welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is duncan golestani. our top stories: in houston, more than a thousand people have been rescued from the rising waters caused by tropical storm harvey. hundreds of others are stranded in their homes. we just — we prayed a lot and we just praised god that we were rescued, so we are very thankful. texas continues to be battered by heavy rain, with nearly 80cm falling over the last 48 hours. texans brace themselves, as forecasters warn more is on its way. elsewhere — eight mountain climbers have died in three separate accidents this weekend in the austrian and italian alps. and europe's largest festival gets underway in west london — with a tribute to the victims of the grenfell tower disaster. programme.

—— welcome to the programme. more than a thousand people have been rescued from flooding in one of america's most populous cities — houston, in texas — as a huge storm continues to batter parts of the state. forecasters there say the conditions are unprecedented, and warn the waters are still rising. the white house has announced that president trump will visit the region on tuesday. our north america correspondent james cook reports from houston. harvey arrived in houston with a vengeance. no longer packing the full force of a hurricane, but still deadly. forecasters said it is on track to dump 50 centimetres. injust21i hours, more than two feet of rain fell on the fourth largest city in the united states.

the results are devastating. this appears to be either the worst — or one of the worst floods houston has ever had. we are measuring not in inches, but in feet. hundreds of rescuers are taking to the waters in boats large and small. but the flooded city street are difficult to navigate. the currents are swift and treacherous. making the wrong turn can quickly become a matter of life and death. we just — we prayed a lot and we just praised god that we were rescued, so we are very thankful. with the rain teeming down, the waters keep on rising. police are urging people not to venture out, not to risk their lives and this is why. pedro told us he was almost swept away. my truck got stuck. i have to walk all the way there and the rescue boats are over there but i was helping

somebody else. there is a rescue happening up there? yes. the storm has crippled transport and left people struggling to go about their lives. right now it is hard to believe that this is the richest nation on earth. you get a sense of how quickly this situation is unfolding. the flooding clearly caught these drivers by surprise and still the rain is coming down, with no sign of it stopping. the authorities are struggling to cope. they are calling for more boats to be sent in. more than 2,000 people in need of rescue have called the emergency services and the mayor is trying to stem a sense of panic. we are coming to you. we want people to know in the city. if you are there and there is a need, we will get to you. i will simply ask that you remain calm, remain patient and we will get to you. tonight, the city and its citizens

are becoming isolated, getting out has become harder and harder. with nightfall approaching and the waters rising, this is a disaster in the making. kenneth craig is a reporter from cbs news in houston, where the rain is still falling — he told me why the city struggles so much with heavy rainfall. we are just a a few hundred yards from the buffalo bayou. there is a park and a parkway which i am standing in. right now, this is an underpass for vehicles to go under the highway, easily up to 20 feet deep and it is filled to the brim tonight. there are things like this all across the city and this rain is not helping anything. within the last hour we saw some of the floodwaters start to go down, but with the rain picking backup i can only imagine it

will continue to rise. where is the water going? how will the authorities channel the water away? it is going back into the drainage and eventually the bayou leads to the gulf of mexico. there is so much rain on the ground, we have seen so much rain within the last 2a hours that there is nowhere for this water to go. the thing about houston is, it floods in the smallest amount of rain. we have been here for much less significant storms where we have seen the waters rise quickly and some pretty scary moments happen. when you are talking about another up to 2a inches on the way, it is a very serious situation. part of the rescue effort in houston is conducted by the us coast guard — i spoke with lieutenant commander scott mcbride about their operation. this is an all hands

on deck situation for the united states coastguard and the federal government. we currently have 16 helicopters continuing search and rescue efforts, pulling people of houses, off people off the roads. we have 19 vehicles to asisst, additionally we are working with the navy to get additional helicopters to assist with our efforts. the people you are helping — are they people who have tried to move away or did they want to stay behind? i don't have that information. i know that we are getting phone calls, we have received over 2,000 phone calls throughout the greater houston metropolitan area requesting assistance. they are calling from their homes, from rooftops, we have rescued folks off the roads from their vehicles — they have been stranded.

we are really seeing a variety of rescue attempts. you are getting so many calls, have you decide what is an emergency and what is not? great question. we have to prioritise all these calls. we prioritise life—threatening illnesses, the elderly and children. we are getting calls that people will get a little bit of water in their house and this is a scary situation and they will call, but we have to prioritise, if you have a life—threatening illness, if you are elderly or have small children. those are the people we are prioritising first. and later in the programme we will be hearing about one care home that was airlifted to safety after the water was rising inside the facility. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. tropical storm pakhar hit hong kong and macau on sunday. both cities issued weather warnings early in the day, as winds intensified — churning up rough seas and flood alerts.

