welcome to bbc news, i'm simon pusey. our top stories: the taliban says the us has the most to lose — after president trump pulled out of peace talks to end the afghan war. the head of a us aid agency says hurricane dorian has left parts of the bahamas looking like they were hit by a ‘nuclear bomb'. and — a champion for conservation and christianity. pope francis takes his message to millions in madagascar. and from a wheelchair to a waterski. 15 years after he was shot and left for dead a fresh challenge for our security correspondent frank gardner.

the taliban has condemned a decision by president trump to cancel secret afghan peace talks at camp david, warning that america has the most to lose. it's a sudden halt after nine rounds of talks to try to end nearly 20 years of war in afghanistan. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet reports from kabul. a busy kabul junction. the attack said to have changed president trump's mind. a young us soldier died here, a romanian, ten afghans, aged ten to 70. the president vented his fury on twitter. there is not a day without violence. taliban struck this kabul neighbourhood last week,

the very day last week the us said it had reached a deal in principle with the taliban to start bringing its troops home. they've been negotiating for nearly a year in the gulf state of qatar, and the taliban almost hit the diplomatic jackpot — a trip to camp david to talk to president trump, his classic high—stakes summitry. but now, it's off. a taliban spokesman sent us their response. a few days ago, the peace agreement was concluded with the us negotiation team, and it was initialled by heads of both negotiation teams. the tweets by president donald trump is astonishing, and i think it harms his reputation. a peace process that may have consequences. . . the afghan government the taliban still refuses to meet welcomed the move. i think it was the right move at the right time,

and a genuine reflection of the concerns that not only the afghan people but many in dc raised, of the threats, of the consequences of any deal that could be harmful to all of us. was it this one terrible attack in kabul which provoked president trump's dramatic move, or was it the rising chorus of anger and anxiety in kabul and in washington over peace talks which only seem to bring more war? america's longest war has lasted 18 years, launched to topple the taliban, doing battle as they rebounded with growing strength. all sides are fighting hard now, their casualties mounting. many fear taliban at the table don't speak for fighters on the ground. until they put down their guns, their commitment to peace won't be clear. lyse doucet, bbc news, kabul.

so why did donald trump cancel the meeting with the taliban? murid partaw is the former afghan national representative to us centcom, now at the school of global studies at the university of south florida. well, the cancelled camp david talks appear to have been an effort by president trump to bring the taliban leadership and the afghan president together, since the taliban has been not accepting to talk with the elected government of afghanistan. this so this was a pretty momentous occasion, had that occurred, without any doubt, because that would have brought the taliban negotiators, as i mentioned, with the afghan president, or perhaps afghan chief executive, the political leadership of the unity government, and that would have paved the road for an intra—afghan dialogue in the future.

yes, you say it would have been a momentous occasion. it would have obviously brought a lot of hope to people in afghanistan, who have obviously been enduring bombings on an almost daily basis from the taliban. what does this decision mean now for afghanistan? unfortunately this decision now means that the election is going to be happening, as it is scheduled, on 28 september, and that the violence will continue to rage across afghanistan, because as it was reported in your report, the taliban have said that we will continue our fighting, and it will be the americans who will suffer. for afghanistan, it will mean that the violence will continue to rage across the provinces — well, the violence never ended, but it will continue to rage, unfortunately.

yes, you say obviously that the violence has continued, and it really has, even during these talks. even when there was a draft agreement in place, the taliban were still carrying out these bombings. do you think there was ever really a chance of a peace deal? i think the decision to call off this peace agreement was definitely bigger than that. there were internal political constraints that president trump faced at home, here in washington. there was a lot of scepticism over the deal, and there were also other voices, like a few days ago, former government officials voiced their scepticism over this deal. it was wider than that. it was something that, although the us kept asking the taliban to renounce violence

and to agree on a ceasefire, at least for the period of this negotiation, but the taliban did not accept those dialogues, and continued on theirfight. and it had an impact on cancelling, but it was not the major factor in calling off this peace agreement. let's get some of the day's other news. around 1600 flights, scheduled to depart the uk on monday and tuesday, have been cancelled because of a strike by british airways pilots. passengers have been offered refunds or alternative bookings. the strike is expected to cost the airline around a0 million a day. the world could be free of malaria — one of the oldest and deadliest diseases to affect humanity — within a generation,

according to a major report in the lancet medicaljournal. the devastation caused by hurrican dorian has left the bahamas looking like they've had a ‘nuclear bomb‘ dropped on them, according to the head of a us aid agency. a huge relief operation is now under way but there's growing anger that not enough is being done. at least 43 people are confirmed dead but that figure is expected to rise ‘significa ntly‘. the bbc‘s gareth barlow reports. this is the devastation wrought by hurricane dorian. the mud, a shantytown built over decades. it took the storm just hours to rip it to shreds. across the archipelago, 70,000 people are said to be in urgent need of food and water, the basics of life, a week after dorian hit. there are parts of abaco and the bahamas that don't show a great deal of damage, and then there are clusters

