Florida braces for direct hit from Hurricane Matthew More than 2 million advised to flee; NSA contractor charged with theft of computer 'source code'; creepy origins of the clown-sighting phenomenon Evacuations are under way this morning along Florida's coastal communities as Hurricane Matthew approaches. Photograph: ddp USA/Rex/Shutterstock Edward Helmore in New York Floridians prepare for Hurricane Matthew Hurricane Matthew was pounding portions of the Bahamas early this morning and is expected to intensify as it approaches Florida, potentially glancing the coastline at Cape Canaveral. More than 2 million people along the coastline as far north as Georgia have been advised to flee. The hurricane had strengthened to Category 4 by 6am. It will either hit Florida later today, pass alongside the coast, or move out to sea. At least 16 deaths have been blamed on the hurricane during its week-long march across the Caribbean. Hurricane Matthew hits Bahamas as Florida braces for arrival of storm NSA contractor charged with theft of computer 'source code' A National Security Agency contractor has been arrested and charged with the theft of government property and unauthorized removal and retention of classified materials. Harold "Hal" Martin, 51, of Glen Burnie, was detained last month over stolen documents that if disclosed "could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security of the US", the Justice Department claimed. According to the New York Times, Martin is suspected of taking the "source code" developed by the agency to break into computer systems of adversaries like Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Martin's lawyers said "there is no evidence that Hal Martin intended to betray his country." NSA contractor arrested for alleged theft of top secret classified information Clinton and Trump get back to sparring Tuesday's televised vice-presidential debate between Tim Kaine and Mike Pence was quickly forgotten on Wednesday as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton got back to the business of criticizing each other. In Nevada, Trump claimed Mike Pence's success proved he has good taste in people. "I'm getting a lot of credit, because that's really my first so-called choice, that's really my first hire, and I tell you, he's a good one," said Trump. Clinton, meanwhile, said: "Pence just bobbed and weaved and tried to get out of the way because after all, trying to defend Donald Trump is an impossible task." The presidential hopefuls will meet in their second debate on Sunday. Meanwhile two prominent Fox News hosts, Megyn Kelly and Sean Hannity, have locked horns over Donald Trump. Trump and Clinton return to center stage after lackluster VP debate Atlantic City may be forced into state takeover of water Atlantic City may be forced by New Jersey into an unprecedented state takeover of its water as the result of a bailout, something experts have warned has worrying echoes of the ongoing water crisis in Flint, Michigan, and could result in price hikes. The near-bankruptcy of the financially ailing resort town was caused in part by the failures of casinos such as those previously owned by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Two casinos under Trump's control stand accused of being more than $146,000 behind on their water bills. Flint warnings as Atlantic City may be forced into state takeover of water The leaning tower of San Francisco San Francisco's Millennium Tower, the tallest reinforced concrete structure in the western US, has sunk 16 inches since its completion in 2008, and has tilted at least two inches toward the northwest. The severity of the decline has set off a round of lawsuits, government inquiries, and recriminations that could last for years. "The only thing that comes close is the Leaning Tower of Pisa," says Steven Blum, one of the attorneys representing Millennium residents in a class action lawsuit. "But that's a joke. There is nothing like this." The curious case of San Francisco's leaning tower: 'There is nothing like this' NRA faces defeat in Maine background check referendum As Hillary Clinton makes history while openly campaigning for gun law reform, the NRA faces possible defeat in a Maine referendum. In the latest installment of our Anywhere but Washington series, Paul Lewis and Tom Silverstone travel to Maine, where a push for universal background checks is being bankrolled by former New York mayor and anti-gun advocate Michael Bloomberg. The creepy origins of the clown-sighting phenomenon The first person to spot a clown, the patient zero in the current epidemic of threatening clowns sightings spreading across the US, was a little boy at a low-income apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina. His mother, Donna Arnold, showed the Guardian's Matthew Teague the overgrown woods where the clowns first appeared. "I saw them," she says. "They're trying to scare us." From this patch of woods, the word of prowling clowns began to spread. On the other side of Greenville, first. Then down in South Carolina's low country. Then North Carolina. Florida. Kentucky. Beyond the south to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New York ... Clown sightings: the day it all began NBA star Derrick Rose due in court on rape charges The 28-year-old New York Knicks point guard and two friends, Randall Hampton and Ryan Allen, are due to appear in US district court in downtown Los Angeles today to face civil rape charges. The men are accused of raping a 30-year-old woman while she was intoxicated in her LA apartment in the early hours of 27 August 2013. They admit taking turns having sex with her but say it was consensual. In a highly controversial order, presiding judge Michel Fitzgerald ruled the identity of the victim should be revealed once the trial began. NBA star Derrick Rose expected for rape trial as his accuser loses anonymity In case you missed it … Artemisia Gentileschi turned the horrors of her own life – repression, injustice, rape – into brutal biblical paintings that were also a war cry for oppressed women. Jonathan Jones celebrates the extraordinary story and genius of 16th century painter whose depictions were bloodier even than Caravaggio, who described her wedding ring as a thumb screw, and fought back against the male violence that dominated her world. More savage than Caravaggio: the woman who took revenge in oil Manage your emails | Unsubscribe | Trouble viewing? 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