this is bbc news. i'm gareth barlow. our top stories: a major disaster is declared in the us state of kentucky, after floods cause at least 25 deaths. there cause at least 25 deaths. is no words. it is just ha rd there is no words. it isjust hard to imagine. there is nothing really that you can do but i am just glad we got out. back in isolation — president biden tests positive for covid—i9 for the second time in nine days. pope francis says health problems are likely to force him to travel less frequently and he may even have to retire. translation: with all honesty, it's not a catastrophe, you can change your pope,

it's not a problem. and england stand on the brink of women's football history, as they take on germany in the european championship final at wembley. hello and welcome to bbc news. the us state of kentucky has been hit by its worst floods for decades, killing at least 25 people. hundreds of homes and businesses have been flooded in the east of the state, and president biden has declared it "a major disaster." our north america correspondent peter bowes reports. flowing water, powerful enough to sweep away entire homes. torrential rain has wreaked havoc. some areas received more than 20 cm in a 24—hour period. swollen streams and mudslides have torn through several communities with devastating results.

everything's gone. like, everything is gone. my whole life is gone. there's no words. it'sjust hard to imagine. there's nothing, really, that you can do, but we're are just glad that we got out. some areas are difficult for rescuers to reach because local roads have been badly damaged and are impassable, cars engulfed in the muddy waters. there's widespread poverty in the affected areas. making matters worse, tens of thousands of people are now without electricity. the biggest concern is the many people who are still missing. we continue to pray for the families that have suffered an unfathomable loss, some having lost almost everyone in their household. this is still an emergency situation. we are in search and rescue mode. but again, that count is going to continue to go up.

and we don't lose this many people in flooding. this is a real tough one. rescuers fear the search for survivors — and bodies — could last several weeks. scenes like this are becoming more familiar. this part of kentucky has had flash floods before, but nothing on this scale. we didn't have no time to get nothing out of my little apartment in the basement. i lost everything twice. this makes twice that i've lost everything. and i ain't the only one. we going to have to have some help, more than what they brung in here the last flood. president biden has declared a disasterfor this area, freeing up funds and equipment to help. but the worst may not be over, with more rain expected early next week. this is, according to experts in kentucky, another glimpse into the future, becoming hotter and wetter due to climate change. peter bowes, bbc news.

for the latest, we can now speak to chad hedrick, who's reporter at cbs affiliate wkyt in lexington, kentucky. thank you so much forjoining us on bbc news. we heard the governor say it is an emergency situation and the search and rescue phase is still ongoing. what is the latest in that regard? what is the latest in that reaard? ~ , , regard? well, it is very difficult _ regard? well, it is very difficult for _ regard? well, it is very difficult for search - regard? well, it is very difficult for search and | regard? well, it is very - difficult for search and rescue teams to get to many of these areas. picture what the hills of south—eastern kentucky's, it is mountainous topography with lots of hills and hollows and valleys. that is where all of this rainjust valleys. that is where all of this rain just fell into these low—lying areas where these neighbourhoods are. there is still standing what it there, it is just unsafe or very difficult for these crews to get there. that is why they say we really don't know how many people are still considered missing. because there is no

cell service or ability to communicate in these areas. it is very challenging in multiple angles for these rescue crews. we are looking here at the pictures of the impact of the flooding. pictures of the impact of the floodinu. , , pictures of the impact of the floodinu, , ., , , ., flooding. just how widespread is it? it covers _ flooding. just how widespread is it? it covers several- flooding. just how widespread is it? it covers several miles, | is it? it covers several miles, several counties. we are at least up to ten counties and communities that were impacted by this. that is what is very unusual about this, here in kentucky's when we have a flash flood like this, it is usually one focused area with one or two communities impacted. this is widespread covering hundreds of miles of the state in the hills of kentucky's.- hills of kentucky's. the governor _ hills of kentucky's. the governor has _ hills of kentucky's. the governor has declared l hills of kentucky's. the | governor has declared a hills of kentucky's. the governor has declared a state of emergency, so too hasjoe biden, the national guard have been deployed. give us a sense of the scale of response and what they future holds? the national guard _ what they future holds? the national guard of _ what they future holds? tue: national guard of the what they future holds? tte: national guard of the ducky is on the ground, also tennessee and west virginia, neighbouring