of communities that are devastated, almost as though nuclear bombs were dropped upon them. aboard this caribbean cruise ship, they are making sandwiches as fast as they can, all part of a massive effort to get supplies to those who bore the brunt of the storm. in some areas, virtually every building has been damaged, if not destroyed. 0ne family there told us they had lost everything. went back the day, the morning after the storm, and the waterjust would appear that it went over our roof. the whole house, the interior is gone. it's just completely gone. i lost everything — my children's clothes, everything. i mean, everything. it's only a shell of a building. the building is standing, but everything is gone. others are scrambling to escape as conditions deteriorate. some have already been evacuated to the capital,

nassau, leaving behind an island without water and electricity, where the stench of death is filling the air. hundreds and possibly thousands are still missing. when i see that the people who used to live here or were here before me, and they call me and they tell me everything is back in order, then i'll be back. but prior to that — and they're saying it'll be 7—10 years, i'll be back. and that is how long it will take to rebuild this once scenic part of the caribbean. dorian brought the sea to the land and the land to the sea, its nearly two—day rampage the worst hurricane people here can remember. having weakened since then, dorian has now reached canada, bringing heavy rain to nova scotia. from there, it is due to head out to sea, to the relief of those unlucky enough to have found themselves caught up in its destructive path. jenelle eli is with the international federation of red cross and red crescent societies, and she joins us now from nassau.

have you ever experienced destruction might this before?” have never seen anything like this in my life. i was in marsh harbour today and there were some parts of it today that were just completely flattened to buildings that were twisted in ways i had never seen or did it this is seriously a heartbreaking situation for the people who experienced this. i met a lot of people who are obviously going through a really devastating time and they are relieved they were able to make it out of time, make it out alive with their families and seeing that, i understand. and can you describe the focus of the relief effo rts you describe the focus of the relief efforts that the red cross are involved in? right now the relief effo rts involved in? right now the relief efforts are a team effort so it is humanitarian agencies from red cross through to many other agencies doing work right now. at the red cross,

aid has arrived in the form of emergency shelter kits, water purification items, hygiene items. jerry cans for carrying clean water. yesterday in marsh harbor there were lots of people waiting to be evacuated. today there were so many people who are already off the island. they are staying with family members in nassau or in the us. this isa members in nassau or in the us. this is a constantly evolving situation. today in nassau, the bahamas red cross received lots of people who just did not have anything. they we re just did not have anything. they were handing out things like hygiene items and food parcels. and there are evacuation centres run by the government in nassau as well where the red cross is distributing aid and also taking in people ‘s details, taking in whether people have been able to connect with their family members did it as one service we are glad to be offering in the coming days and weeks, just being

able to figure out who needs to connect with a loved one, who does not have any information and get that to them. you speak about thousands of people fleeing to nassau. can the city cope? it is the capital of the country but is there enough aid and relief therefore all these people? right now it is early in this situation. i have heard many people are staying with family members and one man i met yesterday lost his entire home, he did not even have shoes on but he told me that he has sisters in nassau and he knows they will take him in and take ca re of knows they will take him in and take care of him. i think many people just don't know what the next step is. that is the hard part in a disaster. without the house and their livelihood and the under certainty is taking a emotional toll. so it will be a long road ahead for people and the red cross is here in the bahamas and the

international federation of the red cross as well. here to help people. as you say, it is a constantly evolving situation. is all we have time for now but you very much. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: 0ur thrill—seeking security correspondent frank gardner swaps his wheelchair for a wetsuit and waterski george w bush: freedom itself was attacked this morning, and freedom will be defended. the united states will hunt down and punish those responsible. bishop tutu now becomes spiritual leader of 100,000 anglicans here, of the blacks in soweto township, as well as the whites in their rich suburbs. we say to you today in a loud and a clear voice "enough of blood and tears. enough!" translation: the difficult decision

we reached together was one that required great and exceptional courage. it's an exodus of up to 60,000 people caused by the uneven pace of political change in eastern europe. iam free! this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the taliban says the us has the most to lose after president trump pulled out of peace talks aimed at ending the afghan war. british government ministers have dismissed the accusation of a former senior colleague that too little effort is going into securing a new brexit agreement with the european union. amber rudd, who resigned from the cabinet last night,

said today that the vast majority of brexit—focused work was going towards no deal and that there were no formal negotiations with brussels. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blake reports. out of government and free to speak her mind, amber rudd walked away from the cabinet no longer convinced that getting a brexit deal was the prime minister's priority. this morning i am joined by the now—former work and pensions secretary, amber rudd... she explained she could see little evidence of efforts to reach agreement with the eu. there is this huge machine preparing for no—deal, which is fine. you might expect, in the balance between getting a deal and no deal, 50—50 in terms of work, but it's not that. it's about 80—90% of government time going into preparing for no deal and the absence of actually trying to work to get a deal is what has driven 21 of my colleagues to rebel, and i need tojoin them.

