been downgraded bringing dangerous wind and heavy rain. looking at these latest pictures out of carolina where wins are heading across the beach there as idalia heads across the coast. early wednesday idalia lashed florida, making landfall as a category 3 storm. at least two people have died due to driving accidents in wet conditions, and more than 500 thousand are without power across florida and georgia. florida's governor ron desantis warned 1.5 milion people to evacuate tuesday night, but not everyone chose to leave. these are the latest pictures now that we can look at coming out of south carolina where the wind is whipping across the beach there is tropical storm idalia continues along the coast. 500,000 people are without power across several of the state so let's go live now to our reporter in florida. helena, what is the situation where you are? in this area where you are? in this area where i am, the hard—hit area of cedar key it is also without power tonight. of cedar key it is also without powertonight. h0 of cedar key it is also without power tonight.— of cedar key it is also without power tonight. no clean water cominu power tonight. no clean water coming in _ power tonight. no clean water coming in right _ power tonight. no clean water coming in right now. - power tonight. no clean water coming in right now. the - power tonight. no clean water i coming in right now. the sewage systems are also not working. i want to step out of the way and show you some of the destruction that we can see when the hurricane made landfall here. behind me you can see a gas station, the twisted roof has simply been blown off in the early hours of this morning and we saw wind coming in, picking wind of 125 mph and on top of that what is considered life—threatening in this area is the storm surge and in some parts it was coming in at around seven foot of water coming in from the gulf coast. down by that area down by the coast earlier today people, thankfully, managed to escape with their lives, but not their livelihood. we saw hotels that had been hollowed out by the wind and then by the storm surge as well. 0ther storm surge as well. other people told me that their shops have been submerged in the downtown area. some residents even say that they are residents of florida and had moved from other parts of the state and encountered hurricanes in that area but onlyjust managed to get their lives back on straight track after that destruction and now they are faced with destruction in this area as well. you must remember that this is the big bend area. it is not seen a storm like this in over a century. some people did not want to get out, they thought they could write out what they thought would be a tropical storm and said they had done so in the past, they thought they could just hunker down. some residents tonight have been coming back to the community, they have been told not to stay because some structures do not appear to be sound and some basic services arejust appear to be sound and some basic services are just not up and running. you must think, 49 counties in this area were evacuated so seems like this are likely to be all too common along the big bend coast. find along the big bend coast. and what is the — along the big bend coast. and what is the situation for the recovery and the rebuilding of that area?— recovery and the rebuilding of that area? , ., ~ that area? rebuilding will take a very long _ that area? rebuilding will take a very long time. _ that area? rebuilding will take a very long time. one - that area? rebuilding will take l a very long time. one powerline worker i was talking to said when you expect to see a category three storm you can expect three weeks potentially for power backup. category 4 you get four weeks and in rural areas and this is a rural area, some people will be sitting in the dark he said, potentially, four months and then you need to get the water back on as well. so there will be a long way to go. in terms of destruction it is thought that this is a more significant level of debris seen since hurricane ian and we know that evenin hurricane ian and we know that even in those disaster totals we were talking billions of dollars worth of destruction. 0ther dollars worth of destruction. other people i have spoken to here had their dream home down by the coast and had areas of that essentially flattened. some did not have insurance. it is hard to get insurance in areas that are prone to a tropical storm like this and thatis tropical storm like this and that is what some of the people who are facing. this that is what some of the people who are facing.— that is what some of the people who are facing. as you make the oint who are facing. as you make the point there. _ who are facing. as you make the point there, we _ who are facing. as you make the point there, we are _ who are facing. as you make the point there, we are in _ point there, we are in hurricane season now so there could be more storms. storm franklin is just off the co— there that went just off the coast there. there that went 'ust off the coast there._ there that went 'ust off the coast there. that is 'ust the onesthatfi coast there. that is 'ust the ones that are h coast there. that is just the ones that are striking, - coast there. that is just the ones that are striking, that | ones that are striking, that image we saw of swelling hurricanes on either side of the coast and this is the point about this particular hurricane. it is unusual to see the strike on the side of the coast. what we normally have the hurricane moving up from the hurricane moving up from the continent of africa and off the continent of africa and off the coast. this time around we saw a brooding of the coast of honduras and then slowly moving up honduras and then slowly moving up and that very slow trajectory has been part of the issue here because in doing so these hurricane