welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: devastation in sierra leone. hundreds are feared dead as an entire hillside collapses in heavy rain. two days after the white supremacist attack in virginia, president trump finally condemns racism. north korea announces its leader has been studying plans around a military strike around guam. taylor swift wins a court case against a former radio dj. thejury finds he did grope her. it's now confirmed at least 300 people have died in west africa, in a massive mudslide. torrential rain caused a hillside to collapse on the outskirts of freetown, capital of sierra leone,

burying houses in mud. that casualty figure is expected to rise, with hundreds of bodies are still thought to be trapped under the debris. our diplomatic correspondent james robbins reports. snatched video on a mobile phone shows a torrent of mud and water freetown is an overcrowded coastal city, with few defences against heavy rains. they come every year, but not usually with quite such ferocity. about 250 bodies have been recovered so far. the authorities fear there could be many more trapped in the ruins of houses. the bbc‘s umaru fofana is there. i went down to the spot myself, and you could see people using their bare hands, pulling up corpses from beneath the mud.

the road itself to the disaster area is almost impassable, massive rocks. and this area, called mount sugarloaf, caved in in the early hours of this morning, and it's covered literally dozens of houses. and hundreds of people, according to the country's vice president who just spoke to me, are feared dead under the rubble. there are some ambulances parked here, but it's now a recovery mission instead of a rescue mission. many victims lived in the flimsiest of homes, little more than shacks, often on unprotected hillsides. a british charity has been helping to build far stronger houses, and its head, back in britain, explained today how it is the poorest in sierra leone who are often the most defenceless. people build houses all up the sides of cliffs, and they often build them with inadequate materials, because generally people are unbelievably poor. people are trying to reclaim land from the sea, and then the waterjust comes and wipes them away.

six out of ten people in sierra leone live below the poverty line. survivors often risk everything to salvage a few possessions, trying to hang on to whatever they can, despite the rising waters. james robbins, bbc news. president ernest bai koroma announced in a televised address that an emergency response centre had been set up to deal with what he called a national tragedy. i am very distraught by this national tragedy, and with a heavy heart, let me extend profound condolences to the bereaved families. this is not a tragedy for you alone. it is a tragedy for every sierra leonean, because the people who have perished in this disaster are our compatriots. fellow sierra leoneans, this tragedy, of great magnitude, has once again challenged

us to come together. to stand by each other, and to help one another. let me assure you that my government is fully engaged on this situation, and in collaboration with our development partners, we have already established an emergency response centre at regent to co—ordinate our response and to provide relief to the survivors. let me urge everyone to remain calm, and to avoid disaster—prone areas, while we continue to address this grave emergency. president koroma. in the wake of the weekend violence in virginia, centred on the planned removal

of a confederate—era statue, a statue commemorating a confederate soldier has been toppled by protesters in north carolina. the statue, in the town of durham, was yanked down by the crowd on monday evening. the plinth bore the inscription; "in memory of the boys who wore the gray". and in kentucky, a mayor has announced that plans to remove other statues will be accelerated, because of events in virginia. president trump has finally, explicitly, condemned the white supremacists and neo—nazis who took part in those demonstrations. one form and died when a car was driven into a group of people protesting against the white supremacist march. our north american editor jon sopel reports. vacation suspended, the president returned to washington this morning from his holiday to meet the director of the fbi and the attorney general following the weekend violence in charlottesville. meanwhile in the university

of virginia town, there were scuffles outside the court where james alex fields appeared this morning on murder charges after a car ploughed into antiracism protesters. oh, my god, people are badly hurt. oh, my god. the president's "everyone‘s to blame response" and silence until now lit a firestorm of criticism. so why has donald trump been so unusually tongue tied over this? well, the number of fully paid—up white supremacists may be small. the number who have sympathies is probably far larger, and they were among the most vociferous supporters of him last november. certainly, his surrogates have condemned the far right, but donald trump reluctantly so. today, 48 hours on, a dramatic shift in language from the embattled president. he sounded tense. there was no freewheeling as he gripped the lectern and gripped every word on the autocue,

his eyes barely moving. racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the kkk, neo—nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as americans. we are a nation founded on the truth, that all of us are created equal. we are equal in the eyes of our creator. we are equal under the law, and we are equal under our constitution. while he said the right things today, i say, did that come from his heart or from his staff telling him what they thought he should say? ron christie was a senior adviser to george w bush and is now a republican strategist. has the president repaired the damage? no. he has hurt himself with people like me who look at his actions and words and deeds and say he didn't go far enough.

