this is bbc news. i'm lucy grey, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. downing street says the uk's evacuation from afghanistan has ended, bringing to a close 20 years of british military operations in the country. another deadly attack at kabul airport is "highly likely" in the next 24—36 hours, warns america's president. tens of thousands flee for safety in the us as hurricane ida intensifies as it approaches louisiana. and in cape town, townships and tango. how ballroom dancing has captured the imagination of some residents in one of south africa's toughest neighbourhoods.

the british government says the country's 20—year military mission in afghanistan has ended, with the departure of britain's last evacuation flight. almost all remaining british troops, diplomats, and officials have now left. the government in london says it has airlifted more than 15,000 people from kabul in the past two weeks, including around 8,000 afghans. here's our diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley. heading home. 1,000 british troops were sent into kabul to get people out. us troops provided security for an unprecedented international rescue mission. the last british plane carrying civilians flew out of kabul this morning. this evening, news that the last soldiers and british diplomats have now left. in all, there were over 100 raf flights. the end of a 20—year campaign that was not supposed

to finish like this. we've done an extraordinaryjob to evacuate as many as we have, but i'm afraid it's absolutely that heartbreaking that we can't bring everybody out, and that point has been made very strongly, certainly by the defence secretary and others over the last ten days or so. personally, i've probably had over 100 messages from different afghans who i know in my long association with the country, and many of those, friends of mine, won't make it out. and for me, not a day passes without me having a bit of a tear in my eye about all of that. day after day, british personnel have been processing afghans desperate to escape. altogether, more than 15,000 people have been brought out by the raf, british nationals and afghans who'd worked with the uk, along with theirfamilies. but hundreds have not been able to reach the airport, afghans whose lives are now at grave risk. it's time to close this phase of the operation now, but we haven't forgotten the people who still

need to leave. we'll continue to do everything we can to help them. nor have we forgotten the brave, decent people of afghanistan. they deserve to live in peace and security. the government has suggested that afghans who are eligible to come to the uk make their way to third countries to be processed, but it could be impossibly dangerous trying to get through taliban checkpoints. and other than calling for safe passage, there's nothing the uk can do to help from afar. at raf brize norton this morning, british soldiers arriving back on uk soil. over the past 20 years, more than 100,000 british troops served in afghanistan. a57 british lives were lost. the mission began by ousting the taliban from power. it ends with a rush, to a timetable dictated by the militants. britain's military personnel have done theirjob, but this is a bitter homecoming. caroline hawley, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent iain watson is in downing street, and says many have deep

regrets that the uk wasn't able to get out all of those who wanted to leave. emotional things being said by conservative politicians who have served in afghanistan, one talked about his anger and shame that people had been left behind and today, the chief of the defence forces, sir nick carter, said it's brought a tear to his eyes that some of the friends he had worked late in afghanistan had not cut out either. over the coming days, it is going to be time for reflection and time to look back on achievements and challenges that uk and western forces have had in the last 20 years. the immediate focus now will be on how the people who have been left behind can be helped to be processed. there are many, many questions unanswered at this stage for example, where will the processes be set up? what kind of documentation will they need? they cannot definitively

answer those questions. us presidentjoe biden has issued a fresh warning that another attack on kabul airport is "highly likely" in the next 24—36 hours. on thursday, the islamic state group in afghanistan killed as many as 170 people, including 13 us military personnel. on friday, us air strikes killed two "high—profile" is members in a drone attack. the taliban has condemned the air strike, describing it as a "clear attack on afghan territory." the bbc�*s nomia iqbal in washington gave more details on president biden�*s warning. he gave a statement earlier today. he was actually giving a briefing on another issue but of course afghanistan is still an ongoing crisis here and he was asked about that strike that happened last night confirming the details of that, but he also said that the strike was not the last. he said, i will quote to you, we will continue to hunt down any person involved in that

heinous attack and make them pay, and he said his commanders had informed him that an attack is highly likely in the next 24—36 hours. last week, on wednesday, there was this alert made about an imminent attack and we saw those horrific scenes on thursday, so they are taking this incredibly seriously. he did go on to say that they are continuing to get civilians out of the country, because of course it has made the mission even more dangerous because at the same time you have the us embassy telling us citizens not to go to the airport, but they are still very confident that they can get people out on time. but they are mindful of this ongoing risk and as i said there, mr biden has not ruled out striking isis k again. the us operation in afghanistan is due to end by tuesday. white house officials say the next few days are likely to be the most dangerous since the evacuation began. 0ur correspondent secunder kermani reports from kabul,

