welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: donald trump spells out his new policy for afghanistan. no nation—building but no let—up in the battle against the taliban. we must ensure they have every weapon to apply swift, decisive and overwhelming force. our troops will fight to win. we will fight to win. the us navy temporarily suspends operations worldwide after one of its destroyers collides with a tanker near singapore. spanish police say they've shot dead younes abouyaaqoub, the main suspect in the barcelona terror attack. and lights out. millions look to the skies to witness a rare event, the total eclipse of the sun. he was talking about america's

longest military conflict but his speech was short and to the point. president trump said a hasty withdrawal from afghanistan would leave a vacuum for terrorists to fill. within the past hour, he made a prime—time address to the american people outlining his vision of the us military‘s role in afghanistan. speaking in front of an audience of us personnel at fort myer, he said he wanted to avoid the mistakes made in iraq, where he said the gains made by the united states had slipped away due to the rapid us withdrawal. although he did support that at the time it was first mooted. and he outlined the crucial role of pakistan in defeating the taliban insurgency in afghanistan and ending

the so—called safe havens, which president trump said harboured jihadist groups. he said he had changed his view of afghanistan in the seven months since he took office. my original instinct was to pull out. and historically, i like following my instincts. but all my life, i've heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the oval office, in other words, when you're president of the united states. so i studied afghanistan in great detail, and from every conceivable angle. after many meetings, over many months, we held ourfinal meeting last friday at camp david, with my cabinet and generals, to complete our strategy. i arrived at three fundamental conclusions about america's core interests in afghanistan. the also said it was possible a

solution in afghanistan could involve talks with the taliban. another fundamental pillar of our new strategy is the integration of all instruments of american power, diplomatic, economic and military towards a successful outcome. sunday after an effective military effort perhaps it will be possible to have a political settlement that includes elements of the taliban in afghanistan, but nobody knows if and when that will ever happen. america will continue its support for the afg ha n will continue its support for the afghan government and the afghan military as they confront the taliban. mrtrump also said mr trump also said a major pillar of

his new approach would be a complete change of approach towards pakistan. we can no longer be saddled with the safe havens for the taliban, and other groups that pose a threat for the region and beyond. pakistan has much to gain from partnering with oui’ much to gain from partnering with our effort in afghanistan. it has much to lose by continuing to harbour criminals and terrorists. in the past pakistan has been a valued partner. our militaries have worked together against common enemies. the pakistani people have suffered greatly from terrorism and extremism. we recognise those contributions and those sacrifices. but pakistan has also sheltered the same organisations that try every single day to kill our people. we have been paying pakistan billions and billions of dollars at the same

time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting, but that will have to change and that will change immediately. no partnership can survive a country's harbouring of militants and terrorists who target us service members and officials. it is time for pakistan to demonstrate its commitment to civilisation, order and peace. president trump signalled a change of approach in afghanistanaway from trying to build the institutions of government in afghanistan and focusing more on counter—terrorism. ultimately it is up for to the people of afghanistan to take ownership of their future, to govern their society and to achieve and of everlasting peace. we are a partner and a friend but we will not dictate to the afghan people how to live or how to govern their own complex society. we are not nationbuilding

again, we are killing terrorists. let's cross live to washington now and speak to the bbc‘s aleem maqbool. you have covered this region of course for a long time, this is a speech that started with a very different tone from what we've heard from the president recently. there we re from the president recently. there were soothing words of national unity and he then went on as we were saying to depart from his election campaign rhetoric, saying his original instincts were for total and speedy withdrawal, no word about the increase in troop numbers that was much mooted before, no word about russian or iranian actions in afghanistan, more pressure on pakistan, a possible new opening for india. what did you make of all that? it was interesting. everytime donald trump speaks the first question is did he sound presidential or not? it's often down to whether or not he stuck to a script or not. this time he was very sober and sombre at points and he

did stick to that script. it was interesting he started by directly confronting the fact that he has changed his opinion on afghanistan pretty much 180 degrees through the 0bama years. he was talking about ending that war. now he's talking about ina ending that war. now he's talking about in a sense prolonging it until objectives have been achieved. it was interesting that he made all these points but without spelling out the details, as he often does with military strategy, it's a big policy of his, he has said it right through the last year or so, even through the last year or so, even through the last year or so, even through the campaign, that he would not be signposting a military strategy. so he sort of outlined what he was going to do in afghanistan without telling us precisely how it was going to work. so we're still a little bit in the dark about what it's going to mean in terms of troop numbers, although we are hearing from some officials it could mean an increase of perhaps

