welcome to bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: china experiences a surge of covid cases a week after relaxing its strict rules on quarantines and lockdowns. us presidentjoe biden signs into law a bill giving federal protection to same—sex and inter—racial marriages. today's 3 good day! a day america takes a vital step towards equality. three days of national mourning are underway in the democratic republic of congo after at least 100 people are killed by heavy rains, floods and landslides around the capital, kinshasa.

promising results from a new personalised cancer vaccine. the experimental therapy uses the same technology developed in the moderna and pfizer coronavirus jabs. and lionel messi inspires argentina to a convincing win over croatia to reach sunday's world cup final. welcome to our viewers on pbs in the united states and around the world. to china first, where the hospital system's coming under an increasing strain as covid—19 spreads quickly again. it comes after the government's decision to abandon its zero—covid approach. the situation has become so bad that doctors and nurses who have contracted the virus are being told to turn up for work because of staff shortages. stephen mcdonell

reports from beijing. long lines have been forming outside beijing's clinics after an explosion of infections, triggered by an end to china's zero—covid approach. hospitals have increased their fever ward capacity, expecting a huge influx of patients. people in this country have been used to going to hospital to treat any illness at all, but now they're putting massive pressure on the system. so doctors have taken to social media to try to explain that with mild cases of the virus, recovery at home is recommended — a new concept for most here. going to hospital can also be potentially dangerous at the moment, according to one specialist, who says patients could be catching covid from doctors and nurses. from my conversations with friends in china who serve as the hospital directors or medical workers, people being infected had been required to work

in hospital, which creates a transmission environment there. it's notjust hospitals that are under pressure. panic buying at pharmacies has meant certain medicines are now hard to come by. this sign says, "no cold and flu tablets, no thermometers and no home testing kits." just weeks ago, chinese officials were saying lockdowns and isolation centres were necessary. now, after a major u—turn, the message is that the latest covid types aren't dangerous, and many younger people are welcoming the chance to isolate at home. translation: the information circulating before about covid l was completely at odds with my experience of the virus. i caught it, was a bit uncomfortable, but it hasn't been nearly as scary as i thought it would be. she does worry about her sister, who has two parents

and children and grandmother. in other countries, reopening led to bustling streets, as communities again came together. beijing feels like a ghost town. most are either recovering at home or afraid to go out, lest they too become infected. companies in these tower blocks are imploring staff to return to work, but they are having a difficult time convincing employees to re—enter crowded offices. it looks like china is in for a tough few months before life returns to anything like normal. amongst those being overloaded are home delivery drivers, and many of them are also catching covid. so orders are piling up, with not enough drivers to handle them. zero—covid may be effectively over, but this virus continues to wreak havoc in china. stephen mcdonnell, bbc news, beijing. president biden has

signed into law a bill which gives federal protection to same—sex and interracial marriages in the united states. democrats secured the passage of the legislation weeks before surrendering control of the house of representatives to their republican opponents. speaking at the signing ceremony at the white house, mr biden said it was an historic day: today's a good day! a day america takes a vital step toward equality, toward liberty and justice, notjust for some, but for everyone, everyone! we are creating a nation where decency, dignity and love are recognised, honoured and protected. let's speak to our north america correspondent peter bowes. good to see you, a vital step towards equality, according to the president. what does the bill mean in practice? it

the president. what does the bill mean in practice? it means in practice _ bill mean in practice? it means in practice that _ bill mean in practice? it means in practice that there _ bill mean in practice? it means in practice that there is - bill mean in practice? it means in practice that there is now . in practice that there is now federal or country wide recognition of same—sex and interracial managers. it was prompted and it may seem like there was a rush to get through congress — marriages. it was prompted by the decision of the supreme court early this year to deny the constitutional rights of women in this country to have an abortion. there have been some concerns that the supreme court, a conservative leaning supreme court, could at some point in the future make a similar decision that would essentially overturn a previous decision, giving the rights of same—sex couples, interracial couples, to get married. it was interesting that there was bipartisan support for this bill. now a law, that is all of the democrats and enough republicans to get it passed through as a law.— republicans to get it passed through as a law. peter, this is not quite _ through as a law. peter, this is not quite a _ through as a law. peter, this is not quite a catchall. - through as a law. peter, this is not quite a catchall. what| is not quite a catchall. what does the bill not include? this

