this is bbc news. i'm chris rogers. the headlines at two... a man is killed after flash flooding in the west midlands, with some areas getting more than a month's rain injust one hour. the clean—up operation is under way, but weather warnings remain in place for several parts of england. a migrant from mali is to be made a french citizen after scaling a building in paris with his bare hands to rescue a dangling child. i asked him, wasn't he frightened for his own life? he said no. at that moment he wasn't thinking of himself, he was thinking of the child. as soon as he started to climb, he was scared the child would get tired and let go. the labour partyjoins calls to change abortion laws in northern ireland, following the referendum in the republic. from sparkling sea to magnificent moorland — the 840 bus route from pickering to whitby in north yorkshire has been voted britain's most scenic. coming up...

click investigates how measuring our body language and posture, can help us to beat stress. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. a man has been killed after storms caused flash flooding across the west midlands with more than a month's rainfall hitting parts of birmingham yesterday in the space ofjust an hour. the man, a pensioner in his 80s, died in walsall after his vehicle became submerged. met office amber weather warnings for rain and thunderstorms are in place this afternoon for east anglia, london and the south east and the south west. the south east could also experience the hottest day of the year so far. our correspondent caroline davies is in walsall and joins me now. really extreme weather depending on

where you are depends on what you get? yes, now it is a sunny day but it would have been a very different scene yesterday. behind me you might be able to see a wooden gate over there. according to an eyewitness, this is where the water that flooded the bridge came out. that was the spot that this gentleman was caught in his carand spot that this gentleman was caught in his car and where he later died. we understand the ambulance services at one point had to swim to rescue him, he was then put on a raft and floated away from there. the clear up floated away from there. the clear up operation is under way. this was a very different picture yesterday afternoon. wading through floodwater this is selly park in birmingham and across the city residents struggled to get help after sunshine chant to downpours.

we saw through social media that there was flooding in the selly park area so i left a little bit of time and took a drive back up. the road was closed and eventually i ended up getting a lift home on a kind of raft with the fire service who kindly brought me to my front door. in some areas a months worth of rain fell in a few hours. west midlands fire brigade attended over 100 weather—related incidents. there were so many calls that at times they were dealt with by the london fire brigade. cars and houses completely flooded out, cars probably up to about four foot right up to the windows and houses completely flooded out. my car was struck by lightning and my screen cracked. i don't think that this is safe. it was not only in birmingham, in northampton roads flooded. welshpool saw the same. while temperatures may be soaring in other parts of the country,

here the clean—up is just starting. of course the roads now seem relatively clear but on the way here we passed several vehicles that seemed to be abandoned, other people at the side of the road still trying to get their vehicles working again. the clear up operation is under way but for the family of the gentleman who died here, and incredibly tragic loss and something they will be having to come to terms with. indeed, thank you. a malian migrant hailed as a hero in paris after scaling a building to rescue a small boy who was dangling from a balcony is to be made a french citizen. mamoudou gassama has been widely praised for saving the the four year—old. earlier this morning he met french president emmanuel macron who honoured him with a medal of courage. from paris, lucy williamson reports. france has nicknamed him spiderman. his real name is mamoudou gassama. when he saw a toddler dangling from a fourth floor balcony, the malian immigrant ran straight past the crowd of onlookers and began to climb.

in less than a minute he had scaled the outside of the building. a neighbour holding onto the toddler until he arrived. with one leg swung across the balcony, mamoudou swept the child to safety, to cheers from the crowd below. the child's father is now being questioned for apparently leaving him at home alone. this morning mr gassama was invited to meet president macron, who asked whether he had stopped to think before climbing. no, he replied, i wasn't thinking about anything, i just climbed. once i had started god gave me the courage to continue. afterwards when the police arrived, i started trembling. the president awarded mr gassama a bravery medal and certificate and has invited him to apply for french citizenship. mr gassama is now planning tojoin the country's fire service. he previously had documents allowing him to work in italy but not to enter france.

