this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. let the games commence: 5,000 athletes from around the world are in birmingham, in central england, as the commonwealth games get underway. fearing further deadly floods: torrential rain in the american state of kentucky causes flash flooding, killing eight people. resistance to russian occupation: we meet ukraine's shadow army working behind enemy lines. and the end of the so—called wagatha christie trial: two wives of premiership footballers find out later who's won their high court libel case.

hello and welcome. after the opening ceremony, the games are set to begin. 16 gold medals are due to be decided on the opening day of competition at the commonwealth games in birmingham, with m sports getting under way. the first medals will be decided in the triathlon events, while the women's cricket makes its debut appearance at the event, including a mouthwatering game between india and australia. tim allman reports. there comes a moment in any sporting event where the preparations end and the competition begins. for birmingham, that moment was now. spectators queuing up outside the city's alexander stadium

as diverse and multicultural as the games itself. we are so, so, so excited! we got it all to ourselves. i think for us, it's one of those where we all unite, especially as english—speaking countries, and we show our talent. well, it's a very different group of people around the world to meet and join in together. in effect, it's a big broad family to enjoy each other's company and learn a lot from each other. yeah. the opening ceremony was the usual eclectic mix of a spectacular and the slightly bizarre, honouring birmingham's one—time role as the workshop of the world and the home of the british car industry. at one point, a ginormous bull made of aluminium and steel entered the arena — an animal that has long been associated with the city. the real stars of the show, of course, are the athletes and soon, they made their presence felt. more than 5,000 of them from dozens of different nations and territories

in asia, africa and elsewhere. the queen's baton was then brought into the stadium — olympic gold medallist tom daly among those doing the honours. prince charles, representing the queen, read out a message on her behalf, where she paid tribute to the rich diversity and unity of the commonwealth. the games were officially open and to celebrate, there were fireworks, lots of fireworks and a performance from local favourites duran duran. # and as i try to make my way. # through the ordinary world. they finished with their song 0rdinary world, the organisers hoping these games will be anything but. tim allman, bbc news. we will speak about netballer a little later in the programme. we have been to meet one player who has become quite a role

model for young girls right across africa, so do stay tuned for that. the governor of the american state of kentucky says flash floods caused by torrential rains have killed eight people, including a woman aged 81. andy beshear described the floods, which have hit areas in the appalachian mountains, as "historic and ongoing" and said he feared further deaths as several people were missing. gareth barlow has more. this is the power of the floods in kentucky. whole homes ripped from their foundations. everything's gone. like, everything is gone. my whole life is gone. we had to swim out and it was cold and it was over my head so, yeah, it was scary. as the waters rose, residents rushed to rooftops, some airlifted to safety. my mum's there and she's got parkinson's and we had to worry

about getting her upstairs. with further rain forecast, the state's governor declared a state of emergency in six counties, mobilising the national guard, with officers using boats to rescue stranded residents. the situation right now is tough. there are a lot of people in eastern kentucky on top of roofs waiting to be rescued. there are a number of people that are unaccounted for and i'm nearly certain this is a situation where we are going to lose some of them. dozens of people have been rescued and tens of thousands remain without power. the white house says the president has been briefed on the situation, which has also seen severe flooding and mudslides in neighbouring virginia and west virginia. we didn't have no time to get nothing out of our apartment in the basement. i lost everything, twice — this makes twice that i've lost everything. many parts of kentucky are still struggling after being hit by tornadoes

last year and this latest extreme weather, a reminder of the deadly impact of our changing climate. gareth barlow, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. and we will be looking at the impact of climate change later on with our correspondentjonah fisher. passengers are being warned of long delays at the port of dover in the coming days because of a surge in demand. the authorities have advised all passengers to allow at least two hours to complete check in and border control checks. last weekend, queues built up on the roads around the port lasting several hours — the delays blamed on a shortage of french border officers because uk travellers are now subjected to enhanced checks following brexit. the un has said protestors in the democratic republic of the congo have targeted two more peacekeeping bases

in the country. earlier this week, the un mission was attacked, leading to three deaths. around 18,000 peacekeepers are stationed in the country but they often face criticism for failing to protect civilians in the east. the un's peacekeeping chief is expected to visit the country on friday. sir christopher meyer, a former uk ambassador to the united states, has died suddenly. it's understood he suffered a stroke at his home in france. sir christopher, who was 78, was the uk's ambassador in washington prior to the invasion of iraq. previously, he had been ambassador to germany and had postings to the former soviet union, spain and the european union, and also served asjohn major's press secretary. it's the libel case that's been fascinating football and showbiz fans alike. it involves the wives of two famous footballers — coleen rooney and rebekah vardy — and an accusation that one of them leaked private information about the other.