winds have really been able to gain force over the warming oceans. right now we see water temperatures being described as like bath water. two or three celsius higher than the average for this time of year. six fahrenheit on average higher it comes to fahrenheit. so meteorologists are saying it is essentially like rocket fuel for these hurricane. they can gain in strength and slam into the coast as they make landfall and then pummel that area with the storm surge which proves so destructive. the warming from that meant warning from fema is we could storms like this more often in the years to come. tropical storm idalia is not done yet. it continues to slam the us south—east. in georgia, fallen trees and downed power lines can be seen across the state where residents have been told to stay inside. one person has died and a second was seriously injured when a tree fell wednesday afternoon. live now to adam van bimmer in savannah. he covers politics there for the atlanta journal—constitution. thank you forjoining us. it is all hands on deck i imagine in covering this storm damage. we have seen what it did in florida and it is hitting georgia i believe at the moment. what are conditions like right now? we moment. what are conditions like right now?— like right now? we feel burlesque _ like right now? we feel burlesque and - like right now? we feel. burlesque and especially compared to our florida neighbours. this storm has passed through georgia and is in south carolina now. it came into georgia late this morning and went through very quickly here in savannah we expected it to be affecting us sometime around eight o'clock tonight and then maybe moving up before midnight but by 630 tonight we were clear of the wind and the rain and that is largely what we got, very gusty wind and savannah is, of course, by american standards and old and historic city with a lot of old large trees and we had a lot of limbs and leaves and things that will be very easily cleaned up is what we are dealing with here. so we felt incredibly blessed at this moment, for sure. we incredibly blessed at this moment, for sure. ~ ., ., moment, for sure. we have heard that one person — moment, for sure. we have heard that one person has _ moment, for sure. we have heard that one person has died. - moment, for sure. we have heard that one person has died. i - that one person has died. i don't know if you can tell us about the situation there and what the general emergency response has been like? tree fell — response has been like? tree fell that _ response has been like? tree fell that was - response has been like? tree fell that was the - tree fell that was the situation there and public safety crews here in savannah and up and down the coast have been very active today. this is the time of the year when we deal with these kinds of hurricane's. this one was a little different because it came at us from the south and the west versus coming at us from the ocean so we are in other hurricanes we would have had largely had an evacuation of the population and with we evacuate to the west to do that for this one would have taken people right through the part of the store so everybody sheltered in place. so whether it was in valdosta or other parts of the state or savannah along the coast it was a hunker down situation and, again, i think because of the speed of the storm and the storm weakened and as reported earlier what hit in florida was category four, very dangerous storm and by the time it moved all the way through the state of georgia it was down to tropical force of georgia it was down to tropicalforce wind. of georgia it was down to tropical force wind. again, very blessed. _ tropical force wind. again, very blessed. you - tropical force wind. again, | very blessed. you mention tropical force wind. again, - very blessed. you mention that people were asked to shelter in place rather than try to get to any other place. for viewers around the world who may be familiar with savannah, the homes and properties they be billed for people to be able to shelter in place or are there people living in mobile parks or rv parks?— or rv parks? our general metropolitan _ or rv parks? our general metropolitan area - or rv parks? our general metropolitan area is - or rv parks? our general metropolitan area is a - or rv parks? our general i metropolitan area is a little over 300000 and you have some very old homes and a lot of homes that are in low—lying areas. those of you who see my video, i am in a areas. those of you who see my video, iam in a hotel areas. those of you who see my video, i am in a hotel in savannah because where i live is very low—lying and surrounded by tall trees and we have a storm with high wind and we like to get to an area where if one of those trees falls on the house that will not get us. so when you shelter in placing in savannah it be a little harrowing. the city opened up a safety, and aid centre for people who did not feel comfortable in their home where they could come and ride out they could come and ride out the worst of the storm. i believe it was going to close and people should be going back to their home right now and again, the storm moved past us and moved up the coast and is affecting others at this point. have you had the chance to check out where you live on that island, as you say? i’zre that island, as you say? i've not been — that island, as you say? i've not been out. _ that island, as you say? i've not been out. i _ that island, as you say? i've not been out. i know - that island, as you say? i've not been out. i know that i that island, as you say? is: not been out. i know that when we left the wind was really dropping a lot of debris along the road and in the yard so my teenage son will be very busy cleaning up the yard tomorrow, i think. ~ ., i. ., i think. adam, you mentioned that the storm _ i think. adam, you mentioned that the storm came - i