this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 8pm: a major clean—up operation is taking place in the west midlands, after heavy rain and flash flooding. to see my neighbours going through this, again, it's awful. everything out on the street. many of them have only just moved back in from the flood, two years ago. i don't know how they're going to cope. a man in his 80s died, after his car was submerged by flood water in walsall. and another driver was rescued earlierfrom his car on the same stretch of road by this man. he couldn't get out, so i opened the door, told him to take a breath and dragged him out. a new, interim prime minister for italy as the country tries to pulls itself out of its deep political crisis. fresh protests in northern ireland to relax the country's strict abortion laws, as labour increases the pressure on theresa may. and in the next hour, the man from mali who's become a national hero in france.

the migrant is to be made a french citizen, after scaling a building in paris with his bare hands to rescue a dangling child. translation: 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. and in half an hour here on bbc news — 100 women interviews fatma samoura, the secretary general of fifa and described as the most powerful woman in sport. a good evening and welcome to bbc news. a man in his 80s has died, after his car was submerged by flash floods in walsall in the west midlands. it happened as more than a month's

rainfall deluged parts of birmingham this weekend, after widespread storms and rain. the met office issued yellow weather warnings of rain and storms for southern england and wales for this afternoon, although some areas of the country basked in warm sunshine and high temperatures. our correspondent, sima kotecha, reports from birmingham. their precious possessions destroyed and discarded. 2a hours after violent thunderstorms and heavy downpours swept across the country, the clean—up operation is under way. and some of those worst affected feel deflated. we did have about an hour as we watched the water come up and moved as much of our possessions as we could upstairs and then the water came into the house. and once it started coming in, it got higher and higher and it was above the level of the windows, there. it was above the level of the doors, at the back and then it started coming in as a torrent.

like a river breaking its banks, basically. the houses on this street are particularly vulnerable. if you go to the end of the road, there is the bourne brook. many of the homes here have been flooded now three times over the last decade. on this street, some are calling it a deluge of biblical proportions. violent storms meant water gushing into the neighbouring river and, in some cases, causing maximum damage. absolutely devastated for my neighbours. i mean, i'm quite fortunate that my house wasn't flooded, but to see my neighbours going through this, again, it's awful. everything out on the street, and many of them have onlyjust moved back in from the flood two years ago. i don't know how they're going to cope, i really don't. in parts of this area, a month's rain injust one hour. 15 miles away, in walsall, a man

in his 80s died after reportedly being stuck in his vehicle, which was submerged in flooded water. the fire brigade went to rescue a man who was trapped in his car. took him out, put him on a plastic raft and brought him here. i later learned that this man died. u nfortu nately. the environment agency in the west midlands had issued multiple flood warnings, as smaller rivers filled up after the downpours. for those affected the most, it's likely to take months before they are able to get their homes back to the way they once were. sima kotecha, bbc news, birmingham. we heard there about the man in his 80s who died in the floods in walsall. well, on the same street another driver was pulled to safety from his submerged car, hours earlier. his rescuer, ben lees, explained how he dived into six—foot—deep waters to reach the stranded man.

i was on my way home and then i avoided the road closure, like everyone else does, and then went down a side street and then i came across the flood. and people coming up to the car asking if you can swim. i said, yes. they said, "there's children in the car". because i've got a son, ijust got out straight away and went in. but there was no children in there, there was just an old guy, like. the man in the car, how high was the water in the car? i'd say there was probably about two inches of breathing space in the car, to the roof of the car. so, what did you do? i opened the back doors, because i thought there were kids in there and had a feel round both sides and i couldn't feel anything. he said, "it'sjust me, i'm in the front", but he couldn't get out. so, i opened the door, told him to take a breath and dragged him out. what was his reaction? i think he was more shocked, to be honest.

because he didn't say much, but he thanked me. i spoke to him this morning. what did he say? he was very grateful. i understand you're thinking of asking him to go for a pint. yeah, go fora pint, but it all depends when i'm free. what was the state of the roads? did you have any concerns about how it was being dealt with? i got there... i got him out before any emergency services turned up, but i understand it has been stretched, so that's understandable with response times. you were saying something like you thought it should have been closed off? the roads should have been closed properly, all the side roads. i don't think they should use cones, i think they should, like, put metal barriers down, so you can't get through or move them. but it's money, everything's stretched. everyone‘s hailing you as a hero. what do you think of that? it's overwhelming. ijust done what i had to do. no hesitation in your mind?

