:00:15. > :00:19.Hurricane Sandy hits Cuba, with winds of up to 183km/h. Two British
:00:20. > :00:24.service personnel are killed while on patrol in Afghanistan. Official
:00:24. > :00:30.figures show the UK economy has grown at its fastest pace in five
:00:30. > :00:35.years. Welcome to BBC World News. Also coming up - the winding road
:00:35. > :00:42.to Colombian treasured - hundreds head to the hills after workmen
:00:42. > :00:52.digging up a vein of shining emeralds. Could new lobster farm
:00:52. > :00:59.
:01:00. > :01:06.has made a fortune for fishermen? - Hurricane Sandy has passed through
:01:06. > :01:10.Cuba, with winds gusting up to 183km/h, and waves up to nine
:01:10. > :01:15.metres high. Forecasters have downgraded it slightly to category
:01:15. > :01:19.one, but they still expect it to cause significant problems when it
:01:19. > :01:24.tracks over the Bahamas later. Earlier, it swept over Jamaica,
:01:24. > :01:31.killing one person. Another person died in Haiti. Mike Wooldridge
:01:31. > :01:36.reports. Cuba, experiencing the first effects of the arrival of
:01:36. > :01:39.Hurricane Sandy. While residents of the capital sought cover, it was in
:01:39. > :01:47.the south-eastern part of the island that the storm had had its
:01:47. > :01:52.most effect. The maximum sustained winds were around 183km/h.
:01:52. > :01:55.TRANSLATION: The most dangerous phenomenon is not the wind, but the
:01:55. > :02:02.brain, because of the intensity. It will be crossing over mountainous
:02:02. > :02:05.territory. Cubans made hasty preparations in the hours preceding
:02:05. > :02:12.the arrival of the hurricane. Extensive flooding has already been
:02:12. > :02:18.reported. Before Hurricane Sandy hit Cuba, it had battered Jamaica,
:02:18. > :02:22.causing flash floods and deluges. Many were forced to take emergency
:02:22. > :02:30.shelter. An elderly man is reported to have been killed when a boulder
:02:30. > :02:38.crashed into his house. Yesterday, we went into full emergency mode.
:02:38. > :02:45.We got together and we had a plan of action, including Shelter
:02:45. > :02:51.management, curfews across the island. Yesterday, we deployed big
:02:51. > :02:59.emergency equipment. We still have some concerns lingering for persons
:02:59. > :03:05.who are trapped. These fishermen, who were told to evacuate before
:03:05. > :03:10.and refused to do so, are now trapped. They called for help, but
:03:10. > :03:14.by that time it was too late. Jamaica begins clearing up,
:03:14. > :03:21.Hurricane Sandy is forecast to pass over the Bahamas, and potentially
:03:21. > :03:26.bring tropical storm conditions to Florida. In Florida, the National
:03:26. > :03:32.Hurricane Center has been tracking the progress of the storm. I spoke
:03:32. > :03:37.to Dave Roberts. It took us all by surprise. It was harrowing for many
:03:37. > :03:41.Jamaicans, who live in low-lying areas, because this storm was
:03:41. > :03:45.almost stationary, it was moving very, very slowly. And there was a
:03:46. > :03:53.lot of rain on Jamaica. People do not think of rain as being damaging,
:03:53. > :03:58.but when you have it for hours on end, it causes flooding. They have
:03:58. > :04:04.said that people who live in low- lying areas are at risk. So, I
:04:04. > :04:12.think we have had one day, which happened about a mile from here,
:04:12. > :04:16.but there is going to be a lot of displaced people in Jamaica. Those
:04:16. > :04:20.low-lying areas which have been hit hardest - I suppose you will not
:04:20. > :04:23.know the fullest extent of how bad it is until the sun comes up, but
:04:23. > :04:28.what sort of things have been done for those people in the low-lying
:04:28. > :04:33.areas, those displaced people, that you talk about? Obviously, this
:04:33. > :04:38.storm was predicted pretty well in advance? Yes, it was predicted in
:04:38. > :04:43.advance, and so the government had prepared shelters. On Tuesday
:04:43. > :04:47.morning, children were let out of school early. A lot of business
:04:47. > :04:51.places let their employees go home early so that people could prepare.
