this is bbc world news, i'm reged ahmad. our top stories... braced for storm barry, louisiana declares a state of emergency, with warnings of high winds and heavy flooding as the tropical storm gathers strength. facebook reportedly faces a multi—billion dollar fine over the misuse of personal data and privacy breaches. testing times in the relationship between the us and turkey as ankara takes delivery of a russian missile defence system. and wimbledon prepapres for the first of its major finals this weekend as simona halep takes on serena williams.

the us state of louisiana has declared a state of emergency as tropical storm barry approaches hurricane strength and nears landfall. new orleans is bracing itself as the storm approaches shore — the city has already seen severe rain and flooding. the city council says it's as prepared as it can be — and has told residents to stay indoors. sophie long reports. high winds lashing the louisiana coast as tropical storm barry approaches land. as it travelled slowly across the warm waters of the gulf of mexico, families, friends, and neighbours filled sandbags in the hope of protecting their homes. we are hopeful, you know, we have been watching the news the whole time. and they have confidence in it, that all we can do is have confidence in the system, make sure everything holds up. i feel great. because this is bringing

us together, you know. very few things bring the community in new orleans together, black and white. a state of emergency was declared days ago, and people were told to stock up on supplies. they may not have another opportunity for several days. people here have seen stronger storms, but it is the amount of rain — estimates of up to 2a inches — that barry will bring that people are really worried about. i'm on the levy on the south side of the mississippi river. you can see new orleans just over there. the forecasters are predicting that a storm surge is going to travel upriver from the gulf of mexico. just to give you a sense of how high water levels already are, people tell me that normally they can walk amongst these bushes and trees that have been almost completely submerged in water. forecasters say the combination of conditions predicted over the next few days could cause water levels to crest at a historic high.

and dangerously close to the top of the levies that protect new orleans from being submerged. the defence and drainage systems have been strengthened since the catastrophic flooding that followed hurricane katrina. that storm of 2005 claimed more than 1,800 lives. but the city's mayor has warned there is no drainage system in the world that can handle the amount of rain they are expecting to fall over the next 48 hours. sophie long, bbc news, new orleans. the us federal trade commission has approved a $5 billion penalty for facebook to settle an investigation into data privacy violations. it's the largest ever fine against a tech company but one that barely dents facebook‘s profits. our north america technology reporter, dave lee, has more. it is the largest fine ever levied against a us technology company, but

even so, facebook‘s many critics are calling it little more than a slap on the wrist. that's for a company that made more than $15 billion in the first three months of 2019 alone. the $5 billion facebook will reportedly now pay isn'tjust for cambridge analytica, but for a broad range of privacy violations. the us federal trade commission says facebook had breached the promise it made in 2011, over how personal data would be used. what is not yet entirely clear is what additional measures may be imposed on facebook in future, such as independent oversight of the company's privacy practices. according to reports in the us media, the measures will not include any personal repercussions or facebook‘s chief executive mark zuckerberg. facebook told investors in april that it had already put aside most of the money needed to pay this penalty, meaning there will be little financial strain on the company. one former official from the us

trade regulator said he felt facebook considered the fine simply the cost of doing business. facebook has consistently, aggressively violated consumer privacy and i believe at least in the us, it isa calculated decision, and i think the company has prioritised growth at any cost. facebook would not comment on the settlement but has in the past said it had learned tough lessons and was working hard to change. that will not be enough. one us senator called this fine a mosquito bite, pledging, like many lawmakers around the world, to create strict data privacy regulation, designed to rein in facebook and other tech giants like it. dave lee, bbc news, in san francisco. prosecutors in the case against the billionaire financier jeffrey epstein have alleged that, late last year, he tried to pay off two potential witnesses against him. he has pleaded not guilty in a new york court to charges of trafficking underage girls for sex. the case has now forced the resignation of president trump's secretary of labour —

