this is bbc news — i'm tim willcox. our top stories: as america prepares to mark 20 years since 9/11, the president calls for the country to come together. at our most vulnerable, the push and pull of all that makes us humam, in the battle for the soul of america, unity is our greatest strength. the attacks led to the invasion of afghanistan, now back under taliban control, and many fear for the future. lawyers for the woman who's accused prince andrew of sexual abuse claim they've successfully served him with legal papers. and the battle of the teens — the build—up to the women's final of the us open.

hello and welcome to our special coverage here on bbc news, as we mark 20 years on from the terror attacks on new york and washington, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, and that have forever been known by the date on which they happened — 9/11. commemorations will be taking place in manhattan and across the united states, to remember all those killed and injured. 0ur north america editor jon sopel has been hearing the stories of three people impacted by the horror of september the 11th, and a warning — his report includes footage of the attack on the twin towers. the one thing that time hasn't dulled is just how profoundly shocking the sights and sounds were that tuesday morning

two decades ago. this terrorist attack changed the world. nearly 3,000 people died and thousands more had their lives upended. this is the story of three of those people who found themselves at the vortex of the storm. my dad was an amazing human being. max giaccone was a ten—year—old schoolboy when he was called to the principal�*s office. his father, joseph, worked at the world trade center. i went down the hallway, and my mum was standing there with tears in her eyes. she told me what had happened, and we had a moment in the hallway. i think i was just very confused at first. you're an innocent ten—year—old thinking, "the world is great," and then you find out that someone killed your father. hundreds of miles south in florida, andy card was also

at an elementary school. the chief of staff to president bush knew he had to interrupt him. that's when i walked up to the president and i leaned down and i whispered to him, "a second plane hit the second tower. america is under attack." ann van hine was in her car when she heard the news, and she knew as people were trying to escape the twin towers, her firefighter husband, bruce, would be heading in. my kids went to bed. emily and megan were 17 and 1a at the time. i stayed dressed, i laid down with them, but i didn't go to sleep because i figured someone was coming to the house and i didn't want to be in my pyjamas. it's weird, the things you worry about. and at about midnight, somebody came to the house to say that bruce was unaccounted for. this memorial, with great restraint, does justice to the terrible events of that day. but nothing can capture

the sense of chaos, anger, disbelief of what was unfolding. then, there was steely resolve, and americans were united and most of the rest of the world stood with america. the taliban in power in afghanistan, who'd harboured the al-qaeda terrorists, would be driven from power and the us would try to replace the warlords with democracy. but 20 years on, america has abandoned afghanistan. i think we're still the greatest democracy in the history of the world, but we are not shining the way we used to shine, and, yes, we are tarnished. i do think it has been a defeat for the pride of america and the respect that we have had around the world. 20 years ago, america was never more united. two decades on and the terrorist threat largely quelled, and america has never been more divided.

the way we came together was... it was awe—inspiring. and in 20 years, the pendulum has swung, in my opinion, the other way. every day, i miss my dad. every single day. whether it's 9/11, whether it's january 13th, whether it'sjuly 7th. i miss my dad and that will never change. and so to 2021, and the most powerful country in the world seems to be suffering a crisis of confidence. and in the manner of its departure from afghanistan, the kabul debacle, a crisis of competence. just off the tip of manhattan, lady liberty symbolises america opening its arms to the world. but 20 years on, the us feels a much more introspective place. jon sopel, bbc news, new york.