the video of his dramatic ascent has now been viewed millions of times on social media. before the french authorities even knew he was here, mamoudou gassama was already a nationwide hero. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. a car collided with pedestrians in stockport last night, killing a man and injuring others. police have launched a murder investigation. greater manchester police were called to the salisbury nightclub in the area of brinnington. it's thought a black audi a4 collided with a number of people before fleeing the scene. a man in his thirties died later in hospital. pressure to relax northern ireland's strict abortion laws is intensifying, with labour adding its voice to calls for change. it comes after friday's historic referendum in the republic of ireland. mps from across the commons say women should have the same

rights in all parts of the uk, but downing street insists it's a matterfor northern ireland. the dup, on whom theresa may relies for a majority in parliament, says it will not be bullied into accepting abortion. our ireland correspondent, chris page, is in belfast and explains how the law in northern ireland differs to the republic. currently, a woman can only have an abortion if there's a serious or permanent risk to your physical or mental health, so much more restrictive than in the rest of the uk, though women can travel from here to have abortions in england, scotland and wales and every year plenty do. however, looking at the wider political picture in northern ireland, what's interesting is that none of the five main parties are in favour of extending the law in the rest of the uk to northern ireland. you've got a range of political opinions. the dup are very strongly against the law. the second biggest party, sinn fein, their current position doesn't go as far as what the irish government in dublin are proposing to do. they plan to pass legislation

to legalise terminations for any reason until a woman's 12 weeks pregnant and in some ci rcu msta nces afterwards, although sinn fein may relax their position further at their annual conference which is expected to be held in a few weeks' time. so the fact that there is growing pressure on the westminster government to legislate to relax the abortion laws in northern ireland, particularly in the absence of the devolved government at stormont, which collapsed about 16 months ago, does not necessarily mean that any change in the law here is imminent. a man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering an eleven—year—old girl and a 31—year—old woman. the woman and girl were found seriously injured by police at a property in gloucesterjust before five o'clock this morning, and declared dead at the scene. the arrested man is 28 years old. police have appealed for witnesses. our correspondent martinjones is in gloucesterfor us now — what more can you tell us? what we are hearing is that officers

we re what we are hearing is that officers were called here to dexter way in gloucester around 4:50am where they found a 31—year—old woman and an ii—year—old dad, and 28—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. i have spent the morning speaking to residents who have told me this is normally a quiet residential street and many of them expressed shock particularly because it happened in the small hours of the morning and none of them heard anything. they to police activity outside their homes. several of them have expressed their shock and one said he has seen a pool of blood on the pavement outside his flat. we have seen friends got this is going about their work this morning, we have also seen many officers escorting people who live here through the cord on to their homes because a large area remains

cordoned off this afternoon. the street behind me, but also footpaths and fields nearby armour and a local sports centre also had to be closed in the early phase of the investigation while officers established what was going on. please expect these cordons to remain in place some time. they are appealing for anybody with more information to contact them. thank you. the doctor tasked with leading a review into the gender pay gap in the nhs in england has admitted there will not be a quick or easy fix to the problem. professorjane dacre, who's president of the royal college of physicians, will draw up recommendations for the government by early next year, but she says changing culture and attitudes may take a long time. at present, male doctors are paid on average £10,000 more than their female colleagues. here's simonjones. the nhs is the uk's biggest employer, but there are still big

concerns about the gender pay gap in england. men still hold the most senior positions, with the large pay packets. 0verall female staff earn nearly a quarter less than their male colleagues, even though the nhs employs far more women than men. we need to make sure that people are really supported to progress in work but also we need to make sure that if women have to take time out from the workplace to have children, that we've got the right policies in place to support things like flexible working, shared parental leave, and that we are recruiting people back in to our health service after they may have taken a career gap for any reason. this review will concentrate on medical staff. the average pay for a male doctor isjust over £67,700. but at £57,500, the average pay for a female doctor is £10,000 less. across all medical professions including doctors, the pay gap is 15%. the government says such inequality has no place in a modern employer. this is the doctor tasked with leading the independent review.

