welcome to bbc news — i'm david eades. our top stories. in cuba, the biggest protests against the communist government in decades — president biden says the protests are a "clarion call for freedom". at least a0 people have been killed in a fire at a iraqi hospital treating coronavirus patients, in the city of nassiriya. dozens of patients are missing. south africa's president appeals for an end to days of violence and looting, sparked by the jailing of his predecessor. the wildfires rage on, the heat intensifies as millions struggle amid record—breaking temperatures in the western us. the best way to describe it, which is the way my friend described it, is that moment when you open the oven and that gust of heat

hits you in the face. and to the victors the spoils. italy's football team get a heroes�* welcome home after their dramatic win over england in the euros. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. opponents of cuba's communist government say dozens of activists have been arrested after thousands of people joined the biggest protests in decades. some were detained at the demonstrations, others were arrested at their homes. the protests called for democratic freedoms and criticised the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. president miguel diaz—canel has blamed the united states�* embargo for the unrest. he said it was aimed at encouraging dissent

and social unrest. our north america editor jon sopel has more. libertad! "libertad", the crowd in havana shouts, orfreedom. but while many cubans feel this in their hearts, it's extremely rare for protesters to take to the streets to give vent to their anger in this one—party communist state. translation: we are here because of the repression l against the people. they are starving us to death. havana is collapsing. we have no house, nothing, but they have the money to build hotels and they have us starving. and shouting "down with the dictatorship," as many of the protesters did, can come with a heavy price. but a toxic cocktail of economic collapse, a faltering response to the pandemic and lack of civil liberties has emboldened these people. and the response of the president? "blame your over—mighty neighbourjust 90 miles to the north, the united states." translation: there will be a revolutionary response, i

so we call upon all the revolutionaries in the country, all the communists, to take to the streets of any of the places where these provocations are going to take place. for decades, cuba was a flashpoint in the cold war between the us and the soviet union. archive report: the familiar communist brainwashing - technique is displayed - in propaganda books constantly spewed out as required reading. nearly sparking a nuclear confrontation between the superpowers. in this period, hundreds of thousands of cubans fled to the us and to miami. and it was no surprise that last night the exiled community was out in force to support their countrymen, support that's come from the american president, too. i don't think we've seen anything like this protest in a long, long time, if, quite frankly, ever. the united states stands firmly with the people of cuba as they assert their universal rights, and we call on the government of cuba

to refrain from violence, and their attempts to silence the voice of the people of cuba. this is being watched incredibly closely by the white house. sanctions that were intensified in the trump era have not been relaxed byjoe biden. what needs to be weighed is whether this is just a spasmodic outburst or the start of a cuban spring and something much more fundamental. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. i'm joined by professor jorge duany, director of the cuban research institute at florida international university in miami. thank you very much forjoining us. i want to start with the point made byjon there, do you think this is going to run on or is it likely to be dealt with fairly comfortably now? well, it appears from reports today on television, diaz—canel

government has been able control the protests, an image of the capital building which had been surrounded by protesters yesterday, today it was cordoned off, withjust police on the streets. so it appears it was quite quickly controlled by the government. in which case, president diaz—canel makes the point, not for the first time, that this is the fault of the united states. given the nature of the embargo and given the biden administration's lack of movement, let's say, in terms of the embargo, does he have a point? i of the embargo, does he have a oint? ~' ., , , point? i think he does. it is the traditional— point? i think he does. it is the traditional kneejerk - the traditional kneejerk reaction to the internal problems of cuba. any time there is a political or economic problem, the government blames someone else, particularly the us and the cuban mafia in miami. there is no doubt in my mind that the

tightening of the embargo under the previous us administration, donald trump, made life more difficult for cubans. perhaps not so much people in the government, but regular cuban citizens. it deprive them of income, remittances and travel from the us by cuban americans. however, there are structural problems in the cuban economy, many problems with the way the pandemic has been handled by the cuban government. and of course the other issues to do with the collapse of the tourist industry in cuba after the closing of international borders. . . ., , borders. yeah, clearly the problems _ borders. yeah, clearly the problems are _ borders. yeah, clearly the problems are manifold. i borders. yeah, clearly the l problems are manifold. but borders. yeah, clearly the - problems are manifold. but do you think what we are seeing is going to shift the dial in terms of the biden administration approach? it seems pretty low on the priority list.— priority list. yes, since january _ priority list. yes, since january they _ priority list. yes, since january they have - priority list. yes, since january they have said | priority list. yes, since - january they have said they are january they have said they are revising the us policy towards

