We start in the united states, where hurricane milton has re—strengthened to a category five storm, as it barrels straight towards florida. People there are evacuating en masse, ahead of wednesday's projected landfall. The national hurricane center says the storm has doubled in size since tuesday. Local authorities and weather experts say milton will bring you a destructive storm surge, and some areas will not be survivable. Hundreds of flights have been cancelled. It's expected to bring strong winds of up to 165 mph or 270 kph. Milton comes just days after hurricane helene tore through the south—eastern us; 225 people were killed across six states. The back—to—back storms are expected to leave historic levels of damage that could take years to recover from. Unlike helene, milton will only pass through florida on its way to the atlantic ocean. President biden has postponed a trip to germany to oversee preparations and prepare a federal response. He urged those in milton's path to evacuate, calling it a matter of life and death. He also warned this could be one of the worst storms to hit florida in a century. Our correspondent gordon corera sent this report from tampa in florida. An exodus from tampa. Long lines of traffic snaking out of the city tell you that the warnings are being taken seriously here. Florida is used to hurricanes, but the message has been that this time is different. The city is still recovering from the last hurricane, helene, which hitjust two weeks ago, and killed more than 200 in the wider region, with hundreds more still missing. The water was up to here. And that's from the last one two weeks ago, yeah? and inside tampa today, there are desperate, last—minute preparations. Steve crist�*s dental surgery was hit badly last time, and he knows milton promises to be much worse. I've lived here my whole life, i'm 73 years old, and we have never had anything like this, ever. And to have two in two weeks, as well? yeah. Oh, yeah, that building has neverflooded, and i've practised dentistry here for 44 years. The speed and intensity with which milton formed, with winds of 180mph, is what's caused real alarm. Even if it weakens, that will not stop the massive storm surge, which could be as much as 15 feet high hitting the coast, double what helene inflicted, and with tampa right in its expected path. This is literally catastrophic, and i can say without any dramatisation whatsoever, if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you'e going to die. Another sign of how seriously this is being taken was that president biden cancelled foreign travel and issued his own warning. You should evacuate now, now, now, you should have already have evacuated. It is a matter of life and death, and that is not hyperbole. It is a matter of life and death. At a sports stadium in nearby st petersburg, 10,000 camp beds are being prepared for emergency workers, who'll be trying to get the community back on its feet. The power and danger posed by milton is clear from these pictures of a crew aboard a research flight that went through the hurricane. They were forced to hold tight as they were buffeted by its winds, and beneath them, florida is now preparing for the hurricane�*s arrival. Gordon corera there. As you sawjust now, the us national oceanic and atmospheric administration, or noah, sends planes directly into storms, including milton. We're looking at this video from on board one of the so—called hurricane hunterflights. It's on a plane called miss piggy. These nerve—racking flights help scientists better predict the course of hurricanes. Democratic congressman maxwell frost from florida was on one of these flights on monday. He spoke a little earlier to the bbc about his flight, on a plane called kermit. Are i spoke with one of the scientists _ are i spoke with one of the scientists on _ are i spoke with one of the scientists on board are i spoke with one of the scientists on board who. Are i spoke with one of the | scientists on board who has been a hurricane hunter since the 80s. What he told me was the 80s. What he told me was the past two years nothing has been normal, in terms of the hurricane activity we've seen, i mean going from the hurricane helenejust a week i mean going from the hurricane helene just a week and a half ago to see their star built from nothing. About seven days ago no one was really tracking this, do now, a category five, currently in destruction, moving towards the state of florida. Nothing is normal about what is going on right now. Speaking with folks on board, we know that the science tells us it's because of our warming climate, and this is impacting and warming the water is in the ocean, and that water acts as fuel for these hurricanes. I mean come on the flight i had for many of the scientists on board again who've been doing this for a long time, we've experienced the lowest pressure they've ever flown into, 897, the lowest pressure they've everflown into, 897, and that was the pressure at the lowest point yesterday, so this is really dangerous. All these numbers, facts and figures are reallyjust numbers, facts and figures are really just telling us numbers, facts and figures are reallyjust telling us and telling people at home to prepare and to take this seriously. Florida republican congresswoman anna paulina luna is one of those who decided to leave. Yeah, i actually ended up evacuating pretty late last night. It was a decision not made lightly, you know, it is my county that i represent, but not set up to last through category three or four