we are tracking hurricane idalia. let's take a look at the map, just to show the scale of what has been happening. there it is moving up towards florida. this morning florida time it hit and now it it has moved on to georgia. we canjust take a look at its path on the graphic here. it started bottom left, the red dot this morning, right now it is closer to the pink dot towards southern georgia and thenit dot towards southern georgia and then it will move on upwards, up towards those yellow dots and out to see in the days ahead. that confirmation we just heard, the worst storm to hit parts of florida in 100 years. take a look at some of the damage, some of the pictures have come in as the winds blow. the rain comes down, of course the risk from the storm surges. so huge amounts of sea water heading inland. lots of destruction, lots of people without power. a quarter of a million people in florida lost power and had it reconnected. another, without power right now. lots of flights cancelled, airports hoping to be reopened in the hours ahead if not tomorrow morning. we did get an update from the governor, ron desantis and the last hour, take a listen. right now, tampa airport is going to reopen for incoming flights at 4:00 pm. by 3 am tomorrow it will be fully reopen, gainesville airport will reopen tonight and tallahassee airport will reopen first thing in the morning. the ports in tampa and manatee are currently undergoing assessments, and when those assessments are concluded, they will be able to resume operations, assuming all is well, which we anticipate it will be. there are, as of now, no confirmed fatalities. and those fatalities are things that get confirmed by the florida department of law enforcement through medical examiners. we do not have any confirmed fatalities yet. we're still assessing what is all going on, on the ground in the places that had the initial impact. and so we're probably going to be i'm probably going to try to get down to some of those counties today. but we've got a lot of people that are going in offering assistance from the state perspective, helping these counties be able to stabilise the situation. live now to florida. our correspondent there. took us through what has been happening, helena. hi. what has been happening, helena. hi, i am what has been happening, helena. h , i am here on the road to cedar key, this is community has been particularly hard—hit, particularly particularly ha rd—hit, particularly behind particularly hard—hit, particularly behind me the sign saying that this is the city limits. i want to take you over here to take a look at the storm surge. this is really what the warning has been all about. this morning when we saw those lashing winds coming in and all of that rain pushing that waterfrom winds coming in and all of that rain pushing that water from the gulf of mexico. this has really been the danger here. at times we have seen a storm surge of over seven feet, and a century, the result is what you can see behind me as a community which has been cut off by this hurricane. we understand from speaking to people that downtown cedar key, in fact some areas are completely submerged we have heard reports that one hotel which simply broke off. and then was washed into the goal. we have been speaking to some people that have been trying to get and not have been successful by the people i have been spoken to have been saying, why did some people remain. they said although this is a florida, and they are reduced to hurricanes here, this part is not seen a hurricane with us for over 100 years. they've had tropical storms and have had these warnings in the past to hunker down, one quote from a resident, often people use to write out storms with a bottle of wine and playing cards, but that is simply not the case now. with the storm surges that we have seen as well, one of the issues here in florida isjust how seen as well, one of the issues here in florida is just how warm this winter has been. we are talking to — three celsius more than the average. as meteorologists are putting it here in the us, warm water when it comes to her kids are essentially rocket fuel and this hurricane has been moving slowly and able to gather power and now some of the destruction that we have seen in the last hour or so we have seen some community work is trying to get on small dinghies, small boats to try and go in and bring to some people out. the warning has really been that the storm surge here is the danger. we know that in hurricanes it is over 50% of the casualties and the injuries that really come from these rising water levels. earlier i spoke with james douris, scientific officer at the world meteorological organization and an extreme weather expert. he gave me his take on the weather events in florida. florida is no stranger to hurricanes. they have them quite often, but this particular area it is the first time for a major hurricane to hit this particular area. fortunately the population there in the area is fairly low. it is not a major city. of course people along the coast, it is dangerous. for people to stay in these low—lying areas where the storm surge of up to 15 feet, definitely poses a threat to life and property. definitely poses a threat to life and p"°pe"t¥-_ definitely poses a threat to life and roe .~ ., , . and property. what can we expect now, do and property. what can we expect now. do you _ and property. what can we expect now, do you think? _ and property. what can we expect now, do you think? the _ and property. what can we expect now, do you think? the national. now, do you think? the national hurricane centre _ now, do you think? the national hurricane centre is _ now, do you think? the national hurricane centre is forecasting i now, do you think? the national. hurricane centre is forecasting this and the forecast has been quite good. since the storm started since basically nothing to a category four with an almost 2a hours, it will continue to move on according to their track along georgia and maybe into south carolina and then out into south carolina and then out into the atlantic. the major part of this is now, yes you have wind, but it is the rainfall and flooding. and people unfortunately lose their lives in the flooding because they are taking chances trying to cross roads or in placing themselves into dangerous situations. what roads or in placing themselves into dangerous situations.