this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. gunfire us troops fire smoke tear gas in kabul to try to push back thousands desperate to escape the taliban. translation: we have a legal visa. many people who are coming here don't have the right documents, but we have the visa and they won't let us through. senior taliban figures — including the group's co—founder, mullah baradar — are in the afghan capital for talks about establishing a new government. a state of emergency has been declared in parts of new york state ahead of the forecast arrival of hurricane henri. anti—lockdown protests in australia turn ugly. more than 200 are arrested.

hello, and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. i'm shaun ley. the us embassy in afghanistan is advising americans not to travel to kabul airport unless they've been instructed to do so because of "potential security threats" at the gates. thousands of people are still massed at the perimeter of the airport, anxious to board flights out of the country, and the crush of people in swealtering heat left some needing medical help from us troops. the bbc�*s security correspondent, frank gardner reports. crowds, chaos, confusion. the scene at kabul airport grows ever more volatile as thousands of afghans clamour to leave the country. gunfire. taliban fighters are guarding the outside of the perimeter, but even some people with valid

travel documents are not getting through. translation: we've got a legal visa. many people who are coming here don't have the right documents, but we've got the visa and they won't let us through. britain's ambassador, sir laurie bristow, has been helping to process applications. he says the evacuation is the biggest challenge he's ever faced. but a pentagon briefing said the taliban had so far not prevented the evacuation. we've had no hostile interactions, no attack and no threat by the taliban. we remain vigilant. we have also not experienced any additional security incidents. elsewhere in kabul, normal life is slowly returning, but banks have been shut and cash machines empty. there have also been reports of hospitals struggling without enough women turning up for work. taliban fighters, so long part of a violent insurgency, are in control, seen everywhere on the streets.

the group's co—founder and political chief, mullah abdul ghani baradar, has arrived in kabul. he is expected to form part of the new taliban—dominated government. he spent the last few years leading the taliban delegation at peace talks with the us in qatar. the taliban don't yet control the entire country. the panjshir valley, north of kabul, is once more a centre of resistance to their rule. anti—taliban forces claim to have retaken three districts in the north. back at the airport, time is running out for the evacuation. once it ends and the world's attention shifts elsewhere, many fear that life under the taliban is going to get a lot harder. frank gardner, bbc news. our afghanistan corresposent secunder kermani is in kabul and has been speaking to the afghans who hope to be evacuated. he says the situation at the airport still seems extremely tense.

well, it's still very chaotic. i was speaking earlier to one young afghan whose father worked for the american embassy for 20 years, they had been told to go to the airport to be evacuated, given but they have simply given up, they've decided that the situation at the airport is even more dangerous than the prospect of life under taliban rule. we are also getting reports tonight from the us media that there are concerns amongst us defence officials about the possibility of an attack by the islamic state group on the airport. it sent a panic that many heat there who are camped out or feeling — it's really fuelled by the feeling bite officials being pulled out. after

that, many fear it'll be extremely difficult to fly out of the country. so time, they feel, is really running out them. bi; 50 time, they feel, is really running out them. by saying that it's the state department says it wants to avoid large crowds outside the airport gates for security purposes. us defence officials have also expressed concern about the potential for attacks by afghanistan's branch of the islamic state group. the bbc�*s us state department correspondent, barbara plett usher has more. the ongoing chaos outside the airport is contributing to what the pentagon spokesperson called a "fluid and dynamic

security situation that could change by the hour". so you have this statement put out by the state department warning americans not to go to the airport because of potential security concerns — unless they were told specifically to go. then the state department said it had issued this morning because it wanted americans to avoid these large crowds for security purposes, but also because it would make it more efficient to process the departures. then we've also now had these us officials telling american media that they are particularly concerned about the possibility of islamic state attacks — afghanistan's branch of the islamic state group — and they are looking at alternative routes to get evacuees to the airport. so it seems to be in flux at the moment. the white house did say that president biden had discussed with his national security team the potential of the is threat, amongst other things, earlier today. and i should say that the islamic state group itself has not publicly threatened attacks in kabul — although recently it did make a statement calling the taliban "us stooges", saying it was preparing for a new phase of resistance — jihad.

