it as a month which has had its fair share of cataclysmic events over the years. the outbreak of world war i, the partition of india, and the soviet invasion of czechoslovakia, for example. this summer hasn't exactly been quiet on the world's north korean missiles flying over japan and president trump twittering several times a day. with many politicians and others on holiday there has been the odd longeur in the news cycle. back in the dog days of early august, news presenter simon mccoy could barely bring himself to introduce an item of, shall we say, less than ea rth—shattering importance. just bear in mind it is august. this doesn't look like a walk in the park. dog owners and their pets in california have hit the waves in the second annual world dog surfing championships. here are the pictures. there is style, confidence, the size of the way. , wave. some events have really big waves, some have small waves. there is a lot of style and technique. it is really interesting. the competitor's main challenge is to stay afloat on the board. this is in pacifica near san francisco. there are also prizes for the best dressed and tandem surfing dogs. the winner of course being crowned top dog.

that's a shame. we've run out of pictures. simon mccoy became something of a folk hero after his lukewarm introduction. that video went viral with judy hutchinson describing his fantastically lacklustre delivery as british sarcasm at its finest. jeff thought, you can hear the existential misery in the presenter‘s voice. but a canine twitter user complained that simon fails to show the necessary respect when reporting on the dog surfing competition. it reminds me of a skateboarding duck who appeared on an early evening programme i once edited. more conventional sports have also featured strongly on bbc news over the last month. from the world athletics and digits to last weekend's boxing extravaganza in las vegas in which floyd mayweather beat conor mcgregor.

that contest led some news bulletins on sunday morning, prompting viewer jackie grounds to complain, this report should have been part of the sports bulletin. it is not headline news. there is no doubting the news value of gurricane harvey which landed in texas a week ago and has continued to cause huge damage as a storm and tropical depression with floods now spreading across louisiana. james cook was on the spot for bbc news on saturday. hurricane harvey smashed ashore just a short time ago. not very far from here, about 30 miles east north east of where we are standing here in corpus christi. rockport is where it came ashore. the winds are said to be at 130 miles an hour according to the national hurricane centre. that makes it a category four hurricane and an extremely dangerous storm. christian hudson was concerned about the danger, asking, why was he standing outside getting soaking wet and being blasted by the winds? surely isn't this responsible of the bbc to put its reporters in danger?

i know the bbc likes to report on what is happening around the world but safety should be paramount. many more viewers had a different concern about the coverage of storm harvey. the floods had displaced thousands of americans and the death toll so far stands at around a0. it is clear has been a major natural disaster. but a much greater one has been taking place in the indian subcontinent. monsoon rain in india, bangladesh and nepal has affected no fewer than 16 million people, killing 1200 so far. although bbc news has covered this asian disaster, the amount of airtime it has been given is far less than that given to the floods in the united states. here's what some of the audience felt about that relative lack of reporting from south—east asia. i'd like to know how the bbc decide which to cover and why the floods in america, which are less fatal, has been covered more than the floods in the asian subcontinent. is it because there are more reporters there? is it because it is easier access? or is it because they are poor

people all that the asian people don't matter as much? while what hurricane harvey has at least is truly catastrophic and i feel for the huge loss of lives and property, i was surprised to find the disproportionately and somewhat superficial coverage of, for instance, floods in south asia. these places do not have the kind of coping mechanisms available, for instance, in the american scenario. but the coverage doesn't seem to be anything like the type of continuous blow by blow account that we seem to get off the american experience.

and it does raise questions of western media's euro—american bias. to be honest we expect better from the bbc. i've hardly seen any coverage of the flooding in southern asia. it seems that 20 people have lost their lives in texas and that was a tragedy but it also seems over 1200 people have lost their lives in asia. are their lives somehow less important than those of texans? it's like, why are you giving it less coverage? well, to answer those questions, i'm joined by paul royal, editor of the bbc‘s news at six and news at ten. thank you forjoining us. you don't deny that storm harvey has received much more coverage in your news programmes than the floods in south—east asia. there has been a lot of coverage of storm harvey over the last four or five days and over the weekend. probably in totality more than the south asia floods. but, what needs to be made clear and it's really important, bbc news and bbc television news covered the south asia floods in the middle of august from about august 13 onwards. what was going on in nepal, and then the bbc south asia

correspondent reported for television news on august 20 on bbc one sunday tea—time and sunday ten 0'clock news. we were in country reporting that story. we are currently in india at the moment reporting their today and over the weekend on the latest stage in these floods. nobody is denying that you are covering it but when you look rather crudely at the casualties, around a0 around a0 killed from storm harvey, we are talking at 1200 and counting in south east asia. you know, viewers say this is an immense disparity and want to know why and they have suspicions. you heard david say is it because more reporters are in the us and easier access? it is true all the american networks are going live and you can pick up their coverage very easily and at very little cost. there are two points. it is a factor in terms of accessability and where resources are things like that.

