >> for the moment it largely seems to be holding. it was put in place at midnight local time, about 13 hours ago. we just heard from the israeli military that one mortar has been fired from gaza, landing in open space in israel, causing no injuries. what happens is there are a few breaches in the hours and days after a cease-fire. there's a lot of relief on both sides of the border. school had been cancelled. people in gaza are fasting ahead of a muslim festival. >> the cease-fire, hams said

that -- hamas had said it was responsible for one of the attacks. other smaller groups as well? >> i suspect the mortar that was fired nearly this morning was probably from one of those smaller groups. some smaller groups consider hma -- hamas has compromised too much. i do believe hamas wants those groups to stop firing. there are political gains on both sides. hamas can reassert its credentials and israel wants to be seen as being tough on militants.

israel has bigger issues to deal with in the region, notably iran. is focused on improving the economy. >> six months since medvedev left the kremlin to become prime minister. he has seen his power and influence significantly reduced. president putin has been reversing many of the liberal policies and reforms promoted under medvedev. all this has sparked a suggestion that medvedev is gradually quit disappearing -- is gradually disappearing from russia's political stage. >> the world of magic is strangely similar to the world of russian politics. behind the kremlin walls it is all smoke and mirrors.

to succeed, you need a cool head, slight of hand, and you have to be good at making people disappear. vladimir putin is the consummate kremlin conjuror. he has erased the memory of medvedev's presidency. he has made many of his predecessors reforms disappear even without a magic wand. there are plenty of examples. medvedev had been decriminalized slander. putin has reversed that. medvedev ipad reset ties with america. under putin, sons of a thaw have vanished. medvedev's decision to keep russian clocks an hour ahead is now under review. it all makes medvedev look weak.

>> putin would like things to be written in marble, just no one but him. >> dmitry medvedev has not disappeared completely. he is still the prime minister and leader of the ruling party. it is his record as president that is being erased and with its his reputation as a political player. today prime minister medvedev's decision not to run for president again left many liberals feeling betrayed. they had been counting on him to make russia more western, more democratic. was that realistic? >> you cannot degree democracy by waving a wand. now we shall have democracy, no.

it just does not work that way. you have to change the way people think. >> if you will take part in spells and sorcery, there's always the risk things will never be quite the same again. bbc news, moscow. >> still to come, the latest weapon in microsoft's arsenal, the new surface against the ipad. there have been described as the forgotten victims of the nazi holocaust. the 500,000 members of the gypsy or roma community murder during the second world war are being remembered with a ceremony and a memorial in berlin. now more. >> the relatives of holocaust victims stood side by side with the german leaders as the memorial was inaugurated.

, it is a ,a round pool in a glade among the autumnal trees in the main part in berlin. he was saved at the age of seven when his family were pushed on the train. a kind police officer simply pulled him and his aunt back. he says in that last moment my father screamed desperately, look after my boy. it was the last time i saw my loved ones, he says. it's estimated that about half a million roma were murdered in the holocaust. germany's chancellor said everyone of those people trusts her and the country. >> every single state in this genocide is a suffering beyond

understanding and fills me with sorrow and shame. >> the people got of themselves as the forgotten victims. the process to create a memorial has been dogged by disagreements. but now it's there, a remembrance of the ones forgotten. bbc news, berlin. >> more on all our top stories, go to our web site to find a data analysis and coverage from our reporters around the world. i'm zeinab badawi and here are the headlines. in cuba there are winds of 183 kilometers per hour with hurricane sandy, after battering jamaica. a cease-fire between israel and

hamas in gaza appears to be holding after taking effect at midnight local time. now aaron is joining me with good cheer for the u.k. economy. officially out. of out >> officially out of recession. the economy surged because we had growth of 1%, better than expected. a few key factors. we were coming off a low. the second quarter was quite low and that was during the queen's jubilee ceremony, which meant extra public holidays, costing the economy dearly. we knew that we would get a bit of a bounce in the third quarter. the olympic games was a major factor, adding a lot to the u.k. economy. olympic ticket sales contributed

