Last couple of hours we have received confirmation that two people have been killed in Hurricane Irma, that was given by the French Overseas minister saying we are talking about two deadened in two seriously injured for now, obviously the situation can change very quickly. The category five hurricane has destroyed buildings and caused major flooding as trucks and caused major flooding as trucks and caused major flooding as trucks and caused major flooding is attracts another group of islands in the caribbean, packing winds of up to 300 kph. The eye of the storm is sitting close to puerto rico at the moment, with the Dominican Republic and haiti next in line. It is passed over the Leeward Islands, which includes Antigua And Barbuda and st maarten. It is not known how much destruction has been there already. This is from the island of st maarten, the French Interior minister said the island has sustained whites read widespread flooding and many buildings have been destroyed. Another scene from the islands, we should be able to see it. Absolute chaos, yachts in tatters, giving an indication of how bad the flooding is. We can expect to learn more about the full extent in the coming hours. Just look at what they are dealing with, this is the picture from mass of what looks like from the International Space station, it was taken as burma made la ndfall station, it was taken as burma made landfall in the caribbean, it is huge it was taken as irma made landfall. The caribbean expects irma to hit at some point on saturday or sunday, these lines of vehicles lining up at petrol stations as the hurricane approaches. Forced evacuations of People Living in florida have begun. I have spoken to james fares, a british citizen living in st kitts. Things have started to improve. inaudible between five and seven a local time this morning. The wind started off at around midnightand ramped the wind started off at around midnight and ramped up gradually until five. Midnight and ramped up gradually untilfive. And midnight and ramped up gradually until five. And then the sun came up and you could see the full force of the storm across the bay where i live. Know youre getting a pretty com plete know youre getting a pretty complete picture of the kind of damage it has caused . Yes. Luckily the area i live in, the majority of the area i live in, the majority of the houses are hurricane proof. There are trees down, vegetation etc but there does not seem to be any obvious structural damage in the area that i live in, thankfully. You area that i live in, thankfully. You are part of the hurricane preparative steam for the Ross University Veterinary Clinic where you work . Are part of the International Vet school that i work at, that is correct, we have been planning for some time. Everything seems to be going according to plan and to my knowledge everybody is safe. You could see something you thought was lightning through your curtains, but it was the live electricity cables snapping and dancing around in the wind . Yes. It was about liz30am, five, we thought there were lightning strikes but when we looked out we could see the snapped electrical cables in the distance dancing around. We are looking at the pictures now, james. As you can imagine, it was pretty scary. Thankfully it was not in an area where a lot of people live. Now we can see it in daylight, everybody seems to be safe in that area. When you heard about the magnitude of irma, what was the reaction, giving you were in its path . We knew there was a big storm coming since the beginning of last week, there has been an awful lot of preparation across the island, people have been storing lots of water, canned food, biscuits, these sorts of things. We have been well prepared. What are people able to do now . What sort of state have things been left in . At the moment the current advisers to stay indoors. We are experiencing high winds and rain, things are starting to slowly ease off now. We are all sitting it out and waiting for the all clear. It has just been there and it is now tracking, it is expected to take this path in the coming days. It will pass north of haiti on the Dominican Republic on thursday, then continue towards the bahamas, cuba and florida. Florida governor rick scott has held a news conference, this is a little of what he said. Hurricane irma remains a dangerous life threatening category five storm with winds of 185 mph. It is a big storm. Ijust spoke with winds of 185 mph. It is a big storm. I just spoke to with winds of 185 mph. It is a big storm. Ijust spoke to president trump, he offered the full resources of the federal government. This storm is massive, the storm surges are predicted to go on for miles. In some instances it can cut the homes and go very far beyond. It is travelling at about 16 mph, the track has its forecast to directly impact the florida keys on sunday, isa impact the florida keys on sunday, is a devastating major hurricane. The florida keys should be prepared to start feeling the effects of the storm as early as friday night and early saturday. Storm surge and extreme winds are the biggest concern right now. Lots more on