president biden has called for national unity as the united states prepares to remember those who lost their lives 20 years ago. he touched down in new york a short time ago to take part in a commemoration there. 0ur north america correspondent nomia iqbal is in new york and has the latest. he is not actually giving a lengthy speech or any speech at all on the event itself, never commemorations of 9/11, instead he uses this pre—recorded addressing made from the white house to express his condolences for the families of the least 3000 people that died on the terrorist attacks, and use that speech to invoke the memories of heroism that we saw in the days and months after 9/11, the acts of heroism but also those dark moments as well. here is a clip. irate also those dark moments as well. here is a clip.- well. here is a clip. we also saw something _ well. here is a clip. we also saw something all— well. here is a clip. we also saw something all too - well. here is a clip. we also saw something all too rare, | well. here is a clip. we also l saw something all too rare, a

true — saw something all too rare, a true sense _ saw something all too rare, a true sense of national unity. unity— true sense of national unity. unity and _ true sense of national unity. unity and resilience, the capacity— unity and resilience, the capacity to recover and repair in the — capacity to recover and repair in the face of trauma, the unity— in the face of trauma, the unity and _ in the face of trauma, the unity and service, the 9/11 journey _ unity and service, the 9/11 journey two generations stepped up journey two generations stepped up to— journey two generations stepped up to serve in the face of terror, _ up to serve in the face of terror, to— up to serve in the face of terror, to get those terrorists responsible, to show everyone seeking — responsible, to show everyone seeking to do harm to america that we — seeking to do harm to america that we will hunt you down and we will — that we will hunt you down and we will make you pay. that will never _ we will make you pay. that will never stop. today, tomorrow, ever. _ never stop. today, tomorrow, ever. from — never stop. today, tomorrow, ever. from protecting america. and we — ever. from protecting america. and we also witnessed the darker— and we also witnessed the darker forces of human nature, fear _ darker forces of human nature, fear and — darker forces of human nature, fearand anger, darker forces of human nature, fear and anger, resentment and violence — fear and anger, resentment and violence against muslim americans, true and faithful followers of a peaceful religion. followers of a peaceful religion-— followers of a peaceful religion. no mention of afghanistan _ religion. no mention of afghanistan in - religion. no mention of afghanistan in his - religion. no mention of. afghanistan in his speech, religion. no mention of- afghanistan in his speech, he ended the 20 year war in afghanistan in a chaotic way, but as you mentioned he talked a lot about unity and we heard it there injohn's report, and america were so united after 9/11, i think president bush's approval rating was 90%, and

now it is very different, just walking around new york today, speaking to here, many are quite critical of president biden, and he wants to try and remind americans of that unity that they saw after 9/11, to try and bring the country again moving forward. the 9/11 attacks led to the invasion of afghanistan. two decades later the taliban are back in power and presenting a new face to the world. they've promised to forgive those who fought against them, and to respect women's rights to work and education. but many afghans are still fearful of what the new order will bring, as secunder kermani reports from kabul. back in the classroom. this was amongst the first schools in kabul to reopen for girls after the fall of the taliban in 2001. they, along with female teachers, had been banned by the group. two decades on, the school has expanded.

pupils have gone on to become doctors, engineers. aisha misbah has worked here for the past a0 years. this time round, the taliban are allowing girls to get an education, but all secondary school classes are currently paused, awaiting new rules from the group. pupils here face other challenges, too. pleas to the previous government for new buildings went unanswered. educating generations of young afghan girls and boys has been one of the main achievements

of the past 20 years. but you also have to ask why a government that received billions of dollars of international aid couldn't even build enough classrooms for pupils in a school in the very centre of kabul? many would blame corruption. this is a generation determined to make its voice heard. covering recent protests, what had been one of the freest medias in the region, now it's under threat. these two journalists were badly beaten by the taliban after reporting on a demonstration.

american influence here is fading. this is bush bazaar, named after the us president. the military gear on sale used to come from international troop bases. now it's largely chinese—made imitation, to the disappointment of taliban fighters, now the main customers. 20 years of war have left a legacy that is increasingly unclear. secunder kermani, bbc news, kabul. the head of britain's m15 says the threat of terrorism in the uk remains "a real and enduring thing". ken mccallum reveaeld that 31 late—stage attack plots had been foiled here in the last four years. and he warned that more sophisticated groups could reform once again. 0ur security correspondent gordon corera reports.