because you went underwater. no. i knew i would be all right, because i can swim. it's just the guy was trapped, so i had to get him out. that was ben lees speaking to our reporter, lindsey doyle. and we'll find out how this story, and many others, are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 11:30pm this evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are the political correspondent at the financial times, henry mance, and the whitehall correspondent at the sun, lynn davidson. italy's president, sergio mattarella, has asked a former economist to form a caretaker government, in a bid to pull the country out of political turmoil. italy has had no government since elections in march. two eurosceptic parties tried to form a coalition, but mr mattarella vetoed their choice of finance minister, as he backed abandoning the euro. and, as james reynolds reports,

fresh elections are likely soon. this is italy's newest prime minister designate. carlo cottarelli is a pro—euro economist and a non—populist. the president has picked him to maintain italy's current relationship with the european union. translation: it's essential to defend our interests in europe and be constructive. italy is a founding country. our role is essential, as is our continued participation in the euro. but the populists, led here by the league's sergio mattarella, have the numbers to reject the president's choice and force early elections. mr salvini, who has been going up in the polls, wants the freedom to govern his way. translation: if the president of the republic tells us, "do as you want, but don't touch

the european rules", we have a problem with democracy. because the people in italy are sovereign and don't depend entirely on european markets and bureaucracies. wherever you look here, there are signs of italy's six decade—long partnership with europe. but this country has begun to shift. this is the country that helped to found the european union. why are the populist parties turning against it? because people think that germany rules all europe and germany rules italy. and they want to control italy and the agreements on the european union is an advantage for germany and a disadvantage for italy. italy is used to changing prime ministers, but this is much more serious than that. an election later this year may become an unofficial referendum on italy's membership

of the euro and on its place in the european union, that this country helped to create. james reynolds, bbc news, rome. police have arrested three people suspected of drug dealing at a dance music festival in portsmouth, where 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, afterfalling ill at the mutiny festival on saturday night. they were among 15 revellers admitted to hospital from the event, with organisers issuing a warning over a "high strength or bad batch" of drugs. a young man has been hailed as a hero in paris, after scaling a building to rescue a small boy who was dangling from a balcony. mamoudou gassama, who's from mali, has been widely praised for saving the four—year—old and is now to be made a french citizen. today, he met the 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'd 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. cheering. 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 him whether he had stopped to think, before climbing the building.

translation: no, i wasn't thinking about anything. ijust climbed. once i started, god gave me the courage to continue. the president awarded mr gassama a bravery medal and certificate and offered him a role in the french fire service. he also invited him to apply for french citizenship. mr gassama had documents allowing him to work in italy but not to enter france. translation: i am glad, because it is my first time to win an award like this. i'm happy. thank you. translation: i asked him the question about being afraid and he told me, "no, i didn't think about myself. i was thinking about the child." when he started climbing, he got scared that the child would get tired and let go. and after months of living in the shadows, mamoudou gassama is, tonight, tasting sudden celebrity. the video of his dramatic ascent, which has spread like wildfire on social media, made him a nationwide hero — before the french state even knew he was here.

cheering and applause. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news this evening. a murder investigation‘s begun into the death of a man who was hit by a car, which drove into pedestrians outside a nightclub in the brinnington area of stockport, last night. the dead man was in his 30s. several other people were hurt. the vehicle was found abandoned on the m60. a man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering an 11—year—old girl and a 31—year—old woman. the pair were found seriously injured by police at a property in gloucester just before 5am this morning, and declared dead at the scene. the arrested man is 28 years old. police are appealing for witnesses. a teenager has appeared in court,

following the death of 15—year—old sam baker, who was stabbed in the chest in sheffield on thursday. the boy, who's also 15, appeared before magistrates in the city, charged with murder and is due to appear at crown court tomorrow. pressure to relax northern ireland's strict abortion laws is intensifying, following friday's referendum in the irish republic. labour has added its voice to calls for women to be given the same rights across the uk. and, this evening, campaigners who want to see the law changed held a demonstration in belfast. from there, our ireland correspondent chris page reports. what do we want? crowd: the right to choose! when do we want it? crowd: now! the calls for change have become louder. in northern ireland, abortions remain illegal, unless there's a serious or permanent risk to a woman's health. protesters say the law is outdated and unfair. i feel we're dragging

behind the rest of europe, the rest of the western world. women are being denied human rights. it's like the dark ages, it's incredible we are still in this position. a huge shift in attitudes on the other side of the irish border has given new momentum to these demonstrators, but there has been no devolved government here for more than 500 days now and in the absence of stormont, campaigners are focusing on westminster. this woman's story made a big impact on the debate, sarah travelled to england to end her pregnancy, when doctors said that her unborn child couldn't survive outside the womb. it was a terrifying time and more traumatic than it should have been. if stormont was up and running, we would be up there, begging for their help, but it isn't, so we're asking theresa may and westminster now to help us. we need the help now. activists in dublin were already turning their attention to belfast as the landslide referendum result was becoming clear on saturday.