the bbc website. Lets turn to myanmar, we have been talking a lot about the mass exodus of rohini muslims from myanmar to bangladesh blast the years. No myanmars de facto leader has spoken about for the first time. Her Office Posted this on facebook, it is about if she had with the turkish president and here are some key codes. Aung san suu kyi said, quote, there was a huge iceberg of misinformation about the crisis which aimed to create a lot of problems between different communities and with the aim of promoting the interest of terrorists. She took up the theme of terrorism after meeting the indian Prime Minister today. This has flashing images in it, this clip. I would like to thank india particularly for the strong stand it has taken with regard to the terrorist threat that came to our country a couple of weeks ago. We believe that together we can work to make sure terrorism is not allowed to ta ke make sure terrorism is not allowed to take root on our soil or the soil of any further countries. Jonathan head has written an article about the spread of fake photographs of the crisis. There is definitely a problem but arejust of the crisis. There is definitely a problem but are just not change the fa ct problem but are just not change the fact that the grid does not change the fact that 123,000 rohingyas have fled in the last two weeks to bangladesh and Aung San Suu Kyi did not seem to acknowledge this, it has provoked criticism. Sa njoy not seem to acknowledge this, it has provoked criticism. Sanjoy majumder census report from the border. That represents this report. These boats are carrying Rohingya Refugees fleeing persecution in myanmar. I am told there are several other boatloads waiting off the coast of bangladesh. This is one fresh lot of refugees who have just arrived. They have come off this boat and they are carrying their household belongings, things they have managed to grab as they ran. Several have told me their villages were attacked, they were burned. Some people here have gunshot wounds, others have other injuries. There are extremely tired and exhausted. It is a dangerous voyage and it has taken several days to come here. From here they will move to come here. From here they will m ove o nto to come here. From here they will move onto one of the many refugee camps that have been set up for these arrivals. There are more coming in every hour. Sa njoy coming in every hour. Sanjoy majumder on the border. As you mentioned, many of those he is talking to say they are fleeing persecution in rakhane state. The government tells a different story. Jonathan head has been to rakhane and sends this report. This is the town near the band were dashed border that has been the epicentre of the violence that has erupted near the bangladesh border. We are on a long and arduous journey on a government tour. The government does not normally allowed journalists or foreigners into this region without special permission because wants to challenge the narrative that the rest of the world is hearing that tens of thousands of refugees have lead to bangladesh. They have taken is to various sites, showing examples of destruction and let us talk to people. They all sticking to the same story, which is the muslim militants who have infiltrated rohingya communities, they do not use the word rohingya, it is pretty much banned in this pa rt it is pretty much banned in this part of the world, they say the muslim communities where infiltrated by these militants and the militants burn down the villagers, you can see the remains of perhaps four or five houses, apparently lived in by muslim inhabitants now being looked after in the buddhist temple. Everyone we are speaking to, we are doing seen in the company of heavily armed police and government officials. We have heard some dissenting views that have spoken quietly to people, but the government wants to get across the message that it is not their fault, the Security Forces have denied any pieces at all, those allegations of rape and shooting, they say that the hundreds of villages that have been burned down, every part of it is the responsibility of the militants are nothing to do with the government. I think you will be very hard for people to believe that, but that is the light we are hearing. The area feels very fearful, the shops are shut, there is heavy security. There isa shut, there is heavy security. There is a sense that the violence that has run over the cerri on the border with bangladesh is not over yet. This is prominent indianjournalist gauri lankesh. On tuesday she was murdered on the doorstep of her home in the southern indian city of buddle at all. She was a critic of the governing bjp party and its ideology of hindu nationalist politics. That show you the pictures of press groups and activists in india are protesting over the killing. They have called it a brutal assault on the freedom of the press. India has recently seen a rise in nationalist sentiment, with journalists increasingly targeted for showing opposing dues. Bbc hindi is following this story from delhi. There has been a lot of uproar ever since the news broke. It has been the top