here in the uk, the foreign office says the uk has airlifted nearly 4,000 people out of afghanistan, since kabul fell last weekend. but others fearing for their lives having worked with british forces, believe they should be airlifted out too. 0ur correspondent, frankie mccamley, has been speaking to one man, whom we've chosen not to identify, for his safety. this morning, 200 evacuees arrived at brize norton, following thousands of others, with many more waiting to leave. but some feel like they've been left behind. now in hiding, this man worked for a security firm with the british embassy. translation: we cannot stay in our home. - i hear the taliban has a list of all others who worked with the international companies and they will start to pull them from their houses and hang them. how are your family feeling? translation: i am very sorry for my family, - and sometimes when i look to my kids, it is very bad. i cannot look at them. i was the one who put them at high risk. if i knew this company would do this to us,

i would never have joined. i would never have helped them. what do you think will happen to you if you leave the house and you come out of hiding? translation: i was threatened by the taliban before, _ so i left my home before. now i am scared if they see me they will do bad things to me. i am on the list. like many others, he wants protection for his family, a familiar concern from those who feel trapped in a country where confusion and fear currently dictates. frankie mccamley, bbc news. nadene ghouri is an author and journalist who has written extensively about afghanistan. she is part of an international coalition consisting of soliders, aid workers, diplomats and journalists who've served or worked in afghanistan, trying help afghans escape from the country. we've all come together in the last few weeks as we've been scrambling to get intelligence from the ground, to get intelligence from the ground, to find out who's the most at risk,

who is under the most immediate threat from taliban, get those names together, collate them into a list and get those names over to the relevant government democratic governments to get on the evacuation lists. we knew who those most vulnerable afghans were going to be, so i was it left to a group of volunteers to do that? that's utterly beyond me. just to give you an example of some of the cases that have passed me this week — i'm talking about female high court judges, female afghan army cadets, members of the afghan national sports team, women, boys and girls. some high—profile cases we should have known more about, and lots of afghan journalists. have known more about, and lots of afghanjournalists. a have known more about, and lots of afghan journalists. a lot of them are in hiding at the moment and getting calls from the taliban, saying we know where you are, we are coming for you soon. there's a lot of fear, people are beginning to give up on the evacuation efforts. we are hearing today at the airport a woman with two children whose on one of the flight lists has been going there for three days now, she's been there for 15 hours with

her kids in that crust. she said she can't do it again, she's just giving up, she doesn't want to be evacuated any more, shall die in that crowd. i've had somebody this morning that we've been trying to get on a flight — he was told to get on the airport, but not which entrance or gate to go to. so he's been running around the airport all day. he managed to get through taliban checkpoints only to be turned away and not able to get in, so he's still at the airport and will try to stay there overnight. it is a shambles of an evacuation process. a state of emergency has been declared in parts of new york state ahead of the forecast arrival of hurricane henri. new york's governor, andrew cuomo, said he had spoken to president biden who agreed to the declaration, which will release funds before the hurricane makes landfall on sunday. mr cuomo said heavy rain, flooding, and power cuts should be expected. i'm going to declare a state of emergency declaration for long island, new york city, westchester,

hudson valley, and the capital district region. we're working with the power companies. i have told them clearly and convincingly my opinion, that this is what we pay the power companies to do — to be ready for storms. we've seen this movie before. we don't pay power companies to be ready to prepare power for sunny days. we pay them to prepare power when it's hard and to recover quickly after a storm. let's cross to new york now. 0ur correspondent bahman kalbasi is on fire island on the atlantic coastline. not looking behind you as it normally looks?— not looking behind you as it normally looks? not looking behind you as it normall looks? ., ., ., ., normally looks? know, almost half of the beach is — normally looks? know, almost half of the beach is gone _ normally looks? know, almost half of the beach is gone compared - normally looks? know, almost half of the beach is gone compared to - normally looks? know, almost half of| the beach is gone compared to maybe just four hours ago. so clearly the storm surge, not entirely here, but we are feeling like it's impact on

the weather, it's starting to change and this is a barrier island. so when it makes landfall, it'll hit here first — not exactly where i'm standing, the prediction is 80 miles to the east of long island and fire island, which is why the governor made clear the appeal to the residence of fire island to leave, because he also thought that this could be similar to what happened in 2012 with hurricane sandy. but fire island was heavily impacted with damages — we know that storm brought about $70 billion of costs to the state of new york and newjersey, so clearly they are worried that could happen again. even though some people are standing on the beach, a lot of them have been packing to leave because the only way to get back through the mainland is a ferry service which will stop in a few hours. �* , ., service which will stop in a few hours. fl ., ,., service which will stop in a few hours. �*, ., .

