this is bbc news. i'm ben boulos with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. five rockets are reportedly fired at kabul airport. us military sources say they have been intercepted by an anti—missile system. more than 700,000 people are without power, including the whole of new orleans, as hurricane ida hits louisiana. the governor urges people to stay indoors. we can expect devastating impact to continue for most of the next 2a hours or so as the hurricane passes through the state. the main candidates to succeed angela merkel as german chancellor clash on climate change and taxation in their first televised debate ahead of next month's election. demonstrators in greece clash with police over new rules that force health workers to be

vaccinated against covid—19. # magic. and one of the most influential reggae producers and performers, lee �*scratch�* perry dies injamaica, aged 85. hello and welcome. let's start with some breaking news now. as many as five rockets have reportedly been fired near kabul airport in the last couple of hours. a us official said the rockets were intercepted by an american anti—missile system. it is not yet clear if all were brought down by the defence system, nor if there were any casualties. it comes a day after the us led an air strike on a vehicle

in kabul, reportedly targeting a suicide bomber who was about to attack the airport. of course, we'll bring you more details as we get them here on bbc news. one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit america's gulf coast in 200 years is now approaching new orleans. hurricane ida's centre isjust 30 miles to the west. nearly one million people are without power, including the whole of new orleans, after what's being called "catastrophic transmission damage". this is the scene live, coming exactly 16 years since hurricane katrina devastated new orleans. tens of thousands of people have been evacuated. while this one has dropped from a category four to a category two, meteorologists say the slow pace of the hurricane has actually increased its destructive potential. president biden described the storm as "life—threatening". nada tawfik sent this report from new orleans

as the storm made landfall. well, conditions are deteriorating rapidly now that hurricane ida has made landfall. the wind gusts are clocking in at about 60 mph here in new orleans where the storm is, but this is just a tiny preview of what is expected — and this is on the day 16 years to the day that hurricane katrina devastated new orleans, a day filled with so much trauma for the residents here. the storm could be one of the strongest to hit the united states. the mayor has already warned residents that emergency services won't be able to reach them, to stay inside, and complicating all the efforts of recovery, of course, is a surge of covid cases here. it is a dangerous mix here in louisiana. barry d keim is a professor at the department of geography and anthropology at the louisiana state university, and joins me now from baton rouge. it's good to have you with us.

it's good to have you with us. i suppose this is a real test of the flood defences for the first time since hurricane katrina back in 20 —— 2005. absolutely. what we have here is the storm is tied for the strongest storms ever hit louisiana with our record—keeping going back to 1851 so over 170 years of data and this is right there, it's tied with two other storms. 0ne tied with two other storms. one of those happened last year, hurricane laura, and the other was in 1856 called the last island hurricane and both of those came onshore with 150 mile an hour sustained winds with higher gusts and this storm is really wreaking havoc on this entire region. since then, i mean, it made landfall about 12 hours ago now and it's currently situated between baton rouge and new orleans and i happen to be in baton rouge right now. the winds are down to about 105 mph, that's a

category two hurricane, still a pretty strong hurricane, and keeping in mind it made landfall quite some time ago and once these things get off the water and move inland, tend to weaken very rapidly and this one is weakening very slowly and part of that is louisiana has a lot of swampland that is able to basically still feed energy into this particular storm system and it's turning this place upside down, i can tell you. we have so many people without power, lots of new orleans, at least in the metro region, but don't have water. we're going to wake up to quite a tomorrow morning. not looking forward to it. i not looking forward to it. i guess one of the things that complicates it is part of the state are below sea level, aren't they? so it's reliant on pumps to pump water out but if there is no power than the pumps cannot function and you end up with this devastating

flooding situation.— flooding situation. that's correct. _ flooding situation. that's correct, parts _ flooding situation. that's correct, parts of - flooding situation. that's correct, parts of new. flooding situation. that's - correct, parts of new orleans to 5-10 correct, parts of new orleans to 5—10 feet below sea level which is maintained with a complicated levee system and pumps to remove water when rainfall falls within the confines of the levee and occasionally, like what happened with hurricane katrina, as levees becomes breech and we have a few breached levees in and around the region but nothing like we saw with hurricane katrina when we flooded most of the metropolitan area in new orleans and lines property itself. this is just —— itself. this isjust —— and new orleans property itself. this isjust smaller towns in and around the city but not the main part of the city but we are definitely well aware of the levees that well aware of the levees that we either overtop or breached so we do have some of those issues. , , , , , issues. just briefly, president biden has _ issues. just briefly, president biden has declared _ issues. just briefly, president biden has declared it - issues. just briefly, president biden has declared it a - issues. just briefly, president biden has declared it a major| biden has declared it a major disaster. what does that mean in practical terms? it disaster. what does that mean in practical terms?— in practicalterms? it 'ust means mi in practicalterms? it 'ust means we will i in practicalterms? it 'ust means we will be i in practicalterms? itjust means we will be eligible in practicalterms? itjust. means we will be eligible for federal funds means we will be eligible for federalfunds to means we will be eligible for federal funds to help with some of the clean—up so just expedites the whole process to

