welcome to bbc news. i'm simon pusey. our top stories — a catastrophe, the likes of which have never been seen before — pakistan's foreign minister assesses the flooding that's swept across his country. mission to the moon — america prepares to test—launch a rocket, heralding a new era of space exploration. more palestinians face eviction and their homes destroyed by israel �*s army. the un says it could amount to a war crime. tributes to roland mesnier, the veteran white house pastry chef, who served five us presidents, and theirfirst ladies, has died, aged 78.

more than a thousand people have now died in pakistan, where floods have been described by the country's foreign minister as a catastrophe. bilawal bhutto zardari told the bbc the disaster was on a scale he has never seen before. pakistan's government has issued a fresh appeal for more international aid. heavy rains have caused flooding sincejune, overwhelming rivers. around a sixth of the population are said to have been affected, with millions left homeless. officials in the southern province of sindh are warning that more floods and landslides are likely there, as waters come downstream. our correspondent pumza fihlani has the latest. local aid agencies in pakistan say they are doing what they can, but there simply aren't enough resources for everyone. as seen here — within minutes, the food runs out... ..and the team is forced to leave quickly. the picture is the same around the country. translation: we left our homes in a hurry and couldn't gather-

all our supplies to cook. some days we are able to eat, other days we have nothing. there is heavy flooding across sindh province, where thousands of mud homes have sunk underwater. roads have been flushed away. we have more than 3,000 kilometres of roads that have been washed away. bridges, 160 plus bridges have been destroyed as well so it is really, really, really a very, very bad situation here. remote communities have been left isolated, making it difficult for aid workers to reach them. this is not a river. these are flooded waters that have come in from weeks and weeks of rain. the boat that we're on at the moment usually works as a fishing boat, but it's become a lifeline for people in these sorts of remote villages. fishermen every day spend their time not fishing, but coming out to look for people. we come across a family surrounded by water. they tell us they will not move. "we've suffered great loss, but we cannot leave,"

she tells me. "everything we are left is here and we cannot leave it behind". charities in the uk are doing their best to try and make up forthat, including nottingham—based muslim hands. we have experience floods and monsoons of historic proportions before but this has really engulfed us all. for now, really engulfed us all. for now. with _ really engulfed us all. for now, with rivers - really engulfed us all. for now, with rivers continuing to overflow, and flash floods in some parts of the country, officials are worried the worst is still coming. pumza fihlani, bbc news, sindh. the floods in pakistan have devastated communities the length of the country, from sindh in the south, to the mountains in

the northern province of khyber pakhtunkwa, where dramatic pictures of a rescue emerged. towards the bottom of the screen here, there's a boy, stranded in the middle of what was usually a stream but had become a raging river. an army helicopter managed to reach him, dipping to within feet of the rocks, so that the child could climb on board. the helicopter had been assessing the extent of the floods near pattan in the north of the country when it was diverted to fly the boy to safety. our correspondent farhat javed has reached one village in khyber pakhtunkwa province, where people are waiting for help. clear this grim face tells the tale of the horrors mohammed farid has been through in the last 48 hours. he has just lost a young daughter, a piece of his heart, he tells us. a flash flood in the river kunhar washed her away and her dead body was found

later in the evening. translation: she told me, "daddy, i'm going to collectl leaves for my goat." then i went looking for her after a while. there was a lot of water. she went to the bank of the river and a gush of water followed and took her away. kaghan valley is a popular tourist destination in the north of pakistan. but three days ago, a heavy downpour of rain triggered flash flooding, devastating the area. before it reached farid's daughter the inundations had already claimed at least 14 lives. this bridge was collapsed by the same flood. now the village on the other side is completely cut off for two days now. it will take some time to rebuild it, but people are worried. they are waiting for help and assistance to reach them. i am told that there was a small market here which was also swept away

by these roaring waters. translation: they need rations and they need road link. - rations which was kept in the shops has been swept away in the flood. people are sitting there, waiting for divine help. incessant rains and flooding have wreaked havoc across large areas of pakistan. millions of people have been affected and more than 700,000 homes destroyed. and the death toll continues to rise. translation: we had only one shop and three families to feed | on its income, where my brother and i were working. everything was lost within seven minutes when the flood hit us. whoever comes here come forfun, make photos and goes back. rescue teams are struggling to reach villages and towns cut off by the damage, and pakistan's government has appealed to the international community to assist in coping with the calamity.

