the taliban take the spoils of war — american uniforms, american weapons left behind in the rush to get out. now it is ended and the worst of ways. and it will live long in memory here in afghanistan, in america and far beyond. in california — thousands forced to evacuate and there are fears of worse to come from the wildfires . rescue operations continue in louisiana after hurricane ida left millions of people without power. and — the bbc�*s sarah rainsford files her final report from moscow, after being labelled a threat to national security. at a time where russia is increasingly seeing enemies around, it seems i have been added to the list. and — could it be

double �*jeopardy�* for the long—running us quiz show? — after the departure of the executive producer, over allegations of past offensive comments. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe president biden has delivered a strident defence of the us evacuation mission from afghanistan — labelling it an extraordinary success. the president struck a defiant tone, in his televised address from the white house, the day after america's 20 year presence in the country came to an end. he described the operation to fly more than 120,000 people out of kabul in recent weeks as one of the biggest airlifts in history. and said the decision to leave now was on the unanimous recommendation of all his

advisers. we have succeeded in what we set out to do in afghanistan over a decade ago. then we stayed another decade. it was time to end this war. this is a new world. the terror threat has metastasized across the world well beyond afghanistan. we are left with a simple decision. either follow through on the commitment made by the last administration and leave afghanistan or say we were not leaving and commit another tens of thousands more troops going back to war. that was the choice. the real choice. in kabul — the taliban have been making the most of their first day in full control of afghanistan — an �*enjoyable moment of victory�*, according to its leaders.

their fighters have been showing off some of the equipment and weapons left behind by us forces, while pointing out that they now control more of afghanistan than they did 20 years ago. 0ur chief international correspondent lyse doucet, and cameraman robbie wright, sent this report from kabul. american uniforms, american guns, but these are taliban special forces. badri unit 313. they are in charge at kabul airport. translation: our message i to the americans is they should not have any plans to attack muslims again. 0ur message to all afghans is we are going to protect them. surreal to enter what was a us hub. whiteboards from a moment in time just days before kabul fell, when us soldiers plotted an orderly pull—out. this is what they left behind. hangers are full of helicopters.

all disabled, destroyed, so the taliban cannot use them. the best of american military hardware, the best of its generals, were part of its longest war. and now it has ended in the worst of ways, and it will live long in memory, here in afghanistan, in america, and far beyond. today, an airfield flooded with fighters. their first urgent task, repairing the runways so commercial airlines can fly again. translation: as you can see, these infidels destroyed - the entire airport. they haven't left any machinery in good repair. we had a team ready to fix this mess ever since we came to kabul. now that the americans

have left we are ready to clean it up. all flights have stopped, but afghans still keep trying to get in, to find a way out of this country. taliban guards turn them away. the last us flight lifted off last night, and the skies exploded with taliban celebration, after the last american soldier, major general chris donahue, was on his way home. when we drive through the streets of kabul, the city seems much the same, until we get to the banks. to the queues stretching all the way down the street. most banks are shut, most don't have any money.

some people have stood here for days wondering if they can withstand this for long. i should build a future, i should study. so definitely if the situations are like that, you should stay for one weekjust to take 10,000 afghani...$100 from the bank, so it's not possible to live here. a country turned upside down and inside out. an old order suddenly ripped away, a new one suddenly started, in chaos and uncertainty. lyse doucet, bbc news, kabul. this war in afghanistan has cost america dear. in fact at the peak of its involvement, just after 2010, the us was spending 100 billion dollars a year on its military operation in afghanistan. over two decades the united states has spent more than two trillion dollars more than 2,400 us servicemen and women have died. 20,000 were injured. but that is dwarfed by the deaths and casaulties on the afghan sides, more than 116 thousand civilians, police and military personnel have been killed in the conflict during the same period.