states have sent troops as well. just in the last few days, they have rescued moo people either by helicopter, by boat, other local agencies have helped as well. they are obviously helping with supplies and bringing infood obviously helping with supplies and bringing in food and water, clothing, cleaning supplies, anything these communities are going to need. we did also get word today that president biden has added individual assistance to his emergency declaration for several counties, basically this gives resources to the survivors in these families much faster than normal, governor but she is saying this is one of the fastest responses from ape president for individual assistance in emergency declarations ever. this isn't something that kentucky's, is unfortunately oblivious to. recently we had tornadoes in the western side of the state and we saw a quick

federal response there as well. we are wishing you all the best. chad speaking to us from lexington. thank you so much. severe thunderstorms have also caused chaos in las vegas. a witness recorded this footage of ceiling panels falling down and water pouring into a restaurant as the storms passed over the city. torrential rain caused heavy flooding and thousands of people have been left without power. more bad weather is forecast in the coming hours. president biden has tested positive for covid—i9 for a second time and is returning to isolation. but his white house doctor says the president "continues to feel quite well". the 79—year—old returned the positive test on saturday morning, after four consecutive days of negative results. doctors believe biden is suffering a rare case of rebound positivity experienced by some coronavirus patients. in statement posted on twitter, the president himself says he is "feeling fine".

hi folks. joe biden here. tested positive this morning, i will be working from home the next couple of days. feeling fine, everything is good. command and i have a lot of work to do. we can now speak to dr peter hotez, who's co—director of the texas children's hospital center for vaccine development in houston. thank you so much forjoining us, doctor. just talk to us about this rebound infection. what exactly are we talking about? what happens is, you know you take a course of paxlovid which you give early in the illness to stop replication. after a five—day course that you be the end of it particularly if you are also vaccinated in addition to getting the medicine. in the clinical trials for paxlovid it was shown about i—2% of individuals several days later had a rebound infection and it was considered a rare event. at those studies were done with

pre— i'm a crown by rents lineages. with the omicron sub—variant this may not be so rare. we do not have the exact number, they are still over the place, it could be 20% or 30%. it happened to me personally after going on paxlovid. it happened to make colleague doctor fancy, happened to make colleague doctorfancy, it happened happened to make colleague doctor fancy, it happened to the president. anecdotally it appears to be more common than we were led to understand from the clinical trials and it may be because of these unique omicron sub—variant which replicate with high viral loads. replicate with high viral loads, ., ., , replicate with high viral loads. ., ., , ., loads. so paxlovid is an antiviral _ loads. so paxlovid is an antiviral medicine. - loads. so paxlovid is an antiviral medicine. is i loads. so paxlovid is an i antiviral medicine. is this loads. so paxlovid is an . antiviral medicine. is this a reinfection or a reemergence of the original infection?— the original infection? here is what we know. _ the original infection? here is what we know. it _ the original infection? here is what we know. it looks - the original infection? here is what we know. it looks as - what we know. it looks as though first of all, it is not due to drug resistance. this came out of a study from the university of california san diego. patients with rebound was still sensitive to the

drug, that is good news. it looks genetically similar or the same as what the patient originally had. the thinking is right now that what happens is the medicine may not be getting into cells in high enough doses into cells in high enough doses in order to get rid of all of the virus. and that creates a reservoir of virus from the original infection and it literally rebounds, the number of virus starts to replicate again. i think that is probably happening. now the question is what you do do you about it. there are some investigators including the group at the scripps translation research institute that are looking to extend the course of the medicine. currently it is a five—day treatment course, perhaps we are going to seven or ten days, that will take care of the problem and hopefully we will have some data about that soon. briefly in regards — data about that soon. briefly in regards to _ data about that soon. briefly in regards to the _ data about that soon. briefly in regards to the president, | data about that soon. brieflyl in regards to the president, a 79—year—old man, what is the outlook for him? 79-year-old man, what is the outlook for him?— 79-year-old man, what is the outlook for him? the fact that he is doing — outlook for him? the fact that he is doing well— outlook for him? the fact that he is doing well is _ outlook for him? the fact that he is doing well is a _ outlook for him? the fact that he is doing well is a good - he is doing well is a good side. a number of us who had rebound were doing it because we had stopped testing and then