following renewed scrutiny of his handling of similar charges leveled against epstein in florida a decade ago. bill hayton reports. a show of unity. outside the white house, president trump made clear his support for his embattled labour secretary, despite a week of criticism. it all goes back to a plea bargain that alex acosta made withjeffrey epstein in 2008. granting epstein immunity from federal prosecution if he admitted a less serious charge. mrtrump didn't think that was a problem. he made a deal that people were happy with, and 12 years later, they are not happy with it. you will have to figure all of that out. the fact is he has been a fantastic secretary of labour. and alex called me this morning and wanted to see me, i actually said, "well, we have the press right out here so perhaps you just want to say it to the press?" mr acosta will step down in one week, he said he didn't want his connection to the case

to become a distraction. i don't think it is right and fair for this administration's labour department to have epstein as the focus rather than the incredible economy that we have today. so i called the president this morning, i told him that i thought the right thing was to step aside. on monday, jeffrey epstein was charged by prosecutors in new york with two charges relating to the sex trafficking of children. if convicted, he could face 45 years in prison. acosta has welcomed the new charges against epstein but refused to comment on whether he should apologise to the victims in the florida case. president trump, who once described mr epstein as a terrific guy who was a lot of fun to be with, has tried to distance himself from the case. losing his labour secretary might make that easier. bill hayton, bbc news. turkey's defence minister has sought to reassure the united states

after ankara took delivery of a russian missile defence system. it comes at a time of deteriorating relations between the two countries. washington has repeatedly voiced its opposition to the deal. ramzan karmali reports. the arrival of a shipment from russia. on board, the s—400 anti—aircraft defence system. as the missile defence system was being unloaded, the diplomatic row over turkey buying it from the russians continued. the us is angry with its nato partner. but turkey remained defiant. translation: as we always say, s—400s are a done deal, and the process continues on course. we are coordinating it in terms of flight and personal permits. our defence ministry has made the necessary statement. currently, there is no problem, and the delivery will continue in a healthy way. the us has warned turkey that it cannot have both the s—400 anti—aircraft defence system and us f35 fighterjets.

it says it will compromise the safety of the planes. turkey has signed up to buying 100 of these warplanes, and has invested heavily in the f35 programme. in fact, hundreds of the plane's parts are made by turkish firms. america's acting defence secretary was hosting his counterpart from uzbekistan. before their meeting started, he reiterated the us‘s opposition. before we begin, let me say that we are aware of turkey taking delivery of the s—400. our position regarding the f35 has not changed. and i will speak with my turkish counterpart, mr akar, this afternoon. turkey has argued that the two systems would be located in separate locations. ankara also blamed the us for being too slow to offer an alternative missile defence shield. the deal with russia was worth $2.5 billion. but it could prove even more costly.

not only does turkey risk expulsion from the f35 programme, it may also face economic sanctions from the us. a risk that president erdogan was willing to take. ramzan karmali, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. at least seven people have been killed in a car bomb explosion at a hotel in somalia's southern port of kismayo. gunmen are reported to have stormed the building after the blast, which happened as regional politicians and clan elders met inside. the islamist group al—shabaab said it carried out the attack. new zealand is holding its first public firearms collection event in response to the mosque shootings in march which killed 51 bpeople. which killed 51 people. the ownership of the types of high—powered weapons used in the attack has been restricted. there were long queues at a racecourse in christchurch as gun—owners waited to hand in weapons. the trump administration has announced final rules to suspend a 2016 regulation that more than doubled penalties for car makers failing to meet fuel

efficiency requirements. those regulations were put in place under president obama when fines increased, but car makers protested the hike. police in the uk have begun a criminal investigation into the alleged leak of official communications from britain's outgoing ambassador to the united states. the furore over the contents of sir kim darroch's emails, which were highly critical of the trump adminstration, caused the white house to refuse to work with the ambassador, and eventually led to his resignation. dan johnson reports. who leaked the documents that parted president and ambassador and put the special relationship under strain? how did our man in washington's frank assessment end up splashed across the mail on sunday? sir kim darroch privately described the white house as dysfunctional, divided, donald trump as insecure and inept. within days, the ambassador announced he would leave his washington residency,

after the president fired back, calling him stupid and pompous, making it clear he wasn't welcome. a whitehall enquiry was started to root out the leaker, but this evening, the metropolitan police announced it would take over. the assistant commissioner said... there was even a direct appeal... i'm assuming that it is a function of how seriously it's being taken. clearly there has been damage to britain's national interest here. and i think obviously the police have more investigative powers, more tools at their disposal to find the culprit. and i think it's very important to find who is the perpetrator of this leak.