so how is pakistan prepared to respond to these catastrophic events, and what can the international community do to aid the country? with me now is michael kugelman, the deputy director and senior associate for south asia at the wilson center. thank you forjoining us, michael. explainjust how prepared and capable pakistan is to deal with events such as these. . ~ , . , these. pakistan definitely cannot do _ these. pakistan definitely cannot do it _ these. pakistan definitely cannot do it on _ these. pakistan definitely cannot do it on its - these. pakistan definitely cannot do it on its own. l cannot do it on its own. pakistan is a poor country, and the state has major capacity constraints with emergency response but in fairness to pakistan, the scale of this crisis is so big that even the most powerful and wealthy countries would have trouble responding. we are talking about a situation where more than half of the country is keepin than half of the country is keep in mind that pakistan, by area, is the same size as

france and the uk combined, to get a sense of the scale, and you are talking about more than 30 million people affected, thatis 30 million people affected, that is an amount of people were equivalent to the entire population of saudi arabia. so these floods are even more serious than the ones in 2010 which the un secretary general at the time had said was the worst natural disaster he had ever seen. so any government no matter how wealthy, strong or powerful would be helpless to deal with this crisis on their own. ., ., if z: , own. you mention 2010, is there any evidence _ own. you mention 2010, is there any evidence they _ own. you mention 2010, is there any evidence they have - own. you mention 2010, is there any evidence they have learned l any evidence they have learned from those previous floods and may be prepared at least a little bit since then?- little bit since then? well, unfortunately, _ little bit since then? well, unfortunately, i— little bit since then? well, unfortunately, i don't - little bit since then? well, | unfortunately, i don't think so, in the sense that indeed what we are seeing play out todayis what we are seeing play out today is similar to what played out in 2010 is manifestations of climate change, but pakistani authorities did not learn lessons, in terms of how to climate proof infrastructure, and make infrastructure, and make infrastructure more resilient to the impacts of climate change. you know, bad governance, the fact you had so many constructions of buildings along rivers, which of course

interrupts the natural flow of river waters and causes floods to worsen. none of those lessons unfortunately seem to have been learned from what happened in 2010. find have been learned from what happened in 2010.— have been learned from what happened in 2010. and has the recent political— happened in 2010. and has the recent political upheaval - recent political upheaval effect of the response, do you think? ~ ., think? well, indeed, i mean, ou think? well, indeed, i mean, you have _ think? well, indeed, i mean, you have a — think? well, indeed, i mean, you have a government - think? well, indeed, i mean, you have a government that. think? well, indeed, i mean,| you have a government that is relatively new that is rather weak, doesn't have much legitimacy and is not very popular. but i should say that the pattern in pakistan overtime is that when you have these terrible natural disasters, it is not typically the civilian government that leads in the response, but it tends to be the military, it tends to be the military, it tends to be the military, it tends to religious charities, civil society, tends to religious charities, civilsociety, private tends to religious charities, civil society, private aid groups. in the getting is those groups. in the getting is those groups are responding in force, the silver lining, there has been some very inspiring stories of aid workers and soldiersjumping into raging soldiers jumping into raging floodwaters soldiersjumping into raging floodwaters to save children and others who are trapped, so thatis and others who are trapped, so that is the silver lining, but ended the fact you have a government that is weak, unpopular, has been struggling to rein in a terrible economic crisis, that makes it even more

difficult for the state to respond effectively. michael in washington. — respond effectively. michael in washington, thank _ respond effectively. michael in washington, thank you - respond effectively. michael in washington, thank you for - washington, thank you for joining us. let's get some of the day's other news. austria says it's now backing an eu—wide cap on electricity prices, as they continue to rise in line with soaring gas prices. austria is heavily dependent on russian gas, but most of its electricity comes from renewables. austrian chancellor karl nehammer says the eu must not allow president putin to determine its electricity price every day. dutch police say the number of people killed, when a truck veered off the road and rolled into a village barbecue, has risen to six. seven others are being treated in hospital. the incident happened on saturday south of rotterdam. police say the 46—year—old spanish driver was suspected of causing the accident, and was not under the influence of alcohol. brazil's right—wing president jair bolosonaro is one of six candidates taking part in an election debate. among his opponents, his biggest rival, the former leftist leader louis inacio lula da silva. opinion polls suggest mr lula

