this is bbc news, i'm nkem ifejika. our top stories: devastating floods kill more than 300 people in the indian state of kerala. prime minister modi makes an emergency visit. funeral preparations for victims of the genoa bridge collapse. the search goes on for five people still missing. in a couple of hours, pakistan's former cricket captain, imran khan, will be sworn in as the country's new prime minister. and indonesia is about to host the asian games — the world's second—largest multi—sport event. hello, and welcome to bbc news. the indian government says nearly 900 people have died since the start of the monsoon rainy season in june. the worst affected state is kerala in the south,

where more than 300 deaths have been recorded. it's the region's most damaging monsoon season in a century. with more rain forecast over the coming days, emergency workers are scrambling to reach thousands of people who remain cut off by landslides. the bbc‘s yogita limaye reports from there. washington, the world's most political city, forced out of their homes by the floods, people are walking miles to safety, escaping surging water that has swallowed everything in its path. for many, this is the only way out. this pregnant woman was among several airlifted in kerala. she delivered just a short while later. dozens of helicopters are pulling out as many as they can, but tens of thousands are still stuck. the monsoon always brings heavy rainfall to kerala, but this year is different.

translation: after 36 years, it's the first time that such flooding is happening here. it's a disaster for the whole population. shelters have been set up wherever possible. locals are volunteering, cooking food and distributing supplies to people who have been left homeless. this is a public school which has been converted into a shelter. there are about 200 people here. the men are asleep in this room behind me, and the women are across on the other side. butjust behind this school is a river that is already quite close to breaching its banks. so, if it continues raining here, no—one quite knows for how long even this place will remain safe. cochin airport, the busiest in kerala, is unrecognisable. its runway resembles a river. the government has been forced to open dam gates,

and people are bracing themselves for worse. there is more rainfall expected. washington, the world's most political city, is today assessing the political health of the world's most powerful man. earlier i spoke to praveen, a resident in the city of malappuram in the state of kerala. transportation is a big problem here. we are running out of fuel. there are a lot of relief camps set up. we do have essentials but we don't know what is the real story, we are far from the national highways or state highways. the flood situation is ten times bigger or the previous times.

you can't imagine it. i am 42 and i have not seen such a flood in my life. my mother is almost 70 and she has not seen such a flood. so we can call it the flood of the century something like that. where i am staying everything is fine for me. that is how i am able to speak to you. other places have not had power for the last four days. we know that in some areas the internet and telephone connections have also gone. we are not able to raise the people on the other side of the river, who we know more dangerous areas. funerals have been held for some of those who died when a major road bridge collapsed in genoa in northern italy. the government had offered state funerals, but fewer than half of the families accepted the offer. anger towards the authorities has been growing, because of suggestions the structure had not been properly maintained for years. from genoa, james reynolds reports. amid the heavy machinery

and the tons of rubble, the search for survivors sometimes comes down to a single voice. "anybody there?" shouts a rescuer. there is no reply. but they will keep going for a while longer. it's difficult to say we will finish tomorrow, but i can tell you that probably in a couple of days we should finish. but it is really depending on how we can remove all the debris. parts of the operation are extremely delicate. here, firefighters reversed a truck abandoned right next to the edge of the collapse. professor antonio brencich is on the official investigation commission. before he was appointed, he told me that the original engineer's bridge design was flawed. he made some decisions that produced a bridge, a new bridge, different from the others. the attempt to find a new way,

a new structure orform, failed. it failed? failed, si. this is the result of that collapse. the families of the dead gathered around their coffins. the victims will be given a state funeral. some families have chosen not to take part in the official ceremonies. instead, they are holding private burials elsewhere in italy. and, once all the ceremonies are over, the bitter arguments about the collapse of this bridge may re—intensify. james reynolds, bbc news, genoa. the prestigious sandhurst military academy is investigating claims two officer cadets used water boarding

ona officer cadets used water boarding on a fellow recruit. according to the sun newspaper, the cadet was allegedly pinned down and water was poured over a cloth covering his face. the practice is considered to be a form of torture. the man leading the investigation into possible russian interference in the 2016 us elections, robert mueller, has recommended a sentence of up to six months in prison for a former campaign aide to donald trump. george papadopoulos pleaded guilty in october to lying to federal agents about his contacts with russian nationals. it is a journey that has taken 22 years, but on friday the former captain of the pakistan cricket team, imran khan, was confirmed in a vote by parliament as the country's prime minister. his pti party gained the most seats in last month's elections, and he will be formally sworn into office in a ceremony on saturday. secunder kermani has been looking at some of the challenges he will face in office. imran...

