this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. as wildfires rage in california, america's climate envoy tells the bbc that president biden is considering drastic measures to push his green agenda through. russia's foreign minister begins a diplomatic tour of africa he is contemplating a climate emergency and our country and once additional power to do some of the things we want to do. russia's foreign minister begins a diplomatic tour of africa and dismisses claims that moscow is to blame for the global food crisis. pope francis has arrived in canada for a visit he's described as a pilgrimage of penance. and the inaugural tour de france femmes began in paris today, hailed as a turning point in women's cycling.

a state of emergency has been declared in a part of california, where a massive wildfire, the state's worst so far this year, is spreading rapidly near yosemite national park. the direct cause of the blaze remains under investigation, but california is becoming ever more susceptible to wildfires due to climate change. much of the us is struggling amid a heatwave, with extreme heat warnings in effect in 28 us states. rianna croxford reports, from washington. explosive and extreme, engulfing thousands of acres of woodland. hundreds of firefighters struggle to tackle the blaze with help from above. thousands of people have fled the area.

officials say ten homes have already been destroyed. this army veteran is spending his wedding anniversary waiting to see if he's one of those affected. a lot of memories, though. my family grew up there, my kids, and...| don't know. just sad. as smoke from the flames continue to billow, having built momentum over the past two days, officials in california have declared a state of emergency for the area. and though the fire is largely uncontained, firefighters remain hopeful. we're optimistic that we have, you know, great crews, they're on the ground and with the support with the aircraft, that will make progress with the fire. but as temperatures continue to soar, intensified by years of extreme drought, there is concern things will only worsen over the months ahead. rianna croxford, bbc news.

in an interview with the bbc, us special envoy for climate, john kerry said president biden is considering whether to announce a climate emergency, to help push through his renewable energy agenda. he was talking tojim naughtie. we are moving forward, but we're not making enough progress and we're not moving forward fast enough. so we are behind where we need to be to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis, and i think everybody in europe and united states, around the world, are feeling the early parts of those consequences. hopefully, we can turn this around and accelerate what we promised to do in glasgow. it's interesting because that requires industrialised nations�* courage in governments, giving quite a tough message. the benefits will not be felt for some time. historically, responsible nations have moved to reduce pollution and protect their citizens.

we need to do that now. that's a benefit and that's a benefit now. fastest—growing job in the united states last two years was wind turbine technician. third fastest growing job, solar panel installer. most countries can grow their base, balance their grade more effectively, provide less expensive energy to their citizens and less damaging, negative consequences at the same time. with china and india, you spent a lot of time talking

president biden came to massachusetts the other day made a speech about how he is going to use every tool available to him and he has many tools available to him, executive orders, and he is contemplating the issuance of a climate emergency in our country which will give him additional power to do similar things we need today. so the president could not be more committed to moving forward, notwithstanding some of the problems with the congressional response here. cbs correspondent tom waitjoins me now. as mr kerry, as he talks about potentially mr biden introducing it, do you think mr biden is under pressure to do it? you are in la with some of those scenes we saw previously, it must be the things everything it —— everyone is talking about. everything it -- everyone is talking about. ., , ~ �* everything it -- everyone is talking

about. . , ~ �* about. certainly mr biden has been auite, about. certainly mr biden has been quite. facing _ about. certainly mr biden has been quite. facing a _ about. certainly mr biden has been quite, facing a lot _ about. certainly mr biden has been quite, facing a lot of— about. certainly mr biden has been quite, facing a lot of pressure - about. certainly mr biden has been quite, facing a lot of pressure on i quite, facing a lot of pressure on this issue. last week, he was in massachusetts during one of our extreme heat waves in the us and he was asked directly about the climate emergency. there are certain issues that come along without that the president says he is concerned they can have economic impact so he is concerned about doing some of those measures. in terms of its climate agenda, it has really stilled in our senate here. the climate agenda that mr biden had put forward, there are a couple of democratic senators that have stood in the way, one in particular that mr biden has complained about from west virginia, and that is a big reason why we are not seeing more action in terms of the climate emergency that many people in the biden administration agree that we are facing in the us is certainly here in the california area where we are seeing relentless drought conditions my colleague said there was a part of california