where fear and tension remain. gunfire 0utside kabul airport, warning shots ring out. since thursday's awful suicide bombing by the local branch of the islamic state group, the crowds here have grown smaller, but some still remain. tens of thousands have been evacuated, these afghans escorted by the taliban. others, however, are being left behind. like this pizza shop ownerfrom essex. he travelled to kabul to help try and take his afghan national wife and young children home. they said, stay away from the airport and stay in a safe place. and from today, i kept calling and sending e—mails and nobody answered. the is attack on the airport has left many fearing there

could be further bloodshed. the united states announced it killed two key is operatives in a drone strike in the east of the country. back in kabul, the streets are quieter than usual. many are struggling to cope financially, with banks closed for nearly two weeks now. this is one of a handful of cash machines still working. we're not begging bank staff to give us money, this is our own money. we have family, we have children. if we don't have money, how should we prepare for my family? translation: when | see - what has become of the country, i feel it's impossible to live here. everything's becoming more expensive. i feel like i'm suffocating. the taliban swept into kabul unexpectedly easily. but governing the city and the rest of the country is likely to be a far bigger

challenge. the group says it will take time for life to stabilise. one of the few businesses not complaining — this taliban member selling flags. others are still anxiously waiting to see what life under their rule will look like. secunder kermani, bbc news, kabul. meanwhile, two afghan athletes have arrived in tokyo to take part in the paralympic games after they were evacuated to france following the taliban's takeover. the international paralympic committee said taekwondo fighter, zakia khudadadi, and sprinter, hossain rasouli, were flown to paris last weekend from the afghan capital. with the country's delegation unable to attend, the afghan national flag was carried by a paralympic volunteer at tuesday's opening ceremony. hurricane ida has intensified over the warm waters of the gulf of mexico, as it heads for the us coast. tens of thousands of people in

louisiana have fled to safety. some roads are at a virtual standstill. the us national hurricane centre says ida is likely to be an extremely dangerous major hurricane when it makes landfall in louisiana. the storm has hit western cuba, with heavy rain and high winds, but it's expected to strengthen as it approaches the gulf coast of the united states. a short time ago president biden asked the people of louisiana to be ready for the storm. weave pre—positioned food, water, generators and other supplies in the area. —— we have. mobile communication sports teams are also are en route. to restore power as soon as possible and support your response and recovery efforts. above all, i'm urging the people of the area to pay attention and be prepared. i want to say it again, pay

attention and be prepared. we can now speak to paul miller, who's an 0ceanography and coastal sciences assistant professor at louisiana state university. hejoins us from baton rouge, which lies in the path of hurricane ida. paul, just tell us, how bad are you expecting things to be? well, we are prepared for some pretty severe impacts in baton rouge, and other places in louisiana. we are expecting a category for hurricane at landfall, power outages will be widespread, communications will be disrupted, so there's preparations being made to restore those as soon as possible. in restore those as soon as possible-— possible. in at 16 years tomorrow, _ possible. in at 16 years tomorrow, sunday, - possible. in at 16 years l tomorrow, sunday, since hurricane katrina. how do you expect it to compare to that? well, the events are pretty

comparable. it's pretty easy to make a comparison between hurricane katrina and hurricane ida. hurricane ida is forecast to be slightly stronger and taking a path further to the west of new 0rlea ns. taking a path further to the west of new orleans. there was a lot of investment in infrastructure, storm surge protection following new orleans —— in new orleans 0rleans —— in new orleans following katrina, so it's hope that will protect residents from the storm surge. fix, that will protect residents from the storm surge. a lot was done to strengthen _ from the storm surge. a lot was done to strengthen the - from the storm surge. a lot was done to strengthen the levees l done to strengthen the levees and improve their maintenance — but has enough been done? there is still concerned that they could be overtopped.- is still concerned that they could be overtopped. they are desiuned could be overtopped. they are designed to — could be overtopped. they are designed to protect _ could be overtopped. they are designed to protect against. could be overtopped. they are designed to protect against a l designed to protect against a 100 year storm, so that's a pretty high design standard. and it's a terminus investment by the us army corps of engineers, some of the most impressive engineering that i've seen when i've gone out and laid eyes on it. so certainly the hope is that they