cheers for pakistan's next prime minister, but alongside them, angry chants from his rivals. they continued as he gave a fiery speech promising action against corrupt politicians. translation: those who stole the future of our children while in power, those who stole money and took it abroad, i will hold them all accountable. imran khan has promised to create a new pakistan, improving education and healthcare for ordinary people. the country faces real challenges, amongst them the highest rate of newborn infant mortality in the world. a lack of facilities and trained staff are amongst the main causes. this government hospital in islamabad is better resourced the most, but they struggle to keep up with demand, with patients travelling from more remote regions. many a time, we are short of beds in the neonatal intensive care.

we are short of beds in the paediatric intensive care. at the level of intensive care facilities, we need a lot of additional resources. does that mean sometimes you have to turn people away? yes, obviously. healthcare spending in pakistan has been far below international guidelines. if imran khan's new government wants to give these children a better chance in life, it will take both investment and reform. but the country's poor economic situation means he will only have limited funds available. manufacturing has been one of pakistan's main sources of income. this company produces 600 million pairs of socks every year for some of the world's best—known brands. but, at the moment, imports are vastly outstripping exports and the country needs a loan of around $12 billion, making plans to increase spending difficult. for mr khan to sort of expand his budget for social protection or social safety nets, at least —

it'll be difficult to do it in the first two years, at least. there has to be some belt—tightening, some fiscal discipline that has to go there. 0utside parliament, even the policemen ate the celebratory sweets. imran khan's supporters have high expectations of what he can deliver. with only a slim majority in parliament, he will have to do his best to live up to them. secunder kermani, bbc news, islamabad. amnesty international has accused indonesia's security forces of using excessive force against suspected criminals ahead of this year's asian games. the sporting event opens on saturday, with athletes from 45 asian countries competing. police say they are breaking up organised rings of pick—pockets and bag—snatchers, ahead of what is the world's largest multi—sport event after the olympics. andrew plant reports. bag scanners, body searches, even facial recognition software. indonesia has suffered several

terrorist attacks over recent years, so this year's asian games will take place here amid tight security. translation: i'm not worried at all. we've been waiting for this event for a long time. we're not afraid of an attack. police have really cracked down, so i feel like indonesia has a relatively safe security situation. 17,000 athletes will take part, with a62 gold medals up for grabs. and, with tens of thousands of tourists expected, indonesia is determined to stamp out petty theft. but amnesty international says the crackdown on criminals has led to unnecessary violence, with 31 people killed in police raids and dozens injured. alongside security, pollution has been high on the list of concerns.

despite attempts to take cars off the road, indonesia's traffic—clogged capital is still shrouded in a thick layer of smog. the two—week—long asian games will take place in venues across the capital, and the south sumatran city of palembang. on friday indonesia's president, joko widodo, ran with the torch, almost at the end of its month—long journey across the country. there will be around 100,000 police and army personnel guarding the games, tasked with stamping out pickpockets and bag snatchers. police say they have a duty to ensure the games go smoothly and take firm action against suspected criminal gangs. stay with us on bbc news.

still to come, the scars of war and the road to recovery — how art is helping veterans deal with memories of conflict. washington, the world's most political city, is today assessing the political health of the world's most powerful man. indeed, i did have a relationship with miss lewinsky that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. in south africa, 97 people have been killed today, in one of the worst days of violence between rival black groups. over the last ten days, 500 have died. chanting: czechoslovakia must be free! russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 118 submariners who died on board the kursk. we're all with them now, within our hearts. the pope has celebrated mass before a congregation of more than 2.5 million people, in his

hometown of krakow. "stay with us, stay with us," chanted this ocean of humanity. "well, well," joked the pope, "so you want me to desert rome?" this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the southern indian state of kerala is facing the worst floods in 100 years, according to its chief minister. more than 300 people have been killed, most of them in the past few days. state funerals for some of the people killed in the genoa bridge collapse will take place later on saturday. rescuers are still searching for five people thought to be missing. a teenager who was sold into slavery by the islamic state group in northern iraq has described her horror after escaping to germany, only to come face—to—face with her former captor. ashwaq ali, who is 19, is part of the yazidi religious group, which was persecuted by is. she now says she can't live in germany, and has

returned to iraq. 0ur chief international correspondent lyse doucet has her story. this is home now for ashwaq ali — a yazidi camp, a far cry from the german city which once gave her refuge, where she says she came face—to—face with the islamic state fighter who enslaved her. translation: i went to the supermarket for lunch, and on the way back to school, a car pulled up next to me. he was sitting in the front seat. he talked to me in german and asked, "are you ashwaq?" i was so scared, i was shaking. i said, "no, who are you?" "i know you're ashwaq, and i am abu humam," he replied. and then he started to talk to me in arabic, and told me not to lie to him. "i know you," he said, "and where you live, and who you live with".