hours. it's not so much people -- is there a sign — hours. it's not so much people -- is there a sign of— hours. it's not so much people -- is there a sign of people _ hours. it's not so much people -- is there a sign of people preparing - hours. it's not so much people -- is there a sign of people preparing to. there a sign of people preparing to protect their buildings before the impact? protect their buildings before the im act? , protect their buildings before the imact? , ., protect their buildings before the imact? , . ~' ., ., impact? given the background of hurricane sandy, _ impact? given the background of hurricane sandy, people - impact? given the background of hurricane sandy, people are - impact? given the background of. hurricane sandy, people are taking anything inside. none of these chairs should be out here, which is what most people will do so things don't fly to their property. if they could also probably board up the property, that would help too. the other problem for the governor in the entire state is people who remain and then get stuck, and they have to come and rescue them. that's why they are appealing — and of course, the governor has asked people to stock up on groceries, which is probably why some people have started doing so. there's been a lot of rain the last few days, so the ground is already saturated — that'll mean more trees falling and a lot of power outages, which could take a few days to be restored. it’s take a few days to be restored. it's about 6:15pm in the evening they are, and have you had a rough prediction of when the hurricane is expected to hit? we

prediction of when the hurricane is expected to hit?— expected to hit? we are thinking about midday — expected to hit? we are thinking about midday sunday, _ expected to hit? we are thinking about midday sunday, early - expected to hit? we are thinking. about midday sunday, early hours expected to hit? we are thinking - about midday sunday, early hours we will feel some of that, but the brunt of it appears to be hitting long island by noon, 1pm depending on which area of long island people are. right now it's really the calm before the storm as far as the wind is concerned, but certainly within a few hours, that'll change. keep safe and i ho -e few hours, that'll change. keep safe and i hepe we _ few hours, that'll change. keep safe and i hope we will _ few hours, that'll change. keep safe and i hope we will be able _ few hours, that'll change. keep safe and i hope we will be able to - few hours, that'll change. keep safe and i hope we will be able to talk. and i hope we will be able to talk to you again someday. for now, thank you very much. in mexico, at least eight people have died after hurricane grace made landfall there, causing severe flooding and mudslides. the category—three hurricane produced maximum sustained winds of 125 mph when it arrived in veracruz state in the early hours of the morning. the nearby river actopan burst its banks, and the storm also caused power cuts and brought down trees. the us national hurricane centre within the last few minutes has downgraded the hurricane and now describes as a disturbance, rather than a hurricane. as you can see it

can caused —— to cause quite a bit of a disturbance in mexico. the headlines on bbc news... crowds continue to gather outside kabul airport, amid reports of chaotic scenes — as the us advises its citizens not to travel there until they are asked, because of security threats outside the gates. senior taliban figures — including the group's co—founder, mullah baradar — arrive in kabulfor talks about establishing a new unity government. let's get more on afghanistan. the taliban takeover of the country has also caused distress for us and uk military veterans, and the families of soldiers who fought and died in afghanistan. christine harrison lost her son corporal darren bonner in afghanistan in 2007. she spoke to my colleague ben boulos earlier and told him how she is feeling watching the chaos unfold. erm, heartbroken. absolutely heartbroken, because i feel that my son died in vain, along with lots

and lots of other soldiers with him. and i've spoken to other families and they've said exactly how i feel, and darren died 1a years ago. i had just got to a stage where i believed he died for a reason, he died doing something he really, really enjoyed doing, and that was looking after people. and he was making that difference. and then, over the last couple of weeks, that has gone. i feel like i've actually gone back 1a years. i feel like it was yesterday. i feel totally broken by it. totally broken. and you say you've been speaking to other families of soldiers who have fought and died in afghanistan. do they feel the same? absolutely. i mean, the ones that feel like i do are the ones that have contacted me and said, you know, "you are speaking