:04:51. > :05:01.What picture do we have of the power cuts across the island? Have
:05:01. > :05:02.
:05:02. > :05:05.we got people still without power? Yes, we had a figure of 70% of
:05:05. > :05:11.people affected, that was the number when I went to bed last
:05:12. > :05:16.night. I still do not have power over here. In a few hours, when the
:05:16. > :05:20.charge runs out on the telephone, I will be out of communication. But
:05:21. > :05:26.part of that I think was a precautionary measure. The power
:05:26. > :05:33.company probably turned off electricity. But I think also,
:05:33. > :05:39.there have been a lot of trees and lines come down. Because even
:05:39. > :05:49.though this storm did not pack a lot of wind, as I said, it rained
:05:49. > :05:51.
:05:51. > :05:55.for hours on end. So, roots and so on have become loose, and a lot of
:05:55. > :05:58.trees have fallen. I think one of the major problems we are
:05:58. > :06:03.experiencing is blocked roads, and getting to people who need help
:06:03. > :06:09.will be a problem. That was a blogger from Kingston, Jamaica. I
:06:09. > :06:13.am joined in the studio by the BBC's weather presenter Sarah
:06:13. > :06:18.Keith-Lucas. Tell us about the storm. This storm passed across
:06:18. > :06:21.Jamaica yesterday, then it hit Cuba this morning. It did weaken a bit
:06:21. > :06:26.as it hit land, but it is now pushing in a northerly direction,
:06:26. > :06:31.heading up towards the Bahamas. This is the satellite image of the
:06:31. > :06:36.storm, the huge swirler of cloud. A lot of cloud also affecting parts
:06:36. > :06:42.of Haiti for instance as well. It is a very powerful, Category A two
:06:42. > :06:46.hurricane, currently. It will be weakening over the next couple of
:06:46. > :06:56.hours, but once it hits the warm waters of the Western Atlantic, it
:06:56. > :07:00.
:07:00. > :07:05.is going to strengthen once again. Seeing it on the graphics, you
:07:05. > :07:10.Seeing it on the graphics, you realise how huge this thing is. It
:07:10. > :07:15.is not just the winds and the rain, but also the storm surge, the huge
:07:15. > :07:19.waves... That's absolutely right. We have this huge area of low
:07:19. > :07:23.pressure, combined with high tides and strong winds, which combines to
:07:23. > :07:29.create a storm surge, as you say, which gives extensive coastal
:07:29. > :07:33.flooding. We are seeing the water about 8ft above where it should be
:07:33. > :07:38.for this time of the year. For people in low-lying areas, it is
:07:38. > :07:42.very, very serious indeed. Is part of the world is no stranger to
:07:42. > :07:47.hurricanes, but this is the end of the season - what sort of season
:07:47. > :07:54.has it been? This is the 18th Our main story - we have had this year.
:07:54. > :08:04.It is not too dissimilar to average. But the season continues right to
:08:04. > :08:09.the end of November. -- This is the 18th main storm we have had this
:08:09. > :08:17.year. The warm waters of the Caribbean are like a fuel for the
:08:18. > :08:23.storm. It reinvigorate the storm. When it gets over the warm waters,
:08:23. > :08:33.that is when we see an increase in that is when we see an increase in
:08:33. > :08:37.
:08:37. > :08:41.Two British service personnel have been killed while on patrol in
:08:41. > :08:45.Helmand province, in southern Afghanistan. One was a female medic,
:08:45. > :08:50.the other was a marine. Their families have been told. It is not
:08:51. > :08:55.yet known if the incident was an in cyber-attack. More details are
:08:55. > :08:59.expected from the Ministry of Defence later. Speaking from Kabul,
:08:59. > :09:06.Caroline Wyatt told me the inquiry is still going on, with several
:09:06. > :09:10.conflicting reports coming in. -- was an insider attack. We know from
:09:10. > :09:14.the Ministry of Defence in London that one of those killed was a
:09:14. > :09:17.Royal Marine from 40 Commando, the other was a medic from 3 Medical
:09:17. > :09:23.Regiment. We believe that she is a female soldier from Northern
:09:23. > :09:27.Ireland, which would make it the third British woman soldier to be
:09:27. > :09:33.killed in this conflict here in Afghanistan. The MoD statement is
:09:33. > :09:36.brief, saying they died of wounds sustained while on patrol in the
:09:36. > :09:39.Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province. This is a place where
:09:39. > :09:44.there have been quite a few British deaths over the past weeks and
:09:44. > :09:48.months, not least the insider attack in September, which killed
:09:48. > :09:52.two British soldiers, who died at the hands of a man dressed in
:09:52. > :09:56.Afghan police uniform. In this case, there are conflicting accounts of
:09:56. > :10:01.what happened within the firefight. One of the dead is an Afghan
:10:01. > :10:10.policeman, but it is not clear whether it could be a green on blow
:10:10. > :10:14.attack, although that is one of the lines of inquiry. -- green on blue.
