hello and welcome. the southern us state of louisiana is being battered by a powerful tropical storm, bringing torrential rain and winds of up to 112 kilometres per hour. but storm barry has lost some of its strength since coming ashore as a category1 hurricane. this is bbc news. i'm reged ahmad. forecasters have warned our top stories: of a dangerous storm surge on the gulf coast, with flooding storm barry weakens expected to be most severe as it strikes land, south—west of new orleans. but the danger for america's we are not out of the conditions gulf coast is not over. that will cause heavy rainfall for the city of orleans. we are out of the eye, although barry has slowed, it's also intensified, pushing the timing of expected but we are not out of the conditions impacts further into today, that will cause heavy rainfall tonight, and sunday. for the city of new orleans. 26 people are killed in an attack on a hotel in southern somalia. al sha baab militants claim responsibility. a ii,500—year—old pyramid south of the egyptian capital cairo is opened to visitors. simona halep wins her first wimbledon title — 00:00:42,296 --> 2147483051:37:05,862 beating serena williams 2147483051:37:05,862 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 in straight sets. the bbc‘s sophie long joins me now from new orleans. sophie, this storm has been downgraded from a hurricane. how is it still dangerous? well, as you can

see, am in the centre of your lens and it is raining quite hard at the moment. what we are experiencing is southern downpours of rain. forecasters are warning the rain will become more persistent. that is what they are really worried about. the conditions that preceded this storm meant that the mississippi river was very high, swollen to flooding levels already, and forecasters are predicting there could be up to two feet of rain to fall in the next 48 hours. it is going to land on already saturated ground. the street behind me was flooded three days ago. as i said, the mississippi river is already high. so they are worried there could still be some flooding in new o rlea ns. could still be some flooding in new orleans. we had some good news today. this storm was downgraded from a hurricane as it made landfall toa from a hurricane as it made landfall to a tropical storm again. but parts of the coast in particular, are still experiencing very strong winds of up to 70 mph and some flooding. there were concerns about the new o rlea ns there were concerns about the new orleans levies, how are they holding out? well, actually, concern about

the levies is petering off as well. they thought they could be a problem. the levies are built to withstand up to 20 feet of rain, withstand up to 20 feet of rain, with the storm surge you talked about and the rain we are seeing in the next 48—hour was, it was feared that the levels of the mississippi could crest at 19 feet, dangerously close to the 20 foot they can deal with. we are now told the authorities are confident that they will do theirjob and protect new o rlea ns will do theirjob and protect new orleans from the catastrophic flooding that was seen in the aftermath of hurricane katrina. it claimed the lives of 1800 people and devastated the lives of many more. the authorities are confident that the levies will hold. so that'll be a huge relief to here in new o rlea ns. a huge relief to here in new orleans. they were told by the mayor, that you had from there, to hunger down last night, make sure their properties were short it was oui’ their properties were short it was our base, and to hunker down for up to three days with supplies. that advice was heeded last night —— shore up their houses. it was a much

quieter scene last night than you would have expected for new orleans last night. families are out and about now. people have umbrellas and rain jackets. but they are not listening to the advice quite so much as they were. they have come out onto the streets. the message from the mayor has been quite clear, don't be complacent, we're not out of woods yet, it is the rainfall in the next 48 hours but is thought could still cause flooding. a huge amount has been spent on the flood systems in the 14 years that has passed since katrina, and the drainage system as well that we have spoken to meteorologists and those who know the city and they say there are very few drainage systems in the world that could cope with that kind of deluge. storm barry has been a messy storm, a sloppy stomp, they say it has been very slow—moving and ha rd to say it has been very slow—moving and hard to predict, and if that rainfall prediction is correct they are still at risk of seeing flooding over the next two days also. sophie long in new orleans keeping us

up—to—date. thank you very much. 26 people are now known to have been killed, and more than 50 others injured, in an attack on a hotel in southern somalia on friday. militants from the al—shabaab group are thought to have targeted a meeting between local politicians and elders — a month before important elections. among those who died, in the city of kismayo, were an election candidate, journalists and an aid worker. bill hayton reports. the aftermath of a 14 hour gun battle. a building devastated and lives destroyed. it has been four yea rs lives destroyed. it has been four years since the city of kismayo had suffered scenes like this. but on friday evening its relative peace was destroyed by the militants of the al—sha baab was destroyed by the militants of the al—shabaab group. the hotel was protected by blast walls and security guards, but the attackers still found a way in.