— roads or in placing themselves into dangerous situations. what struck me at one oint dangerous situations. what struck me at one point is— dangerous situations. what struck me at one point is the _ dangerous situations. what struck me at one point is the speed _ dangerous situations. what struck me at one point is the speed of _ dangerous situations. what struck me at one point is the speed of these - at one point is the speed of these storm surges, one river in the affected area in florida that went up affected area in florida that went up from one foot to eight feet and just an hour, is that kind of stark speed and volume and mass of water, which is so difficult to cope with. yes it is an statistic show that most people worldwide lose their lives due to the storm surge. i know that rainfall also and flooding in the united states in recent years has caused quite a bit of lives, but storm surge is quite dangerous and a massive influx of water and it powers through the communities and the houses and etc. lats powers through the communities and the houses and etc.— the houses and etc. lots of those houses, the houses and etc. lots of those houses. of _ the houses and etc. lots of those houses, of course, _ the houses and etc. lots of those houses, of course, not _ the houses and etc. lots of those houses, of course, not built - the houses and etc. lots of those houses, of course, not built to i the houses and etc. lots of those l houses, of course, not built to deal with it. some areas we were reading have not had a storm like this for over 100 euros, so certainly no way of withstanding damage. over100 euros, so certainly no way of withstanding damage.— of withstanding damage. exactly. memo of of withstanding damage. exactly. memory of past _ of withstanding damage. exactly. memory of past examples - of withstanding damage. exactly. memory of past examples is - of withstanding damage. exactly. memory of past examples is a . memory of past examples is a valuable tool for people, however many times, the core of the storm is where the worst is. and people say, oh they have been in a tropical cyclone or a hurricane, but they have been in the outer peripheries so when the storm centre if it were to move over there area for another one, their lives would be threatened and they would think that it would be the last time. it is very important to heed the advice and the early warning systems and the government authorities and evacuations. they know they doing and it is important to protect her life and property. the uk government has announced that the inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the murders and attempted murders of babies by the neo natal nurse lucy letby will now be a statutory inquiry rather than an independent one. it means it will have greater legal powers to force the people who might have been able to stop the nurse from attacking babies to give evidence. our social affairs correspondent, michael buchanan, reports. hello, lucy, is it? can i step in for two seconds? yes. thank you. lucy letby seemed bewildered by her arrest, but what she did and why she killed, she has never explained to the families of her many victims. over 12 months, the nurse killed seven vulnerable babies and attempted to murder six others. the scale of her crimes are such that the health secretary says the inquiry into what happened will now have greater powers. we will have a statutory inquiry into the letby murders, into the events at chester. that will be a judge led inquiry, as the prime minister has confirmed, and that reflects the wishes of the families, which i discussed with them. those that worked alongside lucy letby at the countess of chester nhs trust will now be compelled to give evidence, to answer the families' many questions. thejudge who will lead the inquiry has not yet been named. among the issues that will need to be addressed are why she was able to kill for at least a year, what systems were in place to stop her, and why didn't they work, and how did the nhs handle the concerns doctors were raising about her. the families will be pleased with this announcement. we need an inquiry that can get to the truth. they want the truth to come out here, and we need an inquiry which is effective and can do that, so we need an inquiry which has the powers to compel witnesses, has the powers to compel documents. it looks like we have got that here, and that's really good news. a key witness will be tony chambers, letby�*s former boss, seen here last year at the opening of the royal liverpool hospital. some staff on the neonatal units accuse the former chief executive of ignoring their concerns about the nurse, and threatened to report them to medical regulators for misconduct. he resigned two months after the killer was arrested, but then got a promotion as interim chief executive of this east london trust, a job the bbc has learned that nhs england helped him get. they also proved further interim chief executive post he got, in fact the inquiry will examine. in a statement, nhsengland said mr chambers had been appointed after a competitive process. lucy letby has never revealed her true self to the victims�* families. this inquiry should now be able to fill in some gaps as to how she was able to kill so many for so long. michael buchanan, bbc news. live now to dominic hughes, our health correspondent. what do you think is behind this change? it what do you think is behind this chance? , .,. what do you