:10:14. > :10:20.British detectives investigating sexual abuse claims relating to
:10:20. > :10:24.Jimmy Savile so the number of victims is almost 300. No arrests
:10:24. > :10:28.have been made so far, but police say they are investigating other
:10:28. > :10:33.figures of high standing. Demands are growing for a full, independent
:10:33. > :10:41.inquiry into how Mr Southwell was given easy access to his victims at
:10:41. > :10:47.children's homes, hospitals, as well as at the BBC. -- Mr Savile.
:10:47. > :10:49.The BBC has officially come out of recession. GDP was boosted by the
:10:49. > :10:52.Olympics and by a strong performance in the services
:10:52. > :10:54.industry. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has been
:10:54. > :11:00.talking about what the figures tell us about the underlying rate of
:11:00. > :11:05.growth. In Britain, we are dealing with some deep-seated problems, as
:11:05. > :11:08.I say. We are recovering from the banking crisis, we're dealing with
:11:09. > :11:12.very big debts built up in the good years, and we are also in a global
:11:12. > :11:15.race, facing enormous competition from around the world, which is an
:11:16. > :11:18.even bigger challenge for Britain, in some ways. I think the
:11:18. > :11:22.Government is addressing those things, dealing with the debts,
:11:22. > :11:28.creating jobs, making the economy more competitive. So, we're
:11:28. > :11:31.addressing those problems. And I think our public finance policy,
:11:31. > :11:37.dealing with the debts, enables the Bank of England to run a very loose
:11:37. > :11:44.monetary policy, enabling interest rates to stay very low, which is
:11:44. > :11:48.pretty important at a time like this. Ford is to close its Transit
:11:48. > :11:51.van factory in Southampton, as well as a plant in Essex, ending more
:11:51. > :11:58.than a century of vehicle production in Britain. It will lead
:11:58. > :12:05.to the loss of 1,500 jobs, and leave only engine production and
:12:05. > :12:11.production also other parts at its remaining plants in this country.
:12:11. > :12:17.We are joined now for the business news by Aaron. Everybody is waiting
:12:17. > :12:20.with bated breath for the big launch of Microsoft's Windows 8. It
:12:20. > :12:23.is a big turnaround for a company which has traditionally a software
:12:23. > :12:31.company, which is getting into the hardware, launching this tablet,
:12:31. > :12:34.and highlighting how big the tablet and smart phone market is. It is a
:12:34. > :12:38.new operating system which we will be sealed. We are talking about a
:12:38. > :12:42.company which was one of the most valuable technology companies in
:12:42. > :12:47.the world, although Apple is now worth more than twice as much as
:12:47. > :12:52.Microsoft, and Google is fast catching it up. But the one person
:12:52. > :12:55.that can explain this and talk about it is our very own Rory
:12:56. > :13:03.Cellan-Jones, who filed this report from Microsoft's headquarters in
:13:03. > :13:08.Seattle. Microsoft's founder, bill Gates, and his successor, joined
:13:08. > :13:15.staff to celebrate 30 years of charitable giving. But for the man
:13:15. > :13:19.who is currently in charge, the next few days are crucial. We have
:13:19. > :13:27.re-imagined Windows in Windows 8. The new system is supposed to take
:13:27. > :13:32.Microsoft, rather late, into the brave new world of touch-screen,
:13:32. > :13:37.mobile computing. They know what is at stake. It is really an epic
:13:37. > :13:43.thing for Microsoft. It is right up with the top two or three big
:13:43. > :13:47.moments, including Windows 95, and the launch of the IBM PC. It really
:13:47. > :13:51.starts us on this new era of computing. Microsoft remains a
:13:51. > :13:57.giant, employ more than 40,000 people in the Seattle area alone,
:13:57. > :14:00.and still generating big profits from Windows and Office. But what
:14:00. > :14:06.the clever people here have not done over the last 10 years is to
:14:06. > :14:10.produce anything which has changed the world. Unlike Apple, which this
:14:11. > :14:16.week launched another i-Pad, and has outpaced its old rival in
:14:16. > :14:20.delivering smart, new products. But Microsoft believes this new tablet
:14:20. > :14:24.computer, powered by Windows 8, will show that it can be even
:14:24. > :14:29.smarter. In a computer industry which is changing rapidly, this
:14:29. > :14:33.firm needs to move fast to stay in touch.