cuba. nobody knows what they are talking about, what they are talking about, what they are thinking about. so i think this might accelerate that thinking, and perhaps in the nearfuture we will thinking, and perhaps in the near future we will see an announcement of what the changes will be by the biden administration towards cuba. that is the big question, which way do they go? my expectation is they will _ way do they go? my expectation is they will go — way do they go? my expectation is they will go somewhere - is they will go somewhere between, they will not return to the full barack obama engagement policy although ironically president biden was the vice president then, and he fully supported the policy. i don't think the biden administration is idea logically committed to keeping the status quo. when he was just a candidate, joe biden promised to remove restrictions on remittances by cuban—americans to cuba, and make it easy for people to travel to the island. a third policy might be to reopen the consular section, the us embassy in havana, so people in cuba can get legal visas to

migrate. none of those things have been changed so far. we wait to see- — have been changed so far. we wait to see. thank you very much indeed. a majorfire has broken out at a hospital treating coronavirus patients in the southern iraqi city of nassiriya. we understand the number of patients to have died has already risen to at least a0. health officials say the fire at the al—hussain hospital has now been brought under control and a search operation is being carried out. tanya dendrinos reports. a roaring inferno and a sea of desperate voices. fire crews battling the flames raging against the night sky. dozens have died, many are injured, and others still unaccounted for. what makes this scene all the more devastating is the fact it's at a coronavirus hospital in a country already ravaged by war, with a health system

under significant strain. medical teams did their best to treat victims as the search operation continued in the burnt—out wards. the blaze was likely caused by an explosion of an oxygen tank, and it comesjust months after a similar incident in a hospital in baghdad which claimed more than 80 lives. let s get some of the day's other news. france is to make it compulsory for all health staff to be vaccinated against covid—i9. announcing the new rules, president emmanuel macron said workers in retirement homes and other healthcare settings would have until september to get themselves vaccinated. just over half of france's population, 35.5 million people, have had at least one jab. dutch prime minister mark rutte has apologised for what he called "an error ofjudgement" in scrapping most coronavirus restrictions in the country. authorities eased measures

three weeks ago, which led to a spike in cases. curbs on bars, restaurants and nightclubs were reimposed on friday. london's heathrow airport says a number of staff working at terminal 5 have been told to isolate by the nhs covid app, causing major delays earlier today. the bbc understands more than 100 security guards were affected. the airport is gearing up for a surge in customers as travel restrictions end, and brought in extra staff to clear the queues. south africa has deployed its military to two of the country's provinces, following deadly riots that erupted after former president jacob zuma handed himself in, to begin a is—month jail sentence. mr zuma was convicted of contempt of court, afterfailing to attend an inquiry into corruption during his presidency.

south african police were clearly overwhelmed. they had their hands full, trying to stop mobs who started looting shopping centres. nothing was spared. every shop was looted here. the military was then deployed. with more boots on the ground, the government hopes the protests and looting will come to an end. the jailing of south africa's former president, jacob zuma, resulted in violent protest action, followed by looting incidents in two provinces — mr zuma's home province of kwazulu—natal and gauteng, the country's economic hub. more than 200 people have been arrested. police are investigating the deaths of six others. south africa's president, cyril ramaphosa,

addressed the nation. he said criminal activity would not be tolerated. i have today authorised the deployment of the defence force personnel in support of the operations of the south african police service. the nationaljoint operation and intelligence structure known as natjoints has intensified deployments in all the affected areas in kwazulu—natal and in gauteng. beyond the looting of businesses, which has a negative impact on the economy, the violent protests have now caused a delay in the vaccination roll—out for covid—i9. centres are closed, citing security concerns. it remains unclear when they'll open, as protesters vow to continue their protest action untiljacob zuma is released from prison. nomsa maseko, bbc news,

pietermaritzburg. the aftermath of england's last—gasp defeat to italy in the euros final at wembley has been dominated not so much by the performance itself, as by the racist abuse aimed at three players who missed their penalties at the end of the match. the manager gareth southgate described the highly offensive language as "unforgivable". the prime minister said those responsible should crawl back under the rock they came from. one of the players targeted, marcus rashford, said he will never apologise for who he is. our sports editor dan roan reports. it had all started so well. having waited more than half a century for their first major final, england took the lead afterjust two minutes. but then suffered the cruelty of an all—too—familiar fate against italy. losing once again on penalties. a tournament that had lit up the summer, ending in tears. as the team left their hotel this morning, the manager left to reflect on what