today, the president was trying to be nice, with some warmer words for sir kim. i wish the british ambassador well, but they've got to stop their leaking problems there, just like they have to stop them in our country. stopping more leaks is one challenge. finding the source of this one will be tough enough. dan johnson, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news — still to come... meet bolivia's music maestro — the man they call ‘the king of the charango'. after months of talks and missed deadlines, a deal has been struck to keep greece within the eurozone. the immediate prospect of greece going bust in the worst crisis to hit the eurozone has been averted. emergency services across central europe are stepping

up their efforts to contain the worst floods this century. nearly 100 people have been killed. broadway is traditionally called the 'great white way' by americans, but tonight it is completely blacked out. it is a timely reminder to all americans of the problems that the energy crisis has brought to them. leaders meet in paris for a summit on pollution, inflation, and third world debt. this morning, theyjoined the revolution celebrations for a show of military might on the champs—elysees. finally, wildlife officials in australia have been coping with a penguin problem. fairy penguins have been staggering ashore and collapsing after gorging themselves on huge shoals of their favourite food — pilchards. some have eaten so much that they could barely stand. this is bbc news, the latest headlines... braced for storm barry, louisiana has declared a state of emergency, with warnings of high winds

and heavy flooding as the tropical storm gathers strength. and facebook appears to have accepted a $5 billion fine for personal data breaches. with less than two weeks to go until britain's next prime minister is chosen, the two men hoping to succeed theresa may have been grilled in bbc interviews. with more on what borisjohnson and jeremy hunt had to say, here's our deputy political editor, john pienaar. they came expecting to be tested, and they were. jeremy hunt first. he's saying brexit may take a little longer than october the 31st to deliver, but how long? days, months? maybe longer, it turned out, than he'd like. if it's on or around the 31st, it has to be before christmas. i would expect so, yes. expect so? but you cannot say for sure. is there any chance we could still go into 2020 and still be a member of the eu? i don't believe so, no. hmm. but you don't rule it out?

i don't believe that would be the case because... well, this is why people don't really trust you on this. what people get with me is a prime minister who will get them out of the eu more quickly. why? parliament could block brexit with no deal, an election the only way to break the deadlock. who is the prime minister who is most likely to get us out of the eu quickly? my worry is that if people vote with their hearts, perhaps, instead of their heads, we will end up with a general election before we get to brexit. over to the frontrunner — borisjohnson and his brexit pledge. out on time, do or die. but what if a deal was within reach? nobody believes you would walk away in these circumstances. be honest with the british people. no, i think it's very, very important that we get ready to leave on october the 31st, come what may. mrjohnson's not always been easy to pin down, though that was clearly the plan today. no, no, no. no? you will follow the questions

i want to ask, not the ones you want to be asked. all right. and the latest row, had he helped drive out britain's us ambassador by failing to back him on tv after he fell out with donald trump? he said that what somebody had relayed to him had certainly been a factor. so your lack of support for him was a factor in his resignation. i think that, unfortunately, what i said on that tv debate was misrepresented to kim. will you be as craven if you were prime minister? i've been... towards the united states of america, craven? towards anybody who is powerful in the world. don't be ridiculous, if i may say so. he's still the favourite, but in ten days, we'll know whose answers will shape britain's future. boris johnson orjeremy hunt, the big questions on when and how to deliver brexit, on which tax and spending promises to keep, and which to quietly set aside. there'll be no dodging those questions once in office. until then, it's fair to say that neither man really knows the answers to some of those big questions themselves.