it comes just days after one of the strongest typhoons on record — hato — caused serious damage in the area, killing 12 people. at least 13 people have been killed and many more injured in a car bomb attack in the southern afghan province of helmand. the attack on sunday targeted a military vehicle in nawa, an area that has seen heavy fighting in recent weeks. a government official said the victims included both soldiers and civilians. people have been warned to stay away from beaches in east sussex on england's southern coast — and to keep doors and windows closed, after a suspected chemical leak. police said there was an unknown haze coming from the sea. around 150 people have been treated in hospital complaining of vomiting, breathing difficulties and irritation to their throats and eyes. iraq's military says it has retaken almost all of tal afar — the last so—called islamic state stronghold inside the country. the city, which is close to the syrian border,

was captured by the militants three years ago. it became the final major objective for iraqi—led forces, after i.s fighters were driven out of mosul earlier this year. 0ur correspondent hanan razek has been to the liberated centre of tal afar, and sent this report. it isa it is a ghost town. 0ne it is a ghost town. one week after the battle to retake tal afar, all you can see is destruction, empty houses and the remains at left behind by the so—called islamic state. here at the heart of tal afar city, you can see the iraqi flag on top of the castle which is bond in 2013. seeing this flag here means that this part of town has been reca ptu red that this part of town has been recaptured by security forces. a victory to many has come earlier than expected. fighting is here has

been easier than expected, many of the group of fighters fled before the group of fighters fled before the military operation started. and asa the military operation started. and as a first civilians, there is no trace of them. translation: most of the civilians have fled, the local terrorist we're have fled as well. —— terrorists. foreign fighters sent theirfamily out —— terrorists. foreign fighters sent their family out to the mountains but they stayed behind and fought. most of the fighters here were foreigners from former soviet union countries and south east asia. after the smooth inventing for the military, the operation may be over soon. but there is another controversial rattle ahead of this town that was once home to minority ethnic groups. it is not known yet

what future holds here, but sectarian disputes are very possible. eight mountain climbers have died in three separate incidents this weekend in the austrian and italian alps. five people were killed and another seriously injured after an accident on mount gabler, east of innsbruck, in austria on sunday. while in northern italy, two climbers died in the ademello brenta park near trento, and further west in the valtellina valley near the swiss border, a climber died after being hit by rocks. sarah corker reports. this is a removed area in austria, 3000 metres above sea level. six climbers were broke together, attempting to cross this icy slope when one of them slipped. they all fell 200 metres, before landing in a crevasse. all five of those killed we re crevasse. all five of those killed were believed to be in their 60s from germany. alone survival was

flown to hospital in a stable condition. —— the lone survivor. the accident is expected to be the most deadliest this season in austria. translation: the group of six has accessed a glazier with a 45 degrees gradient. the group on the rope stopped and started to discuss if it is too dangerous to go on. in this situation, one of the climbers slipped and has taken the others with him. it has been a deadly weekend in the european alps, where scores of climbers die every year. in northern italy, two italians were killed after falling on this glaisher, seven of those were injured, including two teenagers. flowers were laid in the town where rescu e rs we re flowers were laid in the town where rescuers were the bodies of one of the victims. translation: we feel these things because every year something happens in these mountains of. the risks of mountaineering are

well known, but the unpredictable climate and geography can be deceptively dangerous. stay with us on bbc news — still to come... thousands of rohingya muslims escape fighting in myanmar, only to be turned back by bangladeshi border guards. he is the first african—american to win the presidential nomination of a major party, and he accepts 45 years ago to the day that martin luther king declared, "i have a dream." as darkness falls tonight, an unfamiliar light will appear in the south—eastern sky. an orange, glowing disc that is brighter than anything save the moon — our neighbouring planet mars. there is no doubt that this election is an important milestone in the birth of east timor as the world's newest nation. it will take months, and billions of dollars, to re pair what katrina achieved injust hours. three weeks is the longest the great

clock has been off duty in 117 years, so it was with great satisfaction that clockmaker john vernon swung the pendulum to set the clock going again. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: thousands of people are rescued from rising floodwaters as houston bears the brunt of tropical storm harvey. the american national weather service has described the flooding as beyond anything experienced. officials say there are more tornados and rain on its way. patients at a texas nursing home were airlifted to safety sunday after being trapped by harvey's floodwaters. part of the reason help arrived