will do theirjob in the circumstance.- will do theirjob in the circumstance. ., , , ., circumstance. there has been a mandatory _ circumstance. there has been a mandatory evacuation - circumstance. there has been a mandatory evacuation order- circumstance. there has been a mandatory evacuation order for| mandatory evacuation order for some parts, hasn't there, of new orleans, but not all — are you happy about the amount of people who've been told to leave? ,, ., people who've been told to leave? ,., people who've been told to leave? , , leave? so some parishes in southeast _ leave? so some parishes in southeast louisiana - leave? so some parishes in southeast louisiana have . leave? so some parishes in - southeast louisiana have issued mandatory evacuations. some of those are location specific within the parish, so if you are outside the levee system, than the evacuation is mandatory, but if you're inside, then it's not. i've been very satisfied with the amount of communication from the local national weather service office and the hurricane centre. this is something people have been talking about for days, this isn't anything that's coming as a surprise to anyone in southeast louisiana, and the hazards associated with this have been very well communicated and forecast. so people are complying and following the order? it people are complying and following the order? if you go out on the — following the order? if you go out on the interstate - following the order? if you go out on the interstate right - out on the interstate right now, you'll see them. so

there's the traffic to show that people are listening. it’s that people are listening. it's at a total— that people are listening. it's at a total standstill in some places, i hear. and what about you personally? it's extraordinary to think of you just sitting there and waiting for the storm to hit. how have you prepared?— you prepared? well, we've certainly — you prepared? well, we've certainly been _ you prepared? well, we've certainly been making - you prepared? well, we've certainly been making our| certainly been making our preparations as a family and community. so we've been stocked up on bottled water, nonperishable food, i was moving my rocking chairs off the porch this afternoon so they don't hurt my neighbours's homes. and that's something thatis homes. and that's something that is very common across baton rouge today, much of southeast louisiana, making those final preparations for this high wind event.- those final preparations for this high wind event. great to talk to you. — this high wind event. great to talk to you, thanks _ this high wind event. great to talk to you, thanks very - this high wind event. great to| talk to you, thanks very much, paul millerjoining us there. you are watching bbc news. the headlines... downing street says the uk's evacuation from afghanistan has ended, bringing to a close 20 years of british military operations in the country. the us operation is due to end by tuesday — but president biden warns

another terror attack at kabul airport is "highly likely". a bank holiday in britain on monday means this weekend is the last long one of the sum er with large crowds expected to flock to beaches and festivals. —— last long one of the summer. but there are concerns about rising covid—19 infection rates and public health officials in some areas are calling on holiday—makers to take lateral flow tests before setting off on their travels in the uk. phillip norton reports from scarborough in the north of england. ice creams and sandcastles with a strong message of hands, face, space, and take a test. the temperature was well into the 20s in scarborough today, the first bank holiday weekend in england since coronavirus restrictions were lifted. i've got one vaccination. you're doubled, aren't you? i'm double vaccinated as well, yeah. we take all the precautions that we can. and we know that sun is good for everybody, so it's nice to get out and about. yeah, it's good for him.

we've missed, well, - for the last, is it 18 months? 18 months, you know, it's a long time. - so yeah, we have missed it. but, you know, we're loving it now, so that's what counts. . like many areas, north yorkshire council has asked visitors to take a lateral flow test before coming to resorts and if they found they were busy, to consider going elsewhere. but in the south—west of england, that message has been taken even further. infection rates in devon and cornwall have spiked, and with a number of festivals taking place and a busy holiday season, extra government support and testing is being provided from monday. elsewhere, thousands of music fans are enjoying the reading and leeds festivals, where there's also a chance to grab a jab. we want to take every opportunity to get as many people vaccinated as possible. especially at the moment, we are targeting the younger age group and where better than to come than to a place like this where the majority of the population is under 20, under30?