she will draw recommendations by early next year but is warning there may be no quick fix. well the nhs has been around for 70 years, let's hope it's fixed in the next 70 years. that long? well, it may be. some of these societal and cultural things actually take quite a long time to change and are difficult to change effectively. clearly there will be some things that can be done more quickly. but changing culture, attitudes, societal norms, always takes a long time. she admits morale in the nhs is low but says supporting women will improve things. the nhs is not alone in grappling with big pay disparities between men and women, but the government says with its unique position in british society, it has no place to hide. simon jones, bbc news. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, has

raised her concerns over brexit during a meeting with the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, in brussels. ms sturgeon has called on the uk government to "engage properly" with devolved administrations after britain leaves the eu and says there's no alternative to the uk membership of customs union and single market. talks have resumed in the demilitarised zone between the koreas to try to get a planned summit between president trump and the north korean leader, kim jong—un, back on track. the original meeting that was set forjune 12th had been called off by president trump, but it appears both sides are still trying to find a way forward. earlier our correspondent in seoul who explained what each side is expecting to see from any talks. just a few days ago, donald trump said there would be no talks between the states united and north korea. now we have two sets of talks going on, one at the border here in south korea and another happening in singapore. round the table are seasoned, experienced diplomats, both used to dealing with the other side.

that suggests that they are serious about trying to get this summit back on track. but there's not a lot of time and both sides are coming from very different positions. remember, the us wants north korea to give away all its weapons and eventually receive economic rewards. north korea wants a more phased approach and perhaps might want to keep hold of some of its weapons as a security guarantee. these talks are designed to see if they can find some leeway or find a way that they can compromise. when it comes to that summit, it's been on, off, maybe on, definitely off. it is maybe now back on again. no one really knows for sure exactly if those two leaders are going to be in singapore on june 12th. however, much may depend on the outcome of these talks over the coming days. a 15—year—old boy has appeared before magistrates in sheffield charged with murder. it's over the death of 15—year—old sam baker, who was stabbed in the chest

in the city on thursday. police have arrested three people suspected of drug dealing at a dance music festival in portsmouth, where two people died at the weekend. the news comes after 18—year—old georgia jones and 20—year—old tommy cowan were named as those who died after falling ill at the mutiny festival on saturday night. they were among 15 revellers admitted to hospital from the event that night, with organisers issuing a warning over "high strength or bad batch" of drugs. the headlines on bbc news: a man is killed after flash flooding in the west midlands, with some areas getting more than a month's rain injust one hour a migrant from mali is to be made a french citizen after scaling a building in paris with his bare hands to rescue a dangling child. the labour partyjoins calls to change abortion laws in northern ireland, following the referendum in the republic.

sport now, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's sarah mulkerrins. british number three cameron norrie has won his first ever match at the french open and it was over pretty quickly. norrie roared through the first set in 25 minutes, winning it 6—1. his german opponent required treatment during the set break and with norrie 2—0 up in the second, his opponent was forced to retire. remarkably, norrie hadn't even played a competitive match on clay until february of this year.

lucas pouille is up next for him. elsewhere, two—time wimbledon champion petra kvitova fought back from a set down to beat veronica cepede royg of paraguay. the czech, who suffered career—threatening injuries on her left hand after being attacked in her home two years ago, arrived in paris on the back of an 11—match winning streak. 0n court right now is the 2016 champion — novak djokovic, up against brazil's rogero dutra silva. rafa nadal begins the defence of his title later. the spaniard won for the tenth time at roland garros last year. chris froome says he won the giro d'italia with an absolutely clear conscience after becoming just the third rider to win all three of cycling's grand tours back to back. he also became the first british man to win the race. but many have questioned whether he should be competing at all, after the controversy of his adverse finding for the asthma drug salbutamol at last year's vuelta. that was the second of his three wins in a row. froome denies any wrongdoing and has got on with the job in hand. it is part of my character. i have

a lwa ys it is part of my character. i have always been someone who is very good at blocking things out, i stay focused on what i need to achieve. i know what i need to do and once i set my mind to something, i like to get it done. england have dropped mark stoneman for the second test against pakistan which starts on friday at headingley, after a run of bad scores for both his country and his county. he's the only change england have made with keatonjennings replacing him. the opener last played for his country last summer before losing his place in the side. but he's scored three centuries for his new county lancashire so far this season. england have strongly refuted allegations made in a documentary, claiming that three players were responsible for spot—fixing during a test match in india in 2016. the icc say they are investigating the claims made by aljazeera. the ecb have released a statement outlining their denial of the accusations.