two thirds voting to liberalise the abortion laws. several former tory cabinet ministers are among a number of cross—party mps who want parliament to pass legislation to give women greater access to terminations in northern ireland. but the democratic unionist party, on whom the prime minister relies for her parliamentary majority, are intent on keeping the restrictions. my message for the prime minister is that this is a matter, a sensitive matter, which the people of northern ireland have the right to make a decision on, under the devolution settlement. and she should not, just because there are a siren voices from the liberals and the left wing and westminster, she should not bow to that. the government says abortion law is an issue for politicians in northern ireland and it shows the need to restore devolution. this most personal of matters has become highly political. the social revolution in the irish republic is having repercussions north of the border and across the irish sea. chris paige, bbc news, belfast. the headlines on bbc news:

a major clean—up operation is taking place in the west midlands after heavy rain and flash flooding. italy's president appoints a new interim prime minister. as the country tries to pulls itself out of its deep political crisis. fresh protests take place in northern ireland, to relax's the country's strict abortion laws in line with the republic. sport now and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. hello. we start with tennis and britain's heather watson is through to the second round of the french open. and another british player. number two seed heather watson enjoyed a convincing victory over oceane dodin — winning 6—3, 6—0. she'll face 16th seed elise martens or american varvara lepchenko

in the second round. she followed britain's number three, cameron norrie, who breezed past peter goyivich in 41 minutes. world number two caroline wozniacki is also through after a straight sets victory over america's danielle collins. it was a closely fought first set with collins, in her french open debut, pushing wozniacki all the way to a tie break. but the dane's experience showed in the end as she took the second set 6—1. in the men's draw, 2016 champion, novak djokovic is through to the second round. he beat brazilian qualifier rogerio dutra silva in straight sets. the former world number one is on the comeback after his last season was littered with injury problems and has struggled to find consistency since then. today winning 6—3, 6—4, 6—4. it's been a long time coming, but coventry city have secured their return to league i, their first promotion from any division in 51 years. they beat exeter 3—1 in a thrilling finale

to the football season at wembley. jordan willis gave coventry the lead, with the academy graduate scoring early in the second half. five minutes later, jordan shipley‘s deflected effort made it 2—0, before jack grimmer added a third to seal promotion for the sky blues, as they return to the third division of english football. it's three weeks today until england open their world cup campaign against tunisia and the players have been training today at st george's park. gareth southgate welcomed back players from manchester united and chelsea, after they were given an extra week off because of the fa cup final. they were also joined by chelsea teenager trevor chalobah after the withdrawal of burnley‘s james tarkowski. england play nigeria at wembley in the first of their two warm—up matches on saturday. defender gary cahill, who was dropped by england manager gareth southgate in march, says his self belief led to him making a comeback to the england squad for the world cup. you know, missing out on that score,

especially the last squad just before you meet up was kind of a big squad to miss out. i realised that maybe it took a little knock and i really had to dig deep to try and perform from then until the end of the season to get myself back in the frame. and that's the way it's worked out. of course, last time i was disappointed, there was a lot going on in that moment in time, when i missed the squad. but, you know, i never had... i didn't the ability... i thought i could make the squad. gareth bale may well be leaving champions league winners real madrid this summer, but he's confirmed he will not be returning to his former club tottenham. the welshman said he needed to be playing "every week" after scoring twice in the champions league final against liverpool on saturday. bale left spurs to join the spanish giants for a world record fee in 2013, but there was a buy—back clause in the contract. however, due to the size

of his wages and transfer fee, it is unrealistic that tottenham would make a bid. some sad news now as it's emerged former aberdeen and aston villa player neale cooper has died at the age of 5a, after collapsing at the weekend. he'd been in a critical condition in hospital, after suffering a fall at a block of flats in aberdeen in the early hours of sunday morning, but died earlier today. his death is not being treated as suspicious. cooper had been one of the dons' gothenburg greats, part of the team that won the european cup winners' cup in 1983. flanker siya kolisi will become the first black test captain of the south african rugby union team when they face england injune. head coach rassie erasumus says kolisi is hard working and has the respect of his fellow players. kolisi has made 28 caps since his debut in 2013 and has captained his club side stormers since february, last year. that's all the sport for now.

