britain and ireland are bracing themselves for the arrival of hurricane ophelia. it's the most powerful storm ever to have formed so far east in the atlantic. the met office has warned of "potential danger to life" with strong winds, heavy rain and storm surges expected. there's a severe weather warning in place, although it's hoped ophelia may weaken to a tropical storm by the time it makes landfall shortly. sarah corker reports. with winds of up to 90mph on the way, those living on the galway coast were securing property, tightening boat moorings, and seeking shelter. ireland's southern and western coasts will be the hardest hit as ophelia moves in from the atlantic. forecasters have warned the storm will be potentially life—threatening, causing widespread disruption and power outages. we are expecting significant disruption to electricity supplies across the country. we expect, from very early in the morning, to have all of our crews deployed to deal with fallen wires, we expect a significant number of trees to fall in our network. this is the 15th named storm in what has been a particularly active atlantic hurricane season. ophelia is an unusual storm for us. we've never seen a storm that strong so close to europe, uk and ireland in history, really, and it has weakened a little bit, through the past 2a hours, no longer hurricane for today but it will still pack a punch. red weather warnings out across much the the republic of ireland, indication the severity of the storm, risk to life and property. 90 miles per hour gusts possible as that storm works its way northwards. and across western parts of wales, the coast of western england, south—west scotland, and northern ireland there's an amber warning in place. some ferries, flights and bus services have been cancelled. all schools, colleges and courts in ireland are closed. we hope that all our students and staff and everyone hids the advice, stays safe, stays indoors, and we see everyone back in school, please god, on tuesday morning. news reel: the worst storm for hundreds of years hit the south of england early this morning... and ophelia will reach the uk late, exactly 30 years after the great storm of 1987, famously catching the forecasters out. news reel: earlier on today, apparently a waoman rang the bbc and said she heard that there was a hurricane on the way — well, if you're watching, don't worry, there isn't. weather forecasting has coem a long way since then. and this is the view of ophelia from space, as it moves towards ireland. it is predicted to be the country's worst storm in more than half a century. sarah corker, bbc news. the head of austria's conservative people's party is on course to become the world's youngest national leader, at the age of 31. after his victory in sunday's general election, sebastian kurz, is still well short of a majority, but he's in a strong position to form a new coalition government. asjenny hill reports from vienna, he may have to rely on the far—right freedom party, whose campaign was dominated by immigration concerns. the new face of austrian politics. sebastian kurz has rejuvenated his party and changed his country's political landscape. translation: voters have handed us a great responsibility. many people put big hopes in our movement. i promise i will do all in my power to fight for change and i invite you tojoin me. herr kurz, a word for the bbc? has austria moved to the right today? is it a victory for the right? no answer for us but mr kurz is shifting his party's politics. as foreign minister during the refugee crisis, he closed the country's borders. now he's leaving the door open to the far right. even on the campaign trail, his potential new partner, the anti—migrant freedom party, sensed a victory of sorts. at this rally, its leader warned that foreigners are replacing the native austrian population. mr kurz will have to form a coalition government, and this is his most likely choice. translation: we thank voters for their trust. many austrians used their democratic right today. democracy has won in austria today. so, perhaps, has image. austria's chancellor—elect talks not about his party but his bewegung, a macron—style movement. but vienna has seen it all before. nearly 20 years ago, mr kurz‘s party invited the far right into government. then there was shock, dismay, some european countries imposed diplomatic sanctions. today, in an eu bruised by the migrant crisis, few are surprised. translation: i think it's great that kurz is the leader. they're all tricksters. i did vote for kurz. translation: i'm shocked and outraged. i'm very disappointed that austria has voted like this. it's irrational. populist success, the mainstream chasing the right. europe's youngest leader and embodiment of shifting political ground. jenny hill, bbc news, vienna. balazs cseko is a freelance journalist and political analyst based in the austrian capital, vienna. just look at the results so far. we are waiting for postal votes. could he do it without or does he have to go into coalition? -- with that. it will definitely have to go into coalition with another party, either with the reds, the sp0, or they could take the fpu, the freedom party, the far right, as a coalition partner. he needs it because otherwise he would not have the absolute majority, the government would not have the absolute majority. what about his own views on immigration? he has taken a tough view on that, hasn't he? he copied the freedom party. in may, he took over the leadership of the austrian people's party. and he took over the election programme regarding immigration. he wants to review the nation's immigration policy and limit the numbers of people seeking to ta ke limit the numbers of people seeking to take advantage of the welfare system which is among the most generous in the world. briefly, looking at the numbers, 90,000 immigrants in austria at the moment. what are his plans for them? well, these 90,000 people probably, we have mentioned them, they have arrived in the last two years here in austria. i mean, probably they will be able to stay. so, if he is the one to decide immigration, and probably he will have the final word on it, so, perhaps there will be some repatriated in programmes introduced if he takes the fpu as the coalition partner. but also with the coalition partner. but also with the social democrats, this could happen. he says that austria is actually attracting low—skilled workers who claim state benefits when they lose theirjobs. and he said that he wants to make austria a country that should attract more highly skilled workers from around the world. 