he knew everything about my life in germany. were you scared? translation: of course i was scared, and it's impossible for anyone to understand, who hasn't lived through it. i'm telling the truth, and i'm not the only one. i've heard about lots of other yazidi girls who've been confronted by their former is captors, even in stuttgart. ashwaq's photos from more carefree days in germany. police there told us she did come to them with a detailed description of the man. they still haven't been able to confirm his identity with certainty. what convinces you it was your captor? translation: i recognised his voice very well. even if 1,000 years had gone by, i would have recognised that voice, and that face. i would have recognised him anywhere. he was with us 2a hours a day,

beating us and watching us. that's why i know it was him. ashwaq's entire family is still haunted by islamic state. her father tells us of dozens of relatives still missing, all captured by is — so many, their pictures couldn't fit on this board. translation: our hearts will stay heavy. we don't want to return home to sinjar until we know what's happened to them. we can't face living in iraq anymore. we're broken. we've been sold and raped. lyse doucet, bbc news, in northern iraq. inflation in venezuela is expected to reach1 million percent by the end of the year, which means you need bags of cash to buy basic goods. to try to deal with the problem, the government is knocking five zeros of the national currency.

the new money will be introduced on monday, but there are concerns about what will happen after the switchover. shops are closed and people have been stocking up on food and petrol. earlier i spoke to steve hanke. he is professor of applied economics atjohns hopkins university. he is one of the world's leading experts in measuring and stopping hyperinflation. i asked him what venezuela is doing. what they're doing is just changing the appearance of the currency. they will exchange 100,000 old bolivars for one new bolivar, and that's about the end of the story. if you don't change the regime and the system of monetary and currency and exchange rates, nothing changes. the inflation now is running about, as i measure it on a daily basis, it's about a4,000%, on an annual basis, and going higher. so what is the quickest proper fix that the government can use? there are only really

two ways to do this. the quickest way is to officially dollarise the economy — get rid of the bolivar completely and use the us dollar. now, de facto, that's what's occurred. we've had a spontaneous dollarisation in venezuela where the unit of account for all calculations and so forth is actually the us dollar. the real value of the bolivar supply is very, very small. dollars dominate. well, but if you dollarise, that is notjust an economic proposition. that's also a political proposition, considering the relations between venezuela and the united states. well, it certainly is, there's no question about it. but we did that in 2001 in ecuador. the sucre was collapsing, and i was the adviser i was the adviser

to the minister of finance, and we simply eliminated the sucre and replaced it with the dollar. inflation stopped immediately. we did exactly the same thing in montenegro, where i was president dukanovic‘s adviser in 1999. the inflation rate had been, with the yugoslav dinar, 313 million percent per month. we replaced the yugoslav dinar in december of 1999 with the deutsche mark, and everything calmed down within hours. dozens of injured british veterans who are using art to help them cope with their experiences of war are having their work displayed at a special exhibition in london. the charity help for heroes is mounting the event to showcase how personal battles against post—traumatic stress, depression and the anxiety of combat are being won. colleen harris went along to have a look. i couldn't walk very well.

i was in a wheelchair at the time. i was emotionally numb back then, in 2014. but i went into the art room, and we sat down and we was asked to have a go at drawing. i'm sure, if you spoke to my wife, she will tell you that it's calmed me down quite a bit. the scars of war, immortalised in the art of soldiers. this is a road to recovery of an artistic kind. my name's tom stimpson. i served 26 years in the royal air force, and i'm now an artist. and that release, of being able to put down on paper something that may be traumatic to talk about — i mean, it still causes emotion now. but it's being able to recognise it, and i think, back then, i couldn't even recognise it. i was so numb from coming back. 0nce discharged from the military and back to their families,

isolation can kick in, so channelling trauma through talent is helping some veterans to adjust. i'm kevin preston. i served with the 1st battalion coldstream guards. i found it very difficult when i left. i couldn't handle civilian life at the time, and i hit the drink really hard. i'm in constant pain, ‘cause i've had four spinal operations on my back, and i've had one on my neck, and i also suffered a stroke. but when i'm painting, sometimes it takes my mind off it, and i tend to forget about it. it is notjust visual art, it is poetry as well. 0ne brief moment in history is where this began... for corporal mark beckham, it is healing through words, but the memories linger. you're precious to me, like a bright, shining pearl. i'll neverforget you, my little kosovo girl. colleen harris, bbc news. for many, losing weight involves cutting carbohydrates, but new research from the us suggests that is the wrong approach. the study has gone further, concluding that people who eliminate

