welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... in paris, six years after the worst—ever terror attacks in the city, salah abdeslam and 19 other defendants have finally gone on trial. ashraf ghani apologises to the afghan people — the former president says he fled the country to avoid more bloodshed. a statue of confederate general robert e lee is taken down in virginia's state capital after a year—long legal battle. the world's biggest plant to extract carbon dioxide from the air opens in iceland. how significant is it in the battle to reverse climate change?

and emma raducanu and leylah fernandez are both through to the us open semis — could we see a teenage final at flushing meadows? live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news, with newsday. hello and welcome to the programme. a man alleged to be the sole surviving gunman from the islamist gang which murdered 130 people in paris six years ago has told a court he is a fighter for the islamic state group. salah abdeslam is one of 20 defendants in what is the biggest terror trial in modern french history. the prosecution says they were all involved in the shootings and bombings of november 2015, which targeted locations including bars, restaurants and the bataclan concert hall. from paris, our correspondent

lucy williamson reports. the sirens sounded again in paris today for the men accused of terrorising this city six years ago. sounds that once accompanied that fear and panic, now accompanying the defendants on their way to justice. it was a night when security felt uncertain, when no—one in paris knew where to run. as islamist gunmen targeted bars, restaurants, the football stadium, the bataclan concert hall. explosion salah abdeslam, the only suspected attacker to survive that night, is facing the most serious charges. 19 others are accused of involvement, including mohamed abrini, also wanted by belgian prosecutors in connection with the attacks in brussels.

today, a message from abdeslam. as the trial opened, the judge asked for his profession. "fighter with the islamic state," he replied. this case includes almost 2000 civil plaintiffs, many of whom have opted not to testify. translation: the suffering is unspeakable. _ it is inexpressible, but they expect tough justice. the acts these defendants are accused of are particularly monstrous. the trial is being held in a specially built chamber inside the old courts ofjustice to fit its scale and security demands. this trial is the antidote to the chaos and panic of that night six years ago, the moment when the french state reasserts control and turns national trauma into national history. joseph's wife armelle died in the bataclan that night. they had gone out to celebrate the launch of the riverboat company he now runs alone. how does he feel about looking

salah abdeslam in the eyes? translation: to me, he is non-existent, - he is just a face. i have seen the attackers myself that night at the bataclan. when they were shooting at us, they shot at us twice. the first time, we were able to escape. the second time, no. joseph told me he was afraid of coming here today. fear is something he knows about. justice is the antidote he needs. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. tens of thousands of brazilians have taken to the streets to show their support for president jair bolsonaro, who's launched new attacks on congress and the supreme court. addressing supporters in brasilia, mr bolsonaro said the head of court should rein in otherjudges. dozens of people are missing after a ferry collided with another passenger boat and sank in the north—eastern state

of assam in india. about a0 passengers have either been rescued or swam to safety. officials say in total there were more than 100 people on the two ferries. the philippine president, rodrigo duterte — who's not allowed to run for another term — has formally accepted his party faction�*s nomination to run for vice—president in the next election. mr duterte said that he would run "for the love of his country". afghanistan's former president, ashraf ghani, has apologised to the afghan people and issued a statement explaining why he fled his country when the taliban took over last month. in a twitter post, mr ghani said he left afghanistan to avoid further bloodshed in the streets. meanwhile, there are growing concerns about whether international aid will keep flowing into the country. the taliban has said that the international community should abide by its commitment

to provide financial assistance to afghanistan. but many nations are hesitant to provide help or recognition to the taliban government, after they announced their new leadership on tuesday. here's us secretary state antony blinken speaking during a visit to germany. despite professing that a new government would be inclusive, the announced list of names consists exclusively of individuals who are members of the taliban or close associates, and no women. we're also concerned by the affiliations and track records of some of those individuals. we understand the taliban has presented this as a caretaker cabinet. we willjudge it and them by its actions. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in kabulfor us and has more. i have to say that on the streets today, the reaction to the protest has intensified.