i think it is outrageous that england players have been accused of this. all of the players have the full backing of the ecb. it is something really not for the guys to worry about, we have got to concentrate on next week and make sure we are fully focused on winning at headingley. it is just accusation and i'm sure no other channels will be made by the ecb and others who need to worry about it. the fa have announced the teams that will compete in the newly restructured women's super league and championship next season. 23 licences have been given out for the two divisions and manchester united have been granted one for the second tier, having applied to be a part of the league for the first time. they're one of five new teams in the championship while west ham have moved up to the super league. but current top—flight side sunderland and second—tier watford and oxford are to drop out of the top two tiers. ulster and ireland centre jared payne has been forced to retire at the age of 32, due to a head injury he sustained on last year's british

and irish lions tour in his native new zealand. payne represented the province 78 times and has 20 irish caps. but he hasn't played since that lions tour because of recurring headaches. payne will now spend time in the irish set—up on their tour of australia in preparation for his new role as defence coach at ulster. that's all the sport for now. wh smith has been voted the worst shop on uk high streets by more than 10,000 people. in the survey carried out by the consumer organisation which, customers complained the stores were out—of—date, products were expensive and staff were rude. wh smith says just 184 shoppers commented. the top companies were the cosmetics chain lush, the discounter savers, and the toy chain smyths toys. a fatherfrom north london is to be

released from prison in ethiopia after being on death row for four years on suspicion of being a terrorist. andy tsege, a prominent critic of ethiopa's ruling party in the 1970s, was given asylum in the uk in 1979 but later tried for terrorism in his absence. in 2014 he was kidnapped in yemen and taken back to ethiopia. he's now been pardoned after two years of foreign office appeals and a change in the political situation there. he still needs emergency travel documents and is not yet out ofjail. 0ur correspondentjohn mcmanus has been following the story. nearly four years ago, andy tsege was apprehended while travelling through yemen. he disappeared for about ten days. his family in britain had no idea what had happened to him. then the ethiopian government said it had andy in custody. it had tried him and found him guilty in 2009 of trying to overthrow the government via the means of a coup, a charge that was laid against him in absentia. it goes without saying

that he always denied the charges and the british government and his family have been campaigning for the past four years to get him released. in the last day or so, the ethiopian government has said that andy has been pardoned. let's have a talk now to his partner, yemi hailemariam, whojoins me from north london. this must be amazing news for you. it's absolutely amazing. i'm ecstatic. now we are just anticipating his arrival home. i suppose his children here who have lived in london with you are very excited about the fact that he will be with you soon. they are very excited. my son has already started planning what he will do with his father once he gets home. they are dying to update him on what has been happening to them for the last four years. tell me why the ethiopian government detained him. what do you think was their prime reason for doing that? i think their prime reason was because he had been critiquing the government. he had written a book saying

what he thought of the government, so i think it's part and parcel of that. he of course has always denied the charges of being involved in any coup attempt, but the previous ethiopian prime minister said your partner had been caught red—handed with bombs. it can't possibly be, because he was nowhere near the country. so he couldn't possibly have been caught red—handed with bombs. then these charges are politically motivated and you and your family and andy have denied them. what kind of support have you received from the british government over the last few years? the british government have been clear that they know this is a politically motivated. but they do say they don't get involved in legal challenges of individuals. they have been supporting, but i think they could have done more. how could they have done more?

