welcome to bbc news. i'm david eades. our top stories: president biden praises the us evacuation flights out of kabul — and says they can be accelerated. but he also accepts the process will be hard and painful. we'll work as fast as we can to get people out. our efforts are unwavering. the taliban say they're sending fighters to the northern panjshir valley — where local leaders are refusing to hand over power. more than twenty people have been killed by flash floods in the us state of tennessee. rescue workers say dozens of people are still missing there are pleas for more help in haiti — as mudslides and the destruction of roads, hampers efforts to deliver earthquake aid. # dream, dream, dream.

and don everly, who had huge success with the everly brothers, has died aged 8a. clamour president biden has championed the efforts to bring more people out of afghanistan, saying around 11,000 were flown to safety over the course of the weekend. he said that meant 28,000 had been evacuated since last saturday. making his third televised addressed to americans since the taliban takeover, mr biden also pointed to the possibility of extending the deadline of august 31st for completing the evacuation operation. but he also acknowledged the significant risks in carrying out the flights. we lifted approximately 11,000 people out of kabul

in less than 36 hours. it is an incredible operation. let me be clear, the evacuation of thousands of people from kabul is going to be hard and painful, no matter when it started, when we began. it would have been true if we had started a month ago or a month from now. there is no way to evacuate this many people without pain and loss, of heartbreaking images you see on television. it is just a fact. my heart aches for those people you see. we are proving that we can move though thousands of people a day out of kabul. we are bringing our citizens, nato allies, afghanis who have helped us in the war effort, but we have a long way to go and a lot could still go wrong. president biden has a political track record of supporting the us withdrawal from afghanistan and he went on to say that history would show he did the right thing by deciding to pull

out of the country. at the end of the day, if we didn't leave afghanistan now, when do we leave? another ten years? another five years? another year? i'm not about to send your son or your daughter to fight in afghanistan. i don't see where that is in our overwhelming interests. and the talk about how our interests are going to be impacted? let me tell you, if you are sitting in beijing or moscow, are you happy we left? they would love nothing better for us to be bogged down there, totally occupied with what is going on. history is going to record that this was the logical, rational and right decision to make. our state department correspondent barbara plett usher gave this assessment of president biden�*s speech.

well, recent polls show that there is still a majority support in the country for ending the war in afghanistan orfor bringing troops back from afghanistan, but there's strong disapproval for how it was conducted. so the president here is focusing on how it was conducted and painting a sort of positive picture about steps that have been taken and that has been his approach. so he talked about having picked up the pace of the evacuation at the weekend. he said it was an extraordinary airlift. he talked about improving access to the airport for those who wanted to get there. he suggested that the perimeter — the us forces had extended the perimeter around the airport or the safe zone. he also talked about the vulnerability of it. he did say that it was dangerous, that there were possibilities of attacks by islamic state militants, and they were being vigilant. but he said that there was no reason to think that they couldn't keep up the pace of the evacuation, and he also said that they would hope they could complete this by the deadline

which is the end of the month. it's a deadline that he has imposed. but he also said that military officials were discussing about the possibility of extending it, if they had to, and that is something that has been called for by both people here in the united states and also allies. so he was very much coming out there, talking about the way that they were carrying out what he called an extraordinary airlift, an extraordinary operation, and how things were improving, and he is saying that they will probably continue to improve, acknowledging also though, as we heard in that statement, that any kind of evacuation would have been heartbreaking at any time. we will see if that makes a difference to people who have been watching those heartbreaking and chaotic images of the american exit from afghanistan. nato says at least 20 people have been killed at the airport

as afghans are desperate to fly to safety and have crowded the gates. to safety and have crowded the ates. ., , gates. there were orderly scenes on _ gates. there were orderly scenes on sunday - gates. there were orderly scenes on sunday with - gates. there were orderly i scenes on sunday with eight militants firing into the area and using bretons to force people into cues. 0ur chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, flew into kabul airport earlier — and sent this report it hits you as soon as you put your foot on the tarmac of this airfield, the intensity and the urgency of this moment. every direction we look at kabul international airport, afghans and foreigners in straight lines, boarding the military transport planes that are all around this tarmac. taking afghans, notjust away from their country, but away from the lives that they live, the identity they cherish, leaving everything behind, to start from scratch. today is the day that a generation of afghans

have buried their dreams and aspirations and our lives. this city, to us, is our home, despite its contradictions. we called it home, we were raised from here, we hope that the taliban can learn from the lessons of the past and everyone else and we can prove that we can move away from the tanks and bullets, towards a road where everyone can see themselves. this urgent evacuation is one no one expected, nobody wanted and no—one will forget. there are said to be more than 10,000, possibly 111,000 people, now in this airfield, waiting to board a flight, to take them anywhere out of this country. foreigners as well as afghans. there are thousands more afghans, a crush of afghans who raced to the airport to try to get on one of these flights.