foods such as pasta, potatoes and bread from their diets could reduce life expectancy by four years. here is chi chi izundu. this is the kind of carbohydrate—heavy food that for years has had a bad reputation when it comes to our diets. low—carb, high—carb, just meat, pla nt—based, sugar—free — there are so many different pieces of advice on what is best to eat. but a new study of more than 15,000 people over 25 years suggests that cutting carbs altogether could increase the risk of an early death. when people think of carbohydrates, they might think of foods like this, and this report is saying that those who substitute their carbohydrates for more meat isn't the best option. in fact, what they would rather you did was substitute it for more nutritious carbohydrates, so effectively eating more fruit and vegetables. researchers of the report say people who consume very small amounts of carbohydrates will have a life

expectancy of around 79 years. those who only focus really on foods like breads, potatoes and cereals will have a life expectancy of around 82 years. but those who eat between 50%—55% of carbohydrates in their diet, that's the healthiest, could expect to live to about 83. carbs are good for us. it's really about making the most of getting a balanced diet, with everything in moderation, lots of colour. that's the key. the findings of this study did rely on people's self—reporting, remembering the amount of carbohydrates they were eating, and that is something those who are conscious of what they are putting inside their bodies also keep an eye on. i watch my carbs a little, yeah. but i don't restrict myself a lot, because i like pasta too much, i like bread. ijust like to keep an eye to see what i'm putting into my body, and just keep an eye, really. i don't watch them. i think it should be about balance.

so as long as you've got a little bit of everything, if your body is craving something, it's for a reason. so you've just got to listen to what your body is telling you. that's the healthiest way to be. the report also supports the advice of public health england, which suggests starchy carbohydrates should form the main components of a healthy diet. the overall message is there is a sweet spot of consumption levels for all nutrients. eating too much or too little will be damaging. chi chi izundu, bbc news. the funeral of aretha franklin will be held in detroit, the city where she grew up. the funeral will be a private ceremony but fans can pay their respects at an open casket two date viewing beforehand. fans have been the motown museum in detroit to leave personal messages in remembrance of aretha franklin. hello there.

this weekend, again we look to the atlantic to see where our weather is coming from. we're going to add into the mix, just for good measure, the remnants of an old tropical storm. it'll feel quite humid out there this weekend. for many it'll be dry on saturday, more rain for some on sunday. there was a fair bit of dull, damp, cool and wet weather across some parts of the country on friday. a lot of that has moved through. this area of low pressure, though, contains remnants of tropical storm ernesto, to arrive in the second half of the weekend. still got some rain on that weather front there, though, that's strung out across central and southern scotland, the north of northern ireland, perhaps the north—west of england too. south of that, though, we're going to find it probably dry, some sunshine at times, best of which is likely to be in the south—east. here, temperatures likely to hit the mid—20s or so. north of our band of cloud, patchy, light rain and drizzle. northern scotland, after a windy start, should be dry with some sunshine. here comes ernesto, though. you don't need to worry about the strength of the wind. it's more the rain.

that could be quite heavy for a while as it moves over the irish sea, into southern scotland, northern ireland and wales. south of that, dry and really warm overnight. once again those temperatures no lower than 17 degrees. but across some areas, some heavy rains on sunday — central and southern scotland, northern england and wales. as the rain makes its way eastwards into the midlands, it becomes lighter. much of southern england still dry, temperatures into the mid—20s. improvements in the weather across northern ireland. slightly cooler, fresher, but still dry weather in the far north of scotland, with some sunshine. so we see the remnants of tropical storm ernesto bringing a spell of rain during the second half of the weekend. it moves away into southern parts of scandinavia by monday, and things calm down just a little. a very flat ridge of high pressure, still a lot of cloud coming in from the atlantic, or developing through the day. the odd shower perhaps out towards the west. a bit of patchy, light rain and drizzle in the north and west of the uk, but 21 degrees likely in belfast, and 25 or 26 in london and the south—east. that's monday.

as we look further ahead, we've still got higher pressure across the south. it's not a dominant high, by any means, and a string of weather fronts arriving in the north—west, but very late on in the day on tuesday. ahead of that, increasing cloud perhaps, but some sunshine for a while, and the odd shower for scotland and northern ireland. and england and wales probably having a drier day, a bit more sunshine around as well, and those temperatures more widely into the mid—20s across east anglia and the south—east. the number is not changing too much for scotland and northern ireland. the weather fronts that arrive in the north—west push southwards. there won't be much rain on them at all. but a north—westerly breeze by thursday could drop the temperatures just a little. this is bbc news. the headlines: the indian prime minister narendra modi has arrived in the southern state of kerala to see the devastation caused by the worst floods there in a century. weeks of rain have triggered landslides and floods killing more than 300 people. state funerals for some

of the victims of the genoa bridge collapse will take place in the city later on saturday. 38 people are known to have been killed with the search for another five continuing. the government has begun action against the motorway management company. the former cricket international, imran khan, will be sworn in as prime minister of pakistan in a few hours' time. he won last month's election on a pledge to fight corruption and to lift millions out of poverty. his opponents are continuing to claim that the voting was rigged.