You can see this time lapse here shared by american astronaut matthew dominick — showing how this storm looks from space. Milton comes just days after hurricane helene tore through the southeastern us — 225 people were killed by the natural disaster across six states. The back to back storms are expected to leave historic levels of damage that could take years to recover from. Unlike helene, milton will only pass through florida on its way to the atlantic ocean. President biden has postponed a trip to germany to oversee preparations and prepare a federal response. He urged those in milton's path to evacuate, calling it a matter of �*life and death�* — also warning this could be one of the worst storms to hit florida in a century. Melanie bevan is the chief of police in bradentown — a town that is right in the path of hurrican milton and experienced a lot of damage during the recent hurricane helene. She spoke about what a forecast like this means for law enforcement in the area. We have 135 officers here, another 16 civilian employees and we made the decision today that it is no longer safe to house our equipment, our people and our evidence. Over 40,000 people of evidenced property were moved today to a secure location. We had to move guns, we had to move cameras, we had to move everything can imagine, you can imagine what a significant undertaking that was, this is all while trying to carry out evacuation orders and doing what we can to get people to safety. 0ur correspondent gordon corera sent this report from tampa in florida. An exodus from tampa. Long lines of traffic snaking out of the city tell you that the warnings are being taken seriously here. Florida is used to hurricanes, but the message has been that this time is different. The city is still recovering from the last hurricane, helene, which hitjust two weeks ago, and killed more than 200 in the wider region, with hundreds more still missing. The water was up to here. And that's from the last one two weeks ago, yeah? and inside tampa today, there are desperate, last—minute preparations. Steve crist�*s dental surgery was hit badly last time, and he knows milton promises to be much worse. I've lived here my whole life, i'm 73 years old, and we have never had anything like this, ever. And to have two in two weeks, as well? yeah. Oh, yeah, that building has neverflooded, and i've practised dentistry here for 44 years. The speed and intensity with which milton formed, with winds of 180mph, is what's caused real alarm. Even if it weakens, that will not stop the massive storm surge, which could be as much as 15 feet high hitting the coast, double what helene inflicted, and with tampa right in its expected path. This is literally catastrophic, and i can say without any dramatisation whatsoever, if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you'e going to die. Another sign of how seriously this is being taken was that president biden cancelled foreign travel and issued his own warning. You should evacuate now, now, now, you should have already have evacuated. It is a matter of life and death, and that is not hyperbole. It is a matter of life and death. At a sports stadium in nearby st petersburg, 10,000 camp beds are being prepared for emergency workers, who'll be trying to get the community back on its feet. The power and danger posed by milton is clear from these pictures of a crew aboard a research flight that went through the hurricane. They were forced to hold tight as they were buffeted by its winds, and beneath them, florida is now preparing for the hurricane�*s arrival. The sheer scale of hurricane milton has shocked and suprised seasoned weather—experts. One of them is veteran florida meteorologistjohn morales who was overwhelmed by emotion during a live television broadcast yesterday whilst reporting on the hurricane. It's a moment that has gone viral on social media. It has dropped. . . It has dropped 50 millibars in ten hours. I apologise, dropped 50 millibars in ten hours. Iapologise, this dropped 50 millibars in ten hours. I apologise, this is just. . . Horrific. Well i spoke tojohn and he told me why he was so touched during that report. I think it's been building up for quite some time and i've done some introspection on that, there are some comes in a row for the bulletin online — it's row for the bulletin online — its three things, it's the banks about the increasing frequency of extreme weather events which are becoming more severe, its frustration over the fact that i've been a climate communicator for over 20 years and i've been telling people that we were going to get to this point with all these extremes and all this damage and all these lives being wrecked if we didn't do something about burning fossil fuels and injecting the greenhouse gases and you call for action, you don't see enough action, think it's pretty frustrating and then just empathy, just feeling bad about their future victims of hurricane milton and if you watch the full clip, i cannot lucid a second time, i break down a second time when i started to talk about the attempt and some of the towns and cities there and some of the cities there because these climate driven severe weather events around the planet, who they hurt the most? the most humble communities are the ones they get hurt the most, from my communities, people with lesser resource are generally the ones that are the victims here. So, ijust that are the victims here. So, i just felt bad for them that are the victims here. So, ijust felt bad for them and i felt bad for what's coming for florida. In felt bad for what's coming for florida. ,. ,. , , florida. In terms of what is cominu florida. In terms of what is coming for _ florida. In terms of what is coming for florida, florida. In terms of what is coming for florida, you coming for florida, you mentioned, what is setting gotten apart from hurricane's? why is this one more dangerous? —— milton. It's dangerous because of the extreme intensity, it will still — it's been a category five two times and it is only about 30 hours, as we speak, from making landfall in florida and it's still a category five so, let's just start with the intensity so even if it loses strength, there could still be a category for it. What a category three hurricane winter makes landfall in the state of florida late on wednesday night. That's when it suspected to happen. In addition, the angle of approach is extremely unusual. Generally, hurricane will come from western korean and combat the west coast oblique angle, this one is coming from the western gulf of mexico and is expected