translation: there were four assailants. one was the suicide bomber who blew himself up in the car filled with explosives. two were killed while fighting. in a wooded attacker was captured alive. those three were the ones who are fighting inside the hotel. is thought the attackers were targeting a meeting attackers were targeting a meeting at the hotel where regional officials were discussing elections due to take place in a southern region in august and september. among the many people killed were a politician running for the provincial presidency, a regional minister, a prominentjournalist, and several somalis who had returned from living abroad. one was hodan nalayeh, who had recently returned from canada and set up a popular television station. she was killed along with her husband. many others we re along with her husband. many others were injured. the regional president came to visit some of them. the most severely wounded were evacuated from kismayo to the capital, mogadishu. the al—sha baab group kismayo to the capital, mogadishu. the al—shabaab group recently defended its targeting of hotels,

calling them military barracks and headquarters for apostates. this attack on kismayo threatens to stall southern somalia's long jetty two apiece. bill hayton, bbc news. —— long journey to peace. our africa security correspondent tomi oladipo says that, until now, the city had been thought of as a peaceful area surrounded by a violent region. kismayo, with this particular tuck up kismayo, with this particular tuck up&co kismayo, with this particular tuck up & co port city, has actually been relatively safe. the last major attack and was in 2015. al—shabaab was driven out of the city back in 2012. so this is the kind of city that seem to be relatively safe and popular among business people. but in the rest of the country, particularly in the south and central parts of the country, al—shabaab central parts of the country, al—sha baab has established central parts of the country, al—shabaab has established a present that has been difficult to get rid of —— presence. in the government and its international partners have struggled to regain control over these parts, despite the us air

strikes and multinational forces operating in the area. so al—shabaab is still an ever present threat to destabilise the country. tomi oladipo there. let's get some of the day's other news. thousands of people have taken to the streets of the sudanese capital, khartoum, to mark 40 days since security forces shot dead dozens of demonstrators. protestors are calling for an independent investigation into the killings. sudan's ruling military council has called on people to support the power sharing agreement negotiated between the army and the civilian opposition. more than 30 people have died in floods in nepal and north—eastern india. torrential monsoon rain has caused landslides across the region and caused swollen rivers to reach dangerous levels. more than eight hundred thousand people have been affected by the floodwaters. senior venezuelan officials have led a march through the streets of the capital, caracas, in protest against a recently published un report, which accuses the government of widespread human rights abuses against opposition activists. the government says the findings are biased and aimed at discrediting president nicolas maduro.

the two men vying to become britain's next prime minister, boris johnson and jeremy hunt, have both defended the right ofjournalists to publish leaked government documents, after police warnings that it could be a criminal offence under the country's official secrets act. scotland yard is investigating the leak, and publication, of secret dispatches by sir kim darroch, britain's former ambassador in washington, which were highly critical of the trump administration. sir kim subsequently resigned. here's our political correspondent nick eardley. the leaking of kim darroch's e—mails about president trump has caused diplomatic chaos, political controversy, and led to the ambassador‘s resignation. now it's caused a furious row about press freedom and what papers should be able to publish. scotland yard has warned publishing further leaks could be a crime, last night urging the media to return any documents to the government.

but many have raised concerns — including the candidates to be the next prime minister. it cannot conceivably be right that newspapers or any other media organisation publishing such material should face prosecution. it is embarrassing but it is not a threat to national security. and it is the duty of media organisations to bring new and interesting facts into the public domain. jeremy hunt said journalists should judge if the leaks are in the public interest. i think it is also very important to defend in a free society the right of the press to publish material that they think is in the public interest. leaks that they get obviously mustn't breach the official secrets act. scotland yard, though, believes it does exactly that. in a statement, assistant commissioner neil basu said:

"the metropolitan police respect the rights of the media and have no intention of seeking to prevent editors from publishing stories in the public interest in a liberal democracy." "however, we have been told the publication of these specific documents, now knowing they may be a breach of the official secrets act, could also constitute a criminal offence and one that carries no public interest defence." but, again, there's a warning. journalists can't use the defence of public interest because itjust doesn't apply to state secrets. there would still be a public interest test to prosecute, though, but many think that is unlikely. the only prosecutions we've had are of civil servants who've leaked information to the media, in some circumstances they've leaked information to mps. but the media who reported those materials weren't themselves prosecuted. and so it would be very unusual and rather unlikely that any sort of prosecution would happen. the leak of sir kim's e—mails has caused headaches for government and curtailed his time in one of the uk's most important diplomatic postings. now it threatens to put the police against the press too.

nick eardley reporting there. meanwhile, a british newspaper has published more leaks of diplomatic cables from the former ambassador. the mail on sunday reveals that in may last year, sir kim darroch said donald trump was set upon ‘an act of diplomatic vandalism' — unilaterally abandoning the international agreement limiting iran's nuclear programme. sir kim accused the president of acting for ‘personality reasons', because his predecessor, barack obama, had helped to negotiate the deal. in hong kong, police have clashed with demonstrators, angry at the presence of traders from mainland china. the visitors bulk—buy products in hong kong and take them home to sell, which the protesters claim is a form of tax avoidance. police have used batons and pepper spray on the crowds. the bbc‘s stephen mcdonell reports from the scene. this seems to be the new normal in hong kong. every weekend there are a rolling series of protests which at any stage could turn into a conflict with the police.

they start off as a march and then at the end those who i suppose you could say are at the more radical end of the protest movement are really taking it up to the authorities. police here also showing that their tolerance for the tactics of these protesters is growing smaller and smaller. now they are turning out in big numbers again. you can see rows of riot police here in this shopping district tonight. even though most of the demonstrators have gone home they have decided to push them out of the streets and clean out the area. they are calling out warnings for people to leave, they are shaking their cans of pepper spray, batons and shields are ready, and now they are going to come forward. here they come. the riot police have decided that the time for this protest to come to an end is now. they are moving towards these

makeshift barricades to pull them apart. and in big numbers they are going to return this shopping district to the way that it was. the thing is, it is hard to see how this is going to finish because on the one hand, beijing is not going to easily give people in hong kong genuine universal suffrage, not without a fight. but on the other hand, these protesters now, at least many amongst them, they are not going to give up, unless they have genuine one person one vote democracy in hong kong. one thing is for certain however, there is no going back to the way things were, so both sides need to find a way forward. stay with us on bbc news, still to come:

we look ahead to another big sporting event on sunday — the cricket world cup where a new name is certain to be on the trophy. 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 worse 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 a huge shoal of their favourite food, pilchards. some had eaten so much they could barely stand. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: a tropical storm is battering the us state of louisiana, with officials warning of potentially life—threatening floods. joining me now from denham springs in louisiana is kiran chow—la , reporter for louisiana's wafb, tv station. thank you for your time. where are you and what is happening? we are specifically in denim springs, we have parishes, we do not have

counties here. i can see a river behind you. have the levels been rising, has there been a lot of rain? this is the amy river behind me. i do not know if your viewers are familiar, back into thousand 16, we had a massive flood and it was not a named storm. the river rose to 46 feet. right now it is at ten feet. the projected height was 41 feet. the projected height was 41 feet and that is supposed to happen on tuesday. however the rain did start... actually we did not get as much rain as expected but this reason, the reason i show you this, you can see how come it is. it would have come up 31 more feed. that was a projection and because it has not come up yet, and we are expecting the projection to go down, the figures are starting to go down a