:14:33. > :14:39.You have already been talking about the good news, the UK, searching
:14:39. > :14:42.out of recession for the last three months, with growth of 1% in that
:14:42. > :14:47.third quarter. This was better than expected. We have heard from the
:14:47. > :14:50.politicians, who are obviously quite pleased about this. But one
:14:50. > :14:57.of the outstanding contributing factors to this growth has been the
:14:57. > :15:04.Olympic Games. We sat down with Hugh Pym, and I asked him to
:15:04. > :15:06.explain more about the Olympic effect. The only problem is, the
:15:07. > :15:10.official statisticians will not give us a precise estimate for what
:15:10. > :15:14.they think the Olympics contributed, but there are quite a few people
:15:14. > :15:23.who thought maybe 0.2% or 0.3% might have come from the Olympic
:15:23. > :15:28.effect. What the effect is is the cost of tickets, even though paid
:15:28. > :15:31.for them -- even the people pay for them last year, and there is also a
:15:31. > :15:34.boost to transport and hotels and so on, although online retailing
:15:34. > :15:38.did not do quite so well. But taking all of that out, you have
:15:38. > :15:43.still got growth. The second quarter look very negative, down
:15:43. > :15:46.0.7%, then it was revised up a bit, with problems concerning bank
:15:46. > :15:50.holidays and so on, and now we have got a figure which looks very
:15:50. > :16:00.positive. But over the two quarters, it looks like there was some growth,
:16:00. > :16:09.
:16:09. > :16:12.Credit Suisse says they have dropped nearly $200 million. It
:16:12. > :16:18.said the steep decline is down to an accounting charge on the bank's
:16:18. > :16:24.own debt and also intends to cut another $1 billion in costs in 2014
:16:25. > :16:32.and 2015. Staying with the banks, the Eurozone's biggest, Santander,
:16:32. > :16:39.says profits slumped by 866 % as it wrote off 5 billion euros in bad
:16:39. > :16:44.loans -- by 66%. But more encouraging figures from Unilever
:16:44. > :16:49.or which delivered better-than- expected sales despite the slowdown.
:16:49. > :16:53.Revenue grew by nearly 6%, driven by emerging markets and also demand
:16:53. > :16:58.for laundry and household cleaning products. We may be in recession,
:16:58. > :17:04.some of us, but we like to keep clean. Also some good news at last
:17:04. > :17:10.for the crisis hit airline in India, Kingfisher, as employees have
:17:10. > :17:14.agreed to return to work. They had not been paid for around seven
:17:14. > :17:17.months which prompted the three- week walkout. Kingfisher management
:17:17. > :17:23.have to persuade the aviation regulators that the airline's fit
:17:23. > :17:28.to fly again. Kingfisher has severe financial problems and a debt of
:17:28. > :17:35.around $1.5 billion. It has never made a product -- profit since it
:17:35. > :17:44.launched in 2005. Former Goldman Sachs director has been sent to two
:17:44. > :17:51.years in prison and a 5 million dollar fine. Mr Dr was a former for
:17:51. > :17:55.Matt -- a four-month board member of Proctor and Gamble. He was
:17:55. > :17:59.accused of passing secrets to a hedge fund member, who was
:18:00. > :18:04.currently serving 11 years in prison for his position at the
:18:04. > :18:09.centre of the insider trading ring. A warning that the world's biggest
:18:09. > :18:14.advertising group WPP, seen as eight economic global barometer,
:18:14. > :18:18.has cut its sales forecasts for the second time this year. The company
:18:18. > :18:24.expects sales growth of around 3%. The chief executive said his
:18:24. > :18:30.company had seen a sharp slowdown in September. That sick with the
:18:30. > :18:37.business news. -- that's it. You're watching BBC World News. Still to
:18:37. > :18:47.Back to Africa as an entire family of gorillas is leaving the English
:18:47. > :18:50.An unofficial ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas appears to
:18:50. > :18:53.be holding after it came into effect at midnight local time. The