for us, thank you." because they felt that they couldn't themselves. and i just couldn't sit there and allow this to happen and no—one speak up for us, because we are devastated. we feel our sons have died in vain. don't get me wrong, we're really proud of them. they're our heroes. but, you know, darren believed he was doing something really, really good for the afghan people, and he's done two tours — so when he came back from the first tour, he was really proud of how they had actually pushed the taliban back, families were doing normal things and villages, the men were going to work and the mums were doing what they did, and the kids were going to school. and he was over the moon, you know, that they were actually making

a difference to these people — and the afghans he spoke to were so pleased that they were there because they felt safe. he did get told off quite a few times for giving children sweets, because they're not allowed to do that, but he was so proud of what he was doing. and then, just before he went on the tour that he died in, he called me on his way and he said to me that he was scared — and darren never, ever said anything like this. he always wanted to protect me from anything. so he never used to tell me much that would worry me. but he actually told me he was scared. it was almost like he knew something was going to happen. and so i worried and worried, and i never saw him again. with so many people now hoping to escape afghanistan, turkey has warned of a new wave of migration, and called on european

countries to take responsibility. greece has also built a new 25—mile fence and surveillance system along its border with turkey. the greek government says it won't wait passively for the possible impact of a refugee crisis, following the taliban takeover. the freelance journalist daphne tolis is in athens. she have us some more detail about the wall. the 40—kilometre steel fence has been completed. the defence minister and the citizens protection minister were both yesterday, friday, there. they visited the wall, the border there. they said that greek borders will remain secure and impenetrable and that border forces are on alert for any possible wave of afghan refugees trying to cross into europe through greece. it is widely supported, i would say, especially after last year, the events of february 2020, when thousands of refugees

and migrants attempted to cross in large numbers from turkey's land border, the same border that divides greece and turkey, after turkish president erdogan said that the borders were open. so people tried to come through greece to move further to the european union, and following those events, that is what actually sped up the completion of this border, which was already announced that it would happen, but this made it faster to happen, to reinforce the existing border and to make an even more reinforced steel fence across this zone, which is actually one of the deadliest land borders for asylum seekers, migrants, refugees crossing into europe. police in australia have clashed with thousands of people in two of the country's biggest cities, who've been protesting against covid restrictions. more than 200 people have been arrested in melbourne and sydney, and at least seven

officers were injured. sydney has just extended lockdown measures for another month — as phil mercer reports. they came in their thousands to protest against melbourne's lockdown. the police said some did so peacefully, but the majority were looking for trouble. there were smaller rallies in brisbane and sydney. earlier, the authorities in new south wales had announced australia's worst day of the pandemic so far, with 825 new covid—19 infections. with only 30% of australians fully inoculated, the state's health minister appealed to residents to get vaccinated. there is no time now to be selfish. it's time to think of the broader community and your families. if you're actually spreading the virus, you could be responsible for people's death. the new south wales premier warned

that the delta variant was so contagious that australia's long held strategy of trying to eliminate the virus was over. phil mercer, bbc news. the british government has rejected a call to issue 10,000 temporary visas to eu workers to tackle an estimated shortage of 75,000 lorry drivers in the wake of brexit. logistics uk, the trade body which represents freight businesses, says many restaurants and supermarkets are facing serious supply problems. but ministers say employers should invest in the domestic workforce by offering higher wages, rather than rely on foreign labour. alex veitch from logistics uk has been explaining the scale of the problem. it is serious, and it's getting worse. we are making this call for 10,000 temporary visas for qualified, safe eu nationals to come back to the uk and tide us over for the peak christmas period,

the build—up to which starts now, to give us time to catch up from the missed driving tests and to reskill and retrain uk nationals to take up the manyjobs available in our sector. we see that wages are rising. we are working hand in glove with the government on reskilling, on apprenticeships, on trying to get people into our sector where there are jobs available for people impacted by covid. the problem is that it has been very difficult to actually get a driving test over the past year. it is nobody�*s fault, it is due to covid restrictions at the dvsa, so we have a huge backlog of people waiting to take their test to become a truck driver, so we would like these 10,000 temporary visas.