afghans have an expression when they travel, which means may yourjourney be happy. some will be so relieved, so relieved. some of them will have spent days outside, waiting to get inside here, it has taken some people days, days to get in because of the people who are pushing outside of the gates. little children, families, not knowing what kind of life they are heading to. the taliban said that hundreds of its fighters are heading for the panjshir valley north of kabul, because local leaders had refused to hand it over peacefully. earlier, the region's powerful militia leader, ahmed massoud said he was ready for talks to avert a civil war, so long as the taliban formed an inclusive, decentralised government. mr massoud, son of the famed anti—soviet resistance fighter ahmad shah massoud, said his forces would fight any

regime imposed by the taliban. until a week ago, amrullah saleh was the first vice president of afghanistan. he now considers himself the legitimate caretaker president of afghanistan, and is allied with ahmad massoud. he told the bbc while he was open to dialogue with the taliban, he would not accept their vision of the future of afghanistan. as long as they reject extremism, acknowledge the pluralistic fabric of afghanistan and they should understand we will not — let me be very clear — we will not accept clerical dictatorship in my country. we make peace but the peace should not mean surrender to a group with massive record of human rights violation, massacre of people, you name it — that will not happen.

earlier i spoke to 0mar samad. he is former afghan ambassador to france and canada and up until two weeks ago before the taliban takeover he was senior advisor to dr abdullah abdullah, the chief executive of afghanistan. i asked him whether amrullah saleh would have a central role. he was dealt very bad hand when mr ghani, his boss, decided to leave without notice and without telling anyone and abandoning his country and his duties. so amrullah saleh had a choice — either he also had to leave the country, or he go into the panjshir valley, his native province, and put up a resistance for the ideals that he just evoked in your interview. i'm not sure whether there is a chance or not, but it is one representation of the afghan fabric of society. afghanistan is a diverse society and i hope the taliban realise that to bring

peace and stability, as they claim, they need to be open to all afghans, all persuasions, all different backgrounds, and that we need to have a serious meaningful dialogue which we have not had over the last few years because of a lot of different reasons. . . sorry to interrupt you, is that dialogue beginning to take place with dr abdullah abdullah and indeed hamid karzai, because dr abdullah has been i think actually hosting some of the taliban leaders, in terms of agreeing to meet to discuss a possible way forward, at his own home. what is the situation as you understand it there? dr abdullah, mr karzai and many other politicians who belong to the regime, the republic that mr ghani left behind, decided to stay in kabul, and so they became a bridge between afghan political constituencies, society, different ethnic and social

groups, and the taliban. and this discussion has been going on for over a week now. it started out about safety and security. now it is getting into politics. so it is going to be interesting to see what the taliban have to put on the table and how the others will react it. is it going to be broad—based enough? is it going to be inclusive enough? and will it be acceptable and embrace all of society? or is it going to be a two—stage approach where, on one hand, you have a transition system, and on the other hand you work with others toward a new political order. all of this is been discussed right now and the hope is that afghanistan — that the taliban realize that today's afghanistan is a difference afghanistan — so they claim but words only go so far, they have to show it in action and deeds.

quite but the message seems fairly clear that the likes of dr abdullah abdullah and maybe hamid karzai would expect to be playing some sort of influential role within that government. can i just ask you, and presumably they are pushing the importance of maintaining the role of women as they stand in afghanistan today? yes, of course. one of the topics, one of the main issues that has been part of the discussions, will be part of the discussions has to do with with gendered rights, has to do with certain liberties, such as media rights, freedom of expression, some gains of the last few years in afghanistan. all of those have to be on the table, have to be discussed, and they have to come up with a solution that works for all afghans. right, and that's a good point and it would have to work

from the taliban's perspective as well as the others. i've got one last thing i did want to ask you. joe biden has been pretty firm up till now about august 31st as the deadline. now, a little bit of room for manoeuvre that perhaps it could be extended but can you see a situation in which the taliban would accept that? so far the taliban have insisted that they want to see all foreign troops out by august 31. there may be some room for some kind of negotiation leading to a solution whereby troops do leave and that there is a third party that could play a role or that the taliban would take responsibility or that they would allow nato and american troops to stay on for a few more days to resolve the issue. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the music world pays tribute to don everly — who had huge success with the rock �*n�* roll duo, the everly brothers. he's died aged 8a.