got sick again. to our unpleasant surprise we were positive, that is what happened to myself and doctor ouchi. in the president's case they were doing regular testing and it was noted to be positive although he was having no or minimal symptoms. a speck he will do quite well. the only decision to make is whether to give a second course of paxlovid or leave it as is. thank you so much for your time. let's get some of the day's other news. the russian energy company gazprom says it has suspended gas supplies to latvia, the latest eu country to be hit with such action as tensions continue over ukraine. gazprom accused latvia of violating conditions of purchase, but gave no details of the alleged violation. the eu says russia's squeezing of energy supplies is in retaliation for western sanctions over moscow's invasion of ukraine. the cuban capital havana will begin electricity blackouts next month to deal with the island's worsening energy crisis. other energy saving plans have been announced,

including cancelling next month's carnival, more working from home and mass vacations. the rest of the communist—run island has been experiencing blackouts for months already. in the czech republic, rain and poor visibility are preventing aircraft from taking off to help put out a forest fire that's been raging for almost a week on the northern border with germany. almost 700 firefighters are trying to douse the flames in the bohemian switzerland national park. the rain, which is heavy in prague and other regions, has missed the area of the fire. more than 120 people have been injured during protests by supporters of the powerful iraqi cleric moqtada sadr in baghdad. the protesters stormed the iraqi parliament for the second time in three days, and have been staging a sit—in inside the parliament building. they oppose the nomination of a pro—iran rival candidate for prime minister. richard galpin reports. twice now this week,

protests here in the iraqi capital baghdad leading to parliament being broken into and occupied — supporters of the powerful iraqi cleric moqtada al—sadr venting their anger about the possibility of a pro—iran candidate becoming prime minister. concrete barriers pulled down so they could enter the high—security green zone. more than 100 people have been injured. iraq's current prime minister, mustafa al—kadhimi, has called for calm. translation: i ask on everyone to maintain peace and calm - and to avoid clashes, and for the citizens not to clash with the security forces, to respect the rule of law of the country. all this the result of many months of stalemate between the political factions, in the quest to create a new government.

translation: this is - the longest post-election deadlock iraq has gone through since the days of the old regime. the political forces possess the authority and positions but forget about the iraqi people. there is no budget, no infrastructure. it has been eight months and they could not yet elect a prime minister. moqtada al—sadr, who opposes iranian and american influence in iraq, has claimed victory for his own nationalist movement. but he's refused to work with any of his rivals, making it impossible to build a new governing coalition. richard galpin, bbc news. a major disaster has been declared in the us state of kentucky, after floods caused at least 25 deaths. president biden is back in isolation after testing positive for covid—i9

for the second time in nine days. pope francis says he can no longer keep up his busy international travel schedule, and has suggested he could step down due to problems with his health. the announcement came on his return flight from a week—long trip to canada where he met indigenous people to apologise for the catholic church's role in the residential schools scandal. let's have a listen. translation: i don't believe i can travel at the same pace | as before and i believe that at my age and with this limitation, i have to save some energy to be able to serve the church. i think about the possibility of stepping aside. with all honesty, it's not a catastrophe, you can change your pope, it's not a problem. our religion editor, aleem maqbool, was on the plane with pope francis. we have just returned to terminalfive in rome after a week—long trip

to canada with the pope. this is where diplomatic visitors come and go. we are all exhausted. it turns out the pope is as well. he said it was a very intense trip for him. he talked about the fact that perhaps now he might need to save himself a little in order to continue serving the church, or he might have to think of retiring. he told that to us journalists on the plane from his wheelchair. he has been in a wheelchair for a lot of this trip because of ongoing issues with his knees. although he has previously dismissed all the speculation that there has been about an much more serious life—threatening illness. but he said it was not taboo for a pope to step down, and that was a door he said that was open to him though not a door he had knocked on as yet. although he did say,

that was not to say that in a couple of days' time he would not do just that and consider retiring. but he has stressed that, for the moment, he intends to continue his duties. he does, for example, still want to make a trip to ukraine. we were expecting some news on that, but he said, for now, he has to consult his doctors first. let's turn now to omaha in new zealand, where campaigners have been urging local authorities to do more to prevent starfish and other sea creatures from being artificially forced into extinction. a petition was launched by an advocacy group last year calling for a temporary ban on removing sea creatures from rock pools. it's been more than a year since the petition was submitted, but nothing has changed. people are still seen going to beaches by the hundreds, and stripping the sea life from rocks to cook and eat. we can speak now to mary coupe, leader of advocacy group save the rock pools committee, which has been campaigning