there was greater violence and foreign journalists were arrested. women protested, expressing their criticism of the government announcement. the caretaker government. the taliban are getting on with the business of government. ministers have been told to go to their offices to meet people that will be working with them. we see in humanitarian chiefs coming to the country this week. martin griffiths of the un. also the president of the international committee, who we met here in kabul when he visited one of the icrc�*s most important and hopeful projects, and that is the prosthetic rehabilitation centre in kabul. we never have to forget afghanistan is probably

the country with the most people disabled worldwide. a 4—5% with a population lives with disability. this is a huge number. here is really the origin, and at the same time, the most hopeful part of what a humanitarian organisation can do. you speak about hope, but you arrive in afghanistan, where it's starting again. taliban leadership, and many are worried. if not fearful. many afghans say they willjudge the taliban by their actions. what will be the first actions you will ask of them? in many respects, it's the continuation of what we have been able to do in the past. we will have seen that in our programmes, women, girls and men are working alongside. but we have developed social activities in our physical rehabilitation,

which are inclusive for men and women. we have, ithink, in the past found the balance between respecting local traditions and local values and respect also and give perspectives to rights and to equality which the international community is asking for. it could be even more harmful to let drop the bridges of conversations that we have been able to establish and which i'm nevertheless hopeful we can continue to establish. peter, the president of the international committee of the red cross, emphasising what so many leaders are saying they have to find a way to work

with the new taliban leadership. tens of millions of afghans desperately need some kind of humanitarian assistance. these are the challenges as a new caretaker government takes office here in afghanistan. the bbc�*s lyse doucet. anti—racism activists have celebrated the removal of a controversial statue of a confederate general in the us. the memorial to robert e lee in the city of richmond in virginia became a focal point during last year's black lives matter protests. for more on this, i'm joined now by our correspondent david willis in los angeles. great to have you with us david. just talk us through the background of why this statue is so controversial. this background of why this statue is so controversial.— is so controversial. this is a statue commemorating - is so controversial. this is a statue commemorating one is so controversial. this is a i statue commemorating one of is so controversial. this is a - statue commemorating one of the confederate generals who lead if you like the secession, the

movement for reinforcement of slavery, in the south, at a time when it had been abolished in other parts of this country. now, you mentioned the black lives matter movement. this issue has come into sharp relief following the death of george floyd at the hands of a minneapolis policeman last year. indeed, this particular statue has become a focal point for protesters. many of them arguing that the statues represent a symbol of america's ugly, racist past. defenders, of course, say that they are monuments to the bravery of those who fought on behalf of the south, and that removing them basically it raises this country's history. —— erases. we have heard some people come out and say in defence of these monuments that these statues are part of american history

and they should not have been taken down. and they should not have been taken down-— taken down. that's right. they include the — taken down. that's right. they include the former _ taken down. that's right. they include the former president l include the former president donald trump, who has issued a statement in the last hour, condemning the removal of this statue of robert e lee from richmond, virginia. he said that robert e lee was a genius, a great strategist, and a unifying force as far as this country is concerned, and he said that the removal of the statue was an example of how american culture and american history was being rewritten by what he called the radical left in this country. now, it is true that robert e lee supported the country remaining intact, and he was following the secessionist lead, but it is also true that he was opposed to racial equality as far as african americans are concerned, many military historians have criticised his tactics, and if nothing else, he is seen as the embodiment, if you like, of the movement

that gave way to white supremacy in many parts of the south of this country.— south of this country. david willis, there, _ south of this country. david willis, there, on _ south of this country. david willis, there, on that - south of this country. david j willis, there, on that story, thank you forjoining us on newsday. if you want to get in touch with me i'm on twitter — @bbckarishma iam i am looking forward to hearing from you. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... a primordial rock crashes to earth — turning one family's driveway into a scientific landmark. freedom itself was attacked this morning, and freedom will be defended. the united states will hunt down and punish those responsible. bishop tutu now becomes spiritual leader of 100,000 anglicans here, of the blacks

in soweto township as well as the whites in their rich suburbs. we say to you today, in a loud and a clear voice, enough of blood and tears. enough! the difficult decision we reached together was one that required great and exceptional courage. i it's an exodus of up to 60,000 people, caused by the uneven pace of political change in eastern europe. iam free! this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. the headlines... france's biggest—ever terrorism trial is under way.

the only surviving assailant from the deadly 2015 paris terror attacks claims he is a soldier of the islamic state group. and ashraf ghani apologises to the afghan people. the former president says he fled the country now to australia, and it was their remote living that protected many indigenous communities when the first wave of covid—19 struck. but in the country's latest wave of infections — fuelled by the delta variant, cases in some communities are rising at an alarming rate. vaccinations are also lagging behind national rates, and its leading to fears that if the nation does open up soon, indigenous australians will be left especially vulnerable. i've been speaking to bardijabbirjabbir woman, dr simone raye, in darwin, northern territory. she's the vice president of the australian indigenous doctors' association.

