as a category 3 storm. at least two people have died due to driving accidents in wet conditions, and more than 450,000 are without power across florida and georgia. florida's governor, ron desantis, warned 1.5 million people to evacuate tuesday night, but not everyone chose to leave. rescue efforts are widespread. officials say dozens were pulled to safety in a small motorboat in a coastal town where knee—high waters covered streets. fire and rescue workers are searching for those in need. 0ne boat rescued 75 people so far. governor desantis said there has been significant damage and crews are working to respond. idalia has moved on from florida their wake a path of destruction, and air the wind ripped down walls with ease, some homes all but hollowed out, leaving storm surge to pour in, washing away the everyday trappings of life. i everyday trappings of life. i don't think anybody can deny the impact of the climate crisis _ the impact of the climate crisis anymore, just look around, _ crisis anymore, just look around, historic floods, i mean historic— around, historic floods, i mean historic floods, more intense droughts _ historic floods, more intense droughts. extreme heat, significant wildfires have caused _ significant wildfires have caused significant damage like we have — caused significant damage like we have never seen before. federal_ we have never seen before. federal authorities have promised whatever it takes to get the state back up and running but in florida and georgia, half a million people are without power.— are without power. here in to one of the — are without power. here in to one of the hardest _ are without power. here in to one of the hardest hit - are without power. here in to one of the hardest hit areas l one of the hardest hit areas people have escaped with their lives but not their livelihoods, hotels have been destroyed, shops submerged in some residents i have been speaking to have told me they have onlyjust recovered from other hurricanes in florida and now this. and even as the storm weakens moving north, the warning from authorities is that the danger is not over. this red area indicates with the heaviest rain in the highest risk of flooding is going to occur. the scent of circulation is down here over south—eastern georgia, and so all of the tropical moisture is wrapping around and there is a front right here, all of that is being piled up in this narrow red spot, so jacksonville, north carolina, wilmington, myrtle beach, columbia south carolina all in that area of very heavy rain. as residents of the big bend in florida recoverfrom as residents of the big bend in florida recover from the strongest storm in over a century they have to get to grips with a new reality — that disasters like this one are unlikely to be a once in a lifetime event stop. live now to our correspondent helena humphrey who is in cedar key, florida. what more can you tell us? what is the latest? we what more can you tell us? what is the latest?— is the latest? we are here in one of the — is the latest? we are here in one of the hardest _ is the latest? we are here in one of the hardest hit - is the latest? we are here in one of the hardest hit areas, is the latest? we are here in. one of the hardest hit areas, i canjust one of the hardest hit areas, i can just tell you the power has started to come on in this community, that is in the last hour or so but it is sporadic and we do know many people tonight are essentially still without power, still without clean water, sewage needs to be re—established here. iwant clean water, sewage needs to be re—established here. i want to step out of the frame because you what you will be able to see behind me, another snapshot of that destruction we have been seeing, a palm tree still standing but no chance for the roof of a gas station which essentially has been ripped off and is now showing state of destruction we are seeing in this area. keep in mind, this is the worst storm that this part of the state of florida has seen in over a century, people might be used to these kinds of storms in other parts of florida but that is not necessarily the case here, we have been down by the gulf speaking to residents, business owners who say, essentially they have to clean out their hotels, some of them have to start from scratch once again. this downtown area earlier todayit this downtown area earlier today it was submerged by water, in terms of the latest, that storm moving to south carolina, wanting the danger is not necessarily over and that is because of the risk of storm surge, we saw their water driving at around nine foot, presenting some serious challenges there, the risk of flash flooding, especially in the area of charleston, the latest from authorities there on the ground is that minimal damage so far but still, the prospect of more flooding. haifa prospect of more flooding. how are authorities _ prospect of more flooding. how are authorities coping with this. we saw the preparations the governor put in place ahead of time, what is it like our with the aftermath to deal with? , . ., , , with the aftermath to deal with? ,. ., ,, ., with the aftermath to deal with? , . ., , , ., ., with? this cleanup is going to be bi , with? this cleanup is going to be big. one — with? this cleanup is going to be big, one powerline - with? this cleanup is going to be big, one powerline work. with? this cleanup is going to be big, one powerline work i. be big, one powerline work i was speaking to earlier today said usually for a category three storm you are looking at at least three weeks of the initial clear up, and rural communities like this one some places can be without power, sitting in the dark for up to a month, and it will be a costly cleanup operation as well. hurricane ian already well into the billions of dollars. this was not as strong a storm but nevertheless the debris far more significant and fema has been pointing to the fact people should be preparing for more storms to come like this in the future and that is just because of those very warm temperatures we have been seeing on the oceans, two or