trend on twitter, on all social media platforms. Gauri lankesh was a very prominent journalist who worked in top news publications in india in the early pa rt publications in india in the early part of her career and was now running an independent weekly newspaper in a southern state. She was a known critic of right wing radical fundamentalism. She is was a known critic of right wing radicalfundamentalism. She is known for writing very openly against the establishment and was very, very vocalin establishment and was very, very vocal in social media and also trawled heavily on social media in the past, and this is what has caused a lot of outrage. Senior journalists have staged protests, not only in bangla door and delhi but in many prominent indian cities people have taken note marchers daesh not only in bangalore and delhi. Candlelight vigils are planned. Still to come, thousands are taking to the streets in the west african nation of togo, calling for the president to step down. Theresa may has said her government is committed to controlling immigration because of the impact it can have on Public Services in the poorer sections of society. She did not comment directly on the draft document which appeared in the Guardian Newspaper today which suggested ministers could impose a limit on the number of low skilled migrants coming from the eu. Overall, immigration has been good for the overall, immigration has been good forthe uk, overall, immigration has been good for the uk, but what people want to see is control of that immigration. That is, i think, what people wanted to see as a result of coming out of the european union. I think we are already able to exercise controls in relation to those who come into this country from outside the countries within the european union, and we continue to believe is a government that it continue to believe is a government thatitis continue to believe is a government that it is important to have net migration at sustainable levels, we believe that to be tens of thousands, because of the impact it has particularly on those that the lower end of the income scale into pressing their wages. In depressing their wages. Youre watching outside source, live from the bbc newsroom. Our top story, Hurricane Irma heads the caribbean, the category five storm is currently over puerto rico and heading north towards florida. Other stories being reported on around the bbc right now, un human rights investigators have concluded that the Syrian Air Force carried out a chemical weapons attack on a rebel held town in april. At least 83 people died when a bomb filled with nerve agent sarin was dropped ona with nerve agent sarin was dropped on a town. That is on bbc arabic. Tests have shown that a woman in spain who claim to be the daughter of the surrealist artist Salvador Dali is not related to him. Salvador dalis body was exhumed in july forforensic Salvador Dalis body was exhumed in july for forensic testing to settle the case. Tkachev tkachev this is the rather dramatic attempt by an irishman to catch a bat which has flown into his kitchen. It was filmed in county kerry by this mans son. You can see him chasing the bat around with a bath towel. It is rather u nsuccessful at bath towel. It is rather unsuccessful at first, but you might be pleased to know that the bat was eventually captured, it was released back into the wild unharmed. An interesting night in that kitchen these pictures show the height of the migrant crisis in europe. Since 2014 around 1. 7 million migrants have tried to make new homes in the eu. The numbers peaked in 2015, in september that year, eu leaders agreed to spread a total of 160,000 migrants in clear need of International Protection among Member States over two years, but some countries were against the plan. Hungary and slovakia took the fight to the European Court of justice, today the court rejected the challenge. The hungarians are furious. Here is nick thorpe in budapest. The hungarian governments reaction to the Court Verdict was angry and immediate. The foreign minister described the eu verdict is appalling, irresponsible and politically motivated. European law and values had been raped, he said. The European Commissioner for migration replied that the only political element lay not in the verdict but in the stance of certain governments, as he put it. What the hungarian government is now clearly expects to happen is that the European Commission will sue hungary, poland and the Czech Republic for refusing to accept a single Asylum Seeker under the mandatory quotas. Such a court case could take between six months and two years. Having lost the legal argument, hungary hopes it can still influence the political argument over the future of european asylum policy. Nick thorpe, bbc news, budapest. Business news and lawmakers in the us have approved a bill that would allow the likes of ford, google at uber to test thousands more self driving vehicles on the roads. It gives car makers and tech giant certain exemptions from federal rules. Lets go to the us and speak to Michelle Fleury in new york. Will this mean you will suddenly be seeing a lot more