winds. I grabbed things that i thought i couldn't replace, mainly photos and my son because my first clothing items and we left. The next 2a hours will be critical, especially with where this hurricane will be making landfall but what i will tell anyone, especially those that might be seeing this and thinking whether or not they should be evacuating, you should, don't take your life for granted and don't underestimate this hurricane, because it's going to be catastrophic. Joining me live from tampa now is kirby wilson, reporterfor the tampa bay times. Thanks forjoining me. People are being told to evacuate the area or they will die. Are they leaving? area or they will die. Are they leavin: ? ,. , area or they will die. Are they leavin: ? ,. _. , leaving? they are, by and larue, leaving? they are, by and large. And _ leaving? they are, by and large. And it _ leaving? they are, by and large, and it is _ leaving? they are, by and large, and it is very large, and it is very heartening to see, in some ways. I think people are taking this storm seriously because we just got hit by hurricane helene, although much of the devastation was wrought on north carolina with hundreds dead there. We did see more than a dozen die in the coastal areas of tampa bay from the storm surge, that's how big the storm surge, that's how big the storm was, it killed from north carolina all the way down a couple of hundred miles. People saw that, they saw their homes and businesses get submerged, and businesses get submerged, and they know another hurricane coming right for us is something to be taken seriously. — something to be taken seriousl. ~. ,. , seriously. What is the level of anxiety they're _ seriously. What is the level of anxiety they're like, seriously. What is the level of anxiety they're like, how seriously. What is the level of anxiety they're like, how are l anxiety they're like, how are people feeling?— anxiety they're like, how are people feeling? very anxious. No one alive _ people feeling? very anxious. No one alive has _ people feeling? very anxious. No one alive has seen people feeling? very anxious. No one alive has seen a no one alive has seen a hurricane like this in tampa bay. There has never been a direct hit on tampa bay in living memory. The last one was 1921, so although we are well practised for preparing for storms as floridians, we are not well practised at withstanding 120 plus mph winds in tampa bay, and when that last storm hit in 1921, the region had 20 times fewer people. Now there is 2. 1 million people around the tampa bay area, and a lot of them live close to water. More than half a million in one county alone have been asked to leave, ordered to leave. — ordered to leave. Now, you mention — ordered to leave. Now, you mention the _ ordered to leave. Now, you mention the fact _ ordered to leave. Now, you mention the fact they ordered to leave. Now, you mention the fact they are i ordered to leave. Now, you mention the fact they are more prepared than otherwise they would be, what has been done to prepare for the storm? so would be, what has been done to prepare for the storm?— prepare for the storm? so much, but in particular— prepare for the storm? so much, but in particular emergency but in particular emergency shelters have opened, schools have closed, evacuation orders were sent out two days ago, emergency fuel rations have been set up, linemen to get people's power back online when the storm does it have been deployed and are camped out throughout the tampa region, just generally people are. . . But really what it takes to be prepared for a hurricane is for the public to be taking it seriously, and that is really what is happening and that is what is happening and that is what i would argue is different than even storms like helene, and we had evacuation orders for hurricane helene in the lowest line in coastal areas of the tampa bay region, and some people didn't take them seriously. They lost their lives, and people are heeding the lesson unfortunately from those experiences. — those experiences. Have you personally — those experiences. Have you personally had _ those experiences. Have you personally had to _ those experiences. Have you personally had to evacuate, l those experiences. Have you i personally had to evacuate, are you based somewhere else than you based somewhere else than you would normally be? i am bay somewhere _ you would normally be? i am bay somewhere else, _ you would normally be? i am bay somewhere else, yes, _ you would normally be? i am bay somewhere else, yes, i you would normally be? i am bay somewhere else, yes, i live you would normally be? i am bay somewhere else, yes, i live in i somewhere else, yes, i live in downtown saint petersburg and i have moved to near tampa, further inland, to be with, i'm actually at my mother's house. She lives in a newly built home, and she has storm shutters and a generator, so i can keep reporting and stay online and get the news out to people from i am better than i could in saint petersburg. Kirby wilson thank you for joining me and my thoughts are with you and the people in tampa. For more information check out our website. We have a life page with all of the latest updates, and indeed this information in this has been a real problem when it comes to hurricane helene and now milton, so please do check out our website. Turning now to the middle east. Israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, says the israeli military has killed the man who was widely tipped to become the new leader of hezbollah — hashem safieddine — in an air strike in beirut on friday. The israel defense forces says it can't yet confirm the results of the strike. Safieddine, a relative of former leader hassan nasrallah, has been running the movement alongside its deputy secretary general since nasrallah was killed by israel at the end of september. As air strikes continue in beirut, israel's military has been stepping up operations on the ground in lebanon, now moving in the south west of the country, as well as the south east. The idf says at least 50 hezbollah members were killed in strikes in southern lebanon on monday. For more, our correspondent anna foster is in beirut. Once again tonight, the sound of loud explosions from israeli air strikes are echoing around the capital. We are seeing those great plumes of black smoke on the horizon. It is worth taking a moment how extraordinary that is, the position we find ourselves in, where that has become a normal thing, that right in the heart of the lebanese capital, through the day and into the evening like this, we are seeing the momentum really sort of increasing all the time when it comes to these air strikes. In the south of lebanon as well, powerful strikes throughout the day, more than 130 targets have been hit by the israeli air force, and we also know that israel have put more troops again into the south of the country. Benjamin netanyahu making this very strong statement earlier, speaking he said directly to the lebanese people. I'm not sure how many of them will see or understand that statement, it feels more like a message to the wider world, but he threatened that if hezbollah wasn't removed from lebanon that this country could end up like gaza, and that is a strong message and one that is concerning people notjust here but i would imagine around the world, as well. Joining me live now is ali mamouri, a research fellow at deakin university. He previously served as strategic communication advisor to the iraqi prime minister from 2020 to 2022, thank you forjoining me, i leave. Can we start with this issue of syria? we are hearing for example seven children killed in an attack by israel, israeli sources telling the new york times they were targeting a hezbollah member out near the iranian embassy. Does this mean now that we see syria being involved and indeed the conflict has widened? thank you for havin: conflict has widened? thank you for having me — conflict has widened? thank you for having me and _ conflict has widened? thank you for having me and it _ conflict has widened? thank you for having me and it is _ conflict has widened? thank you for having me and it is a for having me and it is a pleasure to speak to you. Syria has already been involved for long by the militias there, the iraqi militias there, hezbollah and other military factions. They have been targeting israeli sites for long now, and from the other side israel have been retaliating against them as well, and we remember the last time when israel targeted iran, the iranian embassy, we had an attack by iran against israel. . ,. ,. , israel. Right. So how volatile is it all feeling, _ israel. Right. So how volatile is it all feeling, is _ israel. Right. So how volatile is it all feeling, is it is it all feeling, is it feeling like there is a spread in the sense, people have been going on, but the countries we have been primarily thinking about and focusing on the likes of lebanon, iran, gaza, does it feel like things are becoming wider and escalating more widely? it wider and escalating more widel ? , ,. ,. , widely? it seems to me that the re. Ional widely? it seems to me that the regional conflict _ widely? it seems to me that the regional conflict has _ widely? it seems to me that the regional conflict has already regional conflict has already been expanded over the region and in different countries. Now we have military groups in lebanon, syria, in yemen targeting israel constantly. We have the development of direct attack by iran on israel, and after a year of war in gaza we are still seeing reports of hamas operating against the idea. Just two days ago they fired five missiles against israel in israeli settlements earlier, so it seems to me the conflict has already been expanded. However both sides have some kind of rules of engagement, trying to not push further towards full—scale war, which both sides cannot afford it at the current circumstances. Sometimes they tried to just push it a limited lead but it is very calculated, and that is why iran can't explain why it had delayed in retaliation against israel, after the assassination, and now israel has some kind of delay in the retaliation against the recent iran attack on targets. Against the recent iran attack on targete— on targets. You mention that delay that — on targets. You mention that delay that israel _ on targets. You mention that delay that israel is _ on targets. You mention that delay that israel is currently l delay that israel is currently employing in terms of how it is going to respond to iran. I feel like that has been a question on everyone's�*s lips for the last week or so. What do you think israel may do and what could be the of that? it seems to me that israel will target something in iran, we don't know exactly what, but it should do, because both sides are trying to restore the deterrence balance with each other. So if israel does not attack the recent attack on israel that happened, it would be some kind of giving more power to iran. So both sides are trying to restore it. There are trying to restore