think is behind this chance? , , change? it is quite ace significant shift in position. _ change? it is quite ace significant shift in position. then _ change? it is quite ace significant shift in position. then maybe - change? it is quite ace significant shift in position. then maybe 90 | shift in position. then maybe 90 minutes of lucy letby being convicted at those seven murders and six attempted murders of very vulnerable babies and the countess of custard neonatal unit the department of health and social care announced there would be an independent inquiry. the rational at that point was an independent inquiry would be more flexible and perhaps could answer some of the big questions that were mentioned quickly, but soon after that announcement ran into trouble. members of the families, involved, some local mps, senior health leaders were saying, actually, the independent inquiry is not good enough. but we need a statutory judge let inquiry that can force witnesses to give evidence. particularly as michael was mentioning some of the senior hospital managers who were accused of ignoring warnings given to them by other members of staff about lucy letby. that almost seems as soon as that policy was announced and it ran into opposition, it seems like it was going to be something that would have to change and change it has. any idea of the timeline i had now? know, that is all still to be confirmed. we do not know who the judge is who will lead the inquiry, it will take some time to set up. that is one of the issues is that a statutory inquiry is going to be a more complex operation and more complicated and will probably take longer than an independent inquiry, but stands a better chance, perhaps of getting to the truth of the dreadful offence that occurred at the contest well the case of lucy letby and other high—profile ones have led to a change in sentencing hearings. judges in england and wales will be given the power to order an offender to attend a sentencing hearing, including by force if necessary. prime minister rishi sunak confirmed plans to introduce a new law when parliament resumes, but the opposition labour party says it should have been done earlier. dr hannah quirk is a reader in criminal law at king's college london. shejoins me now. thank you for coming on to the programme. what do you make of the idea of a new law to compel people to come to the dock? i idea of a new law to compel people to come to the dock?— to come to the dock? i think it is unfortunate _ to come to the dock? i think it is unfortunate at _ to come to the dock? i think it is unfortunate at the _ to come to the dock? i think it is unfortunate at the moment - to come to the dock? i think it is unfortunate at the moment that| to come to the dock? i think it is i unfortunate at the moment that the two main parties focusing on issues that really aren't the main problems in the criminaljustice system at the moment. it is a tiny number of people who do not come to their sentencing hearings and people who have received such long sentences, anyway, that an extra two years is unlikely to make much difference. there's so many more important issues that they should focus on at the moment. issues that they should focus on at the moment-— the moment. aside from the other issues that — the moment. aside from the other issues that they _ the moment. aside from the other issues that they could _ the moment. aside from the other issues that they could be - the moment. aside from the otherj issues that they could be focusing, just on this issue itself, is this law the right thing to do? it makes a oint. it law the right thing to do? it makes a point- it is— law the right thing to do? it makes a point- it is a _ law the right thing to do? it makes a point. it is a reaction _ law the right thing to do? it makes a point. it is a reaction to - law the right thing to do? it makes a point. it is a reaction to the - a point. it is a reaction to the couple of tries we have had recently where those who have been convicted have refused to come into court, but i cannot see it working in practice. it is very difficult to drag somebody into court who does not want to be there. we are talking about very poorly paid court security staff who will have to do this kind of work so there needs to be proper resources in training if they actually want to do this. also, it undermines the point of the moment where thejudges it undermines the point of the moment where the judges giving sentence it also the families are reading their victim impact statements. we heard heart—rending testimony week in the letby trial but if you imagine a defendant who wants to disrupt that if they are shoving abuse the family or laughing at the stories that they are hearing or behaving particularly badly within the doc that takes the attention away from the families's moment to talk about their loved one or what the effect of the crime has been on them. and puts the focus back onto the defendant which i think is counterproductive. there could be times _ think is counterproductive. there could be times where _ think is counterproductive. there could be times where it - think is counterproductive. there could be times where it could - think is counterproductive. there could be times where it could be | could be times where it could be advantageous to not implement this law. �* , ,., , advantageous to not implement this law. �* , , , ., advantageous to not implement this law. absolutely if you look at the small print _ law. absolutely if you look at the small print of _ law. absolutely if you look at the small print of the _ law. absolutely if you look at the small print of the ministry - law. absolutely if you look at the small print of the ministry of - small print of the ministry of justice press release saying it is “p justice press release saying it is up to the judge's description still. see a match is a terrorist trial where they may be want to shout political propaganda from the dock or a particularly sadistic sexual attack, for example, it really would not be in anyone's issuance —— interest for them to be forced into the courtroom. i5 interest for them to be forced into the courtroom.