Plus: US government considers breaking up Google, and could Lebanese people really rise up against Hezbollah? ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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| Hello. Millions of people in Florida have been told to evacuate their homes, as Hurricane Milton closes in on the US state ahead of an expected landfall Wednesday night. And in Beirut, Carine Torbey tells us how Lebanese people received Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's warning to get rid of Hezbollah or face war. Also in your newsletter: impeachment in Kenya, posthumous reproduction in India and solar flares from space.
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TOP OF THE AGENDA | Millions told to flee Milton landfall | | Milton comes less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene hit the Gulf Coast. Credit: Reuters | Millions of people in Florida have been urged to leave their homes as the Sunshine State braces for arrival of Hurricane Milton, a category five storm expected to make landfall on Wednesday night. The streets of Tampa, in the expected path of the storm, are eerily quiet. The only people still there on Tuesday were residents boarding up their homes and businesses, hoping to protect them from winds of up to 165mph (270km/h), and water raising up to the height of two to three people. "Everyone’s gone. I’ve never seen it so quiet," Steve Crist, a 73-year-old dentist, told Gordon Corera in Tampa. Outside on the street stood a pile of wreckage from Hurricane Helene, which hit two weeks ago. Some residents have decided to stay, arguing it is safer for them to stay in newer construction home than to flee by car amid gas shortages and traffic. Evacuation is a matter "of life or death", US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday.
The latest: Meteorologists are warning Hurricane Milton could cause "several tornadoes" in Florida before its landfall on Wednesday night. All the updates are on our live page.
Watch: Hurricane hunters from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) experienced extreme turbulence as they flew through Milton to collect data on the storm. Take a look.
The context: How is climate change affecting hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones? And what are they exactly? Mark Poynting takes us through the science behind extreme storms. | |
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| Could Lebanese people really rise up against Hezbollah? | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Lebanese people on Tuesday night to rise up against Hezbollah and "save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza". Many people in the country see it as a clear threat. |
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| | Carine Torbey, BBC Arabic correspondent |
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| | For many Lebanese people listening to Netanyahu's speech, the options are both extremely grim: Either face the fate of Gaza; or be drawn into civil war. The idea of the Lebanese rising up against Hezbollah is recurrent in speeches from Israel. It plays on the deep divisions in the country between pro and anti-Hezbollah groups. But even for the harshest opponents of Hezbollah internally, such calls seem ominous. To take any action against the group can only mean bloody confrontations between the people of the same country. |
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| | | The latest: One quarter of Lebanese territory now under Israeli military "displacement" orders, according to the UN. More on our live page. |
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BEYOND THE HEADLINES | A grandchild from dead son's semen |
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| | | There is no international consensus on the issue of posthumous reproduction. Credit: Getty Images | After a four-year court battle, a judge in Delhi has allowed a couple in India to access the frozen semen sample of their dead son so they can have a grandchild through surrogacy. One of their daughters agreed to be the surrogate, they said. Precedents for posthumous reproduction exist in India and internationally, but the practice is prohibited in many other countries. |
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SOMETHING DIFFERENT | Good cells with a bad side | Microglia are the brain's immune cells - but what happens when they go rogue? | |
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And finally... | The sun has been quite busy lately, and recent solar flares have brought splendid auroras to our night sky. Astronaut Matthew Dominick filmed the phenomenon from the Dragon Endeavour spacecraft. Take a look. | |
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World of Business | Gain the leading edge with global insights for the boardroom and beyond, every Wednesday from New York. | |
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MORE BBC NEWSLETTERS | | Football Extra: Get all the latest news, insights and gossip from the Premier League, weekdays to your inbox. Subscribe. | | The Essential List: The best of the BBC, handpicked by our editors, in your inbox every Tuesday and Friday. Subscribe. | | In History: The past comes to life through the BBC's unique audio, video and written archive, each Thursday. Subscribe. | |
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