i'll have more for you in sportsday at 10:30pm. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, has been in brussels today, discussing brexit with the european union's chief negotiator, michel barnier. accusing the british government of "floundering about" over negotiations to leave the eu, she warned that time's running out for the uk to strike a trade deal. in what she termed a "constructive and positive discussion" she said scotland's government believes britain should stay within the customs union and single market after brexit. with every week that passes without the uk being clear and focused and realistic about what it wants to achieve, that prospect of a damaging no deal seems to me to get greater, and that's in nobody‘s interests. i don't think there's support for it in the uk and there's certainly no preparedness for it in the uk, so sooner or later reality is going

to bite for the uk government. my view is we should try and make that sooner rather than later. our europe correspondent damian grammaticus was in brussels today and had this to say when asked whether scotland's first minister was echoing the concerns expressed by europe's chief negotiator michel barnier. it wasn't part of the negotiations, nicola sturgeon doesn't have a role in that. this was michel barnier briefing her. and where the government says that progress is being made, they both disagree. eu officials here are preparing for a summit in four weeks' time, which is meant to sign off on the broad progress on those outstanding issues, the irish border and the legal underpinnings of an exit deal, how any disputes will be governed. will the european court be involved? mr barnier‘s team and nicola sturgeon both say that time is running out, progress isn't being made, and there's a real risk that if it isn't and the deadline is missed, the only one that remains is in october and the uk could risk exiting with no deal,

which would also mean no transition period that follows that. those things are not nailed down, contrary to perceptions that some have. now, nicola sturgeon said today that, in her view, of course she's said this before, the answer to the difficulties in the negotiations is that the uk should stay in the single market and in the customs union with the eu. that, of course, is the red line the government has set and it's already ruled those out. a second day of talks between north korean and the us has taken place, as officials race to lay the ground work for a summit between president trump and kim jong—un. the meeting had been cancelled abruptly, by president trump, four days ago, but there now seems to be greater willingness to ensure it takes place. teams of negotiators from both sides have been talking in the de—militarized zone

at the korean border to make arrangements for a summit. south korea's president also met kim jong—un for impromptu talks on saturday. it's being suggested he might also attend any summit, if it were to go ahead. former us assistant secretary of state, p.j. crowley says it's not yet known how much either donald trump or kimjong—un is willing to bring to the table. i think a meeting will happen, at some point. whether it can happen onjune 12th, a really good question. to me, there are still two primary unknowns that we have to answer if the summit is going to go ahead, sooner rather than later. the first is, you know, is kim jong—un prepared to trade his nuclear and missile capability for security and prosperity? and, for donald trump, to the pointjust made, that kimjong—un is not

going to yield everything in a first meeting, is donald trump prepared to enter into an extended negotiation process with lots of interim steps over many, many years, to accomplish the goal of denuclearisation? we don't know the answer to either of those questions and they will be fundamental to whether you can have a summit that launches a process that can be successful. 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. overall, female staff earn nearly a quarter less than their male colleagues, even though the nhs employs far more women than men. junior doctor ali edits medical women, a magazine forfemale doctors. because i wonder what women are thinking about their worth in line with a male doctor, and how they compare. i mean, we put in the same number of hours, i think, in terms of the hours spent studying in medical school, the exams passed, the commitment we put in. 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. we need to ensure that people are really supportive to progress in work.

also, we need to make sure that if women have to take time out of the workplace to have children, that we've got the policies in place to support things like flexible working, shared parental leave and we are recruiting people back into our house service after they may have taken a career gap for any reason. this is the doctor tasked with leading the independent review. she's warning there may be no quick fix. well, the nhs has been around for 70 years. let's hope it is fixed in the next 70 years. before 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. the nhs is not alone in grappling with big pay disparities between men and women, but the government makes it clear, with its unique position in british society, there is no place for it to hide. the review will deliver its recommendations, early next year. simon jones, bbc news. the owner of chelsea football club, roman abramovich,

has flown to israel after being found eligible for citizenship in the country. the russian billionaire had faced delays in renewing his uk visa and did not attend the fa cup final at wembley earlier this month when chelsea beat manchester united. mr abramovich was reportedly given an identity card under the law of return, which allowsjews to become citizens of israel. stars of the big and small screen have spent their bank holiday monday walking the streets of bristol re—enacting the speeches of a prominent anti—slavery campaigner. frederick douglass was an american who came to bristol in the 1840's as part of his civil rights campaign. scott ellis reports. america will not allow her children to love her. she seems bent on compelling those who would be her warmest friends to be her worst enemies. film actor danny sapani of star wars and black panther fame, cast today as abolitionist frederick douglass.

so, too, the former casualty star, kwame kwei—armah. we are two races that cannot be excluded from any part of the globe, so we might as well decide to live together. ..who thinks douglass'170—year—old speeches are still relevant. it's part of the discussion about how communities come together and how communities heal and about how communities think about tomorrow. thing and how'd you like to get—up? i'm wearing it, actually do you know what? i'm actually to wear it all day. i could get in and out of my clothes but i think, i do this one and i do one at the end of the day. i think i'm going to stay in it. frederick douglass' speeches saw him climb from slave to high ranking us official. and yet many of us have never heard of him. men who benefited from the trade in flesh...