— interest for them to be forced into the courtroom. is there any way at the courtroom. is there any way at the moment _ the courtroom. is there any way at the moment for _ the courtroom. is there any way at the moment for them _ the courtroom. is there any way at the moment for them to _ the courtroom. is there any way at the moment for them to be - the courtroom. is there any way at the moment for them to be forced j the courtroom. is there any way at - the moment for them to be forced in? not after a try. for the moment they can be for a trial, but if they refuse to attend or behave in the trial can carry on in their absence. at the moment it would seem sensible for sentencing to go along with her absence as well if they refuse to be there. , ., absence as well if they refuse to be there. , . . there. interesting and tricky difficult issue, _ there. interesting and tricky difficult issue, thank - there. interesting and tricky difficult issue, thank you . there. interesting and tricky. difficult issue, thank you very much, hannah for talking us through it. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the property website zoopla says the number of houses sold in the uk this year is on track to be the lowest in more than a decade. around one million sales are set to be completed, down almost a fifth from last year. the cost of mortgages and rents have risen sharply since banks started increasing rates on lending. a man's been charged with conspiracy to commit burglary after a break—in at the home of the chelsea footballer raheem sterling during the qatar world cup. the player left the squad to return home to his family after the incident in december last year. emiliano krosi, who's 23 and from southend—on—sea in essex, has been remanded in custody to appear at guildford crown court next month. marks and spencer has returned to the ftse 100 index for the first time in four years. the ftse 100 is a list of the top 100 listed companies in the uk. the retailer's share price has surged by more than 75% this year, following a revamp of its shops and clothing range. analysts say it's a remarkable turnaround. you're live with bbc news. let's ta ke let's take a look at those developments in combined, the coup there. the president anderson is currently under house arrest right now. —— gabon. the army have taken power. they said the head of the presidential guard will be confirmed as being in charge. let's take a listen to the moment the army made the announcement. translation: in the name of the people of gabon - and as guarantors of the institutions, we have decided to defend peace by putting an end to the current regime. to this end, the general elections of 26th august 2023 and the truncated results are cancelled. the borders are closed until further notice. all the institutions of the republic are dissolved. so the president until that announcement was ali bongo who had beenin announcement was ali bongo who had been in power since 2009. on saturday he claims he won the most recent election. since then, under house arrest and films of this video after the coup. take a look. i am ali bongo ondimba, president of gabon, and i'm to send a message to all the friends that we have all over the world to tell them to make noise, to make noise, for the people here have arrested me and my family. my son is somewhere. my wife is in another place. and i'm at the residence right now. i'm in the residence and nothing is happening. nothing is happening. i don't know what is going on. so i'm calling you to make noise. to make noise... to make noise, really. i'm thanking you. thank you. unsurprisingly there's been strong international condemnation of events in gabon. the country which is a former french colony is located on the west coast of central africa — and has been ruled by mr bongo's family for over fifty three years. family for over fifty years. the white house has said it's closely watching the situation in gabon following a military coup — describing the sitution as �*deeply disturbing'. the african union has condemned what it called an "attempted coup". nigeria's president and leader of the regional grouping, ecowas says he's liaising with other african heads of state over how to respond to events in gabon, with mr tinubu decrying what he described as "autocratic contagion" spreading across the continent. earlier i spoke with journalist paul njay in neighbouring cameroon — who gave the latest. well, we do know. that ali bongo is calling for support from his international partners. we did hear that. he just said that he is under house arrest. but then this coup has also had a flip of the coin. the bbc spoke to an opposition leader in gabon, actually says that this coup is he's happy that it happened because it is going to put the over 55 year long reign of the bongo family. and so it brings you about how the feeling is across gabon on the streets of gabon as well. earlier today, citizens took to the capital, libreville, celebrating this. and of course, it brings to question whether or not the military leadership is going to be in gabon. what has the military leadership said then? we heard a little bit of that statement. what do we know about who's going to be in charge, how long for what their intentions are? well, after the announcement of the house arrest of ali bongo, the military were seen hailing and praising one of the us general he's the head of the presidential guard and he has been tipped as being favourite to lead the country, of course. now, he hasn't confirmed. he says that he's still not confirmed. but of course, the popular opinion suggests that he will be the one. but we are monitoring that to see. and just after that announcement, just during