was because of this shocking photo. this was inside la vita bella facility in dickinson — south of houston. the owner sent the photo to her daughter and son—in—law in florida, who then shared it. 0n the line is kim mcintosh, she is the daughter of the care home owner trudy lampson. thank you for speaking to us. can you explain, how did the situation gets so bad that the elderly were sitting waist high in the water?m happened very quickly. i spoke to my mother this evening, at three in the morning, she received a call that the toilets were overflowing. she rushed to get their with my stepfather, when she arrived, water was starting to come into the door. she said within10— 15 minutes, the

water went from ankle height to waist height. immediately, they were under water in clothing. they were able to call the disaster mind that they are supposed to call to get help, they told them to call mine won one for help. nylon ones that they could not come out, they couldn't reach them. effectively, they were stuck —— 911. couldn't reach them. effectively, they were stuck -- 911. they must have had some sort of plan for evacuation? yes, they did. one of those was to reach out to the state. the state was supposed to come and get them. that was when they were told to call 911, they could not be reached. they were also told that they had a plan, in the event of a hurricane. that is why they did not

leave. i talk to her the night before, everything was fine, it was raining. the power war was still on, everything was fine. by the morning, everything was fine. by the morning, everything had changed. a textured her in the morning asking whether she was ok, the power was still on, and she gave me the details about needing help. then we took action to help get them out. that is when we treated the photo, trying to get as much attention as possible. can you tell us whether residents in that picture right now, and how are they doing? this must have been quite a traumatic experience for them? yes, very traumatic. i confirmed with emergency management that they were picked up and taken to hospital, thatis picked up and taken to hospital, that is when they told us... when i

spoke to my mother this evening, she said that the national guard showed up said that the national guard showed up to pick them up and took them away in trucks to school. the school did not have any room for them, but then they were sent to another facility, but then they didn't have any room for them. they then went to another nursing facility, where they are now. quite incredible. thank you for speaking to us. gail delaughter is a reporter with houston public media and she joins us from her home in the city. just describe what it is like outside now? it is raining very hard right now. we had a bit of respite this afternoon. it has started very heavily again. the scene we woke up to again this morning, to decide, we

have a large freeway that is filled with water. the water goes all the way up to the embankment, it looks like a river. there is another by you that is also filled right now. everyone here says they have never seen it this way before. they are rescuing people from far—flung neighbourhoods and neighbourhoods closer to downtown. the entire city is suffering. how many people are in the neighbourhoods? presumably there we re the neighbourhoods? presumably there were warnings to get out and evacuate? there are several people in the great in houston area altogether. the main concern was getting people out in a large scale evacuation, sometimes that can cause even more problems than having a shelter in place. they have deviously been problems where people have gotte n

deviously been problems where people have gotten out on the road, there is no gas, no food, people wind up stranded. that is the proposition as well. they feel like a lot of situations, it is just better to have people to stay in place if there is high ground available. thank you forjoining us. thousands of people have left their homes after two days of violence in a deepening crisis in myanmar‘s rakhine state. people from the muslim rohingya minority have escaped to the border with bangladesh. but border guards are turning them away and non—muslim villagers have been evacuated. 0ur south asia editor, ethirajan anbarasan, reports. life in the open. these rohingya muslims are adjusting to the new reality. all these years they have been demonised and discriminated against in myanmar. but they survived. when their life was in danger,

they had no other choice but to flee across the border into bangladesh. they accuse the myanmar army of indiscriminately targeting civilians. but the government of myanmar, run by aung san suu kyi, denies the charges. translation: i came here alone by myself. i don't know where my four sons or grandchildren are. allah knows what will happen now. i don't know where i shall go or what will happen. civilians are caught in the middle. the myanmar government says rohingyas are legal migrants from bangladesh. bangladesh does not accept them, either. they say they are being systematically driven out of myanmar. more than 400,000 rohingya refugees authority crossed into bangladesh. on sunday, the plight of the rohingyas echoed in rome. pope francis appealed for an end to their suffering. translation: sad news has arrived of the persecution of the religious

minority, our rohingya brothers. i would like to express my closeness to them. i want to ask the lord to save them and help them and give them full rights. let us pray for our brothers, the rohingyas. for now, they face an uncertain future, but they cannot live in the open forever. rohingyas feel they are an abandoned community. after decades of war, colombia's left wing farc rebel force are seeking a political rebirth. the disarmed fighters are taking the first steps towards transforming into a party that could seek elected office — after ending their half—century of armed struggle.