get some federal money into this region to help get this new orleans metropolitan area back on its feet as soon as possible. barry d keim. thank you very much. thank you for having me. let's get some of the day's other news. the un nuclear watchdog says north korea appears to have restarted a nuclear reactor capable of producing plutonium for nuclear weapons. the international atomic energy agency the yongbyon nuclear —— the international atomic energy agency says the yongbyon nuclear plant has been discharging cooling water since july, suggesting it is operational. the american actor ed asner, who starred in the mary tyler moore show, has died. he was 91. he became well known for playing lou grant, a grouchyjournalist who was given his own spin—off tv drama in the 1970s and �*80s. but he was introduced to younger audiences through his voice work as carl fredericksen, the elderly widower from pixar�*s animated

2009 film up. schools in areas of belgium hit by devastating flooding over the summer are working round the clock to get ready for the new school year, which starts on wednesday. dozens of schools were seriously damaged by the deadly floods, which hit areas including wallonia in mid july. volunteers are spending hours cleaning classrooms and equipment before children return. more now on the situation in afghanistan. the us secretary of state antony blinken says washington will hold the taliban to a commitment to allow foreigners and afghans with outside travel permission to leave the country. he referred to a statement signed by the united states and 100 other countries insisting that afghans who have worked with international forces be allowed to travel freely. the us is one day away from a deadline for its forces to leave afghanistan. jon donnison reports.

backin back in britain. some of the final raf planes from kabul arriving at ryzen ought airbase in 0xfordshire last night, carrying uk trips and officials. earlierflights had officials. earlier flights had brought officials. earlierflights had brought more afghan refugees and the man who led the effort to bring them home, ambassador laurie bristow. 0ne plane even landed with an extra passenger on board, baby girl hubba was born during the flight, a new life heading for a new land. the evacuation marks the end of the uk's 20 year military involvement in afghanistan. in recent weeks, the raf scrambled to airlift 15,000 people, most of them afghan refugees, before the taliban deadline for foreign troops to withdraw by the end of august. but hundreds more remained stranded, with uk citizens and eligible refugees. the taliban has said they will be allowed to leave. but with

fear and tension is increasing, it remains to be seen if the islamist group will honour the pledge. gunfire. and potential danger is not limited to the taliban. the local branch of the so—called islamic state group killed more than 170 people on thursday's bomb attack, including mohammed maisie, a taxi driverfrom hampshire who travelled to kabul to bring his family back. his wife and daughter also died. ~ ., . his wife and daughter also died. a, ., .,, ., his wife and daughter also died. ., .,, ., ., died. mohammed was one of the best men we _ died. mohammed was one of the best men we have _ died. mohammed was one of the best men we have in _ died. mohammed was one of the best men we have in the - best men we have in the community, working hard to give the best life for his kids. yesterday, the us launched a drone strike against a car which it said was carrying more is suicide bombers. and with a humanitarian crisis looming, the uk is promising it will continue to support those left behind. today, ministers will reach out to other nations, including turkey and qatar, they may have more influence

over the taliban, afghanistan's over the taliban, afg hanistan�*s new over the taliban, afghanistan's new rulers. jon donnison, bbc news. the main candidates to succeed angela merkel as german chancellor have clashed on climate change and taxation in their first televised debate ahead of next month's election. snap opinion polls after the event suggest the social democrat, 0laf scholz, fared better than his conservative and green rivals. with me is our news correspondent mark lobel. how did the tv debate go and what effect might it have on the election?— what effect might it have on the election? burning question auoin into the election? burning question going into this _ the election? burning question going into this tv _ the election? burning question going into this tv debate - the election? burning question going into this tv debate was i going into this tv debate was whether armin laschet, the conservative candidate from angela merkel�*s party, could stem the decline in his popularity that appeared during the campaign, withjust popularity that appeared during the campaign, with just four weeks to go until such a crucial election. it appears he could not really. what happened was as the debate got going, the green party candidate attacked the conservatives's record on climate change and it came one month after personal