does the bill not include? this does not include _ does the bill not include? ti 3 does not include essentially foreseeing individual states to carry out same—sex marriages. so, let'sjust lay in carry out same—sex marriages. so, let's just lay in the future, at some point the supreme court does move or make a similar decision to what it decided on abortion, that would give the rights of some states to deny people the right to a same—sex marriage. it will not force them to do that but it will compel those individual states to recognise same—sex marriages, interracial marriages, interracial marriages, if they were carried out legally elsewhere, they carried out legally in another state. the reason that is important because for those roughly 700,000 same—sex roughly 700 , 000 same—sex couples roughly 700,000 same—sex couples in the country, it means whatever the supreme court decides in the future, their rights, their rights to benefits and other rights given to them through being married, will be secured, moving forward.

will be secured, moving forward-— let's get some of the day's other news: the judiciary in iran says 400 anti—government protesters in the capital, tehran, have been given prison sentences of up to ten years. the city's prosecutor general said nearly half of what he called "the rioters" were jailed for between five to ten years, most of the others for up to two years. a french court has found guilty all eight suspects accused of helping a tunisian man carry out a deadly truck attack in nice six years ago. 86 people were killed and hundreds injured when the vehicle tore through crowds celebrating bastille day in the southern city. lawyers for a greek member of european parliament, embroiled in a corruption scandal, say she knew nothing about large amounts of cash found at her home. eva kaili has been stripped of her role as vice—president of the european parliament. she's one of four people charged by police in relation to alleged bribes from

the gulf state of qatar. at a summit in washington, the us defence secretary, lloyd austin, has warned african leaders there's a risk that china and russia will destabilize the continent. at the start of the 3—day meeting, which is being attended by dozens of african leaders, he spoke of a lack of transparency when it came to china's growing economic influence on the continent, and criticised russia for deploying mercenaries in african countries. ajudge in the bahamas has denied bail to the founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange ftx, who's been accused of one of the biggest financialfrauds in us history. thejudge said sam bankman—fried should be remanded in custody until the case for extradition could be heard. mr bankman—fried has indicated that he will fight extradition to the united states, where the authorities have filed eight separate criminal charges against him. a court in peru has

rejected an appeal by the ousted president, pedro castillo, to be released following his detention on charges of rebellion and conspiracy. appearing in court for the first time since his impeachment last week, mr castillo said he'd been unjustly and arbitarily detained. he said he would never give up fighting for his ideals and called on the security forces to stop killing his supporters, who've held protests across the country to demand his release. they've turned violent, resulting in the deaths of seven people. for more on this let's cross to lima now and speak to denisse rodriguez—0livari, she's a lecturer in politics at the pontifical catholic university of peru. what is the latest on the ground?— what is the latest on the round? ~ , i. .,, what is the latest on the round? a ., ground? as you reported, as of toda , ground? as you reported, as of today. there — ground? as you reported, as of today, there are _ ground? as you reported, as of today, there are seven - ground? as you reported, as of today, there are seven people. today, there are seven people killed in protests are many injured, including many police officers. we injured, including many police officers. ~ ., injured, including many police officers. ~ . ., , officers. we are hearing 'ust in the last i officers. we are hearing 'ust in the last few i officers. we are hearing just in the last few moments - officers. we are hearing just in the last few moments on | officers. we are hearing just i in the last few moments on the reuters news agency that officials including the defence

minister says armed forces are taking control of key infrastructure across the city, including highways. what more do we know about this? unfortunately, this is not new. we have seen the repression, with the successive use of force, by police officers throughout the decades and this is the result of poor management of conflict resolution. we have seen many people losing their lives. we have seen some looting. we have seen some people harming journalists and even trying to loot some mainstream media outbuildings. i both on the streets are demanding the release of pedro castillo, but the grievances go further than that. what are they calling for wesley this is a controlled platform. it goes from pedro castillo, to hosting all the