4000 american troops in afghanistan from the current levels, which are about 8500 american troops currently there. the other big shift, well, certainly the big signal in this speech was about how things will change in terms of relations with pakistan, which of course does get a lot of american aid. he talked much more about pakistan having to deliver on its commitment to fight militancy and there will be those in the pakistani military that will be very angered by what donald trump had to say, but he has said it and again we're not exactly sure how he's going to deliver on that new characterisation of the relationship. it's very difficult, this area, and this difficult relationship, you wonder what the pakistani government will make of this new role for india. rex tillerson saying india will be an

important partner in an effort to ensure peace and stability, much more help with political and economic modernisation? these are the very things that historically have not gone down well in pakistan and not got the kind of reaction out of pakistan that america wants. won the threatening pakistan and the other thing is saying that india will have more of a role in afghanistan. those are the two things that just don't afghanistan. those are the two things thatjust don't go down well in islamabad because ultimately what pakistan once in that region is an afghanistan that is on its side ultimately when the americans leave, and so there are many that feel pakistan made the bet that at the end of it all the taliban would be the strongest force and that's why to some extent at least, although they will never admit that they're doing that, that's why there's the sense pakistan has been supporting the afghan taliban. if you say to

pakistan, well, we're going to give india a bigger role in afghanistan, if you also threatening pakistan, as i say, it's not always achieved the goal is america wanted. facts very much for that. —— goals. at that start of that address on afghanistan president trump said he sent his thoughts and prayers to the families of the sailors who were injured and lost after the collision monday morning between the ussjohn mccain and an oil tanker in the strait of malacca. the us navy has ordered a pause in its global operations to reassess its fleet after the collision. ten sailors are still missing after the incident. it's the second collision involving a us navy ship injust two months. 0ur asia correspondent karishma vaswani reports from singapore. this is what happens when a massive oil tanker collides with a us warship. a gaping hole in the side of the ussjohn s mccain, an american destroyer with more than 300 crew on board. it was on its way to singapore when, just before dawn, it collided with this merchant vessel, the liberian—flagged alnic mc, an oil and chemical tanker much

larger than the warship. it is still not clear how the collision happened, but ten american sailors are still missing, and five were injured in the incident. an international sea rch—and—rescue operation is under way, involving the us, singapore, and neighbouring malaysia. this is not normal, no. this is an international disaster for them. it's possible that some combination of poor seamanship or some combination of things going wrong with the ship, actually things physically going wrong with the ship, that could have led to this. this collision couldn't have come at a more awkward time for the united states. it is in the midst of its annual military drills with south korea, that was launched this week, and it follows another collision with another us warship earlier this year, with a merchant vessel. this trend demands

more forceful action. as such, i'll direct an operational pause be taken in all of our fleets around the world. i want our fleet commanders to get together with their leaders and their commands to ensure that we're taking all appropriate, immediate actions to ensure safe and effective operations around the world. and the us defence secretary, james mattis, says there will be a wider investigation into us naval operations after the collision. the chief of naval operations' broader inquiry will look at all related accidents, incidents at sea, that sort of thing. he is going to look at all factors, notjust the immediate ones, which will fall rightly under the fleet commanders' investigation. all of this is raising questions aboutjust how effective the world's most powerful navy is in this part of the world. karishma vaswani, bbc news, singapore. let's take a look at some

of the other stories making the news. the iraqi army says it is advancing on the town of tal afar, the latest stage of a major offensive against the islamic state group. it says it has taken a number of villages on the outskirts of the town. the military are being urged to rescue people from the minority yazidi community who the militants may be holding as slaves. an earthquake with magnitude of 4.3 has hit the italian island of ischia off the coast of naples. at least one person has been killed and more than 20 injured. residents and tourists on the island ran out onto the streets from homes and hotels. several buildings have collapsed. the university of texas has removed three statues commemorating the us civil war era, saying they had become symbols of modern white supremacy. the operation to take down the confederate monuments, including one of general robert e lee, began overnight to avoid confrontations.

stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we meet the wild donkeys of northern cyprus, animals that have had to fend for themselves in a divided island. washington, the world's most political city, is today assessing the political health of the world's most powerful man. indeed, i did have a relationship with miss lewinsky that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. in south africa, 97 people have been killed today, in one of the worst days of violence between rival black groups. over the last ten days, 500 have died. chanting: czechoslovakia must be free! russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 118 submariners who died on board the kursk. we're all with them now, within our hearts. the pope has celebrated mass before a congregation of more than 2.5 million people, in his hometown of krakow. "stay with us, stay with us," chanted this ocean of humanity. "well, well," joked the pope, "so you want me to desert rome?" this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: president trump has been spelling out his new policy for dealing with afghanistan saying a hasty us withdrawal would leave a vacuum for terrorists to fill. the us navy temporarily suspends operations worldwide after one of its destroyers collides with a tanker near singapore. ten sailors are still missing. spanish police say they've shot dead the main suspect responsible for carrying out last week's terror attack in barcelona. authorities say the man appeared to be wearing a suicide belt. it came a short time after twenty

two year old younes abouyaaqoub was named as the man who drove the van which hit pedestrians on las ramblas boulevard last thursday, killing thirteen people. the bbc‘s tom burridge is in subirats where the operation took place. the hunt for a young man who murdered so many ended here. a normally tranquil part of the catalonian countryside this afternoon swarmed with armed police. in the sky, officers checking for accomplices. but, hunted for days, younes abouyaaqoub died out here, on his own. the catalan police have shot dead younes abouyaaqoub, driver of the van and perpetrator of the attack in barcelona on thursday, causing the death of 14 people. it all happened up in the hills above barcelona.

"it is shocking for a terrorist to be in the village," this man told us. "everyone knows each other here." locals say abouyaaqoub was spotted by a woman this morning, who tipped off police. he apparently ran off into a field. in the space of nearly four days, younes abouyaaqoub had travelled right out into the countryside here, tens of kilometres away from barcelona. when confronted by police, he revealed he was wearing what appeared to be a suicide belt. one report says he shouted "allahu akbar," god is great in arabic, before officers shot him dead. earlier today, the man—hunt moved up a gear. cctv released of abouyaaqoub‘s movements, after he drove a van indiscriminately down las ramblas, new images of a man motivated to kill as many as he could. we think this video, filmed by a local woman,

shows the car he stole after the las ramblas attack. the owner was stabbed to death. they got out of their cars with all their guns. lots of police suddenly arrived, in seconds. the police believe that abouyaaqoub was part of the larger network, which they have now dismantled. five suspected members were shot dead when they tried to carry out an attack last thursday in the town of cambrils. four more have been arrested. the authorities are hoping to gain valuable information from them. and two were killed in an explosion in the town of alcanar. they include abdelbaki es satty, an imam, and the network's suspected leader. the bbc has learned that he left brussels last year after being reported for his radical teaching. it was in the sleepy town of ripoll where he preached, where it is reveal he filled young minds with hate, among them younes abouyaaqoub.

his murderous mission ended here. born in morocco, at 22, he became a killer in spain. tom burridge, bbc news. it has been six years since the fall of colonel gaddafi and since then libya has been torn apart by conflict between warring militias and tribes. in 2013 benghazi, libya's second city, was seized by islamist extremists. but earlier this summer, the city was declared liberated by marshal khalifa haftar, the commander of the libyan national army. hardtalk‘s stephen sackur has this special report from benghazi. benghazi, a broken city in a divided country. jihadist fighters from so—called islamic state were driven out of fear for months ago. hundreds died, thousands lost their home.

0nly died, thousands lost their home. only now are few venturing back. how do you feel looking at your house? when colonel gaddafi was overthrown six years ago, the leaders of britain and france rush to benghazi to claim credit for this liberation. colonel gaddafi said he would hunt you down like rats that you showed the courage of lions and we salute your courage. the triumphalism was misplaced. jihadist militants turned benghazi into an annexe of their so—called comfort. this man rooted the jihadist out. marshal khalifa haftar, once gaddafi's favourite general, now commander of an army

which has become libya's dominant force. marshal khalifa haftar‘s army 110w force. marshal khalifa haftar‘s army now controls at libya's key assets stashed oil and gas. this is the breaker refinery complex. there have been time when it has looked like the violence and political chaos in libya could shut down this industry but it has never quite happened. the oil and the gas is still flowing but as for the revenues generated, much of the money is being creamed off by different warlords and militias. we fear there is a problem. east of libya, it is completely controlled by marshal khalifa haftar. in the nearest future, this problem will not be solved. in pockets of benghazi, it is tempting to believe marshal khalifa haftar has put an

end to libya's chaos. but then there is this... evidence, seemingly, of a mass execution of prisoner by marshal khalifa haftar‘s men. the international court is investigating this is a war crime. has marshal khalifa haftar moved his forces back in benghazi, they were agree she is abuses of human rights. these reports came out and he voiced his concerns and he said he would address them by investigating this people who have been committing these acts, this outlawed acts. have you seen these acts, this outlawed acts. have you seen those videos and beaches of people being shot at the back of their heads, found hands and feet? u nfortu nately, their heads, found hands and feet? unfortunately, i have seen them. these acts should stop. nagasu's young men have not with all. marshal