embarrassment for armin laschet when he was seen caught on camera laughing behind the president's back as he was consoling flood victims in the deadly floods in germany that killed around 180 people. he attempted to address this slip in his popularity. metabolism to what he said. translation: i have always _ to what he said. translation: i have always felt _ to what he said. translation: i have always felt headwinds, - have always felt headwinds, even — have always felt headwinds, even now, don't we all feel it, the wind — even now, don't we all feel it, the wind of— even now, don't we all feel it, the wind of change blowing in our faces? the wind of change blowing in ourfaces? in the wind of change blowing in our faces? in such moments, we need _ our faces? in such moments, we need steadfastness, reliability and and — need steadfastness, reliability and and an accomplice. but those headwind _ and and an accomplice. elf those headwind kept coming for him. after a snap poll after that debate came third after the three candidates and that was despite him attacking the government's record on this botched afghan evacuation that affected one of his rivals was connect to the government and also saying that the green policies of his rivals would be brutal to the economy. so with his failings and with the green party candidate alleged to have come a crop up with plagiarism

during her campaign, that has been good news for the social democrats and their leader 0laf scholz. so democrats and their leader olaf scholz. ., democrats and their leader olaf scholz, ., , ., democrats and their leader olaf scholz. ., , ., ., scholz. so who is olaf scholz and if he _ scholz. so who is olaf scholz and if he were _ scholz. so who is olaf scholz and if he were to _ scholz. so who is olaf scholz and if he were to go - scholz. so who is olaf scholz and if he were to go on - scholz. so who is olaf scholz and if he were to go on to . scholz. so who is olaf scholz i and if he were to go on to win, but would it mean? he and if he were to go on to win, but would it mean?— but would it mean? he is the finance minister _ but would it mean? he is the finance minister of _ but would it mean? he is the finance minister of germany | but would it mean? he is the i finance minister of germany at the moment and part of the current coalition and if he was to win, it would be an incredible comeback because his party was in the political wilderness three years ago and they would be wrestling power from angela merkel�*s party for the first time in 16 years and also would get the chance to leave the negotiations, they could bring in the green party who are looking for solar panels on every roof in germany, and also an end to combustible engines 2030. also they could go to the free democratic party, the centre—right business friendly party. they could leave the cdu, angela merkel�*s party, out of negotiations altogether which would be extraordinary and very bad for them. this man, 0laf scholz himself, has handled the european recovery

fund doing the pandemics, billions of dollars�* worth and also $150 billion into the german economy, and he is a very steady figure, he has brought forward a vision of germany does make something armin laschet has criticised for not expressing clearly enough — so a very steady hand and of course opinion polls can change and people�*s campaigns can come a copper very quickly but if this is, if this trend is seen to be true, it will be truly transformative for german truly tra nsformative for german politics. truly transformative for german olitics. a ~ truly transformative for german olitics. ~ ., ., politics. mark, for the moment, thank yom _ stay with us on bbc news. still to come: we look at the life of reggae legend lee �*scratch�* perry, who�*s died aged 85. archive: she received the nobel peace prize for her work with the poor and the dying in india�*s slums. the head of the catholic church had said mother teresa was a wonderful example of how to help people in need. we have to identify the bodies, then arrange the coffins and take them back home.

parents are waiting, and wives are waiting. hostages appeared — some carried, some running — trying to escape the nightmare behind them. britain lost a princess today. described by all to whom she reached out as "irreplaceable", an early morning car crash in a paris underpass ended a life with more than its share of pain and courage, warmth and compassion. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: five rockets have reportedly been fired at kabul airport — us military sources say they have been intercepted

by an anti—missile system. the entire us city of new orleans is without power as hurricane ida batters louisiana. thousands of people had already left the region. let�*s have more on that now. let�*s get the latest from cbs correspondent michael george who�*s in new orleans. what is the situation as it danced now? lt what is the situation as it danced now?— what is the situation as it danced now? it is 'ust after 11m danced now? it is 'ust after 11pm and h danced now? it is 'ust after 11pm and n _ danced now? it is 'ust after 11pm and 11 hours _ danced now? it isjust after 11pm and 11 hours since - 11pm and 11 hours since hurricane ida made when default judgement landfall. even greater than hurricane katrina. i can tell you, the wind has died down significantly but the rain is still falling 11 hours later. we hearing a lot of reports of budding and the floodwaters are continuing to rise. the big issue as you mentioned, the entire city of