think. adam, you mentioned that the storm came at - i think. adam, you mentioned that the storm came at you i i think. adam, you mentioned i that the storm came at you from a different direction than previous storms have done. from your experience, how did this compare in its intensity, i suppose, to previous storms? are you see them more frequently pass through? we see them in fits _ frequently pass through? we see them in fits and _ frequently pass through? we see them in fits and spirits. - frequently pass through? we see them in fits and spirits. there i them in fits and spirits. there was a four year period between 2016 and 2019 where we had four storms coming at us that caused evacuations. savannah is somewhat fortunate geographically in that it is positioned along the coast and has a bit of an elbow were a storm will come up and then the coastline dips to the west and comes back out to the east and “p comes back out to the east and up the coast so savannah is in that elbow, that armpit, if you will so many times storm will skip and move on and hit charleston or up the coast in north carolina. so with that in mind it is pretty common what we have seen the last ten years when we have a storm the passes close enough where we feel the wind so if this is what we have to deal with every year then i think we will all breathe a sigh of relief because it is a little bit scary but at the end of the day we are ok with that. that is good to hear. thank you so much forjoining us. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the mother of the president of spain's football federation has been hospitalised on the third day of a hunger strike. angeles bejar locked herself in a church earlier this week to protest accusations against her son, luis rubiales, who is facing calls to resign after he kissed a player on the lips at the women's world cup. the uk foreign secretary has defended talks with officials in china, telling the bbc it wouldn't be "credible" to disengage. james cleverly is the first senior member of britain's government to visit beijing in more than five years. he acknowledged that china wouldn't change "overnight," but insisted that a "pragmatic" relationship with the country, was necessary north korea says it has fired two short—range tactical ballistic missiles to simulate nuclear strikes on south korea. state media said the test were conducted as a warning against the us deployment of strategic bombers to the region. south korea reported two missiles landed in the sea. you're live with bbc news. the white house has condemned wednesday's coup in the central african nation of gabon. national security council spokesmanjohn kirby says it's obviously deeply concerning to see yet another country where military officers have taken these dangerous and reckless steps and attempted takeovers of democratically elected governments. those comments come after military officers named general brice clotaire 0ligui nguema as the transitional leader following claims that the re—election of the nation's longtime president was a fraud. will ross has more. 0n the streets of gabon, celebrations for africa's latest military leader. earlier, a dozen senior officers said for the sake of peace, they were putting an end to what they called the regime and were taking over. they cancelled the result of last weekend's election. manyjournalists and observers were barred from monitoring the vote. the opposition said it was a sham. and it was no surprise when this man, president ali bongo, was declared the winner. i am ali bongo 0ndimba, president of gabon. and i'm to send a message to all the friends. but this is him appealing for help just hours after being detained by the military in his presidential palace. the people here have arrested me. here's the president's father, 0mar bongo, at downing street in the �*70s. the same family has been in power in gabon since 1967. today, people are celebrating what looks like the end of the bongo dynasty. these coups seem to be contagious. this is niger, which also saw a military takeover last month. it's been a key western ally in the fight against violent extremism in an increasingly unstable region. along with some highly suspicious elections and eight coups injust three years, democracy in africa is taking a battering. as people celebrate the military takeover in gabon, many on the continent are wondering, where's next? will ross, bbc news. a shortwhile ago i spoke with former us ambassador to gabon, eric benjaminson, about the coup. eric benjaminson, thanks for joining us. president president ali was elected shortly before your ambassadorship. what do your ambassadorship. what do you make of his removal so soon after his real action? i you make of his removal so soon after his real action?— after his real action? i think my broader— after his real action? i think my broader statement - after his real action? i think my broader statement and l after his real action? i think i my broader statement and by after his real action? i think - my broader statement and by the workplace should say thank you for having me on, i very much appreciated, the broadest statement i can make nothing in gabon is as it seems. these are common in figures, the coup has copied reason and we should not associate with the other kyrgios going on in africa recently. this one is entirely separate from the others. i am a little surprised by the coup. there was an attempt to visit the last election but it failed. i guess he is not understood how some of his actions or maybe lifestyle has hurt him with regular people in gabon. fin hurt him with regular people in gabon. ,., , ., hurt him with regular people in gabon. i. ., ,, gabon. on the point you make about the _ gabon. on the point you make about the view _ gabon. on the point you make about the view this is - about the view this is different to the other recent coups africa, eco— wires in the