might have been. the fact that we've had, you know, the first signs of consistency, semifinal, final, has to be a step in the right direction. it's not ultimately where we wanted to get and when you are so close that is even more painful. you know, it feels like your stomach has been ripped out this morning. but the game's aftermath was soured still further. the three players who missed from the spot, marcus rashford, jadon sancho and bukayo saka, all subjected to racist online abuse. for some of them to be abused is unforgivable, really. we've got to make sure that we're there and aligned with their clubs and making sure that we look after those boys, absolutely. this morning, the fa president, the duke of cambridge, said he was sickened by what he called abhorrent behaviour — "it must stop now," he added. borisjohnson said he hoped those responsible would crawl back under the rock from which they emerged. but labour leader sir

keir starmer claimed the prime minister failed to show leadership by not initially condemning fans who booed england's taking of the knee before warm—up matches. downing street insist he always supported the players' right to protest and did subsequently criticise the booing, asking fans to cheer. tonight, england defender tyrone mings accused home secretary priti patel of stoking the fire. she had described taking the knee as gesture politics last month. today, a mural dedicated to marcus rashford was defaced. the police are investigating what they called racially motivated vandalism. tonight, rashford apologised for his penalty miss but said he would never apologise for who he was. it's unacceptable. as long as they are performing and scoring and getting results, then of course, we are all england, we are all behind you. but the minute that doesn't happen, the abuse comes out.

the euros are over and the hurt continues for england, but as they head home, the sense is that these players are going in the right direction. rather than the day of celebration english football had hoped for, this was a reminder that while the team proved a unified and uplifting force, the issues of hooliganism and racism have not gone away. but after a historic campaign they will never forget, southgate and his players can plan for the world cup next year with renewed belief that finally they are contenders again. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the italian football team arrive back home to a heroes' welcome. after months of talks and missed deadlines, a deal has been struck to keep greece within the euro zone.

the immediate prospect of greece going bust in the worst crisis to hit the euro zone 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's completely blacked out. it's a timely reminder to all americans of the problems that the energy crisis has brought to them. leaders meet in paris- fora summit on pollution, inflation and third world debt. this morning, theyjoinedl the revolution celebrations for a show of military might on the champs—elysees. . wildlife officials in australia have been coping with a penguin problem. fairy penguins have been staggering ashore and collapsing after gorging themselves on their favourite food, pilchards. some had eaten so much, they could barely stand.

this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: opponents of cuba's communist authorities say dozens of activists have been arrested since sunday's anti—government demonstrations on the island. at least a0 people have been killed in a fire at a iraqi hospital treating coronavirus patients, in the city of nassiriya. dozens of patients are missing. the commander of us led forces in afghanistan, general scott miller, has stepped down as the us withdraws troops from the country after almost 20 years. he does so as the taliban reassert themselves across much of the country, taking advantage of the withdrawal. the bbc s lyse doucet was at the handing over ceremony — and gave us this update from kabul.

another important step on the last parts of ending the us—led nato mission here in afghanistan. it was a very short ceremony at what used to be called the resolute command centre, the command of all the nato armies here in afghanistan. general scott miller is the last commander to serve here. he's actually the longest—serving as well. he served three times in afghanistan during this mission, and in fact, he was here in 2001, coming in with the forces who toppled the taliban. he's also one of the few us generals to actually talk to the taliban in recent years, and today, when he handed over his command, he reiterated again the need for the taliban to stop the violence. 30 million people across the western united states and canada have been enduring another blistering heatwave. las vegas has matched its record ofjust over 47 degrees, around 116 degrees fahrenheit. in death valley in california,

the temperature was expected to reach 52 celsius, 125 fahrenheit. and the extreme heat is having some devastating consequences. wildfires have been burning across six western us states. our correspondent sophie long reports from los angeles. wildfires in northern california grow in size and intensity, destroying homes in multiple communities as increasing winds complicate already—dangerous firefighting conditions. this fire is raging out of control in southern oregon, as millions of people across the western us are hit by another round of scorching temperatures. i'm on the west side... more than 60,000 acres are currently burning. california is no stranger to wildfires, but scientists say they're becoming more frequent and more intense as global temperatures rise. the national weather service recorded temperatures of 130

degrees in california's death valley, some of the highest ever recorded on the planet. people in desert communities are being warned how quickly they can dehydrate or overheat. not realising how quickly you can run into trouble with dehydration and heat exhaustion or the body overheating. but even those following advice in palm springs are struggling. it's too hot. i'm drinking as much water as i can. i'm drinking my weight in water every day. i think the best way to - describe it, which is actually the way my friend described it, is that moment when you openj the oven and that gust of heat hits you in the face. _ the extreme heat has led to the deaths of dozens of people across the western united states in recent weeks. it's also putting a massive strain on the region's power grid. californians are now being told to reduce their water usage by 15%. it's not compulsory,

but it underscores the harsh reality that millions of people living in cities like los angeles are now facing. as the record—breaking temperatures continue, people can only do their best to stay cool. sophie long, bbc news, los angeles. italy's national team has been given a heroes' welcome in rome, after their euro 2020 victory on sunday evening. after a night of celebration, they were invited to a reception by the italian president, followed by a triumphant open—top bus tour of the capital. our correspondent mark lowen sent this report from rome. in the end, it's come to rome. cheering. 53 years, not quite of hurt, but of italy's wait for a european title. and now the mancini magic, with its greatest trick. back on home soil, and crowned champions of europe. who needed sleep after that win? you couldn't have got it, anyway.