the growth rate at the moment, in the aboriginal communities in the western new south wales region are experiencing a high numbers of covid infections and, as of last night, we have had three deaths of elders within that community, which is very heartbreaking, and i send out my sincerest condolences to the family and friends, and those communities that have lost those elders. we are fortunate in other areas in australia so far, that we have managed to not have an outbreak yet, but, if it continues in this vein, who knows how long it will be before we get outbreaks in other communities as well? doctor, what are some of the unique challenges that these communities are facing when it comes to dealing with covid? if you look at the social

determinants of health, and disparity in health in the communities, we have a lot of problems with chronic illness within the community itself, within the elders and the younger population, and the crowded living conditions. the lack of access to adequate health care in some of the remote communities, they may not even have a full—time clinic, or they have a fly in — fly out service or a drive in— drive out service with medical staff coming to the community, and they rely heavily, some of these remote communities, on the royal flying doctor service and a care flight to be able to get people out of communities, if severely unwell, to get to adequate hospitalisation. how vulnerable does an opening up scenario leave these communities?

and know that australia is still far away from matt, but what are your main concerns, if something like that does happen? it is really difficult, with the fact that we do have those high chronic rates of illness within the community. not only within the elders but in the younger population so, that said, if we are looking at 70—80% of the eligible population being vaccinated, it may only be 50% of the actual community, and are we going to look at 70—80% of the larger region, or, are we looking at 70—80% of that actual community that is vaccinated, so, the australian medical association is calling for a 100% vaccination rate in our local remote communities in the northern territory. i would love this to happen. i don't know that that is

going to be achievable, but even if we can look at 90—95% vaccination rate in those communities, before we open up, so that we are not only protecting the elders but the children who can't be vaccinated, and as i said, with those chronic illnesses such as rheumatic heart disease, chronic iron deficiency, anaemia, we just don't know how they are going to fare. the vice president of the australian indigenous doctors association there, speaking to me earlier. the world's biggest plant to extract carbon dioxide dioxide from the air has opened in iceland. it showcases a developing technology considered by some to be an important tool in the fight against climate change. the plant will remove 4,000 tonnes of co2 every year. david campa nale reports voiceover: climeworks orca is the first plant ever - in commercial operations for i direct air capture and storage.

it starts serving i customers today. the futuristic vision of how to save the planet from runaway climate change, or a futile expense that distracts from the urgency of slashing co2 emissions? in 2017, we celebrated a pioneering moment.| in a promotional video, swiss start—up climeworks announced the opening of the largest direct air capture and storage plant in existence, in a partnership with icelandic company carbfix. powered by renewable geothermal energy from nearby, the plant consists of four units, each made up of two metal boxes. these suck carbon dioxide directly from the air, mixes it with water and then sends the product deep underground, where it gradually turns into rock. storing carbon underground can be done at a massive scale, and it is really, really reliable to store that carbon underground two, three, four km underground, where it can stay for millions of years and be safely

and securely monitored so we know exactly where it is. our plant captures c02 by drawing air into its. collectors with a fan. direct air capture is one of the few technologies extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. its supporters say it's vital to limit global warming, blamed for causing more heatwaves, wildfires, floods and rising sea levels. but sceptics point out that the climate crisis is worsening because of the relentless burning of fossil fuels, and it's these that need to be cut. last year, global co2 emissions totalled 31.5 billion tonnes, according to the international energy agency. this plant will remove just 4000 tonnes of that in a year, the equivalent ofjust 800 cars. it's so far been a completely failed technological solution. there are much better solutions out there — solar panels, wind turbines, the emerging industry

of green hydrogen. this is a kind of very, very high—end solution. we prepare the c02 for the storage process... i direct air capture is at the cutting edge of climate technology, but due to their cost, there are only 15 such plants worldwide. unless scaled up at speed, these won't take away from what scientists say is the imperative of keeping 80% of carbon reserves in the ground. david campanale, bbc news. now, some remarkable tennis news developing in the women's side of the draw at the us open. two teenagers are into the semi—finals. the 19—year old canadian leyla fernandez, who played an extraordinary match to win through to the last four on tuesday, and now the british sensation emma raducanu, who's still only 18 — and is the first woman in us open history to go through qualifying all the way to the semi—finals, which is a pretty remarkable achievement. here's david law, the bbc tennis commentator.