to make a pretty perpendicular approach to the west coast of florida and that's going to drive a storm surge even higher, the death of the inundation is going to be greater because of that angle of approach and of course, other geographical features of florida's coast and the bottom of the ocean near the west coast of florida, although would contribute to what is expected to be a big water emergency in terms of that storm surge, the salt water inundation and the rainfall which will cause flooding, not to mention the windstorm which will cause severe damage to structures as well. To the other big story we've been following closely in the middle east. Israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, is warning of destruction in lebanon like that seen in gaza — unless the lebanese people reject hezbollah. He said if the iranian—backed group continued to fight, lebanon would topple into the abyss of a long war. He asserted that the israeli military had killed the man who was widely tipped to become the new leader of hezbollah — hashem safieddine, in an air strike in beirut on friday. The israel defense forces says it can't yet confirm the results of the strike. Safieddine, a relative of former leader hassan nasrallah, has been running the movement alongside its deputy secretary general since nasrallah was killed by israel at the end of september. As air strikes continue in beirut, israel's military has been stepping up operations on the ground in lebanon, now moving in the south west of the country, as well as the south east. Syrian state media also reports israeli strikes in damascus — they say seven civilians, including women and children, were killed in a residential building. Four more have been killed in a strike on a building used by iran—backed hezbollah. Israel has not commented on either claim. Meanwhile, more than a hundred rockets have been fired by hezbollah operating out of southern lebanon towards israel's third largest city of haifa. Air defences failed to stop one rocket landing yesterday. 0ur correspondent anna foster is in beirut and sent us this update. Well, once again tonight, the sound of loud explosions from israeli air strikes are echoing around the capital. We're seeing those great plumes of black smoke on the horizon — it's worth taking a moment to consider really how extraordinary that is, the position we find ourselves in where that has become a normal thing, that, right in the heart of the lebanese capital, through the day and into the evening like this, we're seeing the momentum increasing all the time when it comes to these air strikes. In the south of lebanon, as well, powerful strikes throughout the day — more than 130 targets have been hit by the israeli air force, and we also know that israel have put more troops again into the south of the country. Benjamin netanyahu making this very strong statement earlier, speaking, he said directly to that lebanese people — i'm not sure how many will actually see or understand that statement, it feels more like a message to the wider world, he threatened that if hezbollah wasn't removed from lebanon, this country could end up like gaza. That's a message that's concerning notjust people here, but around the world, as well. That's a message concerning people notjust here come up around the world as well. The israeli military says it is expanding its ground offensive against hezbollah by moving into a new zone in the southwest. The incursion brings the total number of soldiers deployed to 15,000. On monday, israeli forces warned people to avoid the coast, saying it would soon begin an operation from the sea. Nick eardley from bbc verify has been looking at the damage done in lebanon so far. There has been a significant exchange of fire in recent days. As we've been hearing, dozens of rockets have been fired into northern israel today by hezbollah and there has been significant damage done by israeli strikes in lebanon. This footage here is from yaroun the south—west of lebanon, and you can see buildings have been flattened over a pretty large area. We've been mapping the wider picture, and if you have a look at the screen here and focus in on the region, i can show you a map, which is based on data from the institute for the study of war. It is up—to—date as of yesterday morning so it doesn't include the most recent strikes. Today it includes reported strikes, we haven't verified them all, and there may be some we don't know about, but if i focus it in here, if we zoom in down on the border area, in purple here you can see recent hezbollah attacks on israel, and in red you can see israeli strikes in lebanon. Let's focus in on a few examples to show you the extent of some of the damage we have been seeing in lebanon. This is from arabsalim in southern lebanon, 16 kilometres from the border with israel. We verified this by looking at footage from the surrounding areas. It matches satellite images before this raid and the building still standing in the footage. We are confident this is from this morning when it was first posted online, and what it clearly shows, as you can see here, is a considerable level of damage to buildings and to the local infrastructure. Let's also show you a piece of footage we've got from beirut. Israel says it is targeting hezbollah strongholds, particularly areas where weapons are being stored, and this footage does appear to show secondary explosions. You can see here this big ball of fire. The building is clearly on fire, then about a0 seconds into the footage that's been posted online, it will come up in a second here, you can see another explosion, what looks like fireworks going on there. That has likely been caused by ammunition blowing up. There are other examples of verified footage we have seen and shown to experts who say the same, that it looks like secondary explosions, ammunition exploding. The damage is against the backdrop of israel sending more troops to lebanon. This morning israeli forces confirmed they were expanding forces into the south—west, and as has happened in gaza, we are seeing those sorts of warnings being circulated by the idf. This one, as you can see, is in arabic, it tells people in the south to be careful, it tells people not to move south, and it says to those in the south that they should not return to their homes for their own safety. In recent months, hundreds of thousands of people in lebanon have been displaced, and much of that has been happening in the south of the country. As we've been hearing, israel has been continuing its bombardment in gaza. The hamas—run health ministry