:18:53. > :18:57.truce was negotiated with the help of Egypt and comes after a flare up
:18:57. > :19:03.in violence on both sides. Jon Donnison, who is in Gaza City, told
:19:03. > :19:07.me just how serious the escalation in tensions had been. Two or three
:19:07. > :19:12.days of violence, least six militants killed by Israeli air
:19:12. > :19:16.strikes and 70 rockets fired into Israel. There will be damage to
:19:16. > :19:19.homes on the Israeli side. I have spoken to an Israeli military
:19:19. > :19:22.spokesperson and they say it remains quiet and nothing has been
:19:22. > :19:30.fired in either direction since midnight local time, and I think
:19:30. > :19:34.that will be considerable relief on both sides. Schools in Israel go
:19:34. > :19:39.back today, and people are holiday as they are preparing for the
:19:39. > :19:48.Muslim festival of eat, so relief on both sides. What was the role of
:19:48. > :19:53.the Egyptians in this? In the past, and on this occasion, Egypt has
:19:53. > :19:58.helped negotiate this deal. Israel and Hamas both say they will not
:19:58. > :20:01.talk directly to each other. Messages are relayed through
:20:01. > :20:05.Egyptian intelligence officers. That has happened in the past and
:20:05. > :20:10.happen on this occasion. I should say that these escalations happen
:20:10. > :20:16.every few months and they have a depressingly predictable and to
:20:16. > :20:21.some extent choreograph feel to them. Both sides would say that the
:20:21. > :20:26.other has reasons for a limited escalation. I think in Gaza, Hamas
:20:26. > :20:30.needs to be seen to be asserting its Resistance credentials and in
:20:30. > :20:35.Israel they need to be seen to tackling militants in Gaza with
:20:35. > :20:42.elections coming up in January. The underlying fact is that I don't
:20:42. > :20:46.think either side wants another war in Gaza or an escalation. There is
:20:46. > :20:49.more concerned at consolidating power and looking after the economy
:20:49. > :20:59.and getting that to improve. In Israel they have bigger concerns,
:20:59. > :21:01.
:21:01. > :21:11.notably Iran. You can always get in touch with us by Twitter. And
:21:11. > :21:24.
:21:24. > :21:32.plenty that we are working on on This is BBC World News. The
:21:32. > :21:36.headlines: Hurricane Sandy slammed into south-east Cuba with winds of
:21:36. > :21:42.up to 180 kilometres per hour. Two British service personnel, one male
:21:42. > :21:45.and one female, have been killed on patrol in southern Afghanistan. The
:21:45. > :21:51.Syrian government is expected to announce if it will accept a
:21:51. > :21:54.proposed four day ceasefire. The UN's special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi
:21:54. > :21:57.has already said that both the government and most rebel groups
:21:57. > :22:00.had agreed to the brief truce from Friday, during the Eid festival.
:22:00. > :22:06.Our correspondent James Reynolds is on the Turkey-Syria border. I asked
:22:06. > :22:10.him whether he thinks the ceasefire will be observed. It seems pretty
:22:10. > :22:15.difficult to imagine that all the fighting will stop at midnight. I
:22:15. > :22:19.have been reading reports from one journalist in Aleppo and he says
:22:19. > :22:22.Artillery continues, and it's difficult for the Syrian war planes
:22:22. > :22:26.to fly at the moment because of the rainy see behind me. He says it
:22:26. > :22:31.would be a miracle that there has to be a ceasefire and to imagine
:22:31. > :22:35.that opinion will be shared by many in the country. I suppose one party
:22:35. > :22:39.will say they will stop only if the other does. That could be a
:22:39. > :22:43.difficult thing to bring in in the first place. That is exactly why
:22:43. > :22:50.previous attempts at ceasefires have fallen. Previous ceasefires
:22:50. > :22:54.have had so many conditions attached, meaning effectively that
:22:54. > :22:57.even if there is an agreement it may break down within a few hours.