parliamentarians and also the removal of the current prime minister. i mean, their demands are quite various, including economic grievances. pedro castillo has _ economic grievances. pedro castillo has been _ economic grievances. pedro castillo has been pleading l economic grievances. pedro i castillo has been pleading his case in court arguing his case against detention, what you think the future holds for him? i think it is highly unlikely he will be released from detention, currently under seven—day preliminary detention. this is why they are collecting the proof for the case. i think the prosecution should be extremely careful of what crime they are trying to indict him for because otherwise there will be some calls for longer, which is something we have seen in the region. something we have seen in the reuion. ., ~ something we have seen in the reuion. . ~ ., ., region. talking of the region, there is a _ region. talking of the region, there is a bigger _ region. talking of the region, there is a bigger picture, - there is a bigger picture, pedro castillo was part of the pink tide, the left—wing movement across latin american

countries including brazil, mexico, argentina. what of those leaders saying about the situation in peru at moment and had as a play into the role of peru in latin american politics?— peru in latin american politics? they have 'ust releasedfi politics? they have 'ust released some * politics? they have just released some joint - politics? they have just - released some joint documents saying they believe that pedro castillo was wrongfully removed from office, which is not true. it does not fly in media or peru or international politics or domestic politics. as i mentioned, they think, this is what i'm trying to be extremely, i want to make this put forward that we need to be careful how we deal with justice in the country otherwise we will have larger and more violent protests throughout the country. thank

ou ve throughout the country. thank you very much _ throughout the country. thank you very much for _ throughout the country. thank you very much forjoining - throughout the country. thank you very much forjoining us i you very much forjoining us from lima, peru. in central africa, around 100 people are reported to have been killed in the democratic republic of congo, following the worst flooding in years in the capital, kinshasa. major roads in the city centre were left under water as heavy rains continued for hours. several homes collapsed. the government's announced a 3—day period of national mourning. tom brada reports. wading through filthy water to see what, if anything, is still standing. heavy rains have left a trail of destruction across kinshasa, with homes destroyed and lives slipped away. in some areas, landslides have torn chunks out of the land, with vast holes where homes once stood. translation: it was at 5am when the earth collapsed - on the house. nine people from the same family have died. it is a similar picture across the capital. addressing the ongoing rescue efforts, the prime minister

said that: for many people, the government itself is partly to blame. translation: we have elected a government . that is unable to give its people what they need. this road has threatened to collapse for a long time. we alerted the authorities to the situation but here is the pure reality. they cannot even build a gutter! once a fishing village on the banks of the congo, kinshasa has grown into one of africa's megacities, but the growth has not been matched by the right kind of investment, leaving the city, and its residents, increasingly vulnerable. translation: | find it hard to bear. - i have no more strength to bury the dead bodies. climate change means that periods of intense rain are becoming more common. without more help from the government, residents of kinshasa will remain at the mercy of the destructive weather. tom brada, bbc news, kinshasa.

stay with us on bbc news. still to come: goals from messi and alvarez see argentina crush croatia to secure a place in sunday's world cup final. cheering and singing saddam hussein is finished, because he killed our people, our women, our children. the signatures took only a few minutes but they brought a formal end to 3.5 years of conflict — conflict that has claimed more than 200,000 lives. before an audience of world leaders, the presidents of bosnia, serbia and croatia put their names to the peace agreement. the romanian border was sealed and silent today. romania has cut itself off from the outside world in order

to prevent the details of the presumed massacre in timisoara from leaking out. from sex at the white house to a trial for his political life, the lewinsky affair tonight guaranteeing bill clinton his place in history as only the second president ever to be impeached. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: china experiences a surge of covid cases, a week after relaxing its strict rules on quarantines and lockdowns. us presidentjoe biden signs into law a bill giving federal protection to same—sex and interracial marriages. a new type of personalised vaccine to treat cancer has produced promising results during clinical trials. the experimental therapy uses the same technology which was first developed in the moderna and pfizer

coronavirus vaccines. 0ur medical editor, fergus walsh, has the details. we usually think of acting as a of preventing disease but this is a personalised treatment of patients with cancer using messenger rna technology first used in samkova jabs. it works like this. a sample of the patient�*s tumour analysed and dozens of mutations unique to their cancer are identified. the vaccine contains strands of mrna which give coded instructions to cells to produce the rogue proteins from the tumour. this stimulates the patient�*s immune system to attack their cancer. in effect, the vaccine on masks the cancer cells which until then had remained hidden. the trial involved 157 patients with melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. the companies

