this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: a tropical storm is battering the us state of louisiana, with officials warning of potentially life threatening floods. power is restored in new york after an outage hit more than 40,000 people — stranding subway trains and trapping people in lifts. in a new reported leak of diplomatic cables, the former british ambassador to the us describes president trump's withdrawal from the iran nuclear deal as "diplomatic vandalism". and a ii,500—year—old pyramid in egypt prepares to open to visitors.

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. forecasters have warned of a dangerous storm surge on the gulf coast, with flooding expected to be most severe south—west of new orleans. the bbc‘s sophie long is in new orleans and explained why storm barry remains dangerous. what we are experiencing is sudden downpours of rain, forecasters are warning that rain is going to become more persistent. that is what they're really worried about here, the conditions that preceded this storm, that the mississippi river was very, very high, silence of flooding levels already. forecasters predict they could be up to two feet of rain to fall over the next 48 hours. now it's going to land on already saturated ground, the street behind me was flooded three days ago, and as i said, the mississippi river is already high.

so they are worried that there could still be some flooding here in orleans. we had some good news today, that storm was downgraded from a hurricane as it made landfall to a tropical storm barry. but parts of the coast in particular are still experiencing those very strong winds of up to 70 miles an hour and some flooding there, too. there were concerns about the new orleans levees, how are they holding out? actually, concern about the levees is now petering off as well. they thought that could be a problem, the levees are built to withstand up to 20 feet of rain, with the storm surge you talked about an older rain we are seeing over the next 48 hours, it was feared that those levels could crest that 19 feet, so dangerously close to the 20 feet are able to deal with. we are told now the authorities are confident they will do theirjob and protect new orleans from the catastrophic flooding that it saw in the aftermath of hurricane katrina. no—one in the city will ever forget

that it claimed the lives of 1800 people and devastated the lives of many more. the authorities are confident that the levees will hold, so that will be a huge relief to people here in new orleans. they were told by the mayor to hunker down last night, to make their preparations, to shore up their properties with sandbags and stock up on supplies to hunker down for up to three days. that advice was headed last night, and these dudes were almost deserted. throughout day we have seen people coming back out, it is still a much quieter scene than you would normally expect for this time in new orleans, but for now we are seeing families out and about, people have got

umnbrellas and rain jackets but they aren't is linked to that advice as much as they were, but the message from the mayor has been very clear today is a good as don't be complacent, we aren't out of the woods yet. it is the rainfall they are expecting over the next 48 hours that they think could still cause flooding. a huge amount has been spent on flood defence systems in the past 14 years since katrina and the drainage system as well. but we've spoken to meteorologist and people who know this city and they say there are very few drainage systems in the world that could cope with that kind of deluge. the storm has been a messy storm, a sloppy storm as they say, it's been very slow moving and hard to predict. if that rainfall prediction is correct, then they could still see flooding here in the next two days or so. power's been restored to all of new york city after an outage lasting several hours. the difficulties started with a fire in an electrical transformer in manhattan — the most densely populated of the city's five boroughs. street lights and traffic lights were put out of action — and the subway system was affected. the bbc‘s tim allman reports. life is certainly never dial in new

york city. the upper west side of manhattan, members of the public having to direct cars because the traffic lights woodworking —— dull. and this was the new york subway, much of it cast into darkness. the trains providing the only illumination. new york is a city of a million lights, just not today. at 6:47pm there was an electrical disturbance in the system affecting approximately 62,000 customers in the manhattan area. this was caused bya the manhattan area. this was caused by a power outage on the west side of manhattan. one part of town affected was broadway, with many shows having to be cancelled. envelope is "devastated and heartbroken that ikard perform for all of you tonight. we will make this up to you, a promise". —— jennifer lopez tweeted. irony of ironies, this all happened