for 20 years, surveillance and security have become ever more entwined in our lives — a sign of a threat that has not gone away, as the head of m15 told the bbc today. we do face a consistent global struggle to defeat extremism and to guard against terrorism. this is a real problem and in the last four years, for example, working with the police, my organisation has disrupted 31 late—stage attack plots in great britain. a new counterterrorism operations centre was launched this summer by m15 and the police but the threats have also been changing. since 9/11, we have had a continued evolving, huge challenge with islamist extremist terrorism. we have the rise of extreme right—wing terrorism and we have definitely a resurgence of sharp and complex state threats. the only major national security threat which has

been comparatively better across those 20 years is northern ireland. the uk's terror threat level has fluctuated, spiking up around 2006 when al-qaeda plots were coming out of pakistan. and then again around a decade later, linked to isis in iraq and syria. but the hope was that it might now decline. m15 has been trying to focus on wider issues, like espionage and foreign interference, but the landscape has just changed once again — drawing it back to worry more about jihadist terrorism. the concern is that the taliban takeover in afghanistan may both inspire extremists here and perhaps create a safe haven there for groups to plan more sophisticated attacks. there is no doubt that recent events in afghanistan will have heartened and emboldened some of those extremists. so, even if the taliban is absolutely in good faith about wanting to prevent terrorism being exported from afghanistan, that will be a difficult task to accomplish.

afghanistan is not an easy country to govern and within which to ensure perfect security. m15 may have expanded and we all may live with more surveillance and security, but asked if we were safer now than 20 years ago, the head of m15 said there was no simple answer. gordon corera, bbc news. lawyers acting for virginia giuffre, the woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by prince andrew, say he has been served with legal papers ahead of preliminary proceedings scheduled to take place in new york on monday. 0ur royal correspondent sarah campbell has more. these are the official legal papers relating to the civil case that was brought by virginia giuffre, and she alleges that she was sexually assaulted by prince andrew when she was 17 years old. he denies all the claims made against him and he said that he has no recollection of meeting her.

but this civil case was launched last month at a court in new york, and as part of that initial process, papers must be served on the defendant, so prince andrew. now, a document published today by the court indicates that miss giuffre's lawyers believe this has now been done. it describes how their representative left the papers with a police officer at prince andrew's home — royal lodge in windsor — and that was on the 27th of august. now, what isn't clear this evening is whether the prince's legal team agree that those papers were served correctly. we have contacted them, but they're not commenting this evening. it will be now for a judge to decide whether the case will proceed and how it will proceed. and there is a telephone conference scheduled for monday afternoon in new york between her lawyers and the judge, so that will give us some clarity of how this case is going to proceed. and in the meantime, prince andrew, we know, is in balmoral in scotland. this is bbc world news. our main headline:

president biden has appealed for national unity ahead of the commemorations 20 years on from the 9/11 attacks on the united states. the former us secretary of state condoleezza rice was serving as america's national security advisor when the attacks happened. laura trevelyan has been speaking to her, and she began by asking ms rice of her memory that day. my my overarching memory of the day was the degree to which we were going through our normal lives. i had arrived at the office, i was going to make a speech later in the day, and my assistant said that a plane had hit the world trade center and if you'll remember, the president was actually in florida at an education event and it was a little bit of our pre—9/11 thinking that neither i or my deputy steve hadley was with him because it was a quote domestic trip. neveragain would we be in that situation

because we suddenly realised on that day that there was no such thing as the border or the boundary between america and the rest of the world and so, thatis the rest of the world and so, that is my firmest memory — that is my firmest memory — that and also being spirited off to the bunker after learning that a second plane had hit the world trade center, that a plane had hit the pentagon, and that day, from that moment on, just trying to make certain that nothing would happen like that again. you have written _ happen like that again. you have written that _ happen like that again. you have written that we - happen like that again. you have written that we are more secure now than we were on that morning. do you still think that's true, now the caliban are back in charge of afghanistan and could potentially harbour al-qaeda again? —— caliban. potentially harbour al-qaeda again? -- caliban.— again? -- caliban. there are certain structural _ again? -- caliban. there are certain structural changes i again? -- caliban. there are i certain structural changes that we have made to the way that we think about and share intelligence —— taliban. the united states have not been attacked on their territory in