it. There are three scenarios, one is that israel will target israel's infrastructure, this is very unlikely because that will push iran to do the same and cannot afford it. Israel is more vulnerable in this area, economically and also in terms of the size of the country, and also it would raise public anger against israel. The second scenario is that israel will probably target some of the nuclear sites but this is also unlikely because that will push iran towards adopting a military nuclear programme without any restraint and without any restraint and without any restraint and without any hesitation. I see. Thank you — without any hesitation. I see. Thank you for _ without any hesitation. I see. Thank you forjoining without any hesitation. I see. Thank you forjoining me without any hesitation. I see. | thank you forjoining me from deakin university. I'm so sorry, we could talk about this all day, but unfortunately we're out of time. Thank you forjoining me from deakin university. Around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. Let's look at some stories making news in the uk. Tom tugendhat has been knocked out of the race to become the new conservative leader. James cleverly took the lead in the contest, with robertjenrick second and kemi badenoch third. Mps will select the final two in another round of voting on wednesday. Those two will then go to a vote by party membership over the next three weeks. The main suspect in the disappearance of madeleine mccann has been acquitted by a court in germany, of five unrelated charges of rape and child sexual abuse. Christian brueckner, who's a7, was seen in the area of portugal where madeleine went missing in 2007. He'll remain injail in germany, serving a sentence for the rape of a 72—year—old woman. The transport secretary has signalled that the hs2 railway line is likely to be extended to london euston. Louise haigh said it would make absolutely no sense to have the route terminate at old 0ak common in west london. It comes after work to expand euston station to accommodate hs2 was halted by the conservative government last year because of rising costs. You're live with bbc news. Returning now to the conflict in the middle east. The israeli military says it is expanding its ground offensive against hezbollah. The incursion brings the total number of soldiers deployed to 15,000. On monday israeli forces warned people to avoid the coast, saying it would soon begin an operation from the sea. Nick eardley from bbc verify has been looking at the damage done 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 by hezbollah and there has been significant damage done by israeli strikes in lebanon. This footage here is from the south—west of lebanon, and you can see buildings have been flattened over a pretty large area. We've been mapping the wider picture, and if you have a look at the 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 is 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 we don't know about, but if i focus it in here, if we zoom in down on the border area, in here, if we zoom in down on the borderarea, in in here, if we zoom in down on the border area, in total 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 have been seeing in lebanon. This is from southern lebanon. 16 kilometres from the border with israel. We verified this ijy with israel. We verified this by looking at footage from the surrounding areas. It matches satellite images before this raid and the building still standing in the footage. We are 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 is 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 has likely been caused by ammunition blowing up. There are other examples of verified footage we have seen and shown to experts who say the same, that it looks like secondary explosions, ammunition exploding. The damages against the backdrop of israel sending more troops to lebanon. This morning israeli forces confirmed they are xpeng —— expanding forces into the south—west, and as has happened in gaza, we are seeing those 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 should not 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 nobel prize in physics has been awarded to two scientists, geoffrey hinton and john hopfield, for their work on machine learning. British—canadian professor hinton is sometimes referred to as the godfather of ai. He resigned from google last year, and has warned about the dangers of machines that could outsmart humans. Here's our science correspondent, pallab ghosh. The biggest companies in the world are using ai to improve their services. Better searches, summarising the mass of information on the web. 30 years ago, it was all very new. A lot of money is being spent developing neural nets. . . Face recognition was one of the first practical things. They were a radical new way of doing computing. Developed in the late 1970s and rewarded with a nobel prize today. I caught up with geoffrey hinton, ironically staying at a motel room without wi—fi. Geoff, you have won the biggest prize in science, how do you feel? i am flabbergasted still. I haven't managed to get my head around it yet. And what are your fears about al? there is one thing in particular i'm most worried about, which is what i call the existential threat that it'll become more intelligent than us and decide to take over. We are people and what we care about is people and we would like people to stay in charge. The big breakthrough was to create a simple computer system that copied the human brain. If