this is bbc news. our top stories: flooding across south asia has affected more than 45 million people and left 1,400 dead. our correspondent has been to bihar, one of the worst—hit provinces of india. water was above his head, and came washing through. and you can see that it has just left absolutely terrible mud behind. president trump flies in for another visit to flood—hit texas, this time calling for nearly $8 billion in federal aid. the un says nearly 60,000 rohingya muslims have fled into bangladesh from myanmar in the past week, bringing with them stories of atrocities. so many people were killed. they just set fire to everything. i just ran. they were shooting at us, and i got hit. there were people whose

throats were slashed with knives. and also ahead: it's a girl. the tennis world congratulates serena williams, as she gives birth to her first daughter. baby girl? well, i hope she doesn't play tennis! hello and welcome to the programme. aid agencies say around 45 million people across south asia are now affected by catastrophic flooding. more than 1,400 people are known to have died following torrential monsoon rains. the international red cross is warning that the floodwaters are becoming a breeding ground for deadly diseases, including malaria. the aid agency says many remote communities are completely cut off, and are running out of food. many of those left homeless are now sleeping on roadsides and in makeshift shelters in india, bangladesh and nepal. the bbc‘s justin rowlatt sent this report from bihar state, in eastern india, where more than 500 people have lost their lives. where we are going can

only be reached by boat. the only dry place for miles around is on top of this great embankment. but the embankment that now protects the villagers is the reason the floods had such a catastrophic impact. the torrential rains transformed the normally placid river. the pressure grew and grew. so what happened is that embankment holding back the river breached, and the waterjust came crashing in here, sweeping away half the village, devastating their homes, devastating their lives. translation: it felt like we were hit by an ocean of water. ijust ran for my life, taking my children with me.

i didn't have time to save anything. everything i own has gone. this man showed me what the floods had done to his home. oh, look at this. so he said the whole place was flooded with water. water was above his head, and came rushing through here. and you can see, i mean, it has just left absolutely terrible mud behind. so he says for three days they had no food at all, and then helicopters came in, bringing food, bringing some relief for them. and he said there wasn't enough room to stay out on the embankment, so he has had to bring his family down here, including his three—year—old child, to live amongst this filth. it is eid today, one of the great festivals of islam. like most of the village,

this family is muslim. for the first time since the catastrophe, they are having meat, but there is little appetite for celebration. tens of thousands of communities across south asia have similar stories of horror and destruction to tell. the only good news here is that everyone in this village survived. justin rowlatt, bbc news, bihar. well, justin forsyth is from unicef. he outlined the challenges facing aid agencies. well, we have over 45 million people affected by these floods, and 60 million children in dire need of humanitarian aid. and the biggest need is to make sure that the waterborne diseases don't take hold, and that means clean water, sanitation. but we also need to be aware that many of the people in these areas, in remote areas of

india, nepal and bangladesh these areas, in remote areas of india, nepaland bangladesh are farmers, and they have lost all their livelihoods, their crops, also their livelihoods, their crops, also their cattle. and so we have to look at nutritional needs, as well, particularly for very vulnerable children. i mean, this part of the world has monsoons every year, but these monsoons are the worst ones that we have seen for decades. and we are only in the middle of them. it is going to get worse before it it gets better, by the end of 0ctober. already 45 million people are affected. and the infrastructure is weak. in india, we know the indian military has a strong humanitarian capability. but nepal, for example, is still recovering after the earthquake. in bangladesh, after the earthquake. in bangladesh, a third of the country is underwater. i have been out in some of these remote areas in bihar, and in india, and communities are resilient, but they have been knocked sideways by the scale of these floods. i mean, this is about eight times the scale of harvey in america. and we have seen the

terrible shots and pictures from america. i live here in the us, and it has really moved all of us, the scale of that. but this is much larger, with weaker capability. so we need to make a big effort to make sure we met basic needs of millions of children and their families. i want to bring you some breaking news. in the past half—hour, more claims from north korea about its weapons programme. its official news agency now says the country has developed a more advanced nuclear weapon. it says kimjong—un has inspected a hydrogen bomb that is more powerful and can be loaded on an intercontinental ballistic missile. but there has been no reaction so far to the claims from other countries or their military experts. donald trump has praised the recovery effort in texas during a visit to houston, where he has been meeting people

who have been affected by storm system harvey. the president and the first lady have now travelled to neighbouring louisiana, which was also badly hit by the storm. james cook has this report from houston. americans look to their president. he is expected, required, to show empathy, leadership and unity. today, donald trump did deliver hugs and handshakes, and over the past week, the commander—in—chief‘s response to this hurricane has been praised as rapid and effective. nice to see you. go ahead, take a picture. it's been really nice, it's been a wonderful thing. as tough as this was, it's been a wonderful thing, i think, even for the country to watch, and for the world to watch. it's been beautiful. so far, the storm has claimed more than 45 lives. it has damaged or destroyed 100,000