three celsius higher than average for this time of year higher, six fahrenheit and this has given the rocket fuel, allowing that hurricane to gather strength and then slam in when it makes that land. the sydney, we bid response ahead which will take weeks, if not months. ., , j ., months. people they're having to net months. people they're having to get used — months. people they're having to get used to _ months. people they're having to get used to these _ months. people they're having to get used to these kinds - months. people they're having to get used to these kinds of l to get used to these kinds of events taking place and president biden was at pains to say that this is another example of the impact of the climate crisis that many are experiencing around the world? absolutely if we take a look at recent events here in the us, it was only a little over two weeks ago that fema was being deployed to maui to the hawaiian island to deal with wildfires there, which was seen as much stronger than anticipated. now many fema officials have to come onto the ground to deal with this hurricane and it is with pointing out this is not even peak hurricane season right now, there is the potentialfor further storms to come inland all the way up to november. really this area has not seen a storm like this in terms of the track before, normally this hurricanes come up off the coast of africa and then move north, this time we have seen them brooding of honduras and then reaching the path of destruction as it travels from west to east, an unprecedented event, for locals, and authorities to wrap their heads around. ., ~ authorities to wrap their heads around. ., ,, i. authorities to wrap their heads around. ., ,, , ., ., around. thank you, helena humphreys. _ around. thank you, helena humphreys, our _ around. thank you, helena - humphreys, our correspondent and cedar key, florida for us. let's get some of the day's other news now. president zelensky has ordered a review of decisions by ukraine's medical boards to exempt certain individuals from military service. he suspects there could have been corruption involved in the decisions. cases found to be groundless will be referred for possible prosecution. earlier this month, mr zelensky purged all regional military recruitment chiefs. some officials have been accused of taking bribes and helping smuggle people of fighting age out of ukraine. north korea says it has fired two short—range tactical ballistic missiles to simulate nuclear strikes on south korea. state media has said the test was conducted as a warning against the us deployment of strategic bombers to the region. south korea reported two missiles landed in the sea. you may remember a ceremony at the us military academy west point earlier this week where a time capsule from the 1820s was opened and searched. while at the time it appeared empty, disappointing some people in the audience, officials say the box actually held a medal and five coins minted in years ranging from 1795 to 1828. in a statement, the academy said they "were embedded" in the box�*s "matrix". the plot thickens. it is becoming more and more interesting that whole scenario. the british government has joined a number of other western nations in condemning the coup in gabon on wednesday. the country's military has named one of its generals as the new transitional leaders. the country's long—time president, ali bongo, has been put under house arrest and a curfew is in place. the bbc�*s africa regional editor 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. all eyes in the world of football are still on luis rubiales. following the because he gave on the lips two to following the world cup final. the spanish football federation has called on him to resign and fifa has suspended him. during a hunger strike, his mother insisted her son did nothing wrong. 0ur correspondent guy hedgecoe has the latest on where things stand. luis rubiales head of the spanish soccer federation who has been tremendous pressure in recent days to resign because of the because he gavejenni hermosa the spanish player after the world cup final, is under even more pressure now. a former referee is alleging that luis rubiales siphoned money away from the football federation which should have been used to pay referees and he has launched a formal complaint. in the meantime luis rubiales is also facing an investigation where prosecutors were looking into whether they can proceed with further action against him for alleged sexual assault for that because he gave jenni assault for that because he gavejenni hermosa after the world cup final. in the meantime, the mother of luis rubiales angeles bejar has been taken to hospital on the third day of a hunger strike that she had been staging the defence of her son, who she said had been facing a witch—hunt, due to all this pressure surrounding the jenni hermosa case. she said her son had done nothing wrong but now she has been taken to hospital. guy hedgecoe there. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the sandwich chain pret a manger has been fined £800,000 — that's us$1 million — after a member of staff wearing justjeans and a t—shirt was trapped in a walk—in freezer at one of its london shops for 2.5 hours. the woman was treated for suspected hypothermia and says she feared for her life. rishi sunak is expected to announce a new defence secretary to replace ben wallace on thursday according to reports. mr wallace has served as defence secretary under three prime ministers and has played a high—profile role in the uk's response to the ukraine war. mr wallace previously said he was quitting front—line politics due to the toll it had taken on his family. health experts are warning a proposed ban of nitrous oxide known as laughing gas could stop users seeking help in hospitals. in a letter to the government seen by bbc newsnight, 15 neurologists and other health experts say possession of the drug should not be criminalised. but the government says it plans to go ahead with the ban. you're live with bbc news. the uk foreign secretary james cleverly has defended