that way since the war of 1812 so we thought of internal security and external security. as a matter of fact, we did not even have an organisation that was responsible for internal security. everybody else's ministry of interior kind of did what our fbi did plus. 0ur interior department does indian reservations and national parks and so we had to create a homeland security department. we now have a counterterrorism centre that actually merges internal and external intelligence and so, we've made some structural changes but i am worried about the loss of the eyes and ears on the ground in afghanistan, which gave us a way of dealing with terrorists and of making sure that the highly sophisticated, highly disciplined organisation that did 911 would not re—emerge again. that worries me. —— 9/11. but i am glad that we

have done so much to protect ourselves at home.— have done so much to protect ourselves at home. you said to ourself ourselves at home. you said to yourself immediately _ ourselves at home. you said to yourself immediately after - ourselves at home. you said to yourself immediately after the | yourself immediately after the 9/11 attacks when you were looking at a map of afghanistan that it's where great powers go to die. were you write about that, given the chaotic us for us exit? d0 that, given the chaotic us for us exit? ,, that, given the chaotic us for us exit? , ., us exit? do you think? certainly _ us exit? do you think? certainly the _ us exit? do you think? certainly the chaotic i us exit? do you think? | certainly the chaotic us us exit? do you think? - certainly the chaotic us exit has made it a problem, i think, for american credibility because if we didn't have the will and the patients to be in afghanistan, place from which that attack was launched, i think people will question our staying power and our willpower in other places —— patience. but i do believe that we used the 20 years well to improve our capabilities at home, to degrade al-qaeda and its kin, notjust in afghanistan but in other places as well, like west

africa. and that was time well spent. but yes, i'm saddened that we didn't have the patience to leave a few thousand troops in afghanistan who could have helped to prevent the collapse of the government of afghanistan and who could have continued to keep an eye on and ears on the threat that can emanate from there. ., ., ., . budding young musicians in brazil who don't normally have access to instruments have now got a chance to fulfil their dreams thanks to some creative recycling of plastic waste. the bbc�*s tim allman explains. ivan da silva 0liveira is a craftsman, but he's a craftsman working with an unusual medium. he makes stringed instruments — violins, cellos, that sort of thing — but he makes them out of old pvc pipes. instruments like this can be

incredibly expensive, but ones made of discarded plastic are a whole lot cheaper. "the most important thing is to bring music to all sectors," he says, "to all people". and these are just some of them — the children of the locomotiva 0rchestra. youngsters from just south of sao paulo aged between seven and 17 discovering the magic of music, thanks to an industrial by—product. translation: | see i the construction of pvc instruments as something that is magical — a pipe that's become a violin. we make music, we play and do a lot of cool stuff. it's magic. a local petrochemical company donates the pipes that are converted into instruments

that then make a joyful noise. "it's a sensational thing to know that a pipe that carries water now carries music," says young gabriel, "and it helps people who are wanting to learn to play". free lessons are being offered to low income children and teenagers in an attempt to inspire a love of music. very much plastic fantastic. tim allman, bbc news. what a fantastic there for those young musicians! —— what a fantastic story there for those young musicians! in tennis, the us open men and women's finals are being held in new york this weekend and there couldn't be a greater contrast between the two. in the men's final, novak djokovic hasjust won his semifinal against alexander zverev and he will now face the number two seed daniil medvedev. while in the women's final,