is leading the race with 47% of the vote compared with mr bolosonaro, of the vote compared with mr bolsonaro, who would have around 30%. french police are believed to have opened an investigation, after the french footballer paul pogba claimed he's been the target of extortion and threats from an organised gang. thejuventus and france midfielder issued a statement through his lawyers on sunday, saying the matter had been reported to the authorities. nasa is preparing to launch its new rocket for its first mission to the moon in 50 years. it's due to lift off tomorrow afternoon from the kennedy space center. it's the first of the artemis missions, and this flight will be uncrewed to test if the technology works. if it's successful, it will pave the way for human beings to return to the moon. our science editor rebecca morelle reports from cape caneveral in florida. it's almost time. standing on launch pad 39b —

the same one used by the apollo missions — the most powerful rocket nasa has ever built is ready for liftoff. the rocket is simply enormous, and it's only when you're standing here that you realise get a sense its size. and this is the last chance we'll see it up close. the launch pad is closing and fuelling is about to begin, because in just a few hours' time, this will be blasting off. the first step in our return to the moon for 50 years. we talk about moonshots as things that humans can do when we put our differences aside and we focus on the mission and do great things together. well, now we are going to have our own moonshot, right? and so this is our generation. like, we get to now say we did it. if we do this successfully monday, we have sent something like that, a human—rated spacecraft to the moon. for its maiden lunch, the rockets will push a capsule, called orion, into deep space, where it will go into orbit around the moon before it returns to earth. no astronauts will be on board this time —

this is a test flight. with such new technology, there are a lot of things that could go wrong. we have done so much testing on this rocket. we've been through integrated testing, we've tested everything from the smallest material to every system. we have done everything we can do on the ground to eliminate the risk. from here, it'sjust a matter of testing it in—flight, and that's what we are excited about doing monday. so much is riding on this. the next step is to get astronauts on board. nasa's ultimate plan is to land the first woman and the first person of colour on the lunar surface. along the causeways around cape canaveral, people are getting ready to watch the launch, setting up early to bag the best spot. hundreds of thousands are expected in the area. i'm really excited, because it's one of the biggest rocket launches in 50 years. it's the largest so far that's going to be going up,

and it will be extremely loud. i've been watching this stuff ever since, well, i i watched this space landing in '69. - isa is a really pretty close to where it will be launching so we'll probablyjust climb up on our roof and watch it from there. the weather might have other ideas, though. above the launch pad, the storms keep on coming. nasa will need a break in the clouds to get this rocket off the ground. rebecca morelle, bbc news, at the kennedy space center, florida. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: europe's biggest carnival returns to the streets of london after a three—year break due to the pandemic. she received the nobel peace prize for her work with the poor and the dying in the indian slums. the head of the catholic church said mother teresa was a wonderful example of how to help people in need. we had to identify the bodies and then arrange the coffins and take them back home, their parents are waiting

and their wives are waiting. hostages appeared, some carried, some running, i trying to escape the - nightmare behind them. britain lost a princess today. described by all to whom she reached out as irreplaceable, an early morning car crash in a paris underpass ended a life with more than its share of pain and courage, warmth and compassion. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: pakistan's foreign minister says flooding is a catastrophe on a scale never seen before,

with millions now in desperate need of shelter. nasa is counting down to the lift—off of its most powerful moon rocket ever, fifty years after the last apollo mission. more than 1,000 palestinians could soon be evicted from their homes in the south of the occupied west bank by israel's army. in may, the israeli high court sanctioned plans to expel them to make way for israeli military training in an area known as masafer yatta. un experts have warned israel that if it goes ahead with the mass eviction it could amount to a war crime. our middle east correspondent, yolande knell, has been to masafer yatta. you see now, they are doing demolition. it takesjust demolition. it takes just seconds, and a palestinian house is gone. a family is harmless. israel said they built here illegally. abu mohammed pleaded with the israeli soldiers and police to