Autonomous Vehicles on american roads . That is certainly the hope for the likes of general motors, ford, another Company Owned by google and others developing self driving cars. The situation at the moment, it is very hard, in some states it is forbidden to test these cars on public roads, in other areas you are very least needy human being, a real person, sitting in the car ready to ta ke person, sitting in the car ready to take over the controls in case there are any problems. The argument the car makers have put forward to lawmakers is that to develop this technology they need to be able to test it more and more without having tojump test it more and more without having to jump through quite so many hoops. There will still be plenty of measures that they argue they need to be given more freedom to try and develop this and spur innovation, thatis develop this and spur innovation, that is the word the lawmakers used as they passed this in one body of congress today. How big a boost is this for the car makers making these vehicles, this endorsement of what they are doing . Endorsement as bubbly too strong, it is the idea of innovation, that this is the future, so it is how do you make sure it is American Companies developing this Technology Rather than, for example, other firms in other parts of the world . Other firms in other parts of the world . That other firms in other parts of the world . That is other firms in other parts of the world . That is partly the arguments being made. On the other hand, consumer groups say we had to worry about safety. The opportunities are clearly that, when i have spoken in the past two or two executives the future that they point to me is one with a mix of people, in other words there will always be some who like to drive their own car, they like the feel of getting behind the wheel. Others may not want to. If you look at accidents, most are caused by human error so they hope this will lead to safer roads in the future. Thank you, Michelle Fleury. Eu authorities are investigating claims that the Italian Mafia has been driving at farmers from subsidised land. It is alleged that organised crime has been pocketing funds and know some 500 Million Euros worth of payments are under investigation. In sicily that have long been claims the mafia is preying on eu subsidies, but locals are also fighting back. This report from sicily. Land and property under attack. Fighting sicily s mafia is attack. Fighting sicily s mafia is a risky business. This car belonged to giuseppe. Last year the mafia try to giuseppe. Last year the mafia try to kill him along this road. He now lives under Permanent Armed guards after he tried to stop the mafia from illegally claiming public land as their own in order to get at eu from funds. Translation as their own in order to get at eu from funds. Translationzl as their own in order to get at eu from funds. Translation a new law ensures that anybody applying for eu funds for agriculture has to have anti mafia certification. For many yea rs now anti mafia certification. For many years now the mafia has used these funds to finance itself. We have taken that toy away from them, we have not let them play with this any more, we have broken it. It is not just public land that has been targeted by the mafia. Private landowners are not immune to these problems either. We are in the shadow of mount etna, these six hectares of land belonged to sebastiano. I have come to meeting to find at what happened to his house when he refused to hand his land to the local mafia groups. Sebastianos house was burned down last november. Translation the message is clear, they wanted me off my land and message is clear, they wanted me off my land and i am sorry to say that many people just give in. My land and i am sorry to say that many peoplejust give in. Sometimes it is even what the public authorities recommend we do. His t shirt says it all, rural mafia, a protected species. The owner of this vineyard has taken matters into his own hands. He has installed security cameras along his lamps perimeter. He says he has spent the last few yea rs he says he has spent the last few years stopping local mafia groups from trespassing and damaging his find some property. Translation we we re find some property. Translation we were under physical but also psychological attack. They said they make the laws around here. They threatened to kill us. They also beat us up. Stakes like these are a common sight in the sicilian countryside. Many say they mark the lab at the mafia wants to claim as its own land that the mafia wants to claim as its own, and a sign of the dark shadow that the mafia wants to cast across the island. Lets go to cast across the island. Lets go to togo, and Anti Government protests have been taking place across the country. Demonstrators are calling for the president to resign. Unprecedented scenes in togo, especially in recent times. Protesters in cities and towns across the country take to the streets demanding constitutional change. Amnesty International Says more than 100,000 people marched in the capital. Many wearing the red, orange and pink colours of