for greater restrictions on rockpool harvesting in the omaha region about 75km north of auckland. thank about 75km north of auckland. you so much forjoi| us thank you so much forjoining us here on bbc news. obviously this is an important issue, but why go to the steps of the petition? what was the driver for you? petition? what was the driver for ou? ., ., . petition? what was the driver for ou? . ., . , , petition? what was the driver for ou? ., ., ., , , ., for you? kia ora, firstly, from new zealand. _ for you? kia ora, firstly, from new zealand. the _ for you? kia ora, firstly, from new zealand. the driver - for you? kia ora, firstly, from new zealand. the driver was | for you? kia ora, firstly, from i new zealand. the driver was we cannot sustain this kind of level of harvesting out of the rock pools, and without common sense, you know, dictating that there will be nothing left. i grew up on the beaches around auckland, basically all my life as a child, as a parent with our children, and also as a grandparent, and exploring the rock pools than and now is just a key kiwi thing to do, but

sadly our oddballs are almost parallel. i remember going to the rock pools when i was a kid, and you get a little crab, sail and you would put it back. but you talk about harvesting, are you talking about a commercial level? is it parents of children's with their families with two what is going on? i don't believe commercial. i hope i... i can't be proved wrong on that. but it is more than numbers. where it started, i went down to the rock pools. it was a gorgeous day with the family and there were other people about exploring and enjoying a beautiful summer day, and there were about 50 to 80 people also document glorious, wonderful, and it was only then that i saw that there were bowls and buckets, and they were filled with, yes, starfish and those crabs that you talked about, and little tiny sea snails, all sorts of wrongful creatures, and that

shocked me.— wrongful creatures, and that shocked me. ~ . ., ., shocked me. what reaction, what resonse shocked me. what reaction, what resoonse from — shocked me. what reaction, what response from the _ shocked me. what reaction, what response from the authorities - response from the authorities have you had in particularfrom petition? we have been through a political process that you need to do. we have got a petition together, had over 3000 signatures for that. we have beenin signatures for that. we have been in communication with our local mp chris king who has been extraordinary in his support, and going through all the appropriate procedure to application to submissions coming in from around the country. minister parker with whom it ends up who makes the decision has declined our application based on a couple of red tape issues. thank you so much forjoining us, and we wish you all the best with your petition. by this time tomorrow we will know if england women's wait for a major trophy has ended— after they take

on germany in the euros final at wembley. the lionesses who've scored 20 goals and conceded only one so far, have been getting ready to take on the most successful nation in the tournament's history. the germans have won it eight times. our sports correspondent natalie pirks looks ahead to the match. music: three lions — �*football�*s coming home'. you know it's a big deal when the queen's guard get involved. the familiar refrain of the three lions has been echoing round every ground on route to wembley... # football's coming home, it's coming home...# ..and will no doubt again for this sell—out final. from lionesses of the past to the current squad, as they survey the pristine pitch that took a moment to take it all in, to work out where their families will be for the defining match of their careers, and the spot where they might be lifting the trophy. we have a 90—minute game to play first but that has been my dream, that's been the dream of everybody since we were little.

so i know how it felt like in the garden when i was pretending when i was six, and i'm sure it will feel just as good as that, yeah. just over 100 years ago football was deemed quite unfit for females and was banned for almost 50 years. it was only four years ago that the women's super league when fully professional. england's women have been playing catch—up ever since. those at the forefront of change say this tournament will always be remembered. for sure, when people look back in history they will talk about 2022 and the euros and the sold—out stadiums, the huge tv audiences and, really, the month that those players became household names across the country. it's difficult to overstate how big a moment this is, not just for women's football but for women's sport in this country. sunday will see the biggest crowd in history for a women's european final. regardless of result for them, this is special. every little girl now can see

that women can be successful and that you can do what you really love, and that makes a difference, and hopefully that will change society in a positive way. england have steamed into this final, scoring 20 goals along the way, and only conceding one. but germany are the most successful side in european history, winning eight of the last ten trophies. for them to meet at wembley in the final is a script writer's a dream, the fairy tale fixture. only one, though, will get the hollywood ending. natalie pirks, bbc news, wembley. the commonwealth games are under way in the commonwealth games are underway in birmingham, the commonwealth games are under way in birmingham, and we had plenty of action. here's reporter. another packed day, the marathon races were the first to get going this morning. the women's race was won by