homes, and left more than a million people displaced. and yet president trump spent the eve of this visit talking about scrapping a policy that protects young, undocumented immigrants. the devastation wreaked by hurricane harvey is plain to see here. texas is barely beginning to count the cost, and many people here are astonished that the president would choose this moment even to mention immigration. and we have a lot of distilled waterfor the babies... jessica's home was flooded, and now she is helping others. brought here illegally at the age of four, she is among 200,000 texans who face being fired and deported if president trump keeps his promise. it's a complete slap in the face. i mean, you see people who are struggling, your initial reaction is to help them, and his is the complete opposite. he knows what he's doing. he knows what the effects of this would be in the community. the white house says the president will announce his

decision on tuesday. even as he lends a helping hand, unity may be out of reach. but, amid the suffering here, there is beauty. this video has inspired millions. for the victims and the survivors of hurricane harvey, it is both lament and anthem. in the us, the national flood insurance programme is already billions in debt. most homeowners rely on it, because there is not much private flood insurance. since 2005, it has lacked the resources to pay for record claims of hurricane katrina, and has borrowed billions from the us treasury. peter dailey is a flood risk expert. i spoke to him earlier about the impact of tropical storm harvey. most people in the us purchased their flood insurance from the national flood their flood insurance from the nationalflood insurance their flood insurance from the

national flood insurance programme, dnf ap, which is offered by the government. part of the reason for the low watt recall take up rate, which is the amount of insurance actually purchased by homeowners and business owners, would be as a result of lack of recognition of the risks. unless you live in a very high—risk zone, and in some cases you are required by the bank to purchase flood insurance for your mortgage, a lot of people don't recognise the amount of flood risk that they have. they are not living right along the coastline or right near a river. they don't recognise that a storm like harvey can cause a bigger damage from flood. 50 that a storm like harvey can cause a bigger damage from flood. so what will happen to the people, in this scenario, who do not have insurance? yes, so, you know, of course that is a concern. as was mentioned by your earlier interview, that the nfip programme is up for re— authorisation at the end of this month. so the people that don't have flood insurance, they will have other areas they can resort to, for

example a small business that is not covered by flood insurance may have the ability, for example, to take out a low interest loan with the small business administration. so there will be other forms of help. but the fact that the flood insurance take up his relatively low for floods means that the recovery rate could be slowed, given the fact that there won't be that —— they won't be that ready to make the repairs, straight from the proceeds of flood insurance. peter, experts are saying that we are likely to see more and more of these intense storms hitting parts of the united states. even what you are saying, do you think that people should be made to have insurance, flood insurance? well, you know, this will be a debate that will be in congress this month, as they re—evaluate the programme. from a scientific point of view, what we are really

interested in is understanding and getting the word out to insurance companies of what that risk is. —— understanding the risk and getting the word out. so what you're going to be seen as more private insurance offered in dates like texas, florida, where flood risk is higher. and along those lines of things that consume owners, homeowners, will have the ability to purchase flood insurance more readily from the open market. they will have more options in terms of insurance products, and so, you know, with a storm like harvey, it brings to the forefront the real issue of flood risk. and so what we expect is the take—up rates to increase. and so hopefully for the next major flood that occurs there will be more direct transfer of risk to the insurance market, and more of our return on to the insured, so that will allow the recovery to m ove insured, so that will allow the recovery to move a little bit more quickly. thousands of members of myanmar‘s rohingya muslim minority are continuing to flee across the border into neighbouring bangladesh.

they are escaping a military crackdown after rohinga militants attacked police positions a week ago. it is now thought nearly 60,000 have fled, and human rights groups are accusing the army of atrocities. they claim satellite imagery shows hundreds of fires in rohingya villages in rakhine state, in the west of the country. human rights watch say this satellite image shows that 700 homes have been torched in august alone, shown by the red areas. myanmar is a mainly buddhist country, and the muslim rohingyas, according to the un, are a persecuted minority. sanjoy majumder has been to a refugee camp on the bangladesh—myanmar border, and sent us this report. exhausted and traumatised after escaping death, many of these rohingyas have walked for hours, across hills and through paddy

fields, to avoid being shot before making it here. these are fresh arrivals, rohingyas who have just arrived after crossing the border. and, with every passing hour, there are more and more of them coming. there is absolutely no space left anymore, so they are just living on any piece of open ground that they can find, and many of them have the most disturbing testimony to share. i meet a man who is nursing a bullet wound in his foot. he tells me that his village, just across the border, was allegedly attacked by the myanmar military and armed civilian mobs. translation: so many people were killed. they just set fire to everything. ijust ran. there were people whose throats were slashed with knives. they were shooting at us, and i got hit. and, from inside myanmar‘s rakhine state, the scars of violence, entire villages burned down.