opposition parties. They chanted the word soffritto go. They want the president to resign and to limit the number of terms a president can serve to two. Translation we suffer too much, we cant even find food. What country are we . We dont want the president any more, he must go. Translation were here to demand reforms and the return of the diaspora vote, and especially to demand the end of a system that has lasted for 50 years. We must begin to see the end of it. On tuesday evening togos cabinet approved plans for a bill that would modify the constitution, reintroducing president ial term limits and changing the voting system. But opposition members say the president is merely buying more time about them. There appear to be restrictions on Internet Communications throughout togo. The president has ruled the west african country since his father died in 2005 after 38 years in power. His father passed a law in 1992 limiting the president to two mandates, but then scrap that ten yea rs mandates, but then scrap that ten years later. In total, this family has been in charge of togo for 50 years. They have a strong grip on the military and still enjoy support from broad sections of the togolese community. When the protest started last month, crowds of government supporters also took to the streets in support of the president. But it is yet to be seen if the cabinet plasma draft bill modifying the constitution will pacify these opposition protesters. More from outside source in a few minutes. Thanks forjoining me. No great surprises if i tell you that i will bring you the very latest on Hurricane Irma, which we have watched with interest over the past few days as it formed in the heart of the equatorial atlantic and then it struck took it ever closer to the islands in the eastern end of the caribbean. With devastating effect. And in the next couple of days we expect the system to maintain its strength and continue its journey away towards the west and north west. Wednesday sees a close by puerto rico, thursday sees it close to the Dominican Republic and haiti macro, thereafter a bit more uncertainty but we think it will run quite close to the northern shores of cu ba quite close to the northern shores of cuba and on towards the weekend it will affect the bahamas, certainly, the florida keys and into the heart of florida itself. All of this is an extraordinarily powerful storm, they dont come much stronger than this in the atlantic basin, lots of rain to fall and the flooding will be exacerbated in the coastal regions by that storm surge. Up coastal regions by that storm surge. Up to four meters in the short term, moving towards the florida keys be even higher than that. That is the end of the story. Almost on the same track, certainly in the short term, and a concern for the north of the caribbean. Tropical storm jose will strengthen to become hurricanejose. Ahead of those systems in the gulf of mexico, we have a great love of cloud which has become Tropical Storm erika tier, slow moving. It might well be that we seek flooding in the eastern side of mexico. Wildfires and heat are the order of the data across the west of canada and the west of the usa. Whilst all of that is going on it would be remiss not to remind you that the flooding in south asia has been extraordinary, the worst in decades. Many millions have been affected, 1. 7 million homes destroyed. These great plates of cloud are responsible for that extraordinary amount of rainfall and devastation. I dont think we will see a great deal of change for a good few days, the retreat of the monsoon is not quite duejust yet. The retreat of the monsoon is not quite due just yet. Further rains to be heard across the south of india, into the south west of sri lanka. It does not look like much on this charge, but anywhere from britannic nepal into the South Eastern States of india and bangladesh will see further heavy rain. Heavy rain on the charge to europe, low pressure heavy rain on the charge to europe, low pressure strung out all the way from the Baltic States and western russia back towards poland and the british isles. Some sunshine to report further south but some areas of heavy rain as well getting in towards parts of italy, the top end of the adriatic. Wet and windy for thursday in the british isles, more details in a few minutes. Hello, im karin giannone. This is outside source. Hurricane irma has made landfall. The category 5 storm has already passed across the Leeward Island and the eye of the storm is now over puerto rico. Myanmars de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has spoken for the first time about the mass exodus of Rohingya Muslims from myanmar to bangladesh. Two former brazilian president s have been charged with forming a criminal organisation to divert funds from the countrys state oil company. Russian president Vladimir Putin has called for diplomacy to resolve tensions with north korea saying that sanctions and pressure cannot do the job alone. Every day outside source features bbc journalists working in over 30 languages. Your questions are always welcome
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