die arm nomination for a major political party and it's he's the first african—american to win the presidential nomination for a major political party and it's exactly 45 years to the day when martin luther king declared, "i have a dream." as darkness falls tonight, an unfamiliar light will appear in the sky. an orange glowing disc that's brighter than anything, save the moon. 0ur 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 i and billions of dollars to repair what katrinal 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 clockmakerjohn vernon swung the pendulum to set the clock going again. big ben bongs. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: president biden has praised the us evacuation— president biden has praised the us evacuation flight _ president biden has praised the us evacuation flight out - president biden has praised the us evacuation flight out of- us evacuation flight out of kabul_ us evacuation flight out of kabul and _ us evacuation flight out of kabuland said— us evacuation flight out of kabul and said they- us evacuation flight out of kabul and said they can i us evacuation flight out ofj kabul and said they can be accelerated. _ kabul and said they can be accelerated. he _ kabul and said they can be accelerated.— kabul and said they can be accelerated. ., ., .. , accelerated. he also accepted the process — accelerated. he also accepted the process would _ accelerated. he also accepted the process would be - accelerated. he also accepted the process would be hard - accelerated. he also accepted | the process would be hard and painful. the taliban so they are sending fighters to the northern panjshir valley where local leaders have been refusing to hand over us. authorities in haiti savoured more than 2200 people have been killed. search and rescue workers are looking for over 350 people, are still missing. this destruction of roads,

mudslides and brie has stopped ability to transport aid. gaby paul is a human rights activist and law professor, and joins me now from jeremie, in the south of the country i think the light that we have for your picture tells its own story as well, doesn't it? exactly. i'm so sorry that we are in the dark. so i'm using my torch bone life. that's the reason the situation is like this. absolutely. please don't apologise. in terms of getting aid to people, building up a sort of splitting up. no i'm sorry for the sound you have in the background because we are on the street. fist

the background because we are on the street.— on the street. at 758 tonight, in haiti mac, _ on the street. at 758 tonight, in haiti mac, officially, - on the street. at 758 tonight, in haiti mac, officially, we - in haiti mac, officially, we had an after—shock because we still don't have it, so people are communicating with our house to visit. which is 90 already. and the situation is about the aid, very complicated.- about the aid, very complicated. about the aid, very comlicated. ~ ., about the aid, very comlicated. ., . , complicated. most of the cities are rural communities - complicated. most of the cities are rural communities which i are rural communities which were hit by the earthquake. we have a lot of landslides. the situation is very complicated. 0f situation is very complicated. of course about security, we have gained. some areas, where people are asking for help

because some members came to the earth, to the home town, and tried to control everything. the situation is complicated, and of course, lack of leadership, because i just got the report from the centre of operations, and they said they don't have money, they have no budget to organise anything. so they are doing what they can off the ground. the little they have. but whatever— the little they have. but whatever help _ the little they have. but whatever help they - the little they have. but whatever help they can get. clearly. are you saying that there are still effectively no—go areas, not because of the conditions but because of the gangs? conditions but because of the iians? �* . ., , conditions but because of the iians? l .,y , , conditions but because of the iians? l ., , , , gangs? actually, yes. some areas, gangs? actually, yes. some areas. it's — gangs? actually, yes. some areas, it's only _ gangs? actually, yes. some areas, it's only because - gangs? actually, yes. some areas, it's only because of. areas, it's only because of them, but it's also the

landslide, because most of the people were killed by a landslide, with the rural stations. and it's not because they are big houses, it'sjust because the landfill on them. and we are living, 80% of the population are farmers. so at this time on saturday, they went to their farm and that's where they were trapped with the earthquake stop so once again, i'm getting a feeling that the aftermath of this earthquake is going to be very long and very hard for many people. long and very hard for many --eole. �* , , long and very hard for many eo le, �* , , ., long and very hard for many --eole. v , ., ., people. it's “ust the nature of thins people. it's “ust the nature of thin i s at people. it'sjust the nature of things at the _ people. it'sjust the nature of things at the moment - people. it'sjust the nature of things at the moment and - people. it'sjust the nature of| things at the moment and the conditions you have to deal with in haiti mac.— with in haiti mac. yes, and actually — with in haiti mac. yes, and actually everybody, - with in haiti mac. yes, and actually everybody, the - actually everybody, the population, the thing is, as always, we weren't ready for this. so even we experienced 11

years ago the earthquake of january 2010 but still, we weren't ready. and so we have a population that is traumatised and especially children. because of the lack of leadership. so we still look at the authorities, even they don't tolerate, we don't really talk much of the population to explain to them what is going on exact be so that is the reason. and in my hometown, people start rebuilding their houses by themselves without any expertise. even the house was matched by the earthquake. that situation we are living in now, because it's raining sometimes, because how we stand, thank god. the thing is, after the earthquake, we slept