now, a judge at london's high court is due to rule in the so—called �*wagatha christie�* trial. colin paterson reports. it was back in the middle of may when, for seven days in the high court, everything from the p0p high court, everything from the pop star peter andre to the meaning of images was mentioned during the so—called wagatha christie trial. rebekah vardy, the wife of leicester city strikerjamie vardy, was suing coleen rooney, the wife of wayne rooney, for libel. today, it will be announced to has one. i it will be announced to has one. . , it will be announced to has one. ., , it will be announced to has one. .,, .,, ., , ., one. i was astonished that someone _ one. i was astonished that someone close _ one. i was astonished that someone close to - one. i was astonished that someone close to either i one. i was astonished that. someone close to either party decided, you know, to allow it to go to this sort of level, of which we would be exposed to the minutiae of their lives. in pr terms, it's like opening up, you know, aipio to see a dirty

great piece of false teeth in the middle of it. you expect one thing and get something else. before you open it to see. .., , ., , else. before you open it to see. ., , ., ., see. the case revolves around rebecca rooney _ see. the case revolves around rebecca rooney performed i rebecca rooney performed rebekah vardy, finding he was licking private information from her instagram account to the newspaper. she wrote fictitious tales about investigating gender selection and how the basement of their house had flooded to see if they would end up in the papers, and they did. 0nly they would end up in the papers, and they did. only then and after the use of ten dots to ramp up the tension did coleen rooney reveal in an online post that the one account she had allowed to read these works of fiction was rebekah vardy. in court, rebekah vardy. in court, rebekah vardy�*s legal team rebekah va rdy�*s legal team explained rebekah vardy�*s legal team explained she felt she had no choice but to bring the case. she believed she had done nothing wrong. she had to clear her name notjust for herself but also for the sake of her family. meanwhile, coleen rooney's barrister said that

rebekah vardy regularly and frequently leaked stories to the sun newspaper and she had approved or condoned the leaking of information through her agent caroline watt, on the left, and she was responsible for caroline watt�*s actions. they spoke about the deliberate deletion of evidence, accusing rebekah vardy of deleting whatsapps messages and then having lied about it under oath. she broke down in court crying. caroline watt did not give evidence in court for health reasons and her mobile phone, which could have provided a data trail, went missing in the north sea. the conclusion of coleen rooney's defence and the accusations made in her original post were true. it's estimated that each side will have a legal bill of well over £1 million but whoever wins could still be hundreds of thousands of pounds out of pocket. many have asked why this came to court, at times becca vailea who brought the case look like she was asking the same question. rebekah! colin paterson, bbc news.

there are growing signs that ukraine plans to try to recapture the southern region of kherson, which was seized by russia at the very start of the war. when the russian troops first rolled in, there were weeks of street protests, until the soldiers cleared the streets and began detaining those they suspected of supporting kyiv. but resistance to russian occupation didn't die, it moved underground, so sarah rainsford has been to meet some of ukraine's shadow army, working behind enemy lines to help free kherson. they tumble off buses every day here. mostly women and children fleeing russian occupation in southern ukraine. exhausted and still wary because it's a long, tense trip from a life where even a text message supporting ukraine can get you arrested. translation: it's ukraine can get you arrested. translation:—

translation: it's hard. the russians are _ translation: it's hard. the russians are everywhere - translation: it's hard. the russians are everywhere in l russians are everywhere in kherson. wherever you turn. when russian forces invaded kherson, big crowd came out in protest. they chanted at heavily armed troops to go home. then, the russians hit back. but the resistance did not die. gunfire. it moved underground. we arranged to meet some of the shutter army. they asked us not to reveal where or who they are. translation: resistance movement _ translation: resistance movement is _ translation: resistance movement is huge. - translation: resistance movement is huge. it - translation: resistance movement is huge. it is i translation: resistance | movement is huge. it is still translation: resistance - movement is huge. it is still a resistance. movement is huge. it is still a resistance-— resistance. this man told me how the partisans _ resistance. this man told me how the partisans operate i how the partisans operate behind enemy lines. 50 how the partisans operate behind enemy lines. so look here, someone _ behind enemy lines. so look here, someone is _ behind enemy lines. so look here, someone is driving. i behind enemy lines. so look. here, someone is driving. they know there is a military base that they occupiers have taken