festival fun and busy beaches. health officials are hoping the stay safe message has been taken on board. philip norton, bbc news, scarborough. to france now — where large demonstrations have taken place against anti—coronavirus measures. thousands gathered in paris to protest and in the western of cities nantes and toulouse, police had to fire tear gas to disperse the crowds. to france now — where large demonstrations have taken place they also object to the covid—free health certificate that's been rolled out to more venues since its introduction in june. china has rejected accusations from president biden that it withheld key information about how the coronavirus pandemic started. a us report came to no firm conclusion on where the virus originated, but said china had

hindered the investigations. china said the report lacked credibility. a parole board in california has recommended that the man who assassinated robert f kennedy should be released from prison. sirhan sirhan has now served more than 50 years in jail for the killing in 1968 — a shocking act which came only five years after the assassination of kennedy's brother, the us presidentjohn f kennedy. dr shane 0'sullivan is a film—maker and author whose work extensively focuses on the murder of robert f kennedy. he told the bbc that he supported sirhan�*s release. this event came two months after the assassination of martin luther king, and brother kennedy had spoke to crowds in the us to appease them after the tragic death of martin luther king. —— robert kennedy. and then, two months later, he was poised to be a major contender for the �*68 election. he had to win the california primary — he did. he went to speak to supporters just after midnight

in the early hours ofjune the 5th, 1968. he walked through a kitchen pantry, and then a lone man apparently stepped out with a gun and shots were fired, and just over 2a hours later, robert kennedy was dead. so, he was... the loan gunman was identified as sirhan sirhan, a 24—year—old palestinian. yesterday's decision basically boils down to equal rights under the law. he's been elligible for parole since the mid—70s. he's been denied 15 times, and then finally, in the �*60s, the recommendation had been made of his parole. i think the difference now is that in 2018, the california law changed, so that anybody who'd committed an offence when they were particularly young — in his case, 2a years old — who hadn't been held as an inmate, those factors weigh more heavily on the recommendation. so, my position, whether you feel he's guilty or innocent,

is that he served his time and he was eligible for parole a long time ago. he was in jail for such a long time and they felt that because of the circumstances of this particular crime, this heinous crime in the eyes of, i guess, the official authorities in california, not because of the pain caused to the kennedy family and because of the damage done to american politics at the time, and the despair and loss of faith in the political process, thatjustifies them keeping him behind bars. even though at this stage, as a 77—year—old man, i feel he poses no threat to anybody. and he's not us citizen, so if he is ultimately released, he would be deported to the middle east where there are countries willing to take him. now if you're a fan of strictly come dancing, especially here in the uk, you may have noticed that

a number of the television series' professional dancers are south african — including in the upcoming uk series, cameron lombard. 0ur africa correspondent andrew harding has been finding out why ballroom is such a hit in some of the townships poorest neighbourhoods. in the shadow of cape town's table mountain, on some of the most violent streets in the world, ballroom is booming. down, again, down! yes! at a local church hall, kim isaacs has classes for every level... straight! ..including the occasional clumsy journalist. but the school's biggest star is cameron lombard. this was him a good few years back. now he has just been picked to join the cast of britain's strictly come dancing. i taught cameron since the age of five and he will be 21 this year. i can honestly tell you, cameron had big dreams from beginning.

anybody that knocked him down and said no, cameron, your dreams is — no, you must go study! he's like, no, i'm going to be the dancer. cameron, congratulations, how are you feeling? already in london for strictly rehearsals, cameron agrees to talk from his lockdown hotel. cape town is the most beautiful place, and it can also be a tough place to grow up, you know, because you don't get the same opportunities as other people. so it feels like you've escaped, in a way, through dance. most definitely! most definitely. it's somewhere where you can... ..i would say less not more of an escape, but more of a safe place. back home in south africa, other young dancers are hoping to follow in his footsteps. it's very much inspiring, - it keeps us motivated here. these girls live in an area fought over by three

rival drug gangs. why do you dance? it keeps us away from many things, the gangsterism, i drug dealing, the abuse that happens _ sultry saxophone music plays for older south africans, ballroom has a different meaning. during the era of racial apartheid, different races were banned from mingling. only the dance offered the occasional glimpse of freedom. —— only the dance floor. we were blacks, coloureds, whites, every denomination — were all there and we just did our thing, and wejust loved gathering, having social evenings on fridays... and this was illegal. it was totally illegal. back in london, two stars of strictlyjoin cameron's call — all south africans. it's not at all, my darling, it's all based on talent. so, is there a rivalry on the set between the south africans, or are you all rooting for each other? it's love, we come -