involved say the results are promising. involved say the results are promising-— promising. it's the first randomised _ promising. it's the first randomised trial - promising. it's the first| randomised trial testing promising. it's the first. randomised trial testing of promising. it's the first - randomised trial testing of our mrna therapy in cancer patients, shown a 44% reduction in the risk of dying of cancer or having a cancer progress. that's an important finding and i think it has the potential to be a new paradigms in the treatment of cancer issues. the same approach _ treatment of cancer issues. the same approach has been tried with long, bowel and other tumour types. trials will take a few years so new treatments are a way off. but cancer research uk says its grounds for optimism, that the science which helps get us out of the pandemic could be used against cancer. paramedical editor, fergus walsh, there are. argentina are through to the final of the world cup in qatar after beating croatia 3—0. lionel messi scored the first goal in the 34th minute. 0ur sports presenter, 0lly foster, is in doha with all the details.

the smile on lionel messi's face at full—time at the lusail stadium was as wide as the doha corniche behind me. yet again, the argentina captain instrumental in everything they did here, carrying his country through to a sixth world cup final. it was julian alvarez, his strike partner, fouled after the half—hour mark against croatia, it was messi who stepped up to score the penalty, his 11th world cup goal for argentina, overtaking the old mark of gabriel batistuta. he is up to five in qatar and level in the race for the golden boot alongside kylian mbappe. alvarez ran at the heart of the croatian defence before halftime, got the luck of the bounce, but hit their second from close range, 2—0 at halftime and lionel messi weaved his magic on the right with 20

minutes left of play, turning one croatian defender and another inside and out before finding alvarez for their third. croatian fans knew it wasn't to be their day. they weren't going to reach back to back finals, they were runners—up four years ago in russia, but there was a standing ovation their talisman, 37—year—old croatian captain luka modric, substituted towards the end, and that is almost certainly going to be his final world cup. maybe it'll be lionel messi's but what a way to go out sunday in the final. it was his 25th world cup appearance against the croatians and that equals the record of lothar matthaus. he will break that if he is fit, and surely he will be on sunday. to buenos aires now. let's speak to dan edwards. he's the cohost of the argentinian football podcast the hand of pod.

good to see you. becoming a regular fixture yourself on bbc world news. we talk to you first when argentina ten double against australia and we told you when they won against the netherlands, you are happier than. ., ., y., ., netherlands, you are happier than. ., ., ., than. how do you feel now? good evenina. than. how do you feel now? good evening- 0h _ than. how do you feel now? good evening- 0h tap _ than. how do you feel now? good evening. on top of _ than. how do you feel now? good evening. on top of the _ than. how do you feel now? good evening. on top of the world. - evening. on top of the world. it's incredible how the world cup handout especially after the very muted start argentina had against saudi arabia under that point the argentina game dominic thiem came out, he got six finals left and argentina up six finals left and argentina up to now 15 of them every single game has been celebrated. this one more than all the others, been an incredible night in buenos aires. we'll see what happens on sunday but it's been a hell of a ride up to now. what were some highlights of the game for you? watching this strike, which sprang up in qatar,

lionel messi and almaraz, two guys who could be more different in age. messi a 35 years old, his six world cup, almaraz with three months of experience in european football and just over a year in the argentina team. they have clicked together and have been so decisive especially in the knockout rounds. the first goal from almaraz when he grabbed the ball on the halfway line and kept going, going and going. we don't know how. he put it in the net. that was amazing and probably when you could think, maybe this one will go argentina's way. messi seems to getting _ will go argentina's way. messi seems to getting most - will go argentina's way. messi seems to getting most of - will go argentina's way. messi seems to getting most of the | will go argentina's way. messi l seems to getting most of the he has been called magnificent messi, the best individual performance of the world cup so far. �* .,, , far. are those very assessments? - far. are those very| assessments? yes, far. are those very i assessments? yes, i far. are those very - assessments? yes, i think far. are those very _ assessments? yes, i think so. we expected messi to begin the world cup, as you mentioned in the report before, it is most

likely his last one, but i don't think anyone would like to bet too much that he would not come back in four years if he felt up to it. i'm sure the talent will still be there and it feels like it was his time to shine, he has given so much to shine, he has given so much to the national team over the years, especially in this final cycle of the last four years when argentina had been rebuilding and trying to put together a new team. he has been at the helm of it all, giving it the experience, giving it the experience, giving it the prestige, that big match shine. it'll be fantastic to see him when. the most important thing to underline with this thing that, for once, it's notjust lionel messi. we have had julian armourers, and big moments, we have had guys like enzo fernandez, another player who has barely two or three months in europe, coming into the team at the last minute when no—one really saw it