wake of the coup in niger was worried about contagion in the area but am interested to hear why you think it's different this time. i why you think it's different this time-— why you think it's different this time. i think ecowas is riaht to this time. i think ecowas is right to have _ this time. i think ecowas is right to have a _ this time. i think ecowas is right to have a broad - this time. i think ecowas is i right to have a broad concern and the state department of the us also indicated specific concern today about what's going on in gabon which i quickly agree with even i don't work for them anymore but what i would say is the antecedents to this coup had nothing to do with other countries, nothing to do with fundamentalism, they have nothing to do with religious schisms, but what it does have is a very specific gabon related reasons behind it. ~ ~' gabon related reasons behind it. ~ ~ ., ., ., it. when we think of a kumar, military seizing _ it. when we think of a kumar, military seizing power- military seizing power with force, it often happens without the support of the people and that appears in this case that there is some support. we've seen images and heard reports of people chanting time for change. why is it so different in that regard? i change. why is it so different in that regard?— in that regard? i think there is a level— in that regard? i think there is a level of— in that regard? i think there is a level of popular- in that regard? i think there is a level of popular support for it and back to my earlier statement that it's very hard to know what's really going on. i think president ali bongo had legitimate support, a certain level of it. i think the elections were not managed carefully and the support he had any election was overstated from the people. i was visited before to mention ethnic tensions because there is one. it's not a mile intention but president ali bongo is a different ethnic group than the opposition party leaders and that has a long history going back to the 1960s or before, so part of this is people from different ethnic groups but i think the main reason and you only do this, the main reason is that there is a huge disparity in wealth between elite gabonese and other people and i don't think the president, he and the first place not understand how his earning a fleet of fast cars and travelling a lot globally made him look to his own people and i don't think that there is enough action on his part to fight corruption in his own government. he has done certain steps but there is a lot of anger at corruption that has beenin anger at corruption that has been in gabon since the 1960s at least. he been in gabon since the 1960s at least. , ., , at least. he is under house arrest at — at least. he is under house arrest at the _ at least. he is under house arrest at the moment - at least. he is under house arrest at the moment and l at least. he is under house l arrest at the moment and we at least. he is under house - arrest at the moment and we saw arrest at the moment and we saw a video appealfrom him arrest at the moment and we saw a video appeal from him asking his friends to raise their voices. do you see a role here for the international committee?- for the international committee? , , committee? yes, he is under house arrest _ committee? yes, he is under house arrest and _ committee? yes, he is under house arrest and i _ committee? yes, he is under house arrest and i say - committee? yes, he is under house arrest and i say that i committee? yes, he is under. house arrest and i say that not least because i recognise the room in which he was having a videotape from, part of his residence at the presidential palace. of course there is a role for the international community. in the first place we will certainly don't want this to become violent anymore than the gunfight might embody ben, and i think you can analyse why this is different from coups and other countries but at the same time we don't want to look like we're treating one coup differently from another, it's not respecting a democratic process, we need to be consistent, but not only us but everybody else needs to consistent in speaking out and worrying about coups. they are disturbingly democratic processes. but i think we can do that and still amongst ourselves recognise that there are national differences between these things and they are not all symptoms of the same course.— same course. another interesting _ same course. another interesting element . same course. another - interesting element wrestle with the arab spring, the rise of social media performs and it this instant tiktok seems to played quite a role in what happened. i played quite a role in what happened-— played quite a role in what ha ened. ~ ., �*, happened. i think that's true and i happened. i think that's true and i am _ happened. i think that's true and i am no _ happened. i think that's true and i am no weld _ happened. i think that's true and i am no weld export - happened. i think that's true and i am no weld export on | and i am no weld export on dominant expert on tiktok but i can tell you the role of internet and social media has started in gabon well before the invention of tiktok. i was there from 2010— 2013 and it was a country that lept from no phones to smartphones. they really jumped phones to smartphones. they reallyjumped over the really jumped over the hardwired phone reallyjumped over the hardwired phone stage and so everybody was even using smartphones, they all had facebook, they all had instagram completely using some other popular and that did exactly what it did. at different pace than what happened in tunisia and elsewhere but it has connected young gabonese with the world and give them an independent viewpoint on the world, in the country and everywhere else. eric benjaminson, i know you are under time pressure so i will let you go. thank you for joining us. will let you go. thank you for joining us— will let you go. thank you for joining us. thank you. i really appreciate — joining us. thank you. i really appreciate it. _ ukraine and russia have launched waves of airstrikes against each other, as war between the two countries rages on. the ukrainian capital kyiv suffered its biggest air attack in months that killed two security guards. 