:22:57. > :23:02.No one is really expecting an end to the violence, and even if there
:23:02. > :23:08.were a ceasefire or a truce for four days, it is not tied to a
:23:08. > :23:14.peace process and it is not monitored. There is no particular
:23:14. > :23:18.piece plant either. So at most the people of Syria may expect a slight
:23:18. > :23:24.decrease in violence but not a formal ceasefire or a formal peace
:23:24. > :23:29.process. He is it possible to give an overview of where the fighting
:23:29. > :23:33.is worst in Syria at the moment? are getting reports from different
:23:33. > :23:37.places. Earlier today there were reports of a Syrian armed forces
:23:37. > :23:42.attack in a suburb north-east of Damascus. That was reported by
:23:42. > :23:46.opposition activists. They suggested five people were killed
:23:46. > :23:55.in shelling and we have been following reports of continuous
:23:55. > :23:59.shelling in Aleppo itself, which is in northern Syria. 11 gorillas - at
:23:59. > :24:02.a wild animal park here in the UK - are to be the first captive family
:24:02. > :24:05.group released into the wild. A conservation charity will release
:24:05. > :24:08.the Western Lowland gorillas in Africa early next year. They'll be
:24:08. > :24:15.moved into areas where gorillas have in the past been hunted almost
:24:15. > :24:19.This is a wild boar and western lowland gorilla. He was found tied
:24:19. > :24:26.to a post in an African village 20 years ago. Now he will leave his
:24:26. > :24:30.family back home to the gap on. This is not new to us. But this
:24:30. > :24:34.element is because of the size of the family group, this applies of
:24:34. > :24:39.medication, and we will be helping settle them in -- this applies of
:24:39. > :24:43.modification -- medication. We will take care of them, not desert them.
:24:43. > :24:47.More than 50 animals have been released by the Aspen or foundation,
:24:47. > :24:51.mostly young ones who are walked back into the bush. But this is
:24:51. > :24:54.different, and established, cohesive group. The foundation
:24:54. > :24:59.believes that conservation must be fundamental to the existence of any
:24:59. > :25:03.collection of captive animals in the 20th century -- 21st century.
:25:03. > :25:06.Damian Aspinall forged such a strong bond with the guerrillas
:25:06. > :25:10.that he allowed his daughter to play with them. Back in June,
:25:10. > :25:16.Prince William led his support to the foundation with the release of
:25:16. > :25:20.three black rhinos to the wild in Tanzania. The foundation is also
:25:20. > :25:27.trying to breed endangered species like Madagascar and the leaner and
:25:27. > :25:32.Barbary lions. Working in conjunction with the Congolese and
:25:32. > :25:35.Gabonese government they will go back to the protected areas. The
:25:35. > :25:44.eight-month-old will be the young distally. It is hoped the whole
:25:44. > :25:47.family will move in January. -- youngest to leave. An emerald-rush
:25:47. > :25:56.is under way in Colombia after a gang of workers stumbled across a
:25:56. > :25:59.hidden seam of the precious stones while repairing a carriageway. This
:25:59. > :26:02.is the road they were working on, in a remote area, known as the
:26:02. > :26:05.Devil's Nose, with a 500-metre sheer drop to the side. The team
:26:05. > :26:11.found a rich vein of emeralds while digging with pneumatic drills. They
:26:12. > :26:14.say they recognised the precious stones right away. News of the
:26:14. > :26:17.discovery spread quickly, and police have now cordoned off the
:26:17. > :26:23.area - but not before dozens of the gems, worth thousands of dollars,
:26:23. > :26:26.were scooped up by local people. An entirely new work by Beethoven is
:26:26. > :26:34.being premiered today, almost two hundred years after it was written.
:26:34. > :26:36.The music has been pieced together from a series of basic chords.
:26:36. > :26:39.Professor Barry Cooper discovered the chords when he was looking
:26:39. > :26:42.through one of the composer's old notebooks. He's completed the piece
:26:42. > :26:45.by adding words and setting it to organ. The whole thing will be