it is easier to report that there are still challenges for the bid is easier to report. and everybody speaks english. it is easier in a practical and technical sense to report from somewhere like houston than it is from countries where you might need that these are all where practical access and getting to places is difficult. and takes days. it is much harder and involves more time and effort to get there. nicola davenport, who we heard from, said, do you think asian lives are less important and texan lives? that is clearly not the case. bbc news is known around the world. the news is respected and revered for its global news coverage. we have reported from bangladesh. we are reporting from india. the other big lead story of the summer was in sierra leone, the lead story on the sixth got news on the day it happened. the bbc one six 0'clock news.

those on the bulletins, the six and ten 0'clock news for days at five that week with a correspondent in sierra leone all week. that is not a broadcaster that only looks in one direction when it comes to news coverage. the bbc expects you not to follow the rest of the market and do far more. they say that is not the case and they do believe it leaves an unfortunate impression that anything that happens in the states, in the west can you give more importance to perhaps because you feel that your audiences are more interested in that. of course our audiences are interested in stories that happen in the uk, and america, and in western countries. what has happened in houston in texas this week is a big story. it is a once—in—a—lifetime storm. i totally accept there are questions around proportionality and it is good that viewers and listeners have these concerns and raise these concerns. what i would say is this is not a broadcaster that only looks in one direction. it is not a question of have you covered it, it is a portion of it in. another aspect briefly in terms of the american coverage that some listeners and viewers have brought up, is about to seem preoccupied with the fact how president trump will handle it in terms of a pr sense

financially what really matters now is what is happening on the ground. are you slightly obsessed with president trump and his tweets? i don't think so. clearly the bulk of the reporting has been about what is happening to real people on the ground. there is a political story in terms of what happened with hurricane katrina, which was a very big and important story in modern america's history and whether president trump would repeat some of them stakes are made in terms of dealing with that disaster. it is personally legitimate to cover that aspect of the story. it is one piece on the day that president trump went to texas on tuesday. finally, the last question. clearly the south east asian crisis will continue though properly with a big health problem in bangladesh. are you committed ? we are committed. we are there right now and you will probably is the coverage on bbc news. finally, we mentioned at the start of a britain that major news events to happen in august despite what some might think is one example is the death of princess diana which took place on the last day of that month in 1997.

thursday's 20 anniversary was marked bya number of thursday's 20 anniversary was marked by a number of tv programmes and news reports which were not appreciated by everyone. 0ur editor described himself on social media as board of the coverage, saying, hopefully today will be the last that we have to suffer mawkish media diana drivel. brian peacock was one ofa number of diana drivel. brian peacock was one of a number of viewers who seconded that sentiment. thank you for all your comments this week and please keep them coming. if you do want to share your opinions on bbc news and current affairs or appear on the programme you can call us. 0r e—mail. you can find us on twitter. to have a look at our website. —— do have. that is all from me. samir will be back to hear your thoughts

about bbc news coverage again next week. goodbye. good evening. the first day of september in the first aired meteorological autumn. this started off on meteorological autumn. this started offona meteorological autumn. this started off on a fine note for many of us with blue skies. this image was taken in with blue skies. this image was ta ken in bristol. with blue skies. this image was taken in bristol. some of the clouds are bringing showers. this is satellite over the last few hours. a few showers in eastern england. as we head into the evening as we will continue to see the threat of one of two showers. in the far south—east these will move in. it will be a chilly night. still double figures in their towns and cities. in more role will spots that amateurs could be close to freezing. —— rural spots. a fresh start to your

saturday morning. some sunshine for most of us from the word go. there is the chance that we will see a few showers. many of us will avoid them. the most likely areas of the south—east of england and east anglia. a lot of try and looking weather for much of the day on saturday. in scotland a fine day to come temperatures around 17, 18 in the warmer spots. sunny and dry for much of the day in northern ireland. no notice the rain working its way in. across much of northern england and wales a lot of dry weather to be seen. and wales a lot of dry weather to be seen. a few showers cropping up across parts of southern and eastern england. most of us will avoid the showers. perhaps the chance of an isolated one or two. a fine day all in allfour isolated one or two. a fine day all in all four top light winds and it will feel warm in the sunshine into saturday evening that is when we will see the rain arriving in the west. heavy at times in northern ireland and south—west england. bit ofa ireland and south—west england. bit of a breeze developing with the

arrival of the rain. it would be a mild night with most temperatures around 12, 13. as we head through the day on sunday it is this frontal system moving in from the west that brings that wet weather. across the east of the uk it should stay dry for quite a part of the day. on sunday still sunshine to be seen in the use. gradually the wet and windy weather works its way slowly east. in the middle part of the afternoon it will be patchy rain across scotland, northern england. goodbye. this is bbc news, i'mjulian worricker. the headlines at 8pm. 10 people have been suspended after accusations of abuse and assaults at an immigration centre run by gas. cardinal cormac murphy—o'connor, the former archbishop of westminster, has died at the age of 85. kenya's supreme court has annulled the result of last month's presidential election, and ordered a new one to be held within 60 days. more than 11100 people are left dead after monsoon rains in south asia. the former england football captain wayne rooney,

has been charged with drink driving. also in the next hour, more bin misery in birmingham. refuse collectors return to the picket lines as strikes resume after a deal falls apart.