0ur russia editor, steve rosenberg, reports. imagine seeing this from your window. "it's terrifying," she says. what are thought to have been ukrainian drones had just attacked a russian airfield and destroyed military aircraft. this is pskov, hundreds of miles from ukraine. the response from the ground. 0vernight, six russian regions were targeted in one of the most extensive drone attacks on russian territory. here's a factory in bryansk. you can hear the drone... ..and the result. explosion russia's foreign ministry promised that attacks on russia would not go unpunished. but they have gone underreported. this bulletin boasted about russia attacking ukraine, but not a word about the drone attacks on russia. some state media here have mentioned them, but only in passing. there were no drone attacks on russian cities before russia's full—scale invasion of ukraine. now, they happen more often. now, you might think, and it would be logical to assume, that more and more russians are putting two and two together and concluding that it's the invasion that's to blame, that the invasion was a mistake. but i don't get the sense that's happening. i think it's because many here still believe, or want to believe, the kremlin narrative that russia's a victim, not the aggressor. to stop the drones, leonid says, "we must defeat those who are launching them." if russia hadn't begun the special military operation, says irina, nato would have invaded us. as for anastasia, she doesn't follow the news closely. she says she tries to think about more positive things. i've heard many russians say that. they don't believe they can change what's happening, so they try not to notice. steve rosenberg, bbc news, st petersburg. new health concerns for the us senate's top republican, mitch mcconnell. he froze while answering a reporter's question at a news conference in covington, kentucky. what am i talking about? reporter: running for re—election in 2026? oh, that's it. silence did you hear— the question, senator? running for- re—election in 2026? silence aright, i'm sorry, y'all, - we are going to need a minute. senator. a spokesperson said mr mcconnell felt �*momentarily lightheaded' and that he will consult a physcian. that's it for the moment. thank you very much for watching. i am caitriona perry in washington. to stay with us on bbc news. take care. hello. for those of you that enjoy a big moon, there's a real treat outside at the moment — a super blue moon. what's one of those? well, the "super" bit is when the moon's closest to the earth for the year, and the "blue" bit is the second full moon of the month — so a super blue moon. and this is how sam's house spotted the rising moon here in derbyshire, just over the last few hours. now, looking at the weather picture at the moment, we do have some thicker cloud out to the west. that's going to rather spoil the sight of the moon. but across the eastern side of the country, we've got the clearest of the skies. now through the day on thursday, we do have some rain that's going to be spreading in from the west, and that will start to make inroads towards south—west wales and south—west england over the next few hours. as that arrives, so will quite mild air. so 1a degrees in plymouth as we start the day on thursday. cooler across the north and east of the country. so north—east, south—west split with the weather for thursday, lovely start to the day for scotland, across much of northern england. bright with hazy sunshine for east anglia. but across western areas we've got the rain moving in, and some of the rain will be quite heavy across southern areas of wales, southern areas of england. otherwise it's probably going to come through quite light and patchy, really. top temperatures around about 18—20 degrees for many areas. now on into friday's forecast, the remnants of that area of low pressure still with us. and really it's a day of sunny spells and a few showers. probably the cloudiest zone of weather will be across northern england, north wales, the north midlands and northern ireland, where there'll be a few patches of rain. one to two showers elsewhere. temperatures, again, high teens to low 20s. but as we head into the weekend, we've got a real change in the weather patterns. an area of high pressure is set to move in across the uk. we're not seeing too many of those over the last couple of months, i can tell you. now saturday morning there might be a few mist and fog patches first thing, but otherwise it's a fine—looking day. lots of sunshine to look forward to, with just a little bit of fair weather cloud popping up for a time. temperatures rising across the board pretty much into the low twenties. 23 towards south—east england. and that is going to feel warm in the september sunshine. and we've got more of that to come through sunday, and deep into the new week as well. so quite a long spell of dry and sunny weather finally looks set to arrive. bye for now. voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. history is thankfully and finally beginning to accord a rightful place to those men and women of the windrush generation. you look beautiful. how are you? it is, i believe, crucially important that we should truly see and hear these pioneers who stepped off the empire windrush at tilbury injune 19118, only a few months before i was born, and those who followed over the decades, to recognise and celebrate the immeasurable difference that they, their children and their grandchildren have made to this country.