australia's jessica women's race was won by australia'sjessica stenson, third in glasgow in 2014, third again in brisbane for two years later but this time she left her competitors trailing in her wake as she took gold. i spoke to her after the win and she said she was doing it for the mothers. in the men's race, uganda's omaha took gold, he corrected his error to take the win. david weir, puncture close to the end of the wheelchair race ended his hopes as smith took the gold. australia's madison took the wheelchair marathon. another day doing well for new zealand. three gold medals won by one woman in the 3000 individual. aaron gate and the 4000. andrews and the women's sprint. plenty to celebrate for the british home nations in the swimming pool including gold medals england's

ben proud, duncan scott, and maggie mcneilfrom ben proud, duncan scott, and maggie mcneil from canada ben proud, duncan scott, and maggie mcneilfrom canada edged out australia's emma mckeon and the butterfly. it was a golden day for malaysia in the weightlifting. mohammed won the p5 kilograms, and then they made it a double celebration for the country in the 61 kg. lifting a combined total of 285 kilograms, a new record. more weightlifting medals are to be won on sunday as well as in the pool won on sunday as well as in the pool, and it is the men's and women's rugby sevens finals. all the action for yourself on the website. is this you? a lottery player in the us has won more than $1.3—billion, one of the biggest prizes in lottery history. the jackpot has grown because no—one has won it since april. the megamillions ticket was bought in the state of illinois but the winner, hasn't yet come forward.

you can reach me on twitter, i'm @garethbarlow. hello there. saturday was a warm and humid day for many of us. in places, we got to see some sunshine. in other places, the humidity gave rise to a lot of cloud, mist and murk and some outbreaks of rain, and there's more cloud and rain in the forecast for sunday across some parts of the uk. the sunniest conditions will be up to the north. the earlier satellite picture shows this pipeline of cloud, bringing some outbreaks of rain. we're starting sunday on a pretty soggy note across parts of wales, northern england, the north midlands, eastern england too. very little rain getting down into the south, but quite a cloudy, murky start to the day here. much of the rain will tend to peter out. still a few showers into the afternoon, but a bit more in the way of brightness developing, particularly in north wales and northern england.

all the while, northern ireland and scotland will have the lion's share of the sunshine. always a bit more cloud for eastern scotland. cool and fresh here — 16 for aberdeen, 18 degrees from belfast. still quite warm down towards the south and the south—east. it's triathlon and para—triathlon day at the commonwealth games. quite a lot of cloud, some spots of drizzle to start. should brighten up later on. and for the women's euro 2022 final at wembley, chance for a shower. i think, on balance, it should be dry, quite warm and muggy for the kick—off. so, yes, we could just see the odd shower drifting across the south—east corner during sunday evening, but overnight, into the early parts of monday, we'll see largely clear skies overhead, light winds and, actually, particularly up toward the north, something quite cool and fresh. seven to start monday in glasgow. still 17 there in london, so still a bit of warmth clinging on in the south. monday getting off to a fine start in most places, with some spells of sunshine, but we see another area of cloud starting to push in from the west. that'll bring rain into northern ireland through the afternoon,

perhaps fringing into parts of west wales and the far south—west of england. ahead of that, actually, another relatively warm day. 21 degrees for newcastle, 26 once again in london. as we move out of monday into tuesday, we see this area of low pressure bringing frontal systems and outbreaks of rain, but not much of that rain getting down into the south, where we really do need some. in fact, southern areas through tuesday are likely to be very warm indeed — 27, maybe 28 degrees — with the rain further north and west. it is then set to turn cooler but drier for the end of the week.

this is bbc news, the headlines: a federal emergency has ben declared in the us state of kentucky after floods caused at least 25 deaths. the governor, andy beshear, says many residents remained unaccounted for, while hundreds of homes and businesses have been washed away in the east of the region. the white house says president biden has tested positive for covid—19 for a second time in two weeks. doctors said the 79—year—old returned the test after four consecutive days of negative results. he is now back in strict isolation at the white house. pope francis has said health problems are likely to force him to scale down his busy international travel schedule and may even lead to his retirement. speaking after a six—day visit to canada, the 85—year—old pontiff said his age and frailty had led his decision.