declared an emergency to try and tackle the wildfires but i suppose the united states has been so divided politically, whatever the california probably can't happen or it may be very difficult for mr biden to make happen in the rest of the country. absolutely. we live in almost different countries in parts of the us. california is so different from for example alabama. we have mayor who is so active, and he's really taken that on. he really has declared that these fires are being caused by climate change and he has been a very active voice and try to make sure everything that can be done is done to try and address the issue. the problem is in a federal level, as you said, so much division here in the united states, there are so many climate deniers that say this is not happening so when you are faced with that at the federal level, and our lower house they can pass laws there but if

those bills go to the senate, often times they just those bills go to the senate, often times theyjust go there to die because we have a neighbourly divided senate here, even at the democratic party controls that, the republicans still have 50 seats in the house and we need ten votes from the house and we need ten votes from the republics to make any big changes. fin the republics to make any big chances. ., the republics to make any big chanes. . ., the republics to make any big chances. . ., . changes. on a day-to-day level, what are ou changes. on a day-to-day level, what are you hearing _ changes. on a day-to-day level, what are you hearing nash _ changes. on a day-to-day level, what are you hearing nash hearing - changes. on a day-to-day level, what are you hearing nash hearing or- are you hearing nash hearing or seeing from people as these wildfires rage?— seeing from people as these wildfires rage? there is a lot of fear from _ wildfires rage? there is a lot of fear from people, _ wildfires rage? there is a lot of fear from people, honestly. - wildfires rage? there is a lot of| fear from people, honestly. we wildfires rage? there is a lot of- fear from people, honestly. we see fearfrom people, honestly. we see these fires wiped out entire towns. this fire burning near yosemite national park, there was a fire not too far away from their weathered giant sequoia trees were being threatened. in that same region just a few years ago, we had fires that devastated towns. it is changing our state and our country for ever and the drought, we are under severe

restrictions, water restrictions in southern california, in terms of water consumption. so, it is real, it is happening, and the reality is making us in the face. fix, it is happening, and the reality is making us in the face.— making us in the face. a longer conversation _ making us in the face. a longer conversation with _ making us in the face. a longer conversation with you - making us in the face. a longer| conversation with you sometime making us in the face. a longer- conversation with you sometime on bat living in california. thank you. authorities in yhe bahamas say at least 17 people thought to be from haiti have drowned after a vessel carrying migrants capsized. police said the boat turned over eleven kilometres off the bahamian island of new providence. more than twenty people were rescued. the bahamas is a frequent transit route for haitians seeking to reach the united states. the numbers attempting the dangerous journey have increased significantly with the rise in haiti of widespread poverty and gang violence. russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov has begun a diplomatic charm offensive in africa and has dismissed claims that moscow is to blame for the global food crisis. many african countries are reliant

on ukrainian grain supplies and some are facing food shortages. russia has meanwhile defended its missile attack on the ukrainian port of odesa, which happened a day after moscow signed a deal to unblock shipments of grain through the black sea. james waterhouse reports from the south of the country. translation: people are starving, but it's getting spoilt here. - volodymr summing up ukraine's grain problem. his is some of the 20 million tonnes trapped in the country. this is the odesa region. around 4,000 farmers work these fields, more than anywhere else in the country, and they're all struggling. translation: all of this made | the situation for the farmers very hard, even unbearable. i am 72 years old and in over 70 years i don't remember such a difficult year like this one. it's hoped a grain deal involving ukraine and russia will see five million tonnes shifted every month through the black sea, a pre—war level...

because it can't stay here. farmers like volodymyr need this agreement to work for their livelihoods. ukraine needs it to work for its economy, and tens of millions of people around the world need it to work to survive. and it is those forces which are keeping this deal going... for now. it couldn't be more fragile. moscow's released this footage admitting to launching a missile attack on the port of 0desa yesterday, a day after agreeing to leave it alone. it claims a military ship and a warehouse full of western supplied missiles were the targets. the kremlin�*s likely defence is that by doing so, it didn't violate the deal. and how's this for a charm offensive? russia's foreign minister, sergei lavrov, meeting his opposite number in egypt, one of ukraine's biggest grain customers. he's trying to build support across africa as his country battles anger and sanctions over the war in ukraine.