little bit however we have the rest of the night to go. we hear there is a lot more rain expected. how are people still preparing for that? are people still preparing for that? are people still preparing for that? are people still quite worried even though the concerns have lessened slightly? of course. they are still concerned because it goes back to 2016, the fear is still there. that was simply rain that sat over us. this is a named storm. nobody is taking any chances. our local officials and everybody is preparing for this. we have emergency vehicles on standby, police, firefighters, everybody has been on standby. talking to all the officials as well as people in the community, they all say they are not finished in calling it quits but they are cautiously optimistic. we can hear it is a

steel quite windy where you. we have been hearing about some evacuations. have a lot of people left in your area? is it quite an empty town? no, we did not have many evacuations. a lot of people ended up raising things up, moving their vehicles but ido things up, moving their vehicles but i do not know of many evacuations. that is more towards the coast of louisiana. or people who live along the river but not this specific river here. thank you so much for your time river here. thank you so much for yourtime and river here. thank you so much for your time and putting us in the picture. you are welcome. simona halep has upset the odds to claim her first wimbledon title. the 27—year—old romanian becomes the first player from her country to win any singles title at the tournament and in doing so she also prevented serena williams from claiming another piece of tennis history. our sports correspondent andy swiss

was at the all england club. it was the day one wimbledon dream was realised while another was ruthlessly dashed. serena williams had emerged to royal approval in search of a record—equalling 24th grand slam title. but simona halep clearly hadn't read the script. halep won the first four games in 11 magical minutes. taking the first set in a blaze of brilliance. desperately, williams dug deep. at last, some flickers of that familiar fire. but they were soon snuffed out. in less than an hour, it was all over. cue delight and utter disbelief. halep had produced the performance of her life and her opponent knew it. she literally played out of her mind! congratulations, simona! applause. it was my mum's dream whenever i was about ten or 12, she said if i wanted to do something in tennis, i had to play the final of wimbledon.

so the day came. so, my mum, thanks! applause. thanks to my parents, actually. applause. well, what drama the fans here have seen. most were expecting to watch serena williams make history. but instead, they have a new champion. and as a fan of the duchess of cambridge, things got even better. really well done. honestly. a quick chat before even more cheers. for simona halep, the perfect ending to a near—perfect performance. andy swiss, bbc news, wimbledon. congratulations to her. sunday is the men's final at wimbledon as well as the british grand prix on an exciting day for sports fans. it all starts here in london with the cricket world cup final. and we know there'll be a new name on that trophy. england and new zealand contest the game at lord's and while new zelaand's last

appearance in the final was just four years ago england have had to wait 27 years for a crack at the top prize. joe wilson reports from lord's. commentator: england are through to the world cup final! so they are here. whoever wins tomorrow, a new nation will be world champion. lord's has hosted the men's world cup finalfour times before. england's men have reached the cricket world cup final three times before and never won it. it is indisputably a big deal. it is that far removed i never even in my wildest dreams dreamt of it. it is awesome. i dreamt of hitting the runs in the world cup final, i never dreamt i would lead my country out in the world cup final, so that probably sums up how much it means. new zealand were the beaten finalists in the last world cup. they knocked out the mighty india in this semifinal, and yet, as the captain knows, they're always described

as the underdogs. england deserve to be favourites. whatever dog we are, it is just important we focus on the cricket that we want to play and we have seen over the years that anybody can beat anybody, regardless of breed of dog. both nations hope the fixture can inspire cricket participation. both nations hope victory can inspire cricket participation. both captains will now look no further than 100 overs, right here. an ancient pyramid just south of cairo, that marks a key step in the evolution of egyptian pyramid construction, has been opened to visitors. dubbed the bent pyramid, it was built more than 4,500 years ago. tourists will be able to clamber down a narrow tunnel, to explore two chambers deep inside. the bbc‘s tim allman has more. ancient egypt always has more