he didn't measure the sensitivity of what was happening in charlottesville, virginia, and rise to the occasion. and one other person for whom this was too little, too late is kenneth frazier, the boss of one of america's biggest pharmaceutical companies, and he has resigned from the president's industry forum, saying: within minutes, donald trump fired back, saying on twitter: mr president, can you explain why you did not condemn those hate groups? they have been condemned, they have been condemned. donald trump has bent to criticism, something that has not happened often, but why it has taken two days to name these groups, well, that question still hangs. mark follman is the national affairs

editor of the political and investigativejournalism magazine motherjones. i asked him what he made of president trump's condemnation of the racist violence in cha rlottesville. i think this has been a disaster through and through, even two days later, the way trump furthered this today. itjust, you know, notjust a statement which was very stiff and canned, and i think it was clear to pretty much anyone watching and canned, and i think it was clear to pretty much anyone watching that he was doing this simply because he had no choice, but also his comments attacking the ceo of merck, a black ceo, who resigned as a protest for the way that he responded initially. and then later in the day, trump returning to complaining about the news media coverage of him, as if that is the issue here. i mean, this is so far beyond the kind of political battle that trump seems to be trying to wage with his words and i think that it has just drawn outrage from pretty much everyone in this country.

do you read anything into the fact that at least he did it. asjon sopel pointed out, it is a very unusual for him to bend to criticism and he clearly did. look, he had no choice. i mean, literally everyone in american politics was denouncing this in very strong terms. his own attorney general, his vice president, virtually every leader in the republican party, so i think that the fire storm that was engulfing the white house by today simply left him no choice, but it does not look very persuasive, to be honest. anyone who has followed donald trump's track record on this, knows that he has pandered to this kind of far—right politics all throughout his campaign and in his young presidency, and it is just really not convincing. and that is just the politics of his own speech but then look at the people he surrounds himself with. his national security adviser, sebastian gorka, went on television last week, scolding their media for focusing on white supremacists and essentially denying that far—right terrorism exists in the united states, which is absurd.

as if the charleston church massacre didn't happen, as if the slaughter at a sikh temple in milwaukee didn't happen a few years ago, as if oklahoma city bombing never happened — one of the largest terrorist attack in our modern history. so i think everyone watching this knows that this is just a reprehensible way to deal with the horror that we just witnessed in virginia. baring all that in mind, is there any feeling that the events in cha rlottesville drew new battlelines? one analyst said this is diversity of opinion, this is armed rebellion against civil rights and those they protect. we have just seen people in north carolina pulling down a confederate statue. there could well be more of this? it is very disturbing. those of us who were covering this side of trump's politics through the campain, i mena, frankly, we worried about this for months, last fall, and into the beginning of this year, and in some sense, it is surprising that it did not happen sooner. but i think this was inevitable.

the kind of divisive rhetoric and dog—whistling that trump has used, and this just horrible equivocation in his response to what happened in virginia, i think, is emboldening the people who want to perpetrate this kind of unrest and violence, and unfortunately i do think we are in for more rough times ahead, especially because trump has simply failed to stand up as a leader at a moment when the country really needed it. if ever there were a moment in his presidency so far, this was it. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news a teenage girl has been killed and eight others people injured when a man drove a car into a pizza restaurant in a paris suburb. it happened to the east of paris in the village of sept—sorts. prosecutors have ruled out a terrorist motive. pro—government supporters in venezuela have been holding a rally in response to president trump's assertion that he hadn't ruled out military intervention there. president nicolas maduro announced nationwide civic and military exercises for later this month.

visiting neighbouring colombia, us vice—president mike pence, said he hoped a peaceful solution would be found. the british man credited first stopping the one cry has himself at his on hacking charges. it is a code that could help still ranking details. state media in north korea says the country's leader, kim jong—un, has received a full briefing from the army on a plan to launch missiles near the us pacific territory of guam. the us defence secretary, james mattis, said he would authorise the shooting down of any missiles fired by pyongyang that threatened guam. but the official north korean state news agency said mr kim would keep watching american actions for a time before deciding whether to order any launch. president moon has been trying

to defuse the situation. yesterday he emphatically said he does not want war on the korean peninsulas. he wants a peaceful resolution. he also met with generaljoseph dunford who was visiting south korea. general dunford assured him that economic pressure was put on north korea and military pressure would only be used if those options general mattis has been talking unequivocally of war. is there wiggle room there. the missiles are aimed around guam. mattis saying that if north korea

strikes, there will be war. if you look at what north korea has said, they are saying that kim jong—un will watch the situation, give a little more time to the us, see how they are conducting themselves and then decide whether or not to execute the plan. and the plan as you pointed out, very clearly said it was to fire four missiles at waters around guam. it does seem like sharpening rhetoric and analysts do not believe either side will act on their threats but perhaps, because we have heard such fierce statements coming from the us this time, what has happened is that tension are higher than they have been in recent times. stay with us on bbc news, still to come:

next week conservation work begins on the houses of parliament — but it means the bongs of big ben will fall silent for four years. the big crowds became bigger as the time of the funeral approached. as the lines of fans became longer, the police prepared for a hugejob of crowd control. idi amin, uganda's brutalformer dictator, has died at the age of 80. he's been buried in saudi arabia, where he lived in exile since being overthrown in 1979. two billion people around the world have seen the last total eclipse of the sun to take place

in this millenium. it began itsjourney off the coast of canada, ending three hours later when the sun set over the bay of bengal. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: mudslides and floods in sierra leone are now known to have killed more than 300 people in the capital, freetown. thousands have been forced from their homes. two days after race—related violence in charlottesville, president trump has condemned the white supremacist groups involved. india is marking the 70th anniversary of independence from britain, a day after pakistan held its own celebrations. with the end of colonial rule, partition was marred by bloodshed. hundreds of thousands died, millions were displaced. india's prime minister, narendra modi, has been addressing the nation from the ramparts of the historic red fort, in delhi.

it is where the country's first leader, jawaharlal nehru, oversaw the lowering of the union flag at the stroke of midnight on 15 august 1947. the bbc‘s sanjoy majumder is in delhi, and has been telling me more about prime minister modi's speech. he has been making reference, of course, to the freedom fighters who delivered india its long—awaited independence 70 years ago. he's also talked about building a new india, an india that is prosperous, that is progressive, and that is also technologically advanced. and at the same time he made a reference to a tragic event that took place last week, when more than 60 children, many of them newborn babies, died in hospital in the north indian town of gorakhpur. it's a reminder that, despite india's very considerable achievements over these past 70 years, the country still has a distance to go in sometimes delivering the most basic needs

to its people. it's exactly 70 years ago, on 15 august 1947, that the british union jack was lowered one last time from that historic red fort, to be replaced by the indian flag, and a lot has changed in india over these past 70 years. it's now a $10 trillion economy. the per capita income, which was around $26 at that time, is now $7,500. but despite that there are, still present in the day's india, many of the conflicts that existed at the turn of independence. the conflict with pakistan over kashmir, which continues today, and some would argue is perhaps at its worst stage ever. and of course, also, the religious differences between the minority muslim community and the majority hindu community. burkina faso has declared three days of national mourning after at least 18 people were killed

in the capital, ouagadougou. the president has condemned what he called a despicable and cowardly terrorist attack. two attackers who opened fire on a turkish restaurant were killed. around ten people were wounded. the attack lasted several hours. alex duval smith reports from dakar. security forces sealed off the area around kwame nkrumah avenue. eyewitnesses say two men drove up on a motorbike to the aziz istanbul restaurant at about 9:30pm. they opened fire on diners seated on the terrace. translation: we had just finished eating, and then we left the restaurant. we were waiting outside for the driver to come and pick us up, and then we heard the shootings. after that, i didn't see anything. translation: at the beginning, we thought that it was a robbery, but then we realised that it was more than that. some people were telling guests that they were robbed, and then thrown out. and then, we saw the events. it's worse than we thought.

we're waiting to see what would be the start of the assault. after firing on the diners, the gunmen ran inside the restaurant. they held a hostages and returned fire through the night. it happened just a few hundred yards from where al qaeda militants killed 30 people using similar methods in 2016. a government spokesman said the attack was terror—related. president marc christian kabore called on burkina faso residents to unite against terrorism. calm has returned to ouagadougou. but questions will be asked about how the attack could have been allowed to happen, just 18 months after the last one. a verdict has been reached in the court case between an american dj and the us singer taylor swift. jurors at a federal court in denver agreed that david mueller had groped her at an event in 2013.

peter bowes has been following the case from los angeles. a high—profile trial pitting one of the world's most high—profile singh is against the dj. when david mueller lost hisjob, the is against the dj. when david mueller lost his job, the land taylor swift the losing his career. his mother called his employer to report that he had groped taylor swift at a photo shoot. she countersued for the assault, which she described in court as a very low ground under her skirt. it was a very shocking thing, she said, that she had never experienced before. last week, thejudge she had never experienced before. last week, the judge threw out david mueller‘s lawsuit, saying that the dj had not shown that taylor swift set out to have him fired but her case against him continued and the jury case against him continued and the jury sided with the pop star. she had been assaulted, and in keeping with her wishes, david mueller was ordered to pay $1 in damages. in a statement, taylor swift bank judge

and her legal team for fighting for her and anyone who felt silenced by a sexual assault —— thanked. she said she wanted to help those whose voices should also be heard. said she wanted to help those whose voices should also be heardm gives courage and inspiration to all people. not just gives courage and inspiration to all people. notjust women, but to all people, to have the courage to draw lines, and to know where those lines. alliance of mutual respect between people. taylor swift, who is one of america's top—selling singers, said in future she would be making donations to multiple organisations that help sexual assault victims defend themselves. next monday, the bongs of london's big ben will fall silent for four years so that repairs can be carried out on its tower. it will be the longest period it has been silenced for since it first chimed in 1859, but big ben will still be heard during important national events, such as new year's eve and remembrance sunday. our political correspondent leila natthoo reports.