over so they drive by and fill it all. that way, we know what kind of kit the russians have —— film it. kind of kit the russians have -- film it— -- film it. the information is then passed _ -- film it. the information is then passed on _ -- film it. the information is then passed on to _ -- film it. the information is then passed on to ukraine'sl then passed on to ukraine's military. another team flies drones across the front line. hunting down more targets. they are civilians, not soldiers. but they joined the fight to stop the occupation of kherson. gunfire. becoming permanent. resistance is dangerous, though. denys was caught gathering weapons and intelligence for the partisans and was beaten so badly, he died in custody. his mother has evidence denys was tortured by russia's fsp security service. translation:— russia's fsp security service. translation: they simply beat him to death. _

translation: they simply beat him to death. -- _ translation: they simply beat him to death. -- fsb. _ translation: they simply beat him to death. -- fsb. they - translation: they simply beat him to death. -- fsb. they tied | him to death. -- fsb. they tied him to death. -- fsb. they tied him to death. -- fsb. they tied him to a dog. — him to death. -- fsb. they tied him to a dog, wrapped - him to death. -- fsb. they tied him to a dog, wrapped tape - him to a dog, wrapped tape around his head and they beat my son so badly that his ribs were broken by the first blow. they pierced his lungs. he could not move. he could not lie down or even stand. sighs i asked the _ lie down or even stand. sighs i asked the fsp _ lie down or even stand. sighs i asked the fsp how— lie down or even stand. sighs i asked the fsp how denys - lie down or even stand. sighs i asked the fsp how denys died l asked the fsp how denys died but they did not respond. it looks like the fight back the kherson has begun. ukraine says it is destroying russian ammunition depots. using key bridges to disrupt their supply lines. weapons from the west are starting to make a difference here. and so, this fighter tells me is the resistance. he had to flee kherson to escape arrest for his own activity behind the lions. but he tells me the

russians have very little real support there. —— the lines. translation: {lilli support there. -- the lines. translation:— support there. -- the lines. translation: of course the russians have _ translation: of course the russians have scared - translation: of course the russians have scared people | translation: of course the l russians have scared people as a clear and psychologically but the vast majority want life to be like it was before the invasion. they are waiting for kherson to be freed, to be in ukraine again.— ukraine again. and if that battle does _ ukraine again. and if that battle does begin - ukraine again. and if that battle does begin in - ukraine again. and if that . battle does begin in earnest, the partisans say they are ready to step out of the shadows. sarah rainsford, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the netball player who's a role model for young girls across africa now competing in the commonwealth games. cheering.

the us space agency, nasa, has ordered an investigation, after confirmation today that astronauts were cleared to fly while drunk. the last foot patrol in south armagh, once an everyday part of the soldier's lot, drudgery and danger, now no more after almost four decades. if one is on one's own, in a private house, - not doing any harm to anyone, i don't really see why . all these people should wander in and say, _ "you're doing something wrong". six rare white lion cubs on the prowl at a worcestershire wildlife park, and have already been met with a roar of approval from visitors. they are lovely and sweet, yeah, they're cute. hello there. welcome back.

welcome back. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: 5000 athletes from around the world are in birmingham in central england as the commonwealth games get under way. torrential rain in the american state of kentucky causes flash flooding, killing eight people we are we are going we are going to we are going to stay we are going to stay with we are going to stay with that we are going to stay with that idea. the recent raft of extreme weather hasn'tjust been confined to floods. wildfires in the us, floods in asia, or last week's record temperatures here in the uk. now scientists say the record temperatures of the last few weeks would not have been possible without man—made climate change. a global team that included experts from imperial college london and the met office have been running complex weather models since then to establish to what extent greenhouse gas emissions made the heatwave worse. here's our climate correspondent jonah fisher. the hot weather of early last week was unprecedented, with high temperatures recorded across