translation: the food crisis didn't start yesterday or in february. - it started with the pandemic because of serious mistakes that western states made regarding food and energy. regardless of blame, if volodymyr doesn't sell his grain there won't be a next harvest. james waterhouse, bbc news, in odessa. the inaugural tour de france femmes kicked off in paris today. the tour consists of eight stages, and 236 female cyclists set off from the eiffel tower for the first stage. it's the first time in more than 30 years that a women's tour has been held by the same organisers, and it's been hailed as a turning point in women's cycling. we can speak now to kathryn bertine, a retired professional cyclist who has long campaigned for a women's race at the tour de france. good to have you with us. i was going to say inaugural tour de france femmes but i think you might

have had a problem with that. tell our viewers _ have had a problem with that. tell our viewers why. thank you for having me tonight, to such a great day for women's cycling. this is actually not the first tour de france bull women. the first was in 1955. the next incarnation was in 1989. in 2018, we to bring it back. and now we have tour de france femmes. so, it has really been a struggle but also a victory today. congratulations on that but why, for all those years, did not happen? what were the reasons given? the fact was there were no good reasons that were given and asio, the parent company of the tour de france had ended the women's race in 1989 for no good reason, and then they took the naming rights with them so that when women try to start their own tour de france, aso said you may not use the name tour de france. so we

had to fight for this to get it back. the truth is there was a lot of apathy and laziness and sexism as for why it has taken so long to finally do what is necessary and right. i will have to hear their side but these are your opinions and you are giving them here. let's turn to today. i have been glued to so much women's sport over the past few weeks. the doubts final, the first one was televised. the euros are on at the moment, really exciting that bill taking place, but what about this tour de france? what are you looking out for?— this tour de france? what are you looking out for? how ruc edge? this is such a victorious _ looking out for? how ruc edge? this is such a victorious time _ looking out for? how ruc edge? this is such a victorious time for - is such a victorious time for women's cycling because the level of these competitors at the world to level is just incredible. anyone who is a fan of cycling will tell you that watching the pro men all pro women race, it is no different, and

many will actually say that the women's race is more exciting because it is often a little bit shorter and therefore a feisty race. i read a little bit about that, catherine, that there were questions about whether the women could compete in those gruelling conditions, you know, we have all watched the men do it and i have to say it is something you might like to do, i like to be an armchair cyclist, but was that a question as well, that whether physically they could do it?— well, that whether physically they coulddoit? ., ., , ., could do it? unfortunately, that has been art could do it? unfortunately, that has been part of — could do it? unfortunately, that has been part of the _ could do it? unfortunately, that has been part of the stigma _ could do it? unfortunately, that has been part of the stigma for - could do it? unfortunately, that has been part of the stigma for so - could do it? unfortunately, that has been part of the stigma for so long, j been part of the stigma for so long, they actually believe that women could not possibly do the same distance as the man, and physiology has clearly proven them wrong. what is great to see is that yes, we finally had the day that the tour de france but we have to keep in mind that the men have 21 days. we are still pushing the envelope full equality here because the women would do just fine with 21 days and would do just fine with 21 days and

would give quite a performance that the world would find incredible and strong and equal to men. 50 the world would find incredible and strong and equal to men.— the world would find incredible and strong and equal to men. so that is one thing you _ strong and equal to men. so that is one thing you would _ strong and equal to men. so that is one thing you would like _ strong and equal to men. so that is one thing you would like to - strong and equal to men. so that is one thing you would like to do - strong and equal to men. so that is one thing you would like to do if. one thing you would like to do if you had a magic wand, to change some of the conditions. what else would you like to see for women's cycling? we have to talk about the media exposure. there are some countries that do itjustice and will put the women on tv or live streaming for the same amount of time as the men. 0ther the same amount of time as the men. other countries are not getting that message, and asio needs to sell the proper broadcast rights. the other big thing is prize—money. the women are not making the same that the men are, and clearly we are racing eight days, not 21, but even the amount that men earn in eight days compared to women, it is not even one tenth so we have to be talking and that is not fair, and we will keep pushing until it is. �* ,, , .., not fair, and we will keep pushing until it is. ~ ,, , _, ., until it is. aso very welcome to come and _ until it is. aso very welcome to come and check _ until it is. aso very welcome to come and check to _ until it is. aso very welcome to come and check to us _ until it is. aso very welcome to come and check to us about - until it is. aso very welcome to | come and check to us about this until it is. aso very welcome to . come and check to us about this as well. thank you for talking to us.