stop. the family that was living in this house, abu mohammed's relatives, they don't even know that the house has been demolished because they were away at a wedding, no—one has been able to call them and get in touch. this is all too familiar and the west bank under full israeli control. it is virtually impossible for palestinians to get a building permit here, so most people build without them. we realised today's demolitions aren't yet over. so we have raised up to the top of this hell, really breathless because the roads have been closed. you can see here that animal pens are being demolished. a big flock of sheep over there. there are scuffles with anti— demolition activists, threatened with arrests. everything will be confiscated so that the shepherds can't easily shepherd's can't easily rebuild. just look at how many security forces are up here keeping us all back. but such

losses are the only problem in masafer yatta. jewish settlements are expanding here. they are seen as illegal under international law but israel disagrees. forthis international law but israel disagrees. for this man it is a double standard. they come here, steal our land, as well as palestinians living on it, and their homes. i mean, the state support them doing that, providing for the settlers on my land but the same state, the same government is approaching us from here by demolishing our homes, schools and water well, and roads. the israeli army doesn't agree to an interview but has a large presence in masafer yatta. there is here is telling us we are about to enter into a firing area of an israeli military zone. it says, "danger, entrance is forbidden." i see more demolitions along the road. israel's supreme

court recently ruled that there is army training area was legal. hundreds of palestinians now face eviction. this is where a family lives. i am off to meet one couple who insist they won't move. they live in a cave created by na'aman's grandfather before his birth. if the army sees the solar panels they will remove them, he tells me. they live under tight is really restrictions. add suheir, days away from giving birth, is afraid. what does the future mean? "what future?" she says, we live in fear, we have no future, nothing will stop if israel's massive action goes ahead it will be one of the biggest in the west bank in decades. the international community has warned against it, but for those trying to stay here it is little help. yolande knell, bbc news. roland mesnier, the famous

white house pastry chef, has died at the age of 78. the french— born confectioner spent 27 years serving five us presidents. he told us tv presenter jeff weeks one of his stories about working for the family of former presidentjimmy carter. he shared the recipe of the cheese rang that they would have on every parfait, every time. that was the signature carter dish. the recipe that you had to use, the stink here that she is you could find, mix them together, puts them on all sort different thing, and then you make a ring, make a ring inside of them all, and then you moulded it, in the middle you moulded it, in the middle you put a strawberryjam. the funniest thing, mrs carter would always check if this was on the table. it was! but nobody ever touched it. - nobody it. — nobody ever it. nobody ever aided? laughs.

what we did as we would just put it back into the freezer and bring it back out every buffet. i think the same cheese rang lasted for four years. laughs. if you go to the white house today you may still find one in the freezer! lesnar speak to him about that interview that he did about ten years ago on wsr pbe. you are smiling during that anecdote. it is one of the great clips in that interview you did. he was clearly quite a character. describe what type of man he was. what a wonderful human being. he was a great storyteller, obviously, as you saw in the clip, and a wonderful sense of humour. i might add, what you see in that clip, that is what he was really like in person. he was just he was really like in person. he wasjust a he was really like in person. he was just a funny guy. one of those folks who is magnetic and want to be around. you can imagine how all of the presidents and their families

would absolutely love him. he was just an engaging gentleman, i'm so sorry to hear but his passing. and so many anecdotes about, can you can use when he got his big break? i believe that mrs carter played a big part? she played a huge part in it. roland mesnier was working at an exquisite resort or exclusive resort i should say in virginia, hot springs virginia. i believe it is the homestead resort. many of the people in the carter administration would visit the place from time to time so we got to a time where mrs carter was looking for a pastry chef. at some point they invited chef mesnier down for a tour of the white house. to hear him tell the story, it was just overwhelming because he is a kid from france, smalltown france. i believe is of the population was 140 people or something. and here he is at the white house of the united states of america, and it so happens that on that day prime

minister margaret thatcher was also giving a press conference or there was something going on in the white house gardens, and so he had an opportunity to see her as well, and so he was just absolutely overwhelmed and amazed at how far he had gone. long story short, he got an opportunity to sit down and speak with mrs carter. she talked about what it was that she was looking for. one of the things he told her he would do with that he would make the deserts and the pastries very healthy because she was obviously was and still is a beautiful woman, very fed, and so he was kind of playing off that idea. he also jogged so he was kind of playing off that idea. he alsojogged in the interview, "i was pretty good back in those days as well!" and hejoked good back in those days as well!" and he joked that it helped them as well. they established a wonderful rapport. at the end of the interview, mrs carter said, this is the guy that i want. apparently somebody came in and said, we have a problem because