says 56 people have been killed in the strip in the past 2a hours. It follows heavy clashes reported at the jabalia refugee camp in northern gaza. The idf believes hamas is rebuilding its stronghold in the region and wants to prevent the fighters from regrouping. This is the fourth time israeli troops have returned to this area. Meanwhile, the un secretary general, antonio guterres, says draft laws in the israeli parliament that block the un aid agency for palestinians — would cause humanitarian catastrophe in gaza and the west bank. He says he's written to the israeli governemnt to express his concern and the agency — unrwa — was irreplaceable. Ali mamouri, a research fellow at deakin university and specialises in middle east studies. He previously served as strategic communication advisor to the iraqi prime minister from 2020 to 2022. He says syria has already been involved in this conflict. Syria has already been involved for long by the militias there, the iraqi militias there, hezbollah and other military factions. They have been targeting israeli sites for long now, and from the other side, israel have been retaliating against them as well, and we remember the last time when israel targeted iran, the iranian embassy, we had an attack by iran against israel. Right. So how volatile is it all feeling, is it feeling like there is a spread in the sense, things have been going on, but the countries we have been primarily thinking about and focusing on the likes of lebanon, iran, gaza, does it feel like things are becoming wider and escalating more widely? it seems to me that the regional conflict has already been expanded over the region and in different countries. Now we have military groups in lebanon, syria, in yemen targeting israel constantly. We have the development of direct attack by iran on israel, and after a year of war in gaza we are still seeing reports of hamas operating against the idea. Just two days ago they fired five missiles against israel in israeli settlements earlier, so it seems to me the conflict has already been expanded. However both sides have some kind of rules of engagement, trying to not push further towards full—scale war, which both sides cannot afford it at the current circumstances. Sometimes they tried to just push it a limited lead but it is very calculated, and that is why iran can't explain why it had delayed in retaliation against israel, after the assassination, and now israel has some kind of delay in the retaliation against the recent iran attack on targets. You mention that delay that israel is currently employing in terms of how it is going to respond to iran. I feel like that has been a question on everyone's lips for the last week or so. What do you think israel may do and what could be the implications of that? it seems to me that israel will target something in iran, we don't know exactly what, but it should do, because both sides are trying to restore the deterrence balance with each other. So if israel does not attack the recent attack on israel that happened, it would be some kind of giving more power to iran. So both sides are trying to restore it. Around the world and across the uk: this is bbc news. You're live with bbc news. The continued presence of two chinese warships at a cambodian naval base — has sparked questions over whether beijing has established a permanent military presence in the country. According to satellite images, the two warships have been docked alongside a chinese—built pier at the ream naval base which sits on the gulf of thailand. The cambodian government has denied that china's presence will be permanent — stating that the base is open to use by all friendly navies. Well to discuss this further, lets cross to sydney and join abdul rahman yaacob who is a research fellow in the southeast asia program at the lowy institute. Thank you forjoining me. Tell us more about this particular naval base and why there is to speculation that it's been controlled by china? thank you for having _ controlled by china? thank you for having me. _ controlled by china? thank you for having me. I— controlled by china? thank you for having me. I think controlled by china? thank you for having me. I think first for having me. I think first and foremost, the chinese military of involvement to develop the base, also the chinese funding to modernise the base, it's over this perception is that a chinese will have exclusive control of the base. So, and furthermore, the base. So, and furthermore, the government was quite — they were not quite open to the media and to the researchers initially so this gives the perception that the chinese is keen to have control over the base. But having said that, i would argue that it's not likely to be a chinese base for many reasons. I likely to be a chinese base for many reasons. — likely to be a chinese base for many reasons. I understand that the chinese _ many reasons. I understand that the chinese paid _ many reasons. I understand that the chinese paid for— many reasons. I understand that the chinese paid for the many reasons. I understand that the chinese paid for the base, i the chinese paid for the base, we have chinese workers on the base now, these two large chinese naval vessels are docked there, to all intensive purposes, it may not be controlled by china but it seems it can level of control control and indian investment. Yes, it's true, i think china's investments in the base is part of the strategy to extend its influence in south asia, i think traditionally, china has used the economy means to expand the influence but recently, we have noticed that chinese have increased defence diplomacy with the countries to military assistance or military exercises. I think the chinese objective is to replace us military influence in the region with its influence. So, let me explain to you a fair bit about chinese military aid to cambodia. I think first, there is a convergence between cambodia and china, cambodia is constant about the neighbour, it is to modernise its military for example, it's been less than $1 billion a year on a defence budget, thailand and vietnam spent an average of about five — 7 billion us dollars per year on defence, cambodia has that distributor with thailand with the gulf of thailand. It is a small navy, navy are operating — cannot even operate at night, so i think cambodians need to modernise these navies and i think that's where the chinese offered them assistance because cambodia is not able to receive any assistance from the americans. — any assistance from the americans. , americans. Interesting, w