big ben chimes. these chimes have filled the westminster air for more than a century and a half. but soon, a four—year pause, as the great bell, big ben, is silenced, so crucial repairs can be carried out. if you could imagine running your car for 160 years non—stop, 2a hours a day, it will need looking at. so that's what we're doing. we'll be able to at this time, because it's such a long stoppage period, we'll be able to check absolutely everything on the clock. chimes. still working, which is good. still ticking, for now, but the clock mechanism needs attention. it is connected to the hammers that strike the bells. piece by piece, it will be dismantled, the parts cleaned and restored. and, because the whole tower is being renovated, too, the construction workers can't be subjected to the regular ringing. loud chimes. it is deafening to be at this close range without these protective earphones on. but, from next monday, big ben and all the four smaller quarter bells will get a rest, depriving westminster of its familiar soundtrack.

repairs on the tower have already started, and soon, the scaffolding will encase it entirely. not quite the same sight to come and see. big ben is big ben, and people want to see big ben. not half a ben — a full ben. that would definitely be a bummer, for sure, to come all the way here and not to be able to see it. but you have to look at the advantages. if we're going to secure the tower for the future, for future generations, that far outweighs the inconvenience of having scaffolding up to two or three years. big ben will still be able to herald special events like the new year and remembrance sunday, but in the long break from its constant ringing, a strange silence will descend here, in the absence of its reassuring sound. leila natthoo, bbc news, westminster. more on that and all our stories any time on the bbc website. thank you for watching. well, tuesday's looking pretty good across most of the uk.

the rest of the week, however, overall is still looking rather changeable. and actually, as we head into the weekend, it looks pretty blustery as well. this is a gloomy picture from yesterday in aberystwyth. tuesday is going to be a lot sunnier across this part of the world. now, this is the satellite picture, from the last 12 hours or so. we had some rain sweeping across many western and northern areas. really quite heavy rain in some areas, and towards the early hours of tuesday morning, there still could be some heavier rain around across the far, far north—east of the country, and possibly the far south—east as well, and maybe even a crack of thunder. and the start to the day is a relatively mild one. 14,16 degrees, even up to 17 during the rush hour across the south. and really, it is starting pretty nice nad bright across most areas. there are a few showers around, here and there, but on balance, fine start from the south—east, the midlands, wales. a couple of showers there, around the lake district, maybe a few dotted around

in northern ireland and western scotland, but on the whole, a nice start to the day. and here is that overnight rain moving away towards the north—east, off the edge of the screen — good riddance. now, as far as tuesday morning, and the second half of the morning and the afternoon is concerned, showers are actually going to be brewing inland. so it is not a completely dry day. take a brolly if you are out for any lengthy period of time. sunny spells, plenty of them, yes, and feeling quite warm, but there will be showers breaking out. how are we doing compared to the rest of europe? well, london will be warming up to 2a degrees. we're on a par with paris, but some storms around here, similar to warsaw and moscow. but hotting up across spain and portugal, and in italy and rome, there, temperatures up to around 35 degrees celsius. anyway, back home, tuesday into wednesday, there will be a ridge of high pressure. high pressure usually means fine weather. so for many parts of england, i think, and eastern scotland, wednesday morning and afternoon is looking fine. but you can't miss this. this is the next low pressure, next weather front, moving

in during wednesday morning and afternoon. so the weather will go downhill in belfast, in glasgow, around the irish sea, liverpool, western wales, and down into cornwall. but london is looking fine. temperatures could even be a little bit higher than 23 degrees celsius. but that rain will move through during the course of wednesday into thursday, and then it is a fresher day, i think, for most of us on thursday. slightly brisker winds, with some showers. still temperatures getting up to around 2a degrees. i say fresher because the winds will pick up. and then by friday, really quite blustery, with sunshine and showers. this is bbc news — the headlines. the number killed by mudslides and flooding in sierra leone has risen over 300. it's feared many more bodies are still trapped under the debris. the red cross says around 3000 have lost their homes. president koroma has called it a national tragedy. after two days of mounting and widespread public pressure, president trump has finally and explicitly condemned white supremacist groups. in response to the fatal violence in charlottesville, virginia, mr trump described the ku klux klan, neo—nazis and others as thugs and criminals.

state media in north korea is saying kim jong—un has received a full briefing from the army on a plan to launch missiles towards the us pacific territory of guam. but it says he will keep watching american actions for a time before deciding whether to order any launch. now on bbc news, time for hardtalk.