and those figures also served to support president biden�*s arguments for taking a different view of us responsibilities in the future. we must set missions with clear achievable goals. not ones we will never reach. and second, we must take really focused on the national security interest of the united states of america. earlier gil barndollar — senior fellow and military expert at defense priorities told me that the overriding message from the speech is that the president is drawing a line under the us involvement in afghanistan. that is been sort of his message throughout this entire withdrawal on the crisis if you want to call it that. i think fundamentally the president is trying to close the door and turn on afghanistan and you had some familiar notes. we talked

about not being the fourth president to continue this war. he was finally putting a close to it. he said it was unwinnable. we talked about the withdrawal being a starched decision between withdrawal and escalation. and i agree with him. there wasn't a sustainable stalemate or a low—cost continuity way to keep this mission going at a low cost to the united states. that argument is fundamentally wrong or dishonest. he accepted spence bertie for the decision but also referred to in the states of the passenger's i think it is an attentive kind of close the book on this and whether or not he can remains to be seen. whether or not he can remains to be seen-— to be seen. deals amid the oint to be seen. deals amid the point that _ to be seen. deals amid the point that it _ to be seen. deals amid the point that it served - to be seen. deals amid the point that it served its - point that it served its purpose and that it kept the people of the united states save over that period of time. one or two might, you know, pick an argument with how save but the future is the issue now, isn't it? to feel that the us will remain a safeway and there isn't that presence on

there isn't that presence on the ground?— there isn't that presence on the ground? there isn't that presence on the round? ., , the ground? even a strident, if ou want the ground? even a strident, if you want to — the ground? even a strident, if you want to use _ the ground? even a strident, if you want to use that _ the ground? even a strident, if you want to use that word, - you want to use that word, advocate of withdrawal can see there is cost of getting out of afghanistan and you give up a lot of awareness on the ground. partially because of drone overflights and technological means become a little bit trickier but even more so because our afghan proxy collapsed. a lot of the intelligence on the ground was done to afghan partners in the n05, done to afghan partners in the nds, afghan secret police. so there is no question about the cost of getting out but given the collapse of the afghan state i don't think any of that was sustainable anyway. fine was sustainable anyway. one art of was sustainable anyway. one part of the — was sustainable anyway. one part of the argument - was sustainable anyway. one part of the argument he makes now is the us still has great lavage over the taliban. many people wonder what that leverages. it people wonder what that leverages.— people wonder what that leverages. people wonder what that leveraaes. , ., ., leverages. it comes down to what you — leverages. it comes down to what you think _ leverages. it comes down to what you think the - leverages. it comes down to what you think the taliban i leverages. it comes down to j what you think the taliban is and wants to be and that is clear that the taliban knows that. you may have internal

fissures or problems there within that movement, within that incoming government of afghanistan but if the taliban does ultimately have coherence and govern most of the afghan state and want to be a normal nation and not be what was in the 1990s, and isolated backward fundamentalist country that was recognised by a few countries. if that is the case then we have a no enormous financial lavage. i5 then we have a no enormous financial lavage.— financial lavage. is a painful irony that — financial lavage. is a painful irony that the _ financial lavage. is a painful irony that the us _ financial lavage. is a painful irony that the us is - financial lavage. is a painful irony that the us is going i financial lavage. is a painfulj irony that the us is going to have to find a way to work with the taliban if it is to keep the taliban if it is to keep the likes of isis k, for example, out of the equation. absolutely. there are hints of that in the speech. at one point early on the president referred to isis k is the sworn enemy of the taliban and that is an interesting phrasing and note to make. no question. the bet is that going to, it's a question of how open that is going to be and above board but

the bet is that we are going to be partnered or to some extent working with the taliban to keep far more nastier transnational terrorists away from the united states. let s get some of the day's other news. thirty—two people have been killed in peru, including two children, when a bus plummeted off a cliff in the country's third transport accident in four days. more than 20 were injured in the disaster which happened on a narrow stretch of road some 60 kilometres east of the capital lima. the european commission says 70% of adults in the european union have been given a complete course of vaccinations against coronavirus. the commission's head, ursula von der leyen, called it a great success. but the figures hide wide disparities within the eu. in bulgaria, just 20% of adults