much of the uk. a0 celsius was foggy for the very first time. our transport network creaked 0ur transport network crea ked into 0ur transport network creaked into the heat combined with dry weather to lower water levels and create conditions for buyers to spread. for a long time, it has been clear that global warming makes heatwaves more frequent and more intense. but in recent years there have been big advances in climate modelling which means scientists are able to look at what is behind specific weather events like last week's extremely hot few days. having these temperatures _ extremely hot few days. having these temperatures is - extremely hot few days. having these temperatures is still... i these temperatures is still... climatologists including experts from imperial college london and the met office have been working around the clock, looking at whether humid actions it made a last week's heatwave worse. irate actions it made a last week's heatwave worse.— actions it made a last week's heatwave worse. we would not have had at _ heatwave worse. we would not have had at last _ heatwave worse. we would not have had at last week's - have had at last week's temperatures without climate change. that is for sure. so, these temperatures are at least two degrees higher than they would have been without climate

change but much likely that the real number is closer to what we see in the observations which is about a0 degrees. so, climate change absolutely played a really, really big role. . , , ' role. that is with 'ust 1.2 degreesfi role. that is with 'ust1.2 degrees of h role. that is with just 1.2 degrees of warming. - role. that is with just 1.2 l degrees of warming. with role. that is with just 1.2 - degrees of warming. with the global greenhouse gas emissions yet to start falling, even hotter weather and more heatwaves look inevitable. the implications are that if we want to keep a heatwave like this a want to keep a heatwave like thi ., ., want to keep a heatwave like thi . . ., , this a rare event, we really have to _ this a rare event, we really have to get _ this a rare event, we really have to get to _ this a rare event, we really have to get to net - this a rare event, we really have to get to net zero - have to get to net zero greenhouse gas emissions very soon. . ., ., greenhouse gas emissions very soon. . , ., soon. the current goal is a net zero emissions _ soon. the current goal is a net zero emissions by _ soon. the current goal is a net zero emissions by 2050. - soon. the current goal is a net zero emissions by 2050. to i zero emissions by 2050. to reach it, we're going to have to stop using fossil fuels to run our cars, warm our homes generate electricity. jonah fisher, bbc news. time for all the latest sports news.

sebastian vettel has been described as a formula 1 legend after announcing he'll retire from the sport at the end of the season. the german has won four titles, which came in a row while with red bull. only three drivers have a better tally. vettel later moved to ferrari, and will end his career after a second season with aston martin having in recent years also become a champion for climate change and lgbtq rights. my my goals have shifted from winning races and are fighting for championships to seeing my children grow, passing on it like values, helping them up when they fall, listening to them when they need me, not having to say goodbye and, most importantly, being able to learn from them and let them inspire me. henrik stenson sez he doesn't feel that he gave up europe's ryder cup captaincy by choosing to join liv golf — the controversial tour which is financially backed by saudi arabia's public investment fund. stenson is making his liv debut in in the 3rd event

of the series which starts on friday in bedminster, newjersey. it's not been confirmed that liv�*s european players will be banned from the ryder cup, and stenson says he wanted to stay on as captain. i made every arrangement possible here to be able to fulfil my captains duties and i have had great help you from liv to be able to do that, and still, the decision was made that i was to be removed, and i am obviously disappointed over the situation, but it is what it is. south africa turned the tables on england to set up a decider in their t20 series on sunday. in their second match in 2a hours, the roles from the first game were reversed. this time south africa batting first and setting a big target. rilee rossouw hitting 96 not out in their score of 207/3. england's reply never really got going, and they were bowled out for just 1a9, losing by 58 runs. they're one all in the series.

an excellent bounce back after that first t20. you must be really impressed? 7 definitely. really impressed? ? definitely. it was a tough loss last night but as you said we bounced back tonight and i think the guys really gave it a lot of thought last night and morning, executed really well and batted phenomenally. executed really well and batted phenomenally-— phenomenally. more with that and all of our _ phenomenally. more with that and all of our stories - phenomenally. more with that and all of our stories on i phenomenally. more with that and all of our stories on the i and all of our stories on the export website. that is all your support for now. let's end the programme as we started, with the commonwealth games in birmingham. of the 1a sports getting under way, netball will be one of those keenly watched. the tournament lasts for most of the games, and has a high profile there, partly because it doesn't get played at the olympics. 12 teams will compete in birmingham, with the england side looking to successfully defend their title. the bbc has been to meet one netball player who has become a role model for young girls across africa.