0k. thank you very much for joining the world. 0k. thank you very much forjoining us on bbc news. there is a lot more on the story of the austrian election on the website. just go to bbc.com/news, where you'll find analysis of the main issues and a profile of conservative leader, sebastian kurz. you can also download the bbc news app. britain's prime minister is heading to brussels today in the hope of breaking the stalemate in brexit negotiations. theresa may is to have discussions with the president of the european commission, jean—claude juncker, and the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier ahead of the eu leaders' summit at the end of the week. our political correspondent, ben wright, says the emphasis is on trying make some sort of progress. there is clearly an effort to roll the diplomatic pitch ahead of the crunch summit at the end of the week. there are big differences clearly be to win the eu and uk on the structure of these talks. —— between. the eu says the terms have to be decided before trading. can the eu break that impasse and find some progress? that is the question. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. somalia's president has declared three days of mourning following an explosion in the capital, mogadishu, which killed at least 230 people. the attack on saturday is the deadliest since al—shabab militants began their insurgency a decade ago. officials in portugal and spain say at least eight people have been killed by wildfires. thousands of firefighters and soldiers have been deployed to tackle more than 100 blazes in central and northern portugal, and across the border in the spanish region of galicia. officials have blamed arsonists for starting many of the fires. election officials in venezuela say the socialist party of president nicolas maduro has won a crushing victory in polls to choose governors for the country's 23 states. the national elections council said the socialists had won seventeen governorships while the opposition democratic unity coalition took five. but opposition leaders have alleged fraud. and now sally is here with all the business news. good morning. you fa ncy business news. good morning. you fancy snapping up an airline? not alitalia. ok, maybe monarch. alitalia is up for sale, but who will save italy's nationalflag carrier? the airline currently flies to over 80 destinations around the world and its fate is being closely watched with bids for the airline coming to an end today. in february this year, alitalia had debts of around $3.3 billion, three months later it went into special administration after employees rejected a rescue plan that included a wage cut in return for a cash injection from shareholders. alitalia's main shareholder is uae‘s etihad, which owns 49% of the airline. but etihad was also the key shareholder in air berlin, which filed for insolvency in august after etihad withdrew its financial support. so, who might be interested in snapping up alitalia? well, ryanair had planned a bid for the airline, but that came to an abrupt end after ryanair was forced to grapple with its biggest crisis in years with thousands of cancelled bookings. but maybe lufthansa could come to its rescue? germany's flagship carrier said last week it would be interested in creating a new alitalia. lufthansa is also buying up parts of air berlin to expand its eurowings budget airline business. we will be talking through all of that with an expert in the industry. that is coming up in world business report. china's top officials gather in beijing this week for the 19th communist party congress. we are also watching this very closely. the twice—a—decade meeting is likely to see president xi jinping further solidify his power and secure a second term. but beyond his political supremacy, there are growing worries about the state of the economy. we'll have a report from shanghai on china's growing debt pile in world business report. it isa it is a packed agenda. theresa may heading to brussels again. they will have dinner tonight, her and juncker. iraqi forces are advancing towards kurdish—held sites in kirkuk province, as tensions rise between the two sides over the future of iraqi—kurdistan. iraqi state television says the iraqi forces have already taken control of large areas of the region, apparently without having to fight, but there is no independent confirmation of that. meanwhile, the us state department has said it is "very concerned" about reports of a "confrontation." warren bull reports. kurdish security officials say the iraqi forces have advanced from south of the city of kirkuk and intend to take control of oil fields in the k1 air base held by the peshmerga. they say the deadline has passed the handover key sites. earlier, the central government of iraq accused the kurds of deploying fighters from the kurdish worker party to kirkuk. but the kurdistan party to kirkuk. but the kurdistan party denies this tensions between baghdad and