we say that because there are many other sectors where the government has done exactly that. the trial of the r&b singer r kelly, who's accused of sexually abusing several women, has heard claims by his former tour manager, that he bribed a government worker to obtain a fake id to marry the singer aaliyah, who was underage. she was 15 at the time. kelly is also accused of bribery, and denies all the charges. the british government has announced plans to tighten rules on dogs being imported to the uk, in response to a rise in puppy smuggling. the proposals include raising the minimum age for imported dogs from 15 weeks to six months, and banning heavily pregnant animals. lebu diseko has more. hundreds of puppies brought into the country illegally are intercepted each year. the numberfound not to have met the uk's pet import rules more than doubling between 2019 and 2020 alone. many have health problems and had

not been checked by certified vets. an increase too in the number with docked tails and cropped ears, more than 600% in the last five years. the government is proposing new rules for puppy welfare standards, including raising the minimum age at which they can be imported from 15 weeks to six months, a ban on importing heavily pregnant dogs, and an end to importing dogs with cropped ears or docked tails. when it comes to ear—cropping, unfortunately we have seen is an increase in demand for dogs with cropped ears, a completely unnecessary and abhorrent mutilation which causes nothing but pain and has no medical benefit, it is done purely for the way these dogs look. we have seen an increase in their use in the media, by social media influencers and celebrities, which has led to an increase in demand by the public. animal welfare campaigners have welcomed the consultation, saying it could bring significant progress in the fight

against such practices. it is hoped these new proposals — part of an eight—week great britain—wide consultation — will lead to new rules, ending what has been called to a grim trade, and preventing cruelty. lebo diseko, bbc news. you're watching bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. hello again. saturday was always going to be the slightly dodgy day of the weekend in terms of weather, and we have a lot of cloud. most of us saw some fairly heavy rain as well. that was the grey skies that we had in wales, for a time, with the rain coming down. a bit misty over the hills, as well. since then, the rain band has been progressing its way northwards and eastwards, and it will continue to do so over the next few hours, as well. that said, i reckon it will stay pretty wet across parts of eastern scotland, down the eastern side of england for the next few hours, with some heavy rain coming in across northern england, east midlands, east anglia. we've still got some more

rain to come, as well across parts of the south east. but all the while, it will turn a little bit drier across western areas. 13—15 celsius as you start the day. there will be some mist and fog patches to watch out for. eastern scotland, probably over the pennines, eastern areas of england, as well. now, sunday morning, we'll probably have some fairly thick cloud running in across parts of east anglia, south east england, still with some patches of rain expected here. into the afternoon, the skies brighten up and there will be some showers. some of them quite heavy for central and eastern scotland, central and eastern england. dry with sunshine for south—west england and wales, northern ireland and western areas of scotland. then, into next week, it looks like high pressure is going to be with us, and it's going to be bringing the air from scandinavia. so no heatwave in the forecast, but it will be a pleasant spell of weather. it's going to be largely dry with some sunshine to look forward to. so that settling down process really gets under way on monday, with most of us having a dry day with some sunny spells. in the sunshine, it's august, it's going to feel warm in that sunshine with temperatures widely

climbing into the low 20s, peeking around 22 celsius in glasgow, birmingham, and cardiff, as well. into tuesday's forecast, and again it's another largely fine day. you could find a view mist and fog patches for the early risers, but otherwise looking fine with spells of sunshine. the wind is coming onshore around parts of east anglia and kent, keeping temperatures here on the coastal strip probably around 19—20 celsius. the highest temperatures across western areas. 2a perhaps in glasgow. that really would feel pleasantly warm. and as we look at the forecast through the rest of the week, you can see the weather does stay dry. temperatures stay in the low 20s. there may be a tendency though for it to turn a bit cloudier across the north and east of scotland and eastern england towards the end of the week.

hello. this is bbc news. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment — first the headlines. crowds continue to gather outside kabul airport, amid reports of chaotic scenes — as the us advises its citizens not to travel there until they are asked, because of security threats outside the gates. senior taliban figures — including the group's co—founder, mullah baradar — are in kabulfor talks about establishing a new government. greece has erected a 25 mile fence on its border with turkey amid warnings of many afghan civillians fleeing their country overland. there have been clashes between australian police and anti—lockdown demonstrators in sydney and melbourne.

hello, and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be