they could have looked at the merits of the case. they could have known that this was an in absentia judgment and made sure that their citizens should not be bundled up from one airport and taken to another country. i imagine there are other political prisoners still held in ethiopia. many of them have been released in the last year. is that because the political situation there has changed for the better? it appears so, yes. they decided that they were going to be releasing political prisoners back in january, and they have kept their word. they have been releasing prisoners, so yeah, it appears that it is changing. fingers crossed everything goes to plan. we are of course waiting for andy to be given the appropriate travel documents by the british authorities. are you envisaging him being home in the next few days? i'm hoping, fingers crossed. he has not technically been

released from prison and i haven't spoken to him, so i am eagerly awaiting the first phone call from him because i haven't spoken to him in the last four years. that could come at any time? exactly, so i have my phone by me! yemi hailemariam, thank you forjoining us. as i said, the british government says it is working on getting andy out of the government now. it needs to first issue him with new passport documents to facilitate that, but it doesn't look like he will be leaving prison in ethiopia today, because there is currently a bank holiday there, so there is not likely to be much activity. but it is expected that he will be home here in north london sometime in the next few days. the journey to work on the number 840 bus in north yorkshire isn't your ordinary commute. it's just been crowned the ‘most scenic bus ride in britain'.

however campaign groups are warning that rural services are in crisis. simon gompertz has hopped on board to find out how to keep the wheels turning. it's a bus driver's dream. the 840 coastliner starts in leeds, takes in york, then heads over the north york moors here and out to whitby on the coast. driving what's been crowned our most beautiful bus route and getting paid for it, is adam davies. every day is a joy, every day is a joy on this route. it's just beautiful. it's not only helping people that live out here get into bigger places, to cities, but it's bringing people out of the cities into this beautiful land. it's always nice when you see a whitby come up on your rota! this award for most scenic route was thought up by paul kirby to drum up more interest in bus travel as funding is squeezed ever tighter. rural communities, many of them do need the bus services. they are a lifeline for many people.

because they don't have cars or they don't have access to cars. or the elderly, for example, they can't drive any more. so that is why it is important to bring publicity to especially scenic routes like this one. are you going to york, love? ticket sales pay for this service, but only partly. whitby, that's lovely. thanks very much. it depends on public money. council subsidy over the winter, also the bus firm being reimbursed for letting on all the trippers with free bus passes. for anybody who hasn't got a car, or anybody who hasn't got a driving licence, it's the only way to get out and about in the area. if you didn't have the bus? well, if we didn't have the bus, we wouldn't go half of the time. you would only use the car because of the fuel price once a week or once a fortnight to try and save on the fuel. because i have epilepsy and i can't drive, it is very important to me that there are these bus routes so i can get to places like whitby

that i've been coming all my life. this is a trophy service, it's scenic, it's popular. so it has survived. but that is not the case with a lot of bus routes. bus funding has been cut by a third in the last eight years. and it is often the rural, most—needed services, ones that people don't have an alternative to, which tend to suffer. last year over 500 routes in england and wales were reduced or completely withdrawn. in whitby, volunteers have stepped in to provide services up to the places on the moors where people feel abandoned. every moors bus will have one of those. eden blythe is one of them. rebadging local buses and paying with donations. i think that somebody like us, will always be needed. and we're happy to do it. but we don't really want to have to keep taking overfailing bus services, because that shouldn't be the case, should it? it's all the more reason then

to cherish remaining routes like the 840 on which you can go where you need to, while soaking up the views. simon gompertz, bbc news, in north yorkshire. it really is a lovely part of the world. let's find out if the weather is lovely on the bank holiday. how was it looking? in fact the whitby area is pretty grey and misty at the moment, that is burning back and fading away from parts of the midlands and wales. lots of sunshine around in southern areas like the isle of wight, but those high temperatures, maybe 28 celsius, is also sparking thunderstorms which are developing across parts of the south—east. heading into the overnight period, that low cloud and mist will rollback westwards once again so it

will be a cloudy end to the night. warm and muggy in the south, temperatures just into double figures and more north—west. 0nce the low cloud and missed burns back to the coast, there could be some patches of cloud remaining into the afternoon and a threat of thundery showers developing across the southern half of the uk. that threat of thunderstorms continues through this week, particularly across southern areas, spreading north gradually again but it will be warm and humid with good spells of sunshine.