john pienaar, bbc news, westminster. tennis now, and roger federer has made it into his 12th wimbledon final. he won his semi—final over long—time rival rafael nadal three sets to one. he'll now face novak djokovic on sunday, who defeated roberto bautista agut in four sets earlier. here's holly hamilton at wimbledon. we had to wait 11 years for these two to face each again at wimbledon, and it was worth the wait. there really is something about these two thatjust brings out the best of each other. we didn't get the five—setter that we had back in 2008, but with four match points and lasting just over three hours, it was the epic match that we were all hoping that it would be. it was federer that started the strongest initially, kicking off proceedings with an ace, the first of seven in the opening set. and perhaps the number two seed was saving his energy. the pendulum swinging in nadal‘s direction once again as he levelled the match.

and then after federer moved back in front, we started to see signs of nadal showing frustration, just couldn't seem to find his flow. while federer‘s body language, well, itjust didn't seem to change throughout the entire match, keeping his cool as nadal saved four match points as we hit that three hour mark. federer then finally got over that hurdle at the fifth time of asking. it was much to the delight, i will say, of the crowd here behind me over on the hill. they actually come at one point, had to close it off because it was becoming just far too overcrowded, people getting very excited. it's the women's final at wimbledon today and serena williams will be facing simona halep, who, at 27, is 10 years herjunior. ms williams will be hoping to equal the all—time record of 2a grand slam titles, but she is taking nothing for granted in this match against the seventh seed.

there are so many impressive things about her. obviously, her tenacity, her ability to improve every time, and just to keep improving. her ability to find power. and you just can't underestimate her. she's like, she is like a little powerhouse. and she obviously finished the year number one twice in a row and it's like she's back and she wants to prove that she can do it again. this will be simona halep‘s first wimbledon final, and she goes into the match as the underdog, having won just one of her ten encounters with serena williams. the romanian is determined to make the most of her big opportunity. yeah, i have played many matches against her, and many of them were very close, and i have learned that i have the chance, and now,

if i face her, i will believe that i have my chance to win against her. of course i respect her a lot, what she has done and what she's doing, but for now, ifeel stronger mentally facing her and we will see what is going to happen. it's just a big challenge for me. as well as the wimbledon finals this weekend there's also the final of the cricket world cup, with england looking to lift the trophy for the first time. their appearence in sunday's final is their first in 27 years, and now only new zealand stand in the way of them making history. here's our sports editor, dan roan. it was the performance that thrust cricket back into the national conversation. england's thrashing of australia secured a first world cup finalfor 27 years. and now the hosts stand on the brink of winning the sport's flagship event for the first time. i think sunday is not a day to shy away from. it is a day to look forward to. we have created the opportunity to play a world cup final.

it will be a matter of the same. trying to produce everything that we can performance wise and enjoy the day. on sunday, england will be playing in front of more than just a sold—out lord's, because for the first time since 2005, one of their matches will be shown live on free—to—air television. amid concerns that this world cup has lacked visibility, rights holder sky agreeing to an unprecedented step in sharing their coverage with channel 4. it is a significant moment — the home world cup comes along once in a generation. we have always used this cricket world cup as a platform for building on our plan to grow cricket in this country over the next five years. the plan is all around inspiring the next generation and so the cricket world cup gives us an ideal opportunity to build on that success. the ecb insists that, thanks to events like this one, a million children have connected with cricket after the numbers playing the game had slumped over the past decade. but there's been criticism that

until now, the world cup has lacked visibility. it's a great opportunity for cricket to get more of a foothold in the uk. i mean, soccer seems to be the dominant sport and while we need to take the opportunity to expose as many people as you can to the game, when it is so popular in england, i think they would've missed a trick, yes. opponents new zealand meanwhile, spent the day preparing for their second successive world cup final. these players now all that stand between england and what would be one of the team's greatest and most important achievements. dan roan, bbc news, lord's. ernesto cavour is known by many as the world's greatest charango player. the charango is a kind of small guitar — similar to a lute. but it seems ernesto is not content with with sticking just to the charango, he's a lot more ambitious than that, as the bbc‘s tim allman explains. ernesto cavour doesn't just make music, he likes to make the things that you make music with.