outside but when the rain started, we have to go inside the house. that's the reality for many, many people. that's what will happen. circumstances remain awful, _ what will happen. circumstances remain awful, i _ what will happen. circumstances remain awful, i will— what will happen. circumstances remain awful, i will say. - remain awful, i will say. particularly under the circumstances of the after—shock you mentioned, we really appreciated. thank you to you. as the north east coast of the united states braced for the arrival of hurricane henri, flash floods tore through the southern state of tennessee. the death toll has climbed to more than 20 with rescue workers searching for dozens who are still missing. tanya dendrinos reports. debris and devastation — this is tennessee after unprecedented storms wreaked havoc, as locals assess the unimaginable damage, search and rescue teams were looking for survivors, with many still missing. i want to begin by expressing my deepest condolences

for the sudden and tragic loss of life for this flash flood. i know that we have reached out to the community and we stand ready to offer them support. i've asked the administrator to speak to governor lee of tennessee right away and we will offer any assistance they need for this terrible moment. meanwhile, more than 120,000 homes have been left without power, as tropical storm henri made landfall on rhode island, downgraded from a category1 hurricane. many residents along the north—east coast of the united states were breathing a sigh of relief on sunday. with the damage, it's not as bad as many people thought. we've seen a lot of wind damage, trees down, stop like that. a bit of extra water on the world and that's about it. (speaks indistnctly). and loss of power, loss of power. the tropical storm is weakening but heavy rain is expected to continue, with potential for further flooding. disaster relief has been approved for rhode island, connecticut and new york

with the president pledging the government will do everything it can to help the states affected respond and recover. tanya dendrinos, bbc news.. some of the other main stories. iran has reported another record. more than 680. the countries caught in the grip what the officials are turning the fifth wave banks and many shops have been shut in an effort to curb infections but those restrictions came to an end on saturday. palestinian authorities in gaza see egypt's has decided to close the crossing in both directions from monday. it's an important route for supplies into the envelope, the only broader

point into gaza not controlled by israel. france is awarding one of its highest honours to the black french american singer and dancerjosephine baker who died in 1975. as well as being an international star, she was also a world war ii resistance fighter and a civil rights activist. don everly, one half of the everly brothers, has died aged 8a. the brothers had six number one singles in the uk including cathy �*s clown, walk right back and all i have to do is dream. that's don everly, who has died at the age of 8a. his brother phil died in 2014 in at the age of 84. his brother phil died in 2014 in fact. if you want to get a hold of me on

twitter, i am @bbcdavideades, thank you for watching. hello there. after the rather cloudy weather we had to contend with last week, this week does promise something just a little bit brighter. certainly it will be largely dry with some spells of warm sunshine. having said that, no heatwave on the way, temperatures will be nothing exceptional for the time of year, but the high pressure firmly building in and taking control of our weather. that is why it will be mainly dry and settled but the winds around high pressure flow in a clockwise direction so we will pull out air down from the north and not tapping into any of this heat across parts of southern europe. so as we head through monday, we will start off with a lot of mist and murkiness and a lot of cloud around, much will break up, though, to reveal some spells of sunshine. i think it will stay a little misty and murky on some western coasts and it will be another

quite grey and gloomy day across shetland. a small chance for a shower over high ground in western scotland, wales and the south—west but most places fine with light winds, some spells of sunshine so not feeling too bad. 21, 22, but maybe 24 degrees in parts of western scotland. now, as we head through monday evening, any showers that do crop up in the west will fade, it's going to be dry with clear spells but with areas of cloud but this area of cloud here may well work into parts of eastern england and perhaps into the midlands and then continue its journey westwards as we head through the day on tuesday. so it could cloud over a little bit across some parts of wales, maybe even with the odd spot of drizzle. some misty murky weather clinging to these northern and western coasts but, elsewhere, tuesday will bring further spells of sunshine. again, the highest temperatures likely to be across western scotland, parts of northern ireland as well. up to 24, possibly 25 degrees. wednesday, a similar sort of day, the best of the sunshine in the west, more cloud filtering into eastern areas and also this noticeable northerly wind starting to develop close to eastern coasts so that will knock the edge off the temperatures here. the highest temperatures once again out towards the west. subtle change as we head towards thursday, our area

of high pressure is likely away northwards allowing this frontal system to work into the picture. not a lot of rain with that, but a lot of cloud into eastern areas and coupled with that strong northerly breeze, it is going to feel really quite cool for the eastern coast. not quite as cool further west, but even here temperatures are coming down a little as we head towards the end of the week.

this is bbc news, the headlines: president biden has praised the evacuation flights out of kabul and said they can be accelerated.

he warned the process would be hard and painful