have been vaccinated. hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets after el salvador�*s congress approved a law to create a fund to help the conversion of bitcoin to us dollars ahead of the country's adoption of the cryptocurrency as legal tender next week. critics say the new fund could open the doors to criminals laundering bitcoin into dollars through a national bank. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: why the former host of the long running us, tv quiz show, �*jeopardy�* is stepping down as executive producer. she received the nobel peace prize for her work this with the poor and the dying in india 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 and round 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 world news, the latest headlines. president biden has described the us evacuation mission from afghanistan as an extraordinary success — the day after the end of america's 20 year presence in the country. thousands of people

in california have been fleeing the popular tourist spot of lake tahoe as a huge wildfire rages. the caldorfire is heading towards the main resort town, in an area which straddles the border between california and nevada. more than 3000 firefighters have been working to contain the blaze. at least four people have died and more than a million remain without power after hurricane ida slammed into the us gulf coast on sunday. officials say electricity may not be restored in some areas for weeks. two people were killed and at least 10 injured after a section of highway collapsed in mississippi late on monday. more than 20cm of rain fell in the area during ida, which reached the us mainland as a category 4 storm on sunday. let's go to baton rouge and speak to rain, an activist working for mutual aid disaster relief, a grassroots disaster relief network.

thank you for your time. what is the situation where you are now? thank you for having me. there are still some power outages but luckily we got our power earlier today. we were flying blind with old school calls to each other for the first 2a hours. new orleans, where a lot of our allies are, as well, are still out of power. folks are running out of water in a lot of places and their water is running but a lot of folks are not necessarily trusting it to stay on for very long because of the power situation. a lot of homes are wiped out completely. what

are wiped out completely. what is the best. _ are wiped out completely. what is the best, then, _ are wiped out completely. what is the best, then, that - are wiped out completely. what is the best, then, that you - are wiped out completely. what is the best, then, that you can i is the best, then, that you can do it, to help. we is the best, then, that you can do it, to help-— do it, to help. we do a lot. our network _ do it, to help. we do a lot. our network of _ do it, to help. we do a lot. our network of organisersl do it, to help. we do a lot. | our network of organisers is nationwide but very much local where a lot of different localised groups that collectively organise, as a network. and so, today, even though i did not have enough gas to make it to new 0rleans gas to make it to new orleans and there were some roadblocks, we were able to get folks into starting repairs in different houses and organised with the local battle louche to start getting crews out. we have someone working into getting a couple of 18 wheelers in with supplies to locations in st james parish where they are impacted as well and i helped to organise a potential giant load of water coming in from austin. so there is a lot of remote work that people can do and my goalfor the next

remote work that people can do and my goal for the next couple of days since everything is shut down holy asked ellis to make it down to new orleans to do some more supply runs and i usually do boots on the ground and help to run in different work crews in response to fixing homes.— work crews in response to fixing homes. you've clearly hu . e fixing homes. you've clearly huge amount _ fixing homes. you've clearly huge amount on _ fixing homes. you've clearly huge amount on your - fixing homes. you've clearly huge amount on your plate l fixing homes. you've clearly - huge amount on your plate there that i just huge amount on your plate there that ijust wonder, i mean we are looking for a distance and what we're seeing now perhaps it has not been as drastic as it has not been as drastic as it might have been. are you prepared for more to have to do more? , .. ., , prepared for more to have to do more? , ., , ., ., more? there is actually a lot to do. would _ more? there is actually a lot to do. would say _ more? there is actually a lot to do. would say what - more? there is actually a lot to do. would say what we i to do. would say what we anticipated is not what we got. being the anniversary of katrina there are people with ptsd around that event and we also had a majorflood in 2016 there was not even the result of hurricane and since then we have had consistent flooding due to climate change with the frequency and intensity of the storm is coming in the last couple of hurricane season one