from a loving country! and do you get the sense, do you know whether south africa as a whole is rooting for you or is itjust the ballroom enthusiasts? it's the whole country! it's not — can ijust speak on this — it's actually not| just the whole country because south africa i is still big, but it's . the whole continent. and with that comes a big. responsibility where we know that we don'tjust represent a country, we represent - a whole continent. there are not a lot of dancers that are well known - from botswana or mozambique or zimbabwe, but they- are there and nobody's talking about them. i in cape town, the lessons continue. this is the moment when i'm supposed to say something very sensible about south africa and ballroom dancing and its history, but i'm struggling to remember my footwork and it's hard to keep track! singing

luckily we now have plenty of south african experts to show us how it's done. andrew harding, bbc news, cape town. i don't think andrew will be getting the call from strictly anytime soon. a reminder of one of our main stories tonight: the british government says the country's 20—year military mission in afghanistan has ended, with the departure of britain's last evacuation flight. almost all remaining british troops, diplomats and officials have now left. the government in london says it has airlifted more than 15,000 people from kabul in the past two weeks, including around 8,000 afghans. the british embassy will be temporarily re—located to qatar, but the prime minister's office said the uk would return to kabul as soon as the security and political situation allowed. that's all from us, thanks for watching. —— that's all for

now. hello. the weather hasn't been changing in a hurry over recent days because we've got a big area of slow—moving high pressure in control at the moment. this was the scene as the sun set on saturday evening in norfolk. some clear skies around, bit of patchy cloud here and there, and as we head through the next 2a hours or so, it is remaining largely dry for much of the uk. more sunny spells on sunday, but we will have a little bit more cloud drifting in, and that's because although we've got the high pressure in charge, the winds are rotating around that high pressure. they'll start to come in from more of a northerly direction, dragging a bit more cloud across parts of scotland, north east england, into northern ireland at times, too. still a bit of brightness breaking through here, particularly anywhere west of higher ground. further south across england and wales, you're more likely to see longer spells of sunshine on sunday. still quite a breeze across east anglia and the southeast, just taking the edge off the temperatures here.

generally around 15—18 around that east coast, but further west, we're likely to see highs of about 22 degrees or so towards the cardiff region, for instance. into the evening hours, most of us end the day on a dry note. just one or two showers not far away from the southeast. there could be a bit more cloud pushing in here as well. most places dry once again as we head through into monday. not quite as cold as recent nights because of more cloud acting as a blanket, so just about staying in double figures as we head through into monday, which is a bank holiday across much of the uk. so, high pressure still with us as we head into monday. spot the difference here — we've got the winds coming in again from the north sea, so dragging in more cloud on monday, particularly for eastern areas. the cloud thick enough for the odd spot of drizzle and a bit of low cloud bringing some fog around the coast as well. best of any sunshine on monday probably for the southwest of england, towards wales as well, but almost everywhere saying largely dry. you will notice that wind, particularly around east coasts of scotland, eastern england as well, but lighter winds further west and temperatures probably a degree or so down on sunday. we're looking at highs of about

15—21 degrees on monday. now, the rest of the week, not much change once again. into tuesday, very similar to what we'll see on monday — some sunshine in the west again, especially for parts of northern ireland, perhaps into wales as well. cloudier and cooler with that breeze coming in off the north sea towards the east. so, 16 or 17 in the east, 18 or 19 towards the west on tuesday, and then spot the difference, really, for the week ahead. high pressure keeping things largely dry, sometimes a little cool for the time of year. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. the headlines...

the ministry of defence says the last british plane carrying armed forces personnel and diplomats has taken off from kabul airport, ending britain's 20 year military involvement in afghanistan. 5117 british service personnel lost their lives "4117 british service personnel lost their lives during the conflict. president biden has warned that another attack on kabul airport is �*highly likely�* this weekend. as many as 170 people including 13 us service personnel were killed in the islamic state attack on thursday. two is members died in a retaliatory drone strike by the us. the president has also said that hurricane ida which is heading towards the gulf coast of the united states is turning into a "very dangerous storm". winds of around 130 miles per hour are expected when it reaches land in lousiana on sunday. those are the latest headlines. food producers are warning that worker shortages caused