talks with chinese officials in beijing, saying it would not be "credible" to disengage. he is the first british foreign secretary to visit the country in five years. during the trip, he met china's vice—president, han zheng, and the foreign minister, wang yi. there has been criticism at home. senior conservatives like former party leader sir iain duncan smith said it was weak. mr cleverly said he is "clear—eyed" about the uk's disagreements with beijing, but he insists it would be a mistake to try to isolate the world's second—largest economy. we have got to recognise that china is an incredibly important trading partner and countries all over the world have very, very high volumes of trade with china. we have got to make it clear to the chinese government that it is in their interests to have a reputation of acting on a level playing field about good business practices, about not trying to manipulate their economic relationships because their economy, and we've seen some headline figures, which demonstrates that the chinese economy is not growing at the rate it has done previously, and not growing at the rate i think the chinese government would wish, and if they want to do something about that, that has got to be done through international trade, and to be really successful in international trade, you need to be regarded as a trustworthy and reliable partner. so it is in china's interests to maintain that reputation, to build that reputation. that is the foreign secretary. well, staying on china, tech giant baidu has released its artificial intelligence chatbot to the public after getting approval from the authorities. the chatbot named ernie is a large language model ai similar to chatgpt. and with al technology advancing at breakneck pace, british mps are warning the uk could fall behind beijing in their efforts to govern artificial intelligence. a report today urges the government to create new laws to address 12 key challenges. that includes the potential for al to perpetuate bias. this can be seen in al image generators — an analysis of 0penai's dall—e 2, found when given prompts like "ceo" or "director", it generated white men 97% of the time. another challenge isjobs being taken by ai. a report from goldman sachs estimates ai could replace the equivalent of 300 millionjobs. the report also says countries need to work together to regulate ai, and warns if action isn't taken quickly, "there is a risk that we in the uk lose out to the large tech companies, and possibly china, and are left behind." live now to mashable reporter matt binder. hejoins me now. hello to you. i mean, really, for the last ten months there has been this huge debate about al, good, the bad, the ugly, even to extent that it will take over the world. where are you on this big debate? i world. where are you on this big debate?— big debate? i think the main thin is big debate? i think the main thing is we _ big debate? i think the main thing is we need _ big debate? i think the main thing is we need to - big debate? i think the main thing is we need to know - big debate? i think the main - thing is we need to know openai thing is we need to know 0penai is the big company behind most of the ai companies that you see are actually using 0penai's api, basically they are powered by 0penai, and this is basically how most of these ai companies are running. so, really, it is almost like a monopolisation when it comes to the ai market. the other big buyers like google and microsoft and baidu in china, but for the most part, this is a very insular industry, and with so much of it powered by just a few big players, i think there is a major concern here that we can see another sort of i guess social media industry that governments across the world really failed to rein in and properly regulate before facebook and youtube blew up. i think that is what they are focused on right now. they are focused on right now. they are focused on _ focused on right now. they are focused on it _ focused on right now. they are focused on it now, _ focused on right now. they are focused on it now, but - focused on right now. they are focused on it now, but we - focused on right now. they are focused on it now, but we arel focused on it now, but we are also behind the curve and it is always the case with new tech. we are never ahead of the latest technology, it is always taking regulators and lawyers some time to catch up, and that is normal, isn't it, with this new tech, ai, it will take a while for the legal system to figure out how to police this? right, exactly. that is definitely a major issue. another major issue here as well is these ai companies are greatly sort of misrepresenting exactly what they are. i think a lot of people in normal everyday people hear the term ai and they think sci—fi movies from the 50s and 60s and robots doing their work for them and taking overjobs. a lot of these ai models are language models, basically set up to formulate and put together sentences and paragraphs and sometimes even full body essays, they can just sound good, they are not fact checked, they might even make any real sense when it comes to is... �* , ., , is... but the question is, sorry to _ is... but the question is, sorry to interrupt - is... but the question is, sorry to interrupt you, i is... but the question is, sorry to interrupt you, is | is... but the question is, i sorry to interrupt you, is to governments need to step in and sort of hit the pause button is at work? as you say, there is this race among the big tech players to be right there at the forefront of this new technology that everybody is discussing, but if it is a concern about the dangers about what could go wrong, should the pause button be hit so that there can be collaboration with china, the us and europe in terms of how it is managed going forward?