secrets to reveal. before the great herremans of giza, there was the bent pyramid. built for the founder of the fozzy dynasty, its unusual design a stepping stone for what was to come. government officials delighted to show it off. it is a very important archaeological site. two pyramids, bent pyramid and the northern or red pyramid. and three pyramids of the middle kingdom, the 12th dynasty. and our people can see it like they have never done before. a narrow, 80 metre long tunnel leading down to the heart of the pyramid. one dignitary believes it will be worth it. this is one of the lesser—known places here but one of the most beautiful. those two

pyramids are really jewels the most beautiful. those two pyramids are reallyjewels which tourists must come and see. also on display, mummies, masks, tools and confidence discovered during recent excavation on the side. it will be open for another two years but, in this place, where history stretches back millennia, that is no time at all. tim allman, bbc news vets in eastern india are nursing a cobra back to health after it was pierced with an arrow. locals in puri had attacked the snake with an iron bolt which had damaged its lungs. but vets managed to remove the arrow and the cobra is now said to be recovering. stay with us on bbc news. more coming up. don't forget i am on twitter. see you soon.

hello. the first half of the weekend has been mainly dry and fine for most. for others, a few hefty showers, particularly across the eastern side of scotland, into pennines, through the midlands, east anglia and south—east england. this building area of high pressure through the early hours of sunday morning will tend to ease away most of the showers but we could keep one or two going first on sunday across east anglia and south—east england. a lot of cloud around to start the day. it will thin and break. we'll all see some spells of sunshine, particularly across northern ireland, a fine day here. still the chance of one or two showers across the higher ground of scotland, northern england and wales. maybe one or two across south—west england, but most will have a mainly dry day, fairly light winds as well, except for eastern coasts. brisker breeze here, a bit more in the way of cloud at times, just keeping temperatures pegged back to around 17 or 18 celsius. further west, in the best of the sunshine, 21—24 celsius. some fine conditions for the cricket world cup

final at lord's. a lot of cloud around through the morning, but it will thin and break and by the afternoon some spells of sunshine, lighter gentle north—easterly breeze, highs of 21 celsius. similar conditions at wimbledon as well. so it's a fine evening for most. late spells of sunshine. as the night wears on, more cloud feeding into northern scotland, eastern parts of scotland and england. could be low enough that cloud to bring patchy drizzle but for most it is a dry night. clearer skies further west. slightly cooler night as well, lows of between nine and 13 celsius. it's a quiet start to the new week. we've still got our area of high pressure so it's mainly dry. some cloud around through the morning, will thin and break, much more sunshine by the afternoon, fewer showers as well, if any. most will stay dry. temperatures up a notch, 21—24 celsius. a little bit warmer along eastern coasts as the winds subtlely changes direction. as we we from monday into tuesday, here's our area of high pressure still with us. look what's happening inthe the atlantic, though, a frontal system starting to make inroads.

so that's going to start to produce some showers on tuesday, perhaps across northern ireland, the western side of scotland and just filtering their way a bit further north and eastwards, across scotland through the day. it could become heavy in places. for much of england and wales, dry, fine, very warm — 24 or 25 celsius. on tuesday afternoon. as you go into wednesday, the front pushing further eastwards. while most of england and wales will stay dry for a time, we will see increasing cloud and eventually some outbreaks of rain. that means in turns more unsettled by the end of the week. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. the headlines: tropical storm barry is bringing torrential rain and high winds to the southern us state of louisiana. millions of people are bracing themselves for potentially life—threatening flooding. tens of thousands of homes and businesses are without power and new orleans airport

has been closed. al—shabaab militants have killed 26 people and injured many more in their biggest attack in years on the southern somali port of kismayo. politicians, aid workers and journalists were among the victims, who were gunned down in an exclusive hotel. the authorities say three of the islamist militants died, a fourth was captured alive. a 4,500—year—old pyramid just south of the egyptian capital cairo has been opened to visitors. tourists will be able to clamber down an 80—metre long narrow tunnel to reach two chambers deep inside the ancient structure. the so—called bent pyramid was built for pharaoh sneferu. financial pressures on private and independent day nurseries