there is not a house left standing. this is where the myanmar military have been carrying out a massive crackdown, following an attack last week by a rohingya militant group on dozens of police posts. rights campaigners say the use of force has been massive and indiscriminate. the situation seems to be one where it is rapidly sliding toward the precipice. you have a situation where many people are on the move. significant areas of rakhine state are on fire. as for those who have managed to flee the fighting, they are building temporary shelters, and trying to make a home for themselves. bangladesh, after initially trying to stop them coming, is now letting them in. for the survivors, this represents freedom. it has come at a cost, and they are still uncertain about what lies ahead.

sanjoy majumder, bbc news, at the bangladesh—myanmar border. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. 1a people, 12 of them british, have been arrested by spanish police over an alleged drug—dealing ring targeting the holiday resort of magaluf. the suspects were detained in a series of raids by heavily—armed officers in barcelona and on the spanish island of majorca. three kilos of cocaine were seized as well as ecstasy and cannabis. seven militants have died in an attack on a power station near the iraqi city of samarra. the assault began in the early hours when armed men wearing explosives entered the plant and took workers captive. several civilians also died. the group which calls itself islamic state is believed to have been behind the attack. the authorities in the german city of frankfurt have been evacuating patients from two hospitals ahead of the planned disposal of a huge second world

war bomb on sunday. some 60,000 people will have to leave their homes, while the 1.4 ton device is defused after being discovered on a building site. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: paying with a smile. trials are under way in china of a facial recognition payment. she received the nobel peace prize for her work with the poor and dying in india's slums. the head of the catholic church said mother teresa was a wonderful example of how to help people in need. we have to identify the bodies, then arrange the coffins and take them back home. parents are waiting and wives are waiting. hostages appeared, some carried, some running, trying to escape the nightmare behind them.

britain lost a princess today, described by all to whom she reached out as irreplaceable. an early—morning car crash in a paris underpass ended a life with more than its share of pain and courage, warmth and compassion. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: flooding in south asia has left 1,400 people dead and 45 million displaced or homeless. president trump pays another visit to texas, this time calling on congress to approve nearly $8 billion in aid

for victims of storm system harvey. and the usjustice department has officially told a court that it has no evidence to support an allegation by president trump that his predecessor, barack 0bama, ordered a wiretap of trump tower. in march, mr trump tweeted that mr 0bama had instructed that trump tower in new york be placed under surveillance during last year's presidential election campaign. mr 0bama denied the accusation. president trump made the assertion as pressure on him intensified over allegations of links between members of his campaign team and russia. the mexican president, enrique pena nieto, says he wants to continue talks with the united states to agree a border policy but will not accept any proposal that goes against mexico's dignity as a nation. it was his first state of the union address since president trump came to power with promises of building a wall along the border and making mexico pay for it.

translation: the relationship with the new government of the united states, as with any other nation, must be based on inalienable principles, sovereignty, defence of national interest and the protection of our co— nationals. i have said, and diarrhoea to rate, we will not accept anything that goes against our dignity as accept anything that goes against ourdignity asa accept anything that goes against our dignity as a nation. 50,000 people have taken up what's being described as a once—in—a—lifetime opportunity. sounds exciting, doesn't it? but it simply involves walking across a bridge in scotland. the interesting thing is that they are the only people who will ever get the chance to use the new queensferry crossing on foot because it will now be reserved for cars. catriona renton spent the day on the bridge for us.

applause this is something we won't see again. for two days only, 50,000 people are getting the chance to walk over the new queensferry crossing, chosen in a ballot from almost a quarter of a million people who put their names forward for this moment in history. this bridge could be operational for 120 years. this is something isaac can tell all his family about. i know, we've taken lots of photos, so he'll have the memories in the photos if he doesn't remember it himself. it sits alongside the forth bridge, the railway crossing, built in the 19th century. and the forth road bridge, opened in 1964. a new crossing for the 21st—century. it's a chance to sample this feat of engineering, 1.7 miles long and the tallest in the uk. you can see the people who have been lucky enough to be chosen to walk over the bridge have taken every opportunity to relish this. this road will soon become a motorway so this is a once—in—a—lifetime opportunity

for these people to experience the bridge up close and personal. 9—year—old woody's family watched the bridge being built as they drove over the old one. asia business report but with a massive gap in the middle. ash a bridge but. —— a bridge but. so many planes and cars over it and i thought, it's done. i was so excited, my heart was pounding. the first ministerjoined walkers, taking pictures and soaking up the atmosphere. there's such a feeling of pride on the part of everyone i have spoken to, a real sense this is a scottish icon and it will become one of the most recognisable bridges anywhere in the world. today's memories will be passed down the generations. catriona renton, bbc news, on the queensferry crossing. celebrities and sports stars have been sending their messages of congrats to serena williams who has given birth of her daughter. the baby girl, whose name hasn't yet been made public, was born at a clinic in florida. one british bookmaker is already offering odds of 100/1