khalifa haftar has promised them something better but there are other sides in this crippled countries and if you believe the fighting is over. —— this crippled country and few believe. let's go to europe now, and the mediterranean island of cyprus. for more than 40 years it has been divided in two. many lives have been disrupted and turned upside down. and not all of those affected are human, as the bbc‘s tim allman explains. 0n the drive dusty lanes of northern cyprus, and in infestation of sorts. donkeys. they can be seen all across this peninsulas, popping up on country roads and a sand dunes. wild beasts? well, sort of. they used to beasts? well, sort of. they used to be domestic donkeys. and then they

we re be domestic donkeys. and then they were abandoned, they started to live in nature and adapted to the nature and they reproduced and started to grow in nature. it all goes back to 1974 when the turkish army invaded the north of the island. the owners fled leaving their donkeys behind and so they became feral. they are becoming something of a local draw. they can be used for tourism. they area they can be used for tourism. they are a varied big attraction for the tourists, for local and international tourists. they are very cute animals, very friendly and interesting. they have a interesting history. some worry they may be

having a negative effect on local plant life and it is thought they may have also damaged crops and cause traffic accidents. managing their population may soon be necessary. the sum of these wild donkeys may be just a little too wild. that's almost it from us. but before we go millions of people have flocked to see a total solar eclipse across the united states. travellers from all over the world gathered along a stretch from oregon to south carolina to see the moon briefly block out the sun. it was the first total solar eclipse to sweep across the us in nearly a century. here are some of the best images from the day. much more on that and all the news

on the bbc website. thank you for watching. hello. it looks as though many areas are going to start off with a mild but murky start to the new day on tuesday. the weather front that's introduced this fare is just lurking there across the top half of scotland, still producing the odd bit and piece of rain. following on behind, a lot of low cloud. if you are in the high ground of the pennines, for example, you could have some conditions that will not be great, so take it easy first thing. it will take a time for the day to really get going. but we get some heat, pop some of that cloud, so i think the sunshine will break through the cloud and the temperatures will respond. i need to put into the mix this little feature ganging the showers togetherfor a time in northern ireland and the far south—west of scotland. some heavy downpours, there. dribs and drabs to be head across the north of scotland.

the odd isolated but heavy shower there across parts of the north—east of england, coming down towards the sort of top end of the pennines, and then further south of that, a lot of fine, dry weather to be had after that dull start. still quite a bit of cloud around for some. i've shown widely 22, 23, 24, but with sunshine in the right place, we could well be looking at 26 or 27 degrees, and we haven't been there so far this august. the humid air is ahead of this cold front. during wednesday, that front will work from west to east, bringing fresher conditions from the atlantic. but that is going to take some time. there the band of cloud, and that is all it will be, in the south. ahead of it, that's where we boost the temperatures. the top end of that weather front will be quite active. so it's one of those days, or certainly one of those mornings, for the greater part of scotland. the rain becoming increasingly confined to northern isles as we move into the afternoon. widely into the teens across the western side of the british isles, with the last of the heat holding on in the south—east

and east anglia. and then come thursday, pretty much we're all in this fresher run of atlantic air will come in moving from west to east. that area of low pressure will still be close to ireland. that pushes the front back and across northern ireland, so that is not a shower there, but persistent rain, and will be in the north part of scotland. elsewhere, a pretty reasonable day. temperatures coming back to the seasonal norm. but with a bit of sunshine, it will feel pleasant at about 21 or 22 at best. friday, similar sort of fare. still got the low pressure out there, still throwing the chance of some pretty hefty showers across the northern half of britain. this is bbc news, the headlines: president trump's been spelling out his new policy for dealing with afghanistan, saying a hasty us withdrawal would leave a vacuum for terrorists to fill. his original instinct was to pull forces out

but he now wanted to avoid the mistakes made in iraq, where he said the gains made had slipped away. the us navy is to pause operations worldwide to reassess safety measures for its fleet after one of its destroyers collided with a tanker near singapore. ten sailors are missing. the chief of naval operations, admiraljohn richardson, said there was no indication the collision was intentional. four men accused of being part of a terror cell which killed 15 people in spain last week are due to appear later this morning at the spanish high court in madrid. police in catalonia say they've shot dead younes abouyaaqoub, the driver of the van which killed 13 people in barcelona. now on bbc news it's time for the travel show.