in every corner of this passionate country, victory tasted sweet. and it was savoured loudly, for hour after hour. morning brought sore heads and calm after the storm. the piazzas returned from football to food. seeking refuge from the heat, giancarla and herfamily. generations witnessing history. i hope you don't mind me asking, but do you remember italy's last european victory in 1968? i remember, just because of my father, who was so happy. and i was a little kid then. and i thought oh, what a lovely thing it is! so it was also a revival of that. well, i wasn't watching the match, i was sleeping. but i heard everybody shouting outside at midnight. i woke up and then my mum told me we were champions. your grandma says you go to the british school here. so what are you saying to your english friends? i don't know, i'm just

going to say we won! from italy's captain, a message dedicating the victory to the country's medics. both heroes of our times. the word that italians are using about their team is redemption. both from italy's failure to qualify for the last world cup and its year of agony to this — champions of europe and bringers of unbridled joy. victory parade, honour guard, there's time for it all. italy's been waiting 53 years. now is the moment to enjoy the glory. mark lowen, bbc news, rome. and before we go, authorities in south korea have a new target in their battle against covid — gyms. yes, gym owners in seoul have been told they can't play fast music for two weeks.

the idea is that the faster the music, the harder the exercise, and so those in the gym breathe more germs and droplets into the air. a reminder of our top story. cuba's government has said the mass street protests that took the country by surprise on sunday had been planned for months on social media platforms. the foreign minister, bruno rodriguez, said millions of dollars had been allocated by the united states to fund opposition groups. thousands took to the streets in cities across cuba to demand democracy on the communist—run island and more vaccines to protect the population against the coronavirus. many of the demonstrations were broadcast live on facebook and other platforms. the government has since cut off the internet and restricted access to the main social media platforms.

you can get in touch. hello there. we had some pretty impressive downpours across different parts of the country on monday. the radar picture shows one of these bands of heavy rain working into north east england, particularly north yorkshire, and then we have this second band of rain across the west london area. now in kew, in west london, we picked up 46mm of rain from the shower band. that was pretty much smack bang on a whole month's worth of rain and the majority fell in just the space of two hours. if you were wondering what that looks like, it looks like this. three miles down the road in twickenham, roads flooded, and reports of flooding elsewhere as well. over the next few hours, those showers we've seen by day will continue to very gradually fade away. the majority of us will eventually become drier over with just an odd patch of rain

still lingering into the east. temperatures around 12 to 1a celsius, feeling a little on the muggy side as well, particularly across parts of eastern england. for tuesday, much more dry weather and sunshine with fewer showers, and for most of us a dry morning. the early morning cloud breaking, sunny spells developing widely, and should be a lot of that sunshine. but into the afternoon, we're likely to see some showers develop. this line of showers forming across parts of northwest england, the midlands and perhaps another affecting wales down towards parts of dorset too. now, those showers could be fairly heavy at times, but away from those shower bands, there should be a lot of dry weather to take us through the rest of the afternoon. temperatures pushing into the low 20s quite widely. it will feel warm in the sunshine. now, wednesday, we see a little weather front working into the far northwest of the uk. that's bringing some thicker cloud. might get a few patches of rain just skirting into the north and west of scotland.

but otherwise, probably a bit more cloud around, but still some bright or sunny spells developing. the best of those towards the east of high ground and those temperatures still into the low 20s. it'll be another day that feels pleasantly warm where the sunshine breaks through the cloud. beyond that, end of the week, the weekend and next week, this area of high pressure is going to dominate our weather picture, and that means we've got a lengthy spell of dry and sunny weather. temperatures on these charts pushing into the high 20s. well, it wouldn't be surprising to see temperatures into the low 30s in some places next week.

this is bbc news, the headlines at least a0 people have been killed in a fire at a iraqi hospital treating coronavirus patients, in the city of nassiriya. health officials say the fire is now being brought under control but dozens of patients are said to be missing. south africa's governing anc party has warned that continuing violent demonstrations will have a devastating economic impact on the country. troops have been deployed to protect property, as protestors set buildings on fire and looted shops. the violence was triggered by the jailing of the former president, jacob zuma.