throwing out these mps who voted against government was an act of political vandalism, according to amber rudd — clearly, for her, a step too far. i knew i couldn't carry on in the conservative party at such a high level and see 21 of my colleagues, who are good, moderate people who also want a deal, excluded from it, and ijust needed to move and stand by them. and tonight, one cabinet minister who is staying put urged the party to forgive and forget. i hope that we can find a way back into the party for some of those who had the whip withdrawn last week, and i very much hope that we can then come together as a party to deliver brexit. here we go. while boris johnson's been campaigning this week for the election he wants, 0pposition parties won't support until a no—deal brexit is ruled out, talks between the uk and the eu continue in brussels. there is little sign of progress, but the government insists

it does want a deal. i am absolutely clear that we are working wholeheartedly, straining every sinew, to get a deal, and the prime minister is personally putting in all the significant effort you would expect from a leader to get this deal done. it's as plain as ever tonight that the prime minister has no intention of asking for an extension to the brexit process if he can't reach a new deal with the eu by the summit in mid—october. tomorrow, though, the bill passed in parliament this week forcing him to do so is due to become law. the government has made it clear that although it will follow the law, it will look for a way around it. what we are going to do with that is test very carefully what it does and doesn't require. and that's not only the lawful thing to do, i think it's the responsible thing to do. despite the assurances, 0pposition parties are worried that the prime minister won't play by the rules. i don't trust him an inch, and i don't think anyone does. i think we've got a

prime minister now who's saying he won't even abide by the law — by the law — i've never heard that before now. we're in a situation now where no—one can trust, while he is in place, what could happen. at the government's country retreat of chevening in kent, the prime minister met his closest advisers to work out what to do next. the promise — still to deliver brexit by the end of october. the unanswered question — how? around a million people have attended an open—air mass in madagascar, celebrated by pope francis on the final day of his visit there. he called for the protection of the environment and against privilege and elitism in society. 0ur religion editor martin bashir sent this report from madagascar. braving blustery conditions on the outskirts of the capital, antananarivo, crowds were overflowing for an open—air mass. quoting from the gospel of luke, pope francis said christ demands respect for both people and the planet —

an urgent message for this part of the world. translation: this demand encourages us not to delude the gospel message, but instead, to build history in fraternity and solidarity in complete respect for the earth and its gift as opposed to any form of exportation. across the landscape of this country, the world's fourth—largest island, 40% of its forest has disappeared in the last 60 years. the environmental danger is aggravated because 80% of madagascar‘s plant and animal species are not found anywhere else on the planet. and it isn'tjust foreign companies who see money in hacking down madagascar‘s trees. conservationists say local businesses are also to blame and welcome the pope's intervention. it was a very good and strong message.

the civil society was there. felt very encouraged and invigorated in listening to the pope. this visit has come at a moment of rapid growth for the catholic church in africa. the pope's trip to africa was intended as a pastoral visit to encourage the growing churches here. but it quickly became political, with his condemnation of the plundering of natural resources. and for the thousands who came out to greet him, they encountered a pope who is as much a conservationist as he is a christian. time for some sports now. rafael nadal has won a classic us open final to bolster his claim to be the greatest men's player of all time. nadal had looked on course for a routine victory after winning the first two sets

against daniil medvedev. but the young russian, who had never played a grand slam final before, roused the new york crowd by winning the next two sets. nadal kept his nerve to win the final set and secure his fourth us open title. it is his 19th grand slam overall, which puts him one behind the all—time record of roger federer. itjune 2004, the bbc‘s security correspondent frank gardner was shot whilst on assignment in saudi arabia. he then spent seven months in hospital and has returned to carry on working for the organisation despite losing the use of his legs. as well as working again, frank has also rekindled his interest in skiing. but he's been unable to try another of his previous hobbies — water skiing — until now. how do you waterski when you can't use your legs? i'm frank gardner and i use a wheelchair because i got shot while on a bbc assignment in saudi arabia