two teenagers are vying for their first grand slam title. britain's emma raducanu will face canada's leylah fernandez in the first all—teenage grand slam finalfor more than 20 years. courtney bembridge reports. the last time two teenagers faced off in a final, emma raducanu and leylah fernandez weren't yet born, and the significance of the moment isn't lost on them. i think it's great for the sport to have two teenagers in the final battling it out. it's obviously going to be a tough match — leylah's in great form, but i'm also in good form — so, yeah, i'm excited to get out there and, again, i'm the qualifier, so we will see. i was little nervous. not scared but nervous going out on court every time i play. but, you know what? i talk with my dad, my coach, and he tells me not to worry because everything

will be fine. "go out there, have fun. "enjoy every moment of it. "enjoy the crowd, especially — because they're going to be on your side now." tennis greats say no matter who takes the title, both have a bright future ahead. both emma and leylah will be hall of famers. i don't want to jump the gun too much, to get into that much hype, but they are that good. and, emma, again, really impressive. the poise that she's shown, the maturity — i think i was about 26 when i got to that level. so she's way ahead of me. and yeah, again, hat off. fernandez and raducanu are just two months apart in age and share an immigrant background. canada's fernandez has ecuadorian, peruvian and filipino heritage, while raducanu, also born in canada — to a romanian father and chinese mother — moved to the uk when she was two years old. she has the nation behind her and, at her old school in south london, many pairs of eyes looking up to her too. itjust makes me feel inspired

because at the age of 18, what do you think, she will be older and everyone wants to follow her tracks, and also she's been winning a lot of money. she didn't give up and she's nearly there. earlier this year, she was forced to withdraw from wimbledon with breathing difficulties after a brilliant start. she later said her debut experience had caught up with her. but this time around, she says the innocence of youth has helped carry her this far. i think they're both showing that they have ice in their veins. to think that these two young women have run through the gamut and winning all these matches and handling the pressure so, so well. on saturday night in new york, there will be youth on both sides of the net — and plenty of determination, too. courtney bembridge, bbc news. there are a lot of people

looking forward to that, i can tell you, certainly here at the bbc. there's more on our website. for now, from the team and myself, goodbye. hello there. we had some intense showers to end friday across eastern scotland, eastern england, some rumbles of thunder. and a lot of rain also from those showers in northern ireland. this is just how it looked in those showers, for example, at lowestoft in suffolk on friday afternoon. now, we should see fewer showers at least through saturday — in fact, for much of the weekend — but there is a question mark over sunday and that's because we should see a little bit more sunshine, things turn a little fresher as this area of low pressure responsible for the showers starts to move away to the north—east. we are left with wet weather across northern scotland because of this trailing weather front but behind that weather front, we shift the wind direction into the north and the north—west, so it freshens up, because at the moment, we still have that humidity. that will start to ebb away during saturday.

but we also have that wet weather in the north. it's already been pretty wet in shetland, and by morning, widespread rain across the north, scotland some quite heavy rain as well. elsewhere, the showers tending to easy away, —— elsewhere, the showers tending to ease away, but a muggy night again, 1a or15. lots of grey, misty, murky weather in northern and western areas, drizzle over the hills, some potential hill fog as well. but that cloud should break up and so, for england and wales, fewershowers, brighter weather, a bit more sunshine than we had during the day on friday. still a scattering of showers for northern ireland. best chance of sunshine in the south and the south of scotla nd. but for the north of scotland, itjust continues to be a pretty wet affair. a real soaking rain, so we'll need to keep an eye on that for localised flooding. a little bit fresher in the north but still quite warm in the sunshine in southern and eastern areas. and that's because we have got a ridge of high pressure here. now, by the time our weather system starts to drift southwards, it does peter out and eventually becomes drier for northern scotland under a ridge of high pressure but this is the question mark — what comes in from the west.

but for sunday, you can see perhaps a little bit of cloud, a breeze and some rain for the great north runners here. we've got a lot of dry weather elsewhere and it becomes drier for scotland and northern ireland than recent days, but it's how far north and east this rain comes that's giving us a headache at the moment. it looks like the south—west and