after another with lake charles and hurricane lara it wasjust back—to—back so what we anticipated was a lot of flooding and people preparing by putting things up and getting sandbags and what we experience is more wind damage and so there are homes that are basically trees that were missile projected into the side of them and we're seeing a lot more damage due to that than flooding. the issue, though, is if we are not able to get enough boots on the ground and respond, and i don't think, i mean in general, if there are enough people responding which makes it even more difficult because of covid and those homes are going to be further damaged because of the incoming vein. we have more rain projected so if it's not covered quick enough there will be water damage and more melding and higher costs. i5 melding and higher costs. is unrelenting at the moment, thank you very much indeed and best of luck for your efforts. thank you.

one of the bbc�*s most experienced journalists, sarah rainsford, who first started reporting from russia some 20 years ago, has been expelled from the country, because she's considered by the authorities to be a threat to national security. sarah has now been told she can never return to russia, a decision which the bbc says is a �*direct assault on media freedom�*. what follows is sarah�*s own account of her departure from moscow. this was the moment i discovered i was being expelled from russia. according to a specific law, i�*ve been designated a "threat to national security" and, as such, i�*m not allowed into the country. pulled aside at passport control, i was told the fsb security service had banned me for life. i recorded the conversation. i was returning from belarus,

where i�*d confronted alexander lukashenko on the mass repression and torture of peaceful protesters. his loyal supporters rounded on me... ..in a coordinated attack. vladimir putin�*s presenting this as just another working visit. .. i�*ve reported from russia for two decades — the whole span of vladimir putin�*s presidency. there�*ve been highs — like the world cup — but i�*ve also charted the slow erosion of freedoms here. the crackdown on dissent. a year ago, the government put me on short—term visas. sarah rainsford... then i became the news, as state television announced i had to leave. after tense negotiations, i had been allowed to enter russia... they let me in — for now. ..but only to pack. i was then told my visa wouldn�*t be renewed — supposedly what happened to a russian reporter

in london, but that was two years ago. when i was called in here, to the foreign ministry, they kept insisting that my expulsion was nothing personal — they talked about it as a reciprocal move — but they refused to even engage with the fact that i�*ve been labelled "a national security threat". they said that was just a "technical moment". but, at a time when russia is increasingly seeing enemies all all around, it really feels like i�*ve now enemies all around, it really feels like i�*ve now been added to the list. it�*s happening as the pressure on russian journalists who don�*t toe the kremlin line is intensifying. dozhd tv has just been added to a growing blacklist of media labelled "foreign agents" — for getting funds from abroad. this terror of "foreign agents" means that we — dozhd — we are enemies of the state. the pretending of being democracy is over. it is very bad, and it could

become much worse — any time. so, i�*m leaving a country i first came to as the soviet union fell apart. when free speech — or freedoms — were new and precious. it feels like today�*s russia is moving in reverse. sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow. one of america�*s most coveted jobs in television is back up for grabs, after mike richards was fired as the host ofjeopardy three weeks ago, and relagated to executive producer, but has now been fired from that role too — over offensive and sexist comments he made on a podcast several years ago. well for more on this, i spoke to michael schneider from variety a short time ago. jeopardy is still one of the most watched shows knowledge television on these transitions don�*t come along that often. of course, the previous host was

beloved by viewers and sadly passed away earlier this year and so it has been a big issue since then on he was going to replace him and it came down to this. it was really botched from the beginning and that is why it is remaining top headlines right now in the united states. references to offensive remarks dating back years. i assume this is the sort of zeitgeist isn�*t it. this is the world we are caught up this is the world we are caught up in. it started with a couple of things. mike richards was the executive producer and then they went through the whole process of looking for host and he was named the host and a lot of people felt he had an unfair advantage and put his thumb on the scale a little bit and somehow managed to make himself the host of the show so that opened him up to a lot of criticism and people started