42 years to the day after the fire —— famous neil black out of 1977. that was on a much larger scale and lasted nearly two days by this time of night the news had started to come back on. that will follow later today and tomorrow... the lights just went on behind you. how do you feel about that? i feeljust as well as everyone in the crowd does, believe me. some traffic problems continued into the night, as work went on to restore power to all new yorkers. times square was u naffected, yorkers. times square was unaffected, still lit up like a christmas tree. new york is always defiant. tim allman, bbc news. 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's 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—shabaab group. the asasey 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. and a wounded attacker was captured alive. those three were the ones who were fighting inside the hotel. it's thought the attackers were targeting a meeting at the hotel where regional officials were discussing elections due to take place in the southern region ofjubaland 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 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—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 journey to peace. bill hayton, bbc news. 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 0fficial 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 0bama, had helped

to negotiate the deal. i asked the former american ambassador to canada, bruce heyman whether the latest leaks change the diplomatic situation between the uk and the us. so when we talk about iran and these new cables that have come out, i think the uk ambassador came to reasonable conclusions based on what he was seeing in washington and everything i have heard. part of the contents of this new reported leak is that the, basically donald trump pulled out of the iran deal in order... because it was from his predecessor, ba rack 0bama. but there's still a lot of support for what donald trump has done, within the united states, for pulling out of this deal.

so is it necessarily an accurate assessment? i think the word "diplomatic vandalism" is a new term i'll be using more often about president trump. you know he has broken away with agreements with the paris accord, the tpp, daca, with other things. i think that while there are issues with iran, clearly, in terms of its behaviour around the world and fomenting terrorism, the work at reducing nuclear risk that we did is something that is unfortunate the president has put us injeopardy by walking away from. but again, there's still a lot of support what president trump has done. has it really come down to president trump as my personality he is definitely a unique character. and he is trying to isolate the country. and he thinks of himself

in the following terms. the art of the deal, for him, is about his winning, somebody has to lose. this further leak, it is unclear if there are more leaks to come. how will the diplomatic community in the us, at least, be reacting to this, especially now that an ambassador has resigned? i think the fallout as a result of the president's treatment of the uk ambassador will potentially hurt the president's own ambassadors globally i think the cutting of the uk ambassador gives other countries, including our allies, tacit approval to shutdown communication with us ambassadors if they don't like what they are saying. this is very harmful to the entire diplomatic sphere that we have been operating for many decades. ambassador bruce heyman. 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. power has been restored in new york after an outage hit more than 60,000 people, stranding subway trains and trapping people in lifts. in venezuela senior officials have led a march in protest against a recent un report, which accused the government of widespread human rights abuses towards opposition activists. those marching in caracas dismissed the report as lies, saying its findings are biased and aimed at discrediting president nicolas maduro. alfredo romero is a human rights

lawyer and president of foro penal, an organisation providing legal assistance to those suffering human rights violations in venezuela. he says the government appears to have changed its mind about the report by un human rights chief michelle bachelet. last week or two weeks ago, it was a visit of mrs bachelet and actually the government said publicly that they were so happy with the visit of mrs bachelet, and actually they said that they will recognise, they will follow all the recommandations. actually they took pictures, with bachelet, here in venezuela, i'm talking about the president, i'm talking about the attorney general, and actually it seems to me very contradictory that now they are against this report. this report basically says what we ngos here in venezuela and internationally, ngos like amnesty international,

human rights watch, have said many times before, that there are forced disappearances in venezuela, that are still going on, that there are political prisoners still there, that people have been tortured for political reasons... sorry to interrupt but you do your own research on human rights and i was wondering, when you looked at that un report, did some of the evidence concur with the people that you speak to and help? yeah, of course. we see not just the families of political prisoners that are injail this moment, people that have been tortured, for example, suffocated with plastic bags, or they have been victims of electric shocks, but also people that have been injail and have been released and they told us what happened to them and it is exactly the same pattern.