iraqi kurdistan have been high since they held a referendum on independence last month. warren bull, bbc news. you are watching bbc news. still to come. down‘s syndrome: the musical. how one family's story inspired a very special show at the london palladium. parts of san francisco least affected by the earthquake are returning to life. but in the marina area, where most of the damage was done, they're more conscious than ever of how much has been destroyed. in the 19 years since he was last here, he's gone from being a little—known revolutionary to an experienced and successful diplomatic operator. it was a 20 pound bomb that exploded on the fifth floor of the grand hotel, ripping a hole in the front of the building. this government will not weaken. democracy will prevail. it fills me with humility and gratitude to know that i have been chosen as the recipient of this foremost of earthly honours. this catholic nation held its breath for the men they call the 33. and then... bells toll. bells tolled nationwide to announce the first rescue and chile let out an almighty roar. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: welcome to bbc news. hurricane ophelia's set to hit the south—western coast of ireland within hours. there's a potential danger to life from what could be the country's worst storm in 50 years. austria has elected 31—year—old sebastian kurz of the conservative people's party to be its next leader. the leader of the spanish region of catalonia, carles puigdemont, has just a few hours left to tell the central government in madrid whether or not he has declared independence. it follows the referendum, declared illegal by spain's courts. if mr puigdemont replies that he has declared independence, the central government says that it will begin the process of suspending self—rule in the catalan region. our europe correspondent james reynolds reports from barcelona. carles puigdemont already has some of the trappings of a head of state. now spain wants him to spell it out — has he declared independence for his region or not? at this memorial on sunday, mr puigdemont remembered a previous catalan leader executed in 19110 by the military regime of spain, an event that fuelled the current campaign for independence. carles puigdemont is under pressure from all sides. pro—independence groups here want him to say that he has declared independence. the government in madrid wants him to say that he has not. on this, in his last major appearance on the eve of madrid's deadline, the catalan leader refused to pick a side. translation: i want to reiterate that the government i lead will make its decision based on commitment to peace, fortitude, and democracy. even on the way out, he made sure to give nothing away. president puigdemont, your answer to madrid? spanish citizens in madrid are among many who want him to explain his position. they recently celebrated spain's national day. most of the people in spain want to be together. this part of spain cannot create this sort of issue that we are seeing today. here in catalonia, opinion is divided. many still displayed their desire for independence. and all wait to hear their leader's reply. this week, the chinese communist party holds its five—yearly congress at the great hall of the people in beijing. the climax will be the revealing of the new leadership team behind president xijinping. at a time like this, the authorities believe they must do everything in their power to stamp out anything potentially embarrassing for the government. so the censors are in full swing, as our beijing correspondent stephen mcdonell has been finding out. in order to land the 2008 beijing olympics, china made some promises in terms of opening up and freedom of expression. at the time, it seemed like things were getting better and better in that regard. but as we get further and further from the games, the censors have been cracking down hard. phone apps are powerful tools for control. pretty much everyone in china uses wechat. at sensitive times, like during the party congress, keywords and phrases are blocked. using them can mean being reported to the authorities. and now, if you set up a discussion group on wechat, as administrator, you are responsible for what is said on wechat. the restriction of chat apps not from the chinese government has also been tested. whatsapp has been blocked, for example. if you cannot talk, how do you interact? this is what the communist party wanted to talk about. this has been opened to mark the achievements of the chinese government with president xi jinping as the leader. the fastest trains, the deepest submarines, and ever more powerful military, and hundreds of images of the man credited with all of this, xijinping... ..xijinping... ..xijinping. in sport and tennis, roger federer beat world number one rafael nadal 6—4, 6—3 in the shanghai masters final to capture his sixth title of the year. the 36—year—old swiss, who has lost only four times this year, was again in imperious form as he won in 72 minutes. it was his fourth victory of the year against nadal and his fifth in a row over the spaniard. maria sharapova has won herfirst tournament since her 15—month doping ban ended, beating aryna sabalenka in straight sets to win the tianjin open. the 30—year—old russian was playing her seventh event since her return to the sport. she trailed 4—1 in both sets before beating the 19—year—old bela rusian, who was contesting her first wta final. a mum's frank portrayal of what it's like to have a child with down‘s syndrome has inspired a musical which has been staged at the london palladium. the label, which is based on the story of caroline and her son seb, was performed by a cast of 200 people with learning disabilities. tim muffett caught up with caroline and seb at