— terms of how it is managed going forward? yes, but not for the reasons _ going forward? yes, but not for the reasons that _ going forward? yes, but not for the reasons that we _ going forward? yes, but not for the reasons that we hear. - going forward? yes, but not for the reasons that we hear. ai i going forward? yes, but not for the reasons that we hear. ai is | the reasons that we hear. ai is not going to take over, put people out of... the leadership roles. basically what we will see, though, is people's work being replicated and duplicated, people using chatgpt and other similar ai software to get answers to questions that these ai software �*s are not ready to answer for them, software �*s are not ready to answerforthem, but software �*s are not ready to answer for them, but they just have to give them what they think they need.— have to give them what they think they need. 0k, we have to leave it there. _ think they need. 0k, we have to leave it there. it _ think they need. 0k, we have to leave it there. it is _ think they need. 0k, we have to leave it there. it is such - think they need. 0k, we have to leave it there. it is such a - leave it there. it is such a huge debate. vaccines to protect vulnerable people against covid and flu this winter will be rolled out a month earlier than planned in england after a new variant of coronavirus was detected. anybody aged over 65, older adult care home residents and people with compromised immune system are to receive jabs from september 11. harry varley reports. preparing for winter. this new covid mutation has not yet been labelled a variant of concern. that would mean it had the potential to drive a fresh wave of illness. but health officials have decided to bring forward flu and covid vaccine programmes as a precautionary move. so, in england, the vaccine rollout will begin from september 11, a month earlier than planned. 0lder september 11, a month earlier than planned. older adults care home residents, people who are clinically vulnerable and those over 65 will be called to receive their jabs as over 65 will be called to receive theirjabs as well as health workers and carers. little is known about the new variant, ba286, but in the us, the centres for disease control and prevention hasjuandah could increase infection. and prevention has juandah could increase infection. while we don't know— could increase infection. while we don't know all— could increase infection. while we don't know all the - could increase infection. while we don't know all the details l we don't know all the details yet, what we do know does raise the possibility that this new variant could potentially increase transmission, for example, and it could also potentially be of higher severity than variance we have seen lately. in severity than variance we have seen lately-— seen lately. in the uk, the government— seen lately. in the uk, the government said _ seen lately. in the uk, the government said scientists seen lately. in the uk, the - government said scientists will continue to monitor the new variant and urge those eligible to get the jab. it is variant and urge those eligible to get the jab-— to get the 'ab. it is really important — to get the jab. it is really important that _ to get the jab. it is really important that people i to get the jab. it is really. important that people who to get the jab. it is really - important that people who are vulnerable get there in unity topped up by having a vaccine. that will help to protect them, but it will also help hopefully to reduce the pressures which come every winter, but which may be particularly tough on the nhs this winter. it is may be particularly tough on the nhs this winter. it is that fear about — the nhs this winter. it is that fear about pressures - the nhs this winter. it is that fear about pressures on - fear about pressures on hospitals that is partly behind the decision to bring forward the decision to bring forward the vaccine programme this autumn. if those concerns that this variant increases the risk of infection are approved right, then nhs england bosses worn it could be a very challenging winter ahead. harry varley, bbc news. now, let's talk about the rarer blue moon. many have tried to catch it. different parts of the world have been witnessing a rare blue moon. here it is, passing through spain and, as you can see, it's not the colour blue. but it's still spectacular. it's called blue moon because it's the second full moon in a single month — something that doesn't happen very often. this is a time lapse of the moon when it rose over the uk - it's called a blue supermoon and is much larger and brighter than usual. that's because it's near the closest point in its orbit around earth. this marks the first time in five years that two supermoons have appeared in the same month. did you get a good photo? send it to me if you did. i would love to see it. i had a look at it myself, i didn't catch a photo, though. iwill see it myself, i didn't catch a photo, though. i will see you in a moment for the top business stories. 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 southwest wales and southwest 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, a northeast, southwest 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 to 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 or 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 20s. 23 towards southeast 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. politics due to the toll it had taken on his family. live from london, this is bbc news. feeding inflation. india's food prices are soaring. and its attempts to control them are being felt around the world. there is no respite in the basic sources of staples like this. with soaring information the government has had to bring in curbs on the prices of essentials like rice, weight and even onions. also coming up — cooling off. price rises are easing in europe. but it may not be enough to head off another hike in interest rates plus — copper crisis. demand for the red metal is surging for everything from batteries to cables to solar panels but there's not enough to go round. we'll be hearing about a possible solution. and from viewer to player? netflix bets on games in the battle for streaming subscribers. but will its latest gambit prove to be a good move? we are now looking at the top business stories.