this is an harpinola, a small box with strings and tuners that produces a distinctive sound. and this may look like a small charango guitar, but it doubles up as a flute. many of his inventions have gone on display in la paz, a chance for him to showcase his musical skill and his inventive nature. translation: being self-taught means learning by watching, listening and enjoying. that is what i did — a long time ago i learnt to play the guitar. that is my strength. ernesto discovered music in his teens when he enrolled in a dance class to try and overcome his shyness. he became one of bolivia's biggest musical exports touring latin america,

europe and even the soviet union. it looks like his work is inspiring a new generation. after all, ernesto knows music can be much more fun when you make it with others. tim allman, bbc news. you will recall these dramatic images from paris from last april of the scene of notre dame cathedral up in flames, and its central spire collasping to the ground. well, now the copper rooster which stood atop that spire has arrived, dented and bruised, at a workshop in south—west france. it was salvaged from the rubble inside the cathedral and is now part of the debate over how to rebuild the monument. some argue it should go on display as a witness to the blaze. a reminder of our top story...

we are watching tropical storm barry which is due to hit the us state of louisiana. the us state has declared a state of emergency there. we will keep you up—to—date with developments on that story. stay with us. with the weekend upon us, the weather is looking generally dry and settled for many of us. it has been quite a warm, humid week, but actually things have been turning a little bit fresher. through the weekend, plenty of spells of sunshine, one or two showers around. it won't be quite as hot and humid as it has been earlier in the week. the reason for the dry and settled theme is this area of high pressure that is building its way in from the west. slowly, that will squeeze away a ny leftover showers. we will still have one or two showers on saturday morning, particularly for parts of northern and eastern scotland. later in the day, a few cropping up down the pennines, in towards the midlands, and perhaps the odd one reaching the south—east of england as well. elsewhere, a lot of dry weather. the cloud should thin and break during the day and allow some sunshine to break through.

with temperatures in the region of around 17 — 2a degrees. so reasonably warm still through the day on saturday. of course, the action continues at the championships in wimbledon. during saturday, we are expecting mainly dry and settled weather. there is just the outside chance of a shower or two. by sunday, it looks like things should be dry at wimbledon. so heading through saturday evening, you can seejust a few showers continuing through the spine of england. they should tend to fade away overnight as we move on into sunday as higher pressure builds in from the west. temperatures a fraction cooler, i think, first thing sunday morning. it won't be too warm or humid. some spells of sunshine from the word go for many of us, but still some patchy cloud drifting about. the wind turning more northerly, so that will draw in a bit more cloud and a bit of a cooler feel around these eastern coasts of england and scotland too. just the off—chance that we might catch one or two showers further west by the time we get to sunday. it will probably be warmest towards the south—west of england and wales, 23 degrees there in cardiff, cooler where you have got that breeze coming in from the north sea further east. of course, it is the british grand

prix at silverstone on sunday. it should be dry, we are expecting a fair amount of cloud, 19 degrees or so with just a gentle north—easterly breeze. and for the cricket world cup final as well at lord's, a dry theme to the weather through the day on sunday. not quite as hot or as humid as it has been. then that largely settled and bright theme continues into the first part of the working week before it then turns unsettled from mid week onwards. before i let you go, let's have look at what is happening on the other side of the atlantic because tropical storm barry is strengthening. it is likely to strengthen quite soon into a hurricane before making landfall in louisiana. this is likely to bring some very damaging winds, intense heavy rainfall as well as a significant storm surge which is bringing dangerous conditions and flooding through parts of louisiana. we have got more details on tropical storm barry on our website. bye— bye.

this i this s bbc news. the headlines: the us state of louisiana is bracing for the arrival of a potentially devastating storm that is currently gathering strength over the gulf of mexico. it's expected to make landfall within the next few hours. the within the next few hours. national hurricane centi expects the national hurricane center expects it to become a hurricane before reaching the coast. the us federal trade commision is reported to have approved a $5 billion penalty for facebook over its handling of users' personal data. republican members of the regulator are said to have backed the settlement, with democrats voting against. facebook has been hit by a series of privacy scandals, including one involving the political consultancy firm, cambridge analytica. turkey has received the first shipment of a controversial russian air missile defence system. the united states has threatened ankara with sanctions over the purchase which they repeatedly asked turkey to cancel.