it suddenly feels possible now. the fact that the two of them are in the semifinals, and the manner in which they are playing to have got there, as well. you mentioned that layla fernandez, the 19—year—old from canada who's beaten last year's champion, naomi osaka, she's beaten angelique kerber, the former champion, and now elina svitolina, one of the top five players in the world. but, perhaps even more remarkably is the way that emma raducanu, the british player, who had not even played this tournament before this year, is going through all the qualifying rounds without dropping a set, and now five rounds to the main draw, eight matches, no sets dropped, she beat the olympic gold medallist today, and there's no real sign that any of it is perturbing her. she's now going to face either maria sakkari or karolina pliskova in the semifinals. and she really does look like she believes she can go all the way. a painstaking operation has taken place

to remove part of a driveway struck by a meteorite. the meteorite came down in the english town of winchcombe in february. the section of the driveway dented by the space rock has now been removed in a lengthy process so that it can be displayed at the natural history museum in london. claire marshall reports. in the depths of the winter lockdown, something bright came to earth. a blazing fireball from back in deep time landed on a driveway in the cotswolds. it was a space rock, 4.6 billion years old. this is material from the very beginnings of the solar system. the last trace of that extraordinary interstellar journey has been lying here on that driveway in winchcombe. today, the painstaking operation to preserve the landing site. they've cut all the tarmac out around where the meteorite landed. you can see how thick it is. now comes the very delicate operation to try to get it all out in one piece.

it's gone to plan, so we're pleased. if it was in three pieces, less pleased. do you feel proud of your work? we can go home now and smile. it looks unremarkable, but the clues in this extraterrestrial shadow will help scientists understand how the planets and life itself were created. a big day for the homeowners. they will study this one for hundreds of years, literally, and learn a lot from it. will you keep your eyes to the skies now? always, always. and we'll always have an interest in it because we've been inspired by the scientists we've met, so we'll always want to keep going, yeah. waiting for that next fireball! this is the most important meteorite ever to have fallen in britain and it will help reveal the birth of the solar system. claire marshall, bbc news, gloucestershire. that's all for now —

stay with bbc world news. hello there. our short spell of hot weather is coming to an end now. this picture was taken earlier in the night in sussex. this picture was taken during the day on wednesday in the scottish borders — where temperatures reached 29 celsius, making it the hottest september day in scotland since 1906. we had temperatures widely 29 celsius in england, into parts of wales as well. top temperature was recorded at heathrow airport — 30 celsius. it's very warm overnight as well. these are the temperatures by morning — this band of heavy and thundery rain continues to move northwards, clearing away quickly from east anglia, moving across northern england. those downpours ease off for a while as they head into scotland. but, as you can see elsewhere for western areas, those showers break out again more

widely, threatening some localised flooding with some thundery downpours. not as many showers for some eastern parts of england, temperatures here making 211—25 celsius — warm for the time of year, but not as hot, of course, as it has been just recently. those heavy showers, always going to be fewer towards the southeast as we head into the evening, but a few continuing to crack away elsewhere into the evening. as we head into friday as well, there's more showers to come. the reason the weather is changing and temperatures are dropping is low pressure drifting up from the southwest, bringing all these downpours as well. so a limited amount of sunshine again on friday, perhaps not quite as many showers or quite as widespread, but still the threat of some thundery ones, bringing localised flooding. and we've got temperatures typically on friday afternoon at around 20—21 celsius — not too bad really for this time of year, but quite a change, of course. heading into the weekend, there's still the potential for some more rain to be affecting northernmost parts of scotland. elsewhere, fewer showers, lighter showers, more places will be dry.

not promising much in the way of sunshine, mind you, and we've got temperatures around 20—21 celsius. so as we head into the weekend, the low pressure that's been bringing the downpours will be moving away. slightly higher pressure leaves us almost in no man's land, but it does look like it will be turning drier. but before then, we've got temperatures dropping as those downpours arrive. then, by the weekend, much drier, probably a lot of cloud, and don't expect the heat to return.

this is bbc news.

# under the boardwalk, down by the sea... welcome to the boardwalk on the beach here at world—famous coney island in new york city, as talking movies looks back at blockbuster season. we report on the excitement early on in the season as cinemas opened up. i was struck going back to the movies again, you know, how different it is to watch something on your couch verses in a theatre. and we survey the big blockbuster season crowd pleasers and find out how horror has been bringing audiences in. # are you ready, black people? crowd: , plus, among the blockbusters, a well—received music documentary that brought to light a little—known festival packed with talent. # i heard it through the grapevine!

americans might have wanted to venture to the beach