we take a closer look, we can see that there are signals passing between individual brain cells. The more often the signals pass between them, the stronger the connections become. That is essentially how we learn and store information, which, at a very simple level, is what neural networks do. Astronomers now use the technology that emerged from neural networks to sift through the huge amount of information they collect from the skies, as do doctors who analyse medical images. It has also led to better climate modelling systems. We are just a big neural net. It's because of pioneers like geoffrey hinton that we have all of the opportunities ai has to offer. The challenge will be to prevent it getting out of control. Pallab ghosh, bbc news. Let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. Brazil's supreme court announced it's lifting a ban on x, formerly known as twitter, in the country. The platform had been banned for more than a month, after a supreme courtjustice accused x of undermining democracy by allowing accounts accused of spreading disinformation to continue posting. X's owner, elon musk, had accused thejustice of censorship. Mr musk has not yet commented on tuesday's decision. President kais saeid won his bid for re—election in tunisia by an overwhelming majority. But the landslide victory is distorted by low voter turnout of less than a third of of the population. Turnout of less than a third of the population. Many people boycotted the election while most opposition leaders in the country were unable to run, since being in prison for the last year. Now, some stunning pictures of the night sky across the uk, as sky—watchers on monday were treated to the rare phenomenon known as steve. Steve, or to give it its full name, strong thermal emission velocity enhancement, is unpredictable and only lasts for a short time. Little is known about its formation and why it can sometimes appear during an aurora display. While auroras happen in an oval shape, steve appears as a ribbon and lasts for 20 minutes to an hour before disappearing. An amazing sky indeed. Thanks forjoining me on bbc news. Hello. Tuesday brought no shortage of heavy downpours to many parts of the uk, but over the next couple of days, things are going to be turning just a little bit drier — at the same time, though, as northerly winds develop, it will also turn colder. Low pressure is still in charge of the scene right now, this low still bringing some outbreaks of rain for parts of the uk. This deep low, ex—hurricane kirk, thankfully staying well away to the south of us, bringing some very wet and very windy weather to northern parts of spain. Back home, some outbreaks of rain, mostly quite patchy, quite showery in nature, but the odd heavy burst across northern england, up into eastern scotland, rather cloudy and damp for parts of wales, the north midlands. Northern ireland seeing a lot of clouds, some spots of rain and drizzle, as well. Further south, south wales, southern england, a mix of sunny spells and showers, 16 or 17 celsius, but northern scotland turning brighter but colder later in the day, as these brisk northerly winds kick in, could even see some wintry showers over high ground in northern scotland, because temperatures really will be dropping away through wednesday night, into the first part of thursday, with a frost across parts of scotland. A little bit milder, further south, first thing on thursday, but through the day, this cold air will be moving its way southwards, so a very different feel to the weather, but actually, things don't look too bad. Certainly a drier day in prospect, some good spells of sunshine, just a few showers around western and eastern coasts, where it will be quite windy for a time. Still the potential for some wintriness mixing in with the showers over the very highest ground in northern scotland. But these are the afternoon highs — 8 to 13 celsius at best. Could well see a frost in parts of england and wales to start friday morning. Here, though, we should see some good spells of sunshine. Northern ireland not looking too bad, but we will see cloud and patchy rain getting into the northwest of scotland. Still feeling a little bit on the chilly side — 8, 9 celsius in the far north of scotland, 12, 13 for south wales and the south of england. Now, into the weekend, high pressure never too far away from southern parts, so here, staying largely dry. Fairly weak frontal systems up to the north, bringing some rain at times, and if anything, those temperatures just creeping upwards a little bit. By sunday, highs of 11 to 15 celsius. Several us states are suing tiktok for allegedly �*wreaking havoc�* on teen mental health. Plus, are stimulus measures enough to boost growth having a one from denmark or norway? why this is a growing industry. Hello and welcome to business today. I'm katie silver. More than a dozen us states, including new york and california, are suing tiktok for allegedly misleading the public about the safety of the popular video app and harming young people's mental health. The bbc�*s north america business correspondent michelle fleury has the details. The lawsuits from more than a dozen states argue tiktok was deliberately designed to keep young people hooked on the service. The massively popular video app is used by half of america a new york attorney general claims beauty filters which make users appear thinner and younger have been particularly harmful to young girls on the app, causing body image issues and encouraging eating disorders. She says the