15 years ago. i've done a lot of snow skiing, it's called adaptive skiing. i used to waterski before my injuries, but waterskiing has always been that one challenge too far. i've avoided, i dodged it, i've ducked it all these years. there is a charity called access adventures that gets disabled people like myself into the water to give it a try. the first challenge is going to be struggling into the wetsuit and that is a challenge in itself. i've just put my leg through the arm of the wetsuit. i feel like a beached seal. ok, second challenge is getting into the actual kit that i'm going to ski in. this is called an adaptive waterski, which, as you can see, it's got a kind of fixed seat attached to it, which i'm going to get myself into. how does it feel being back in the water? well, cold and wet.

hit it! it's a big moment where you feel that tug on the rope and the boat accelerates in front of you and suddenly you are up, surging out of the water, you've got spray all around you, you are skiing on the water. it's unnatural. it is exhilarating, it's totally exhilarating. there is a definite "eureka" moment in this where the instructors just peel away and suddenly you're on your own. when theyjudged i was ready for it, they allowed me to go over the wake, to ski over the wake, which is kind of bump in the water. and it's a little scary at first, it's kind of like you're side slipping over a little hillock made out of water is the best way i could describe it.

of course, you are thinking, i'm going to fall on the other side, but you don't quite, you adjust. 1, 2, 3! excellent. well done. that was so much fun! i really enjoyed that. i haven't done this for so many years. so to get out on the water and finding the limits of your body and your skills are — it's brilliant. if you spend pretty much all your waking day based in a wheelchair, which is endlessly tedious, i'll never sugar—coat it. that's a lovely independent feeling. that is frank gardner reporting there. really good to see as well. that is just about it from us for 110w. that is just about it from us for now. you can see the latest on our website, you can see brexit and hurricane dorian. and the failed peace deal. you can reach me on twitter.

i'm @sipusey. more news on our website. thanks a lot for watching. hello once again. a pretty decent weekend for many parts of the british isles. however, i suspect the way that monday's going to start for some, that's going to be but a distant memory because if you are anywhere near that frontal system, which really doesn't want to move away very quickly from the british isles, then it is going to be a soggy old start to the day. this is how it's shaping up first thing with quite a bit of rain for the greater part of scotland, save the shetland isles, it should just about clear northern ireland in the first part of the day. it will be there to be had across certainly a good part of england and wales. through the afternoon, we lose the intensity from the rain, save for the south—western quarter, best temperature of the afternoon about 16 or 17. pretty shabby for the time of year. the rain eventually clears away even from that south—western quarter, little ridge of high pressure building in.

so that offers the prospect of a drier, brighter, chillier start to tuesday for sure. temperatures widely across central and eastern areas in single figures. and it's a decent enough day, but again, here we bring in some very wet and very windy weather to finish off the afternoon across northern ireland and into the western side of scotland. we keep the sunshine further to the south and east, well, we'll take those temperatures up by two or three degrees or so. from tuesday into wednesday, see the number of isobars we've got on the chart here, tuesday night, a really windy one across the northern half of the british isles, and very wet too. couple of inches of rain, top gusts around 60 miles an hour or so as we see it at the moment. this is wednesday, that weather front easing its way, weakening all the while, down and across england and wales. brighter skies following on behind, but the wind will be a feature of the day, widely across the british isles. some of those gusts in exposed locations still exceeding a0 miles an hour or so. temperatures really not bad, at least the wind is coming in, and there's plenty of it,

from the west and the south—west, helping to boost the temperatures widely across england and wales, up to around about 20, 21 or so. this little system was the remnants of a tropical storm that was sitting in the mid—atlantic and brings the prospect of yet more wet and windy fare, back towards northern ireland, then onto scotland, to the north and west of england, the north of wales. again, generally speaking, the further south and east you are, the drier and finer your day will be. and warm too, some of that tropical air really boosting the temperatures by this stage to around 22, possibly 23 degrees. now, once that system has quit the scene, then a high pressure is going to build in, not only for friday, but for a good part of the weekend, for a good part of the british isles, though you'll notice it doesn't keep the front away from the northern parts of scotland.

this is bbc news, the headlines. the taliban say americans have the most to lose after trump cancelled peace talks aimed at ending 18 years of war in afghanistan. despite the cancellation, the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, said the conflict would ultimately be resolved through dialogue. the taliban, too, say they're committed to continuing negotiations. the head of a us aid agency says that hurrican dorian has left parts of the bahamas looking like they were hit by a ‘nuclear bomb‘. a huge relief operation is under way to provide emergency shelter, medical care and food and water. 43 people have been confirmed dead — but the number‘s expected to rise. there‘ve been fresh clashes between police and protestors in hong kong for the fourteenth week in a row. earlier, activists marched on the us consulate to call on donald trump to intervene personally in the political crisis.