he isn't a united states citizen, and i'm not sure if thatis citizen, and i'm not sure if that is still the case but apparently at that particular time in order to work on the way because you had to be a citizen. she said, "never mind, i want him. hire him. i will take care of that." he goes on to tell the story about how a couple of days or weeks later, how a mysterious black limousine showed up, wisdom around various parts of washington, dc, and all of a sudden he was an american citizen. we saw a picture of hillary clinton does then, bill clinton i think had quite a portion for password. describe some of his other food password. describe some of his otherfood habits i think mr mesnier told you a few things like that? absolutely, if you see president clinton today he is very fit and trim but back in the day when he was in the office he clearly enjoyed eating, and he was probably a little heavier but he was now. apparently he had some allergies for different types of ingredients that would go into pastries and desserts, so

he would try to keep those away from him, but occasionally president clinton would say, mama, i'm going to be a bad boy, as chef mesnier would say add needed a piece of the chocolate cake that he so enjoyed, and chef mesnier went on to say that he could always tell, his words, when resident clinton was being a bad boy because he could see around his eyes, they would be puffy. even still to this day he can tell when mr clinton is being a bad boy when it comes to that kinds of deserts he is eating. that is all we have time for, i'm afraid, but that is so interesting to speak to you and hear about those anecdotes about roland mesnier. thank you so much forjoining us here on the programme. thank you, a real pleasure. the unmistakable sounds and sights of the notting hill carnival have returned to the streets of west london for the first time in three years following the pandemic. it's europe's largest carnival and it could have up to two million people attending over the two day festival, and it kicked off

with children's day. stay tuned. hello. the bank holiday weekend continues for most parts of the uk, and the dry weather continues for most, as well. but there will be some contrast in our weather fortunes through monday. the warmest and sunniest weather will be in the south and the west where you have some shelter from a keen north—easterly breeze, blowing around the area of high pressure centred to the north of us. along the northern and eastern coast where you are exposed to that breeze, well, there will be a lot of cloud, even some showers through the morning. and also a bit of showery rain first thing around some of these the irish sea coasts. much of that will tend to ease. through the day, we'll keep quite a lot of cloud across northern and eastern areas. more sunshine across western scotland, northern ireland, parts of wales, the south—west of england. there will be some showers around as well, blowing along this brisk breeze, but many

places will avoid the showers and stay dry. as far as temperatures go, some north sea coasts only getting to 14 or 15 degrees. compare that with a possible 25 in parts of north cornwall and north devon. as we go through monday night, we will continue to see some areas of cloud across northern and eastern parts, giving a little bit of patchy rain here and there. clear spells further south and west. it remains fairly breezy. for most, that should hold the temperatures up — nine degrees for aberdeen, 13 for cardiff and plymouth. as we go through the week, we're going to see more dry weather. it may turn just a little bit warmer for some of us around the middle part of the week. there is the chance of rain later today, but some uncertainty about exactly who will see that. through tuesday, again, a lot of dry weather, a fair amount of cloud, particularly up towards the north—east. one or two showers further west. that's where you'll see the best of the sunshine.

still quite breezy across eastern and southern areas. that breeze quite brisk, actually, through some english channel coasts. 24 degees for cardiff. further north in glasgow, a high of 18. looking deeper into the week, our area of high pressure looks set to retreat northwards. one frontal system pushing in from the west and a showery low trying to drift up from the south. some uncertainty about how this will pay out but it does look like there is increasing chance of rain as we head towards the end of the week and into the weekend. but i suspect there will be places that don't see very much and stay predominantly dry.

florida.

this is bbc news. the headlines — more than a thousand people have now died in pakistan where floods have been described by the country's foreign minister as a catastrophe. bilawal butto zardari told the bbc the disaster was on a scale he has never seen before. pakistan's government has issued a fresh appeal for more international aid. nasser is preparing to launch its new rocket for the first mission to the moon in 50 years. the first of the artemis missions, this light will be on crude to test if the technology works. if it is successful, it will pave the way for humans to return to the moon. and roland mesnier, the famous white house pastry chef, has died at the

age of 78. the french born