digging in the background and they already were not fans of his. the optics were not good. he had some skeletons in his claws at hand was exposed to some of these charges. does it make any real difference to the tv show itself. it is seen as one of the top shows of all time in the united states. is it in cell in jeopardy? time in the united states. is it in cell injeopardy? it time in the united states. is it in cell in jeopardy? it is really tarnished right now and can be resolved with the right host. this whole process, and he himself is too tainted to continue with the show. clay shows how their own world, don�*t they, and they seem to survive test of time but is it sort of show that needs a refresh, change of tack? all

these shows need a little bit of a refresh every once in awhile and unfortunately in this place this was because of the passing of the previous host to a lot of the previous changes were going to come regardless of who became hosed butjust regardless of who became hosed but just the way this was handled means that there needs to be some sort of accountability now moving forward and hopefully a calming period of time where they figure out who this new host now is going to be. you can reach me on twitter —i�*m@bbcdavideades.

hello there. the last day of august was a rather cloudy cooling with spots of drizzle across eastern areas. best of any sunshine towards the west. indeed the next few days of september are looking pretty similar, often cloudy, occasional drizzle in the east. a little bit of sunshine at times, particularly across more sheltered western parts. for wednesday, it�*s a rather cloudy picture again. the thickest of the cloud against eastern coast where we will see light rain or drizzle. but through the afternoon we could see quite a bit of sunshine for scotland, maybe northern ireland western fringes of wales and into the southwest. but it will be breezy across the channel. certainly around the north sea coast. that will take at the edge of the temperature, highs here around the mid to upper teens. further inland a little bit warmer where you have the sunshine across central western scotland in particular we could see temperatures reaching around 21—22 degrees. as we head through wednesday night it stays mostly cloudy so for england and wales, a bit of cloud continuing for eastern scotland then it will trundle its way eastward although some western parts of scotland, northern ireland could stay clear. it will be fairly cool under clear skies where we have the cloud and the breeze 11—14 degrees. very little change for thursday and friday. an area of high pressure

still sitting on top of us and bringing this north, north easterly airflow. it�*ll bring a lot of cloud again into northern and eastern areas in particular. further west that you are a better chance of seeing some sunny breaks of course, temperatures in the sunshine reaching the low 20s. otherwise it�*s mid to high teens in the cloudier spots. for the weekend, signs of change was an air of high pressure begins to break down and moves eastward which allows this area of low pressure to slowly push in from the atlantic. that�*s going to bring in increasing breeze and also the chance of showers or even longer spells of rain particularly for part two of the weekend. saturday doesn�*t look too bad. looks like it will stay mostly dry. variable cloud, light winds. light winds with some sunshine. the winds will start to pick up across southern and western areas as that area of low pressure arrives was up by the end of the day he could start to see showery burst of rain arriving here. temperatures, low 20s in the brighter spots. mid to high teens across the far northeast. into sunday it looks like we will see a band of rain start spreading across the country that could be quite heavy. followed by sunshine and heavy showers.

this is bbc news — the headlines. president biden has president biden has defended his decision defended his decision to withdraw us troops to withdraw us troops from afghanistan — from afghanistan — a move which led to taliban a move which led to taliban militants returning to power militants returning to power after 20 years. after 20 years. mr biden said staying mr biden said staying longer was not an option, longer was not an option, before praising troops before praising troops for organising an airlift of they did in 2001. for organising an airlift of more than 120,000 people. more than 120,000 people. in kabul, taliban fighters in kabul, taliban fighters have been showing off have been showing off some of the military some of the military equipment and weapons equipment and weapons left behind by us forces. left behind by us forces. they have also been pointed out they have also been pointed out

that they now control more that they now control more of afghanistan than of afghanistan than they did in 2001. rescue operations are continuing in louisiana as hurricane ida continues to bring life—threatening floods. authorities say it could take weeks to restore electricity and reliable water services to over one million people.