over a thousand delegates, from the freshly demobilised revolutionary armed forces of colombia, attended the opening of a founding congress in bogota. the 51st notting hill carnival has opened in west london, with the release of doves and multi—faith prayers in memory of those who died in the grenfell tower disaster injune. firefighters and paramedics were among those who bowed their heads in tribute. carnival—goers have been asked to wear something green, to remember those affected by the tragedy. from notting hill, elaine dunkley reports. # when you are down and out. # when you're on the street... it started with a song to heal broken hearts. a promise of strength. grenfell, be united. amen. and then, with the joyous sounds and vibra nt colours of carnival, they celebrated the lives of those taken by tragedy. many wore green for grenfell, a colourfor growth and renewal. it is to honour the victims.

my own relatives died. we love the carnival, and my relatives loved the carnival. we participated every year, go to their house, people would come from europe. her house would be full up, 16 people sleeping on the floor. we are bringing back colour, bringing back life. at times, those watching were overwhelmed, sad for those who once had a front row seat for the biggest carnival. with laughter and love, carnival paid respect in the way it knows how. to bring us all together as a sharing, caring community, that we are one love and one community and together we are much more successful and together we celebrate the best of britain. there have been moments of reflection, stillness and solitude as well as gratitude for those who saved lives. carnival has always had its roots firmly within this community. it started in the 1960s

by west indian immigrants who were facing racism, inequality and poor housing. much of this still resonates on the streets of notting hill today. especially for grenfell tower, it is important we have a sense of community. we have had a minute's silence for them. in the moment of madness, everyone heard that minute. it is a good spirit right now. good vibes. notting hill carnival will always symbolise celebration, freedom, revelry, but in the shadow of grenfell it has a new purpose, the voice of a community trying to heal. elaine dunkley, bbc news. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter, i'm @duncangolestani. hello.

temperatures are coming down in the week ahead, make the most of any warm sunshine you have on monday. the bulk will be across parts of england and wales, for scotland and northern ireland, weather fronts close by. winds picking up and some wet weather to come. this band of rain pushing south during the day. not too much wet weather into eastern scotland. with it, windy, some cloud increasing. north—west england into wales. for the pennines and east wales, very warm sunshine. once this green band has pushed through northern ireland in scotland, especially in the evening, brightening up again from the north. one or two showers, a spell of rain for a glasgow and fringing into edinburgh through the afternoon. to the south, staying dry for the bulk of the day across northern england. venturing into the lake district and snowdonia, low cloud and drizzle

around. for eastern wales across the midlands, east anglia, southern england, long and sunny spells. for some, unbroken sunshine. that allows temperatures to head higher than sunday. across parts of south—east england, 28—29, even a chance of 30. it could be the warmest bank holiday on record. monday night, this band of cloud and rain across northern england and the midlands by tuesday morning. cool feel behind that across northern ireland, might be into east anglia in south—east england. warm and sunny spells before cloud increasing in east anglia and south—east england. not much rain on this area of cloud, sinking south. to the north, cool and fresh feeling. some sunny spells across wales, northern ireland and scotland. some areas of northern scotland will see showers. they could be heavy. complicated picture on wednesday. low pressure threatening england and wales with rain. on thursday, high pressure building in across the uk. on wednesday, england and wales could see some rain. one or two of those continuing on thursday. for thursday into friday and the weekend, high pressure settling things down. the outlook this week, a warm, even very warm

start for some. turning cooler as the week goes on. a bit of rain, monday, wednesday. a few showers and then high pressure settling things down later in the week. this is bbc news. the headlines: more than 1,000 people have been rescued from flooding in houston, as a huge storm continues to batter parts of texas. forecasters say the conditions are unprecedented, and warn that the waters are still rising. 70cm of rain has fallen over 48 hours, and emergency workers are still trying to reach hundreds of people stranded in their homes. a moment's silence has been held

at london's notting hill carnival khadija two days of fighting in myanmar‘s rakhine state has caused thousands of peep to flee their homes. members of the muslim rohingya minority, have gone to the border with bangladesh. have been turned back. 0thers border with bangladesh. have been turned back. others have managed to cross the river that separates the two countries. a moment's silence has been held khadija at london's notting hill carnival to remember the victims of the grenfell fire in west london. doves were released in honour of those who died. now on bbc news — dateline london.