that the child will grow up and win a singles grand slam title, just like her mother. wellm the mood among serena's fellow players was perhaps best summed up by the reigning wimbledon champion garbine muguruza baby girl. i hope she doesn't play tennis! let's go to china, where facial recognition is being used at a fast food restaurant by the technology and retail company alibaba. once your face has been scanned, your account is debited, but there are concerns about how the data will be used, as robin brant reports from hang—joe in eastern china. you don't need cash, no pin. you don't need to cite anything —— sign anything. you just need your face. they say it's a world first, chinese retail and tech giant alibaba has

been fine—tuning this for four yea rs. been fine—tuning this for four years. now it's available at this high end fast food restaurant. you choose what you want. it scans your face. it crosschecks with your mobile number and the chinese government's vast id card database and off you go. do you like this? yes, i like it. they say it can't be fooled by photographs or video and it works evenif photographs or video and it works even if you pile on the make up all the pounds. but what about your privacy? i don't worry about... alibaba insist that all the data it

gathers here is encrypted and it says it doesn't retain any of it anyway, neither does the company behind the restaurant, but that does admit if the government changed the law and forced it to do so then it would have to incorporate. the chinese authorities are using facial recognition as part of a major security clampdown in the west of the country where they claim there isa the country where they claim there is a terrorism threat. that's not unique. the police in the uk have usedit unique. the police in the uk have used it at football games and carnivores but the big concern here is that the government may one day come calling and try to use this data to target those it often wants to silence, like human rights workers or campaigners. all that in the name of changing the face of the world's number two economy. robin brant, bbc news, guangzhou in

eastern china. most of us enjoyed some picture perfect weather to start the weekend on saturday. these are the pictures to prove it. broken cloud, lot of sunshine, pleasantly warm in the sunshine. there were just one or two sharp showers in parts of east anglia, the bus majority were dry but if this was saturday's weather, this is sunday's weather, quite a change. cloudierfor this is sunday's weather, quite a change. cloudier for many, this is sunday's weather, quite a change. cloudierfor many, wetter for some and as we go on through the first part of sunday you can see where the rain has arrived. across northern ireland into western scotland, wales and much of south—west england and it's notjust wet, it is windy too with some gales through the irish sea. some of the rain through the first part of the day will be on the heavy side as well so really will be a great and wet start to the day, whereas further east in complete contrast there will be some sunny spells around although turning increasingly

hazy quite quickly as we go through the morning and the breeze will start to pick up as well. an east—west split to begin the day. some of the heaviest rain will have moved through northern ireland at this stage although still in eastern leave is, a bit more patchy in the west, and that rain edging into south—west scotland where it will be dry with early sunshine in the east. this will try to move east of through the day, but a very slow process , through the day, but a very slow process, eventually it will encroach more to north—west england, the midlands and south—west england during the afternoon but the further east you are, although the cloud increases, the breeze picks up, you could well stay dry into the evening and maybe a few hours beyond. could see 12 celsius, quite cool with the cloud and rain, only around 15 in places. could be worse. could be better but could be worse for the first stage of the tour of britain in edinburgh as that gets under way. looking at things on sunday evening, again some of the increasingly light and patchy rain feeds further east,

some spots will stay dry during the day with a lot of low cloud, coastal and hill fog down to the south and west of the uk. the weather system for monday has ground. it has left a lot of cloud across us on monday, really misty and murky to begin with with extensive coastal and hill fog, damp and drizzly in places and another weather system bringing more rain to parts of scotland and northern ireland during the day but brightening up in england and wales, quite muggy and given any sunny spells it will feel quite warm. 0nce we cleared the rain away south—eastwards on tuesday, on tuesday and wednesday a brighter, showery weather picture where it's quite wet and windy for the end of the week. this is bbc news. the headlines: flooding in south asia has left more than 45 million displaced or homeless. more than 1,400 people have died across india, bangladesh and nepal, after torrential monsoon rains. donald trump is visiting the areas hit by storm system harvey. he has promised to seek nearly $8 billion in federal aid to help flood victims.

the un says nearly 60,000 people from myanmar‘s rohingya minority have crossed into bangladesh in a week, as they flee a military crackdown. the north korean official news agency says the country has developed a more advanced nuclear weapon. it says kimjong—un has inspected a hydrogen bomb that is more powerful and can be loaded on an intercontinental ballistic missile. now on bbc news, it is time for witness.