new orleans, mentioned, the entire city of new 0rleans,100%, no mentioned, the entire city of new orleans, 100%, no power mentioned, the entire city of new 0rleans,100%, no power and the utility companies say there is no way they will be able to restore that tonight. we�*re talking about more than 700,000 people who are in the dark tonight as the floodwaters continue to rise.— tonight as the floodwaters continue to rise. and we have heard about _ continue to rise. and we have heard about the _ continue to rise. and we have heard about the numbers - continue to rise. and we have| heard about the numbers who have had to leave their homes, taken away from the area. do we know what is happening to them? are they rescue centres being set up, shelters and so on? many people evacuated. they listened to officials people �*s advice and got out of the entire region in the days leading up to this storm. however there are a lot of people that do not have the resources to leave. many people decided to stay and hunker down and they are continuing to do so. they are in their homes, dealing with the floodwaters and this is a storm that while the storm effect are starting to fade a little bit, we know that the lingering floodwaters, lingering power outages and damage to homes are going to continue for days. this is an

ongoing situation that is going to take days to recover from. when we talk about the storm being downgraded, does that give any sense of relief, what do the forecasters say? l do the forecasters say? i apologise, i do the forecasters say? i apologise, lam having do the forecasters say? i apologise, i am having some trouble hearing you. we have some generator noise here. would you mind repeating that? storm has been downgraded. what storm has been downgraded. what are the forecasters saying about the trajectory for the next day or two now? it is a little tough _ next day or two now? it is a little tough to _ next day or two now? it is a little tough to predict - next day or two now? it is a j little tough to predict where the storm will head next. there are several other states here you are in danger of that storm causing issues there and one of the concerns with this particular storm is how slow it is moving. it hangs over an area for hours and hours allowing the floodwaters to build up that we don�*t yet know which areas are at risk. texas

is certainly in the path and other states in this region could certainly feel the effect for days to come. elf could certainly feel the effect for days to come.— for days to come. of course louisiana — for days to come. of course louisiana suffered - for days to come. of course louisiana suffered so badly| for days to come. of course i louisiana suffered so badly in 2005 in hurricane katrina. this is a real test of the flood defences and which billions of dollars were spent since than to try and prevent such catastrophic damage happening again. catastrophic damage happening aaain. , ., ., ., again. yes, a lot has changed since hurricane _ again. yes, a lot has changed since hurricane katrina. - since hurricane katrina. williams of dollars spent to shore up the flood walls and levies that failed and a lot of the loss of life that happened during hurricane katrina was not due to the storm but the failure of the system is meant to prevent flooding, so, the hope is the flood walls and levies will stay strong. —— levees. the real test is overnight tonight as the floodwaters continue to build.

the government is confident that they will hold and we won�*t see the severe critical flood damage that we saw during hurricane katrina. the president _ hurricane katrina. the president has - hurricane katrina. the president has in - hurricane katrina. the president has in the i hurricane katrina. the l president has in the last couple of hours declared a state of emergency and presumably that then frees up federal funds to help with rescue efforts and so on. that is critical _ rescue efforts and so on. that is critical because _ rescue efforts and so on. that is critical because as - rescue efforts and so on. that is critical because as we - rescue efforts and so on. trisgf is critical because as we know from katrina, it is going to take days, weeks, months, to repair the damage from a storm like this. it will take a lot of funds and a lot of resources will stop not only does that free up money to help with the relief efforts here, and they will need a lot of relief in the coming days, it also allows them to mobilise national guard troops, aid from other states that can be brought in in the coming days and weeks, especially because with the power out to this entire community here, a lot of folks are going to be trying to recover from flood damage without having critical utilities and power going so

even just utilities and power going so evenjust bringing in utilities and power going so even just bringing in water, hospitals right now are running on generators. that is another crisis in the making. any reasons that make resources that can be brought into the area will help.— that can be brought into the area will help. thank you for “oininr area will help. thank you for joining us — area will help. thank you for joining us from _ area will help. thank you for joining us from new - area will help. thank you for| joining us from new orleans. police in greece have used tear gas to disperse thousands of people protesting against mandatory covid—19 vaccinations in central athens. the government has taken the step as the delta variant takes hold and coronavirus cases rise. sylvia lennan—spence reports. the clashes came at the end of a long day of rallies in athens�* syntagma square. riot police fired tear gas and stun grenades at protesters throwing flares and missiles. hundreds of people tried to outrun police who used a water cannon to disperse them.

the demonstrators angry at the government�*s plan to make vaccinations mandatory for the care sector from the end of next month. translation: all these people gathered here i are united as one. we do not want to be forced or people fired if they are not vaccinated. nothing more. 0ur country�*s freedom must remain high. they need to stop calling us anti—vaccine or deniers. there isn�*t anybody like that here. and even if there is, they are a minority. earlier in the day, more than 7,000 had rallied outside the greek parliament, many waving placards declaring, "we are not against vaccines, but against fascism". more than half of greece�*s 10.7 million inhabitants have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus, but the spread of the delta variant continues to cause concern. at the moment, 99% of seriously ill patients, those who are intubated in hospital, have not been vaccinated. cases remain high in greece, which has reported more than 13,500 deaths since the start of the pandemic last year.