the announcement, it was also said that a couple of state officials were arrested on charges of treason, embezzlement and others. among them was the son of ali bongo. and so it is a high stakes situation currently in gabon. high stakes situation. is there any threat, do you think, of violence or do the people in charge of the army have pretty much complete control? well, the army has called for calm. they have urged people to be calm and of course, many people are indoors today after the celebrations, they had to send people back home. it remains to be seen what the atmosphere will be going forward. the opposition also the main opposition coalition out announced that was fronting the challenge against the ali bongo said they are monitoring the situation under this new system. so we'll also be monitoring to see what the atmosphere would be, whether there would be risks of violence or anything of that sort. we definitely will have to let you know. and we just hearing from reuters news agency that general nguma has been named as transition leader. what can that tell us? that tells us that the celebrations of earlier this morning have been confirmed, because when you look at the way in which the military celebrated, he was actually lifted the shoulders, shoulders high earlier today. and he was actually that general mngoma was actually an aide to omar bongo, the late father of ali bongo, who has now been deposed, according to the military. and he had so much influence with regards to the security apparatus of the country. him being confirmed as the leader just speaks to the desire of the military to rule. but now it remains to be seen how a military government in gabon is going to play out at a time when several countries across the west, part western part of africa are under military leadership. they could to paul for that keeping across developments that are in gabon. also in florida and georgia in the us. we know that the hurricane is now moved on from florida and is in georgia, but the devastation in florida is significant. this isjust a devastation in florida is significant. this is just a taste of the winds and rain and flooding and the winds and rain and flooding and the storm surges that have been battering the west coast of florida. the wind speeds have thankfully been falling, but the devastation still significant. stay with us for all of the latest. i am lewis vaughan jones. this bbc news. hello. big contrasts in our weather on thursday. many northern and eastern areas will enjoy the sunshine, whereas further south — cloudy with outbreaks of rain. and here's the approaching weather front. you can see it's just to the west of us, ahead of it, the skies are clear. and that's good news because some of us want to still catch a glimpse of that super blue moon. so yes, clear spells across the bulk of the uk, but later on we'll see those clouds increasing in the south—west and eventually it'll turn wet. why is it called a super blue moon? well, super because the moon is at its closest approach to earth this year, so it'll appear bigger and brighter, and it's also the second full moon of the month. normally we get one, but this is the second one. so once in the blue moon, not that the two sayings are necessarily all that related, but anyway, here it is — clear skies across many northern and eastern areas through early thursday. out towards the west, we've got that weather front approaching. wet weather in the southwest, the west country, of course, wales not cold here, ten, 12 degrees. but with the clearer skies in scotland, it's closer to seven in edinburgh and aberdeen. so the morning starts off bright, if not sunny, and that's how it's going to stay for most of the day here. beautiful weather, stunning in the north—east of scotland, but out towards the west, thick cloud with outbreaks of rain for northern ireland, for wales, parts of the midlands, but particularly i think across the south here. and that rain will come and go — it'll be intermittent at times and also heavy. even the possibility of some rumbles of thunder. and if anything come the evening on thursday, the rain could turn heavier still. eventually on friday, that rain shears off to the near continent. but then there's still a few showers here across parts of northern england. the temperatures over the next few days, high teens, low 20s, but it is looking promising for the weekend. here's the jet stream looping around the north atlantic and around the uk. in this loop we've got an area of high pressure building from the azores and that spells fine settled weather for the weekend. we've had so many weekends this summer with a low pressure, but this weekend it does look as though it is going to be the high pressure that wins. so look at the outlook saturday and sunday, bright or sunny. and that fine weather also lasts into next week as well. and feeling really quite warm, not bad at all. bye— bye. this is bbc news, the headlines. the eye of hurricane idalia is moving away from florida for the a warning to continue about catastrophic title search. here the government strengthens the power of the inquiry set up to look at how the inquiry set up to look at how the nurse lucy letby murdered seven babies and attempted to murder six more. an exclusive report on ukraine's eastern front as russian drones target ukrainian forces. let's return now to one of our top stories. hurricane idalia has hit florida, leaving a trail of destruction. the leaving a trail of destruction. wind speed slowing a but the wind speed slowing a little bit but the devastation still there. it has been confirmed as far as that part of florida is concerned, it's the strongest storm to make landfall old in 100 years. the devastation so far has been pretty significant, 275,000 people without power in florida. another hundred thousand people in georgia now without power. john sudworth reports. the storm surge was always the biggest threat and, as expected,