the most important tool of maduro is political repression and, actually, he has been very effective using political repression to keep in power. so actually, it is a shame to say that i don't see an important change after this un report. actually, what i see is more political prisoners, more political detainees. a 25—year—old man has been charged with the murder of a heavily pregnant woman and the manslaughter of her baby son. she was eight months pregnant when she was attacked and killed at her home in south london. her son was delivered by paramedics but died in hospital four days later. the wimbledon men's final is due to take place a little later, and will see two of the legends of the modern game face each other,

as eight—time champion roger federer takes to the court against novak djokovic, who has himself triumphed at wimbledon four times. ahead of the crunch match, djokovic spoke about the difficulties federer poses, and why this iconic tournament means so much to him. facing roger in the final is something i have experienced before. i know what kind of challenge that is for me and i know his game really well. i know what he will try to do in that final and hopefully i will be able to prepare myself well and execute the tactics accordingly. when i was a boy, this was always a tournament that i kind of observed and valued the most of any. it is a most unique final of any tournament in the world, it really is. it is such a sacred tennis club and the

surface and the stadium is very special and unique and i cannot wait to step onto the cot. djokovic's opponent roger feder is now considered one of the all—time greats, and is instantly recognisable across the globe but legendary status did not always seem inevitable for him. the 37 year—old was in a reflective mood as he spoke the 37 year—old was in a reflective mood as he spoke to the bbc with the championship finale approaching. reporter: if someone said to you at the age of 38 you would have one eight titles and been in with a chance at winning another one at this age what would you have said? not possible. very simple. you aim for one maybe two, three but no not so for one maybe two, three but no not so farahead. i for one maybe two, three but no not so far ahead. i feel really good. i re cove red so far ahead. i feel really good. i recovered well after the match against ref rommedahl stop it has not been a difficult tournament for

me. “— not been a difficult tournament for me. —— against rafael nadal. i have to remind myself we have one more match to go and i need to be ready. the cricket world cup final also takes place here in london later. england take on new zealand at lord's. from there, joe wilson reports. commentator: england are through to the world cup final! so they are here. whoever wins, 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 a world cup final, so that probably sums up how much it means. new zealand were

the beaten finalists in the last world cup. inthis tournament they knocked out the mighty india in this semifinal, and yet, 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 victory can inspire cricket participation. both captains will now look no further than 100 overs, right here. joe wilson, bbc news. an ancient pyramid just south of cairo, that marks a key step in the evolution of egyptian pyramid construction, is to be 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‘sjoerg schulze has more.

ancient egypt always has more secrets to reveal. before the great pyramids of giza, there was the bent pyramid, of sneferu. built for the founder of the 4th dynasty, its unusual design a stepping stone for what was to come. government officials delighted to show it off. dahshur is a very important archaeological site, with five pyramids at least. two pyramids of sneferu, the bent pyramid, and the northern or the red pyramid. and three pyramids of the middle kingdom, the 12th dynasty. and now, people can see it like they never have before. a narrow, albeit fairly steep, 80—metre long tunnel leading down into the heart of the pyramid. it doesn't look like the easiest of trips but at least one visiting dignitary believes it will be worth it. this is one of the less known places here but one of the most beautiful. those two pyramids are reallyjewels

which tourists must come and see. also on display, mummies, masks, tools and coffins discovered during recent excavations of the site. the pyramid won't actually be opened to the public for another two years but, in this place, where history stretches back millennia, that is no time at all. one of paris' most celebrated restaurants will reopen to diners on sunday, four months after it was destroyed by anti—government protesters. the so—called yellow vest movement was responsible for looting and setting fire to le fouquet, on the champs elysees in march. known as a glamourous hangout for the rich and powerful, it was one of several businesses targeted as demonstrators fought running battles with police, who responded with water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets. restoration work has reproduced

the plush red and black interior exactly as it was before the attack. stay with us on bbc news. 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 the 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 some 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 subtly

changes direction. as we go from monday into tuesday, here's our area of high pressure still with us. look what's happening in the 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. but here's our front as we go into wednesday, starting to push its way further eastwards. so whilst most of england and wales will probably stay mainly dry for a time on wednesday, we will see increasing cloud and eventually some outbreaks of rain. and 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. engineers in new york have managed to restore electricity supplies after a major failure cut power to more than 20,000 people. the fire department said the problem appeared to have originated at a substation, but the cause was being investigated. the blackout stranded subway trains and trapped people in lifts. further leaks of diplomatic cables sent by britain's former ambassador to washington have been published in the uk. they suggest the ambassador, kim darroch, believed that president trump unilaterally abandoned the iran nuclear deal last year to spite his predecessor ba rack 0bama. sir kim described the decision as "diplomatic vandalism".