there were more than 1,500 new daily cases on sunday alone. sylvia lennan—spence, bbc news. lee �*scratch�* perry, one of the most influential figures injamaican music, has died at the age of 85. a pioneer of reggae and dub, perry produced artists from the wailers to the beastie boys and released more than 70 albums. the jamaican prime minister was among those to pay tribute. lloyd parks is a jamaican reggae vocalist and bass player who�*s worked with bunny wailer, bob marley — and lee "scratch" perry. i remember lee �*scratch�* perry as one of the most significant and one of the best reggae producers injamaica — out of jamaica.

�*cause i�*ve worked with lee perry and one thing i can tell you, when lee perry calls you for a session, he gets things out of you that you never knew are inside of you. he�*s spontaneous. he�*s like a miracle man, you know? so, he will be sadly missed, for each and every one of us, he�*s one of the greatest producers, produced tune with bob marley, myself and it goes on and on. bob marley has three styles, where i�*m concerned, that i can see. one of the styles comes from lee perry, right? and one comes from bob marley himself and one comes from the wailers. that is what i�*ve seen with my eyes. so, you know, boy, lee perry, he�*s great. the price paid for this putter reportedly makes it most

expensive ever sold, it belonged to tiger woods. he practised and experimented with the putter but did not use it in competition. reminding you of one of our main stories the sour — hurricane ida is buttering that state of louisiana bringing what forecasters call catastrophic storm surge conditions, flash flooding and extreme winds to coastal areas. more than a million people are without power including the whole of the city of new orleans as hurricane ida moves 0rleans as hurricane ida moves in with a kilometres per hour winds. 0ne in with a kilometres per hour winds. one person list said to have died in louisiana because of an uprooted tree. new orleans �*s flood defences were 0rleans �*s flood defences were strengthened after hurricane katrina in 2005 stop president biden has declared a major

disaster in louisiana. it for the moment. we will keep you up—to—date with that and all of the other stories on bbc news. thanks for watching. hello there. sunday was a day of contrast — cool in the cloud, warm in the sunshine — and in actual fact, across south—west england, we saw temperatures into the mid—20s. a beautiful sunday afternoon for many. the next few days look likely to stay quite quiet across the whole of the country. quite a lot of dry weather around as well, but it will be mostly cloudy, and i suspect the temperatures easing away just a touch, around average if we�*re very lucky. high pressure still dominates the story. it�*s a blocking high that�*s preventing weather fronts from moving in off the atlantic. but a little bit more of a breeze always down towards the south, and that�*s going to continue to push this cloud in off the north sea, which could be thick enough on monday morning for a spot or two of drizzle. favoured western areas, perhaps as we go through the afternoon, seeing some sunny spells, but i suspect not as much

as recent days. so, the temperatures not as high. cool in the cloud and drizzle, 15—17 celsius, maximum values of 21, possibly 22. now, that cloud will continue to push back in off the north sea through the night. that�*s going to act like a blanket. it�*s not going to be a cold night, with overnight lows perhaps staying into mid—teens for some. it will be a quiet start to tuesday, but once again, a rather grey and gloomy one. the high pressure keeping things very quiet, but again, that breeze just coming in off the north sea, and a few more isobars, so the breeze picking up, and the cloud will continue to sit across the country for much of the day. favoured spots for any brighter, sunnier spells perhaps into northern ireland and western fringes of scotland once again, but those temperatures are going to be a little bit more subdued. again, we�*re looking at maybe around 15—19 celsius at the very best. wednesday is the beginning of september.

the high pressure is still with us, little in the way of significant change to the weather story. so, i suppose the good news is you will be able to plan ahead. there�*s going to be a lot of dry weather to look out for. and maybe on wednesday, more sunshine coming through scotland, northern england and northern ireland. top temperatures in the sunnier moments maybe of 21—22 celsius. it looks likely that that dry theme is set to continue as well thursday into friday. no significant rain in the forecast of the next few days to come. enjoy.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the leaders of germany�*s main parties take part in a televised debate ahead of next month�*s elections, so what did we learn about their economic agenda? as banks are told to re—open in afghanistan, we look at what state the economy is in now. and the bookshop boom: a woman who lost herjob in the pandemic then so opened her own bookstore tells us why so many have sprung up in the past year.

hello and a very warm welcome.