thank you so much. red bull's max verstappen has stretched his lead in drivers�* standings to 63 points after winning the french grand prix. charles leclerc screamed in dismay as he lost control of his ferrari. he'd started on pole, and was leading the race. it cleared the way for a good result for mercedes, george russell overtook sergio perez with just a few laps to go to make it onto the podium behind his team mate — lewis hamilton who finished second — his highest place this season. but it was a brilliant day

for the world champion verstappen, who has a huge lead in the championship. you never know how the race is going to go. it is my fault and if i keep making mistakes, — it is my fault and if i keep making mistakes, i— it is my fault and if i keep making mistakes, i deserve not to win. i am performing — mistakes, i deserve not to win. i am performing at a high level but if i keep— performing at a high level but if i keep making the mistakes, it is pointless— keep making the mistakes, it is pointless to be at a high level. it's been three gruelling weeks and many, many kilometres have been cycled, butjonas vinegaard can finally call himself the winner of the tour de france. the dane, who was runner up last year, finished with hisjumbo visma team mates in paris — with an overall lead of three and a half minutes to win the greatest of the grand tours for the first time in his career. the defending champion tadej pogacar was second in the general classification and another former winner — geraint thomas was third overall. earlier on the champs ellyses — the netherlands loreyna wiebess won the opening stage of the inaugural tour de france femmes. wiebes timed her sprint to perfection to beat her compatriot marianne vos and belgium's lotte kopecky.

it's the first time in 33 years that tour de france organisers have allowed the top female professional riders to compete an official multi—stage race. there are seven more stages to go. canada's brooke henderson won her second major title in dramatic fashion at the evian championship in francehenderson holed—out with a birdie on the final hole to avoid a playoff. she hasn't won a major since the pga championship in 2016. it was definitely an interesting day, deafening at the start that i wanted but i stayed pretty patient, as patient as i could under the circumstances, going into the back nine, the saying is that majors are one on the back nine on sunday so i try to keep that in mind and knew that i was still in it if i could have a solid back and i was able to make a few birdies, and to make the birdie on 18 feels really nice.

the final and decisive men's one day cricket international between england and south africa was a washout in leeds. south africa were only halfway through their innings on 159—2 at headingley — when persistent rain forced the match to be abandoned. it means the series is drawn at 1—1. the first of three t20's begins on wednesday. england football star fran kirby says head coach sarina wiegan is the perfect person to inspire them to success at the women's euros. weigman won the tournament five years ago while in charge of her home country — the netherlands. now, she's looking to guide england to their first ever major tournament win. the lionesses face sweden in the euros semi—finals in sheffield on tuesday. she has been there and done it, she has got to finals, one major finals, so the best person to get us through that and do that is her so i think she will come with a lot of experience, a lot of advice, and i think for her, it is a case of doing what is normalfor think for her, it is a case of doing what is normal for her because

obviously she has been to a few now, so i am sure we will lean on her a little bit to get through it. it's the final day of the world athletics championships. action is already underway in euegene in oregon in the us. you can get the latest on the bbc sport website. from next month, the british government will stop providing aid to nine state hospitals in south sudan, affecting millions of people in the african country. the move has triggered fears in south sudan's health system, which has already been struggling from years of war. 0ur africa correspondent catherine byaru hanga has been to one state hospital in the city of aweil in south sudan and sent us this report. this could be one of the last adult surgeries performed at aweil civil hospital. the surgical team, drugs, and equipment are paid for by british aid that is about to be cut. including this man's salary incentive. he is the only south sudanese surgeon in this state

of 1.3 million people. but he earns just 13 us dollars a month from the government, while uk funds pay him $1700. he is from this region but now has to decide whether to find another job. very bad for me, actually, because the patients, they will not get their rights, they will not be operated, so they will suffer. uk cuts to south sudan's health care system started in april this year. over 200 smaller health care facilities lost their funding. at this primary health care unit, stocks have run out and the maternal health worker who received a salary incentive left. this clinic for pregnant women hasn't been used for several months now. you can see that that is dirty, there is a bird poo all over it. south sudan has one of the world's highest rates of maternal mortality,

and british funding to facilities like this was meant to help solve the problem. this woman lives near the clinic. she doesn't know how long she has been pregnant. the traditional birth attendant she visits thinks she is due soon. translation: the clinic is lacking equipment. it is so difficult to get antenatal tests and also during labour it is much worse because the clinic is lacking facilities. and the good hospitals are far away from where i stay. south sudan's leaders have been accused of gross neglect, after waging a five year civil war. but they say the state still doesn't have enough resources to fund the health system independently. the government of south sudan is actually willing and is moving towards improving the health sector by funding it, by taking control of our health facilities. but until that time,

we need help to get there. we put the findings in our report to the british government, and a spokesperson told us, the uk remains one of the top eight donors in south sudan and this year the uk will support 577 health facilities across the country. back here, the doctor is still weighing his decision, whether to leave or stay to help his community. catherine byaruhanga, bbc news, south sudan. pope francis has arrived in canada for a visit he's described as a pilgrimage of penance. pope francis will repeat a formal apology to indigenous survivors of abuse inflicted at roman catholic—run schools. unmarked graves were discovered last year at some sites, where children were subjected to neglect, isolation and malnutrition. willow fiddler, indigenous reporter at the globe and mail, told me what this visit means —

for indigenous communities. i covered the vatican trip with an april when the pope offered his first apology to that delegation. the apology in rome on april one was specifically for certain members of the church is what he said for the heinous acts committed by those members. what survivors and leaders are hoping for tomorrow at the residential school outside of edmonton is a full apology on behalf of the entire catholic church as the head of the vatican, that is going

to be quite significant for a lot of survivors. . ~ to be quite significant for a lot of survivors. ., ~ , ., hello again. well, this month continues to be very dry indeed. the latest rainfall stats show that so far this month across southern wales, southern counties of england, parts of east anglia, running up to lincolnshire, there's been hardly any rain at all. now on sunday we have seen some rain around, but the majority of that has been falling across parts of northern ireland and scotland where it's been heavy and we have had this zone of rain stretching in across parts of wales as well, bringing some welcome relief from the very dry conditions we've seen. and indeed one of our weather watchers spotted something really rare forjuly in wales — a puddle. now across the eastern areas of england it's been a warm and sunny day, hot actually across parts of east anglia where temperatures in a number of sites reached over 30 degrees celsius. now, looking at the weather forecast overnight, we're going to continue

with those south—westerly winds feeding in a few patches of rain here and there. some more persistent, heavier rain across northern scotland, where we've got a weather front that's slowly going to be sinking southwards towards the end of the night. temperatures, well, a fresher night for scotland and northern ireland but for england and wales, it's another warm night. temperatures, 16 to 18 degrees for many. and this area of low pressure that's been around all weekend, on monday slowly works out towards norway. we get these north to northwesterly winds following in, they'll bring a few patches of rain here and there, some sunny spells. we've got these bands of rain coming southwards across scotland, into northeast england as we head through the course of the afternoon. now our temperatures dropping across the board. high teens generally across the north of the uk, england and wales also seeing the cooler weather but still quite warm across east anglia in the southeast, not into the 30s but still mid 20s, warm enough. now for the rest of the week high pressure dominates the weather picture for much of the week ahead until we see this low moving in towards the end of the week. well, that will bring a return to some wet and fairly windy weather

to northern ireland and to scotland. tuesday's forecast, well, by and large, a dry picture for many of you with some sunny spells. there'll be a few showers, though, around eastern england running from, say, north yorkshire down to about kent. many of the showers that do form probably not bringing that much rain and there will be some areas that missed them altogether. so it's not going to change the overall theme of that very dry july that we have seen and we continue to see. now beyond that high pressure for england, wales, a lot of dry, sunny and warm weather developing. scotland and northern ireland will see some rain for a time towards the end of the week.

now on bbc news, life at 50 degrees. when i was growing up, my grandmother used to tell me that we lived here forever. there's this collective conscious knowledge that is handed down from generation to generation. what you do to the land, you do to yourselves. that is how i was raised. but since a child i have seen changes in ecosystems, i've seen less water, i've seen the trees struggling with drought and heat anxiety. if you abuse the land, climate change is a logical consequence.