coming. he made an impact. the defence have been fantastic. emiliano martinez in goal has been fantastic, a team effort. now they have been nasty, they've been in touch you will need to be, they played good football and now it's one more game to go. football and now it's one more game to 90-— game to go. briefly, if you can't, game to go. briefly, if you can't. in — game to go. briefly, if you can't. in 12 _ game to go. briefly, if you can't, in 12 hours- game to go. briefly, if you can't, in 12 hours france i game to go. briefly, if you i can't, in 12 hours france and morocco kickoff. whoever wins will go to the final to play argentina. from the argentinian perspective, who do you want to win that game? is a perspective, who do you want to win that game?— win that game? is a difficult one. i think— win that game? is a difficult one. ithink it'll— win that game? is a difficult one. i think it'll be - one. i think it'll be fantastic, not even from argentinian perspective, just to see the first african team, the first arab team in the world cup, that would mean so much. it will be highly deserved morocco for all they've achieved at this world cup. they've achieved at this world cu -. ~ . cup. we will leave it there. dan edwards, _ cup. we will leave it there. dan edwards, thank - cup. we will leave it there. dan edwards, thank you i cup. we will leave it there. | dan edwards, thank you for being with us. you can keep up

with the world cup on the bbc news world website, bbc.com/news, or the bbc news app. i am bbc.com/news, or the bbc news app. iam rich bbc.com/news, or the bbc news app. i am rich preston. goodbye. hello there. after the coldest night of the year on tuesday night, some parts struggled to get above freezing, for example, in glasgow, it was —5 celsius all day because of the fog, and it was barely much more than —2 celsius in edinburgh, well below the average. and that cold weather stays with us throughout the day on wednesday and thursday. there's just the hint, though, that by the time we get to the weekend, something milder may well come back in off the atlantic. but plenty of winter hazards between now and then. widespread harsh frost and ice risk, widespread snow showers, freezing fog once again to watch out for. and we've got this band of rain with inland sleet and snow in the south, and you can see that stretches across much of southern england. a blast of northerly winds

continues to bring snow showers in across the north and the east of scotland. one or two filtering down the north sea coast as well and into northern ireland, but bitterly cold, minus ten over the snowfields and, of course, clearly icy where we've had the showers, where the showers continue, see through the day in eastern areas. but blizzards in the north, gusts of 60—70 miles an hour for the far north of scotland, northern isles, those showers just keep coming. in the south, hopefully this area of rain, sleet and snow will pull away, but leaving things very treacherous and icy, and temperatures will do well to get, again, a couple of degrees above freezing. one or two snow showers for northern ireland, but plenty of sunshine here, add on that brisk wind, particularly in the north and east, and it will feel colder still, colder than those temperatures will suggest. then as we go through the night and into thursday, we pick up quite a lot of cloud in southern areas. we've still got those showers and low pressure moving down the north sea, enhancing those showers for northern and eastern areas. but, again, really cold overnight, possibly less fog on thursday

morning, although there could be some in the south in particular because we've got a stronger wind. but those ease off again, thursday sees the showers mostly in the north and in the east. we're watching out towards the atlantic for friday. so do stay tuned to the forecast. but some good spells of sunshine take temperatures marginally a little higher. but we could have a quite persistent spell of snow in the north on friday and something milder potentially into the weekend, as we've talked about, but with it, there'll be a transient spell of snow as well. so to keep up to date on the temperatures where you are, you can head to the app. the warnings are on the website, too.

this is bbc news. the headlines: a week after china relaxed its strict rules on quarantines and lockdowns, the nation has had its biggest wave of covid infections, since the pandemic began, three years ago. in beijing, nearly twenty thousand people, complaining of flu—like symptoms, have visited hospital in the past 48 hours. the united states president has signed into law a bill which gives federal protection to same sex and inter—racial marriages. the measure will require every state to recognise all such weddings. joe biden described the legislation as "a vital step towards equality, liberty and justice." at least 100 people have been killed by heavy rains, floods and landslides, in the democratic republic of congo.

major roads in the centre of the capital, kinshasa