0.2% towards the growth number, about 20%. the service sector makes up more than 70% of our economy. the restaurants, entertainment, hotels all got a boost. the problem is the euro zone. members yesterday suggested that region will go into a longer, deeper recession. that will affect us. >> the interesting thing about the figures is they are forward- looking, telling us what might happen in the fourth quarter. the figures from the uk today are for the third quarter, cooking backed through september -- looking back through september. we could go-again in the fourth quarter. -- go negative again. of germany goes into recession, all of europe may and it will

not help the u.k. >> not good news for the big spanish bank santander. >> the biggest european bank has had a dismal past three months. its profits in the third quarter fell off a cliff, dropping by more than 90%. it's because of the property market in spain mostly. buying bad mortgages. reminding everybody that spain had a dramatic property boom, people were buying property in droves on relatively cheap mortgages and then came the crisis, the bubble bursting of the spanish property market. that left millions of people holding a mortgage of property where the mortgage was worth more than the property. that is a big problem. santander this year alone has set aside $4.5 billion to cover bad loans. since the bubble burst it has set aside $24 billion.

the problems go even further for santander. it's not just spain. >> the results were set apart from the rest of the spanish banking sector because of its exposure to latin america. latin america and in particular brazil is starting to drag on sentence there. i think the concern is not only bad loans in spain, because there will be a lot more them given the bank of spain this week said the economy contracted by another 0.4% but also a brazil's growth forecast over the past two years has tanked. fairly murky. >> it is. the problem is being a global bank. >> thank you. off you go.

in a few hours, the computer giant microsoft launches its latest operating system windows 8. it is an attempt by microsoft to catch up with rivals like apple, who have moved most faster into the world of mobile computing and touchscreens. now to seattle in the united states at microsoft headquarters. >> founder bill gates and his successor steve ballmer, and join the staff to celebrate 30 years of charitable giving. for steve ballmer, the next few days are crucial. >> we have three imagine -- have reimagined windows 8. >> the boss knows just what is at stake. >> the launch of windows 8 and windows phone is epic for microsoft.

it's right up there with the launch of the ibm pc. it starts us on a new era of computing. >> more than 40,000 people across the seattle area aren't generating big profits from windows and office. over the last 10 years they have not produced anything that has changed the world or make consumers go wow, unlike apple to this week launched another ipad. microsoft believes the surface tablet computer, powered by windows 8, will show it can be even smarter. with the computer industry changing rapidly, this firm needs to move fast to stay in touch. bbc news, seattle. >> we will have a debate in a half-hour on the store when an apple addict and microsoft fan

argue the pros and cons of each side. the syrian government is expected to announce it will accept a proposed a 04 pilar yes -- a four-day cease-fire during a religious holiday. the violence in syria is the bloodiest chapters so far in the arab spring which kicked off two years ago nearly indonesia. this week marks a year since the first elections in tunisia after the fall of bin ali,. in libya is a year since the death of colonel gaddafi, been in power more than 40 years. and the departure of the yemeni resident of dulles sal -- president salleh. there is a new book written

about the rise and fall of rulers for life. roger, thanks for joining us. there's a copy of your book. i just want to ask you about bashar al-assad. do you think his time is up now? >> nobody knows exactly how it will go, but i suspect the regime will enable its own downfall by doing something stupid. >> by the nature of these authoritarian regimes, being very secretive about their power, it's difficult. to difficult >> you can not predict. you can imagine the pressure from that side, but you don't know whether there will be a palace coup, because you don't know who the advisers are. you cannot do that.

->> you. - people talk about arab exceptionalism. is there something peculiar about the arab strongman you don't see in other parts of the developing world that allows them to stay in power so long? >> i think it began with nasser. most places have a strong republican presidents. in the arab world they tried to reproduce themselves. i think that more of them begin to do that in the arab world. and they become very cl ubbish. >> they get tips from one another on how to stay in power. bashar al-assad has had one of the most successful regime this with his father handing over power to him, which moammar gaddafi it failed to do. syria appears to be the most

successful and most durable. >> yes. the whole regime was devoted to making itself coup-proof and surrounded by loyal and trusted people. >> out of touch with the people. do you think the arab spring counts as a success? will. authoritarianism beni replaced? >> nobody knows. i think each chip looks quite good and egypt looks pretty good. if you have elections, religious parties tend to get in power.

>> some feel more militant people will be getting in power. >> they will sound more harshly religious and will maybe turn out to be. >> and the free syrian army? >> they are nowhere right now. the coup against the egyptian army was so strong that it's not on the table at the moment. >> that's all from me at the

moment. goodbye. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers use their expertise in global finance to guide you through the business strategies and opportunities of international commerce. we put our extended global network to work for a wide range of companies, from small

businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.