their home in bath. when seb goesjoy when seb goes joy and love to follow. but it wasn't always the case. when the kremlin was born and diagnosed with down‘s syndrome nine yea rs diagnosed with down‘s syndrome nine years ago, the news was devastating to me. everything i read just made those fears worse since then obviously as with all babies big eyed beauty smiled and laughed and cried and he became the charming little boy that he is an sort of slowly, that diagnosis sort of fell away from him and hejust slowly, that diagnosis sort of fell away from him and he just became seb. tomic about the things you like doing. i like scooter, skateboard. seb has a high emotional intelligence and so he is in trim with other people ‘s feelings. we we re with other people ‘s feelings. we were not told that when he was diagnosed, we would just hold negative things. four years ago carolyn wrote a book called micro to eat his family story on the challenging preconceptions learning disabilities head on. every single thing you do is something new. and these rehearsals for a musical, david stanley runs the music man project to help people with learning disabilities and perform. the feeling as a parent when you are greeted with the news that you have a child with a learning disability, no one can imagine how that must feel. having our students who have learning disabilities telling the story i think is so powerful and inspiring. i can't wait for this show. nervous. in front of mum and dad, nervous. i say it will be the greatest ever. the world premiere of the label part of a special night of performances at the london palladium. how are you feeling? good, excited. seb? very excited. let's go see the show. lovely. any musical three actors play seb, not just as a young boy but the young man he will become. it's the first time that met. seb, what is like to meet these people who will play yes, fantastic. what is like to meet the person you are playing? it is good. every day we see you doing something new. every day, your mum is being proud of you. ijust new. every day, your mum is being proud of you. i just wanted to write a story that will make people see the person and not the syndrome. you wave me over and you fly a kite. here i am! the cost of 200 have been rehearsing for almost a year. here i am! here i am! here i am! what was like saying that production? amazing, so moving. really good. response. it was amazing. notjust the cast, it is seb and caroline also taking a bow. looks like a fantastic show, doesn't it? more on our website. see you soon. hello there. 30 years ago today the great storm hit england and 30 years later we have the remnants of hurricane ophelia coming our way, and amber alert authority been issued for strong winds, be prepared for transport disruption and damage across northern ireland's late this afternoon. those warnings will be updated through the day. the re m na nts of updated through the day. the remnants of what was hurricane ophelia, the biggest impact felt across the republic of ireland. a red weather warning. a weather warning has been issued for the entire country, the winds strong here but it will pick up everywhere, outbreaks of rain in ireland and scotla nd outbreaks of rain in ireland and scotland were quiet for england with some windy spells. the strongest of the winds for the uk in the afternoon. western coast of wales and the isle of man, south—west on the northern ireland, wind in excess of 80 miles an hour were possible. transport disruption, power supply problems expected, some damage as well. it's part of the story because not everyone will feel the strongest of the winds, a blustery day in admittedly but warm and sunny across many parts. 23 degrees in the east. chilli over northern scotland. the wind will pick up in the midland, northern england into monday. it could cause problems. it moves north with the area of low pressure. the far north of england through monday night and into the very first part of tuesday morning. we could see some transport disruption on going in fact as we go to the start of tuesday. keep up—to—date with the latest weather warnings on the bbc weather website and on the bbc up and if you are on the move, the local radio is your best source for the transport details. the wind will gradually ease on tuesday, northerly over scotla nd gradually ease on tuesday, northerly over scotland with outbreaks of rain, chilli in northern ireland but the winds wade dunn we have seen on monday. after a blustery start, might winds through the afternoon, hazy sunshine, pleasant, but the ram will arrive from the south, not assume it as we've seen on monday. overnight rain. call south—easterly winds. —— cool. forthe overnight rain. call south—easterly winds. —— cool. for the rest of the week, a stormy start, a quieter speu week, a stormy start, a quieter spell bit weak, the wind will pick up spell bit weak, the wind will pick up potentially friday and saturday. hello. this is bbc world news. the headlines. britain and ireland are bracing themselves for the arrival of hurricane ophelia, the most powerful storm ever to have formed so far east in the atlantic. the met office has warned of "potential danger to life" with strong winds, heavy rain, and storm surges expected. the head of austria's conservative people's party is on course to become the world's youngest national leader, at the age of 31. sebastian kurz is in a strong position to form a new coalition government, but may have to rely on the far—right freedom party. the leader of the spanish region of catalonia, carles puigdemont, hasjust hours to tell the central government in madrid whether or not he has actually declared independence. police in somalia say the massive bomb blast in the capital,

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