the uganda team, called the she cranes, is preparing for its second tournament, as parisa qurban reports. athletes around the world have spent months preparing for the 2022 commonwealth games. 0ne team are determined to put on a fair show is uganda's netball team. among them isjoan. joan is a defender. she started playing netball when she was only eight years old, eventually reaching her potential ofjoining the national team. netball has also given her the chance to empower children in uganda. while training for the upcoming games, joan and her team have been teaching girls how to play while visiting different villages in uganda. irate while visiting different villages in uganda. while visiting different villaues in uaanda. ~ villages in uganda. we went in a villaue villages in uganda. we went in a village and — villages in uganda. we went in a village and people _ villages in uganda. we went in a village and people were i a village and people were happy.

joan grew up in a village in uganda's capital city, kampala. that is over 10,000 kilometres away from birmingham where the team it will be shooting for gold when it 12 of the world's best teams competing at the national exhibition centre. this is of the ugandan teams second appearance at the commonwealth games. the last time they played was in 2018 in australia, finishing at the

tournament in sixth place. and as for the team's next challenge ready for their first game, joan and her team are dedicated to playing, not only for those back home, but for people around the world who will be watching. how great is she? before i go, let me show you this. a red dinosaur skeleton has been sold at auction in the united states were just over $6 million. the 77 million year old skeleton belongs to a gorgeousoras which is a cousin

of the tear! and the identification has not been revealed prompting scientist to be upset that it will not go on display to the public in a museum. hello there. this week has been quite a cloudy one for many parts of the country, but it looks like we're going to end the week with more sunshine, and that means it's going to be feeling warmer everywhere. into the weekend, though, we're going to look at this cloud that's been hanging around in the atlantic to push down from the northwest into the uk. ahead of it, we still have some cloud that's been producing some rain in scotland and northern england. but away from here, we start with some clearer spells early on friday morning and temperatures around 11—1a celsius. there will still be some rain left over across northern england and southern scotland. it'll tend to peter out in the morning, sunshine elsewhere, but over land, the cloud will bubble up, mightjust give one or two light showers.

bulk of those, i think, will be across northern england and eastern scotland. and many coastal areas will have a dry and mostly sunny day. it's going to be warmer, though, for all of us. temperatures low 20s, scotland, northern ireland, northern england, warmer further south and making 28 celsius in the south east of england. notice, through, this cloud coming in to northern ireland. we'll see some rain arriving here during the evening. and overnight, that rain will push its way eastwards into scotland, over the irish sea into northern parts of england. but again, further south, it's staying dry. it's going to be a warm start to the weekend, actually, those temperatures, 1a to 16 celsius. now, i showed you the cloud earlier on. that's on this weather front here, which is slipping its way into england and wales overnight and during saturday, but weakening all the while. so there won't be much rain left over by the afternoon. we start cloudy and with some rain across northern areas in the morning, that rain tending to peter out, slowly brightening up in scotland and northern ireland, and just a little bit of rain left over for northwest england and western parts of wales in the afternoon. ahead of it, though, the midlands towards the southeast and east anglia, a warm day again on saturday with temperatures around 27 celsius. so we've got a weather

front heading our way, bringing with it the possibility of some rain. and then that weather frontjust hangs around for the second half of the weekend. this is where we've got a lot of uncertainty. just little bumps along that weatherfront, maybe pepping up the rain from time to time. and it looks like that rain now is going to be a bit further south across wales, the midlands and across east anglia, the far south of england may stay dry, and further north, it looks like it'll be dry, brighter and a little bit cooler in scotland and northern ireland. still some warmth, though, if we do get some sunshine in the southeast of england.

this is bbc news with the latest business headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. us recession fears as the world's biggest economy shrinks for the second quarter in a row, but president biden says there's no need for the r word. we've created 9 million new jobs so far. since i've become president. businesses are investing in america in record rates. but does not sound like a recession to me. all eyes now on europe's economic powerhouse, germany, where data could confirm growth has all but ground to a halt. no more windfall taxes: uk leadership frontrunner liz truss rules out another raid on energy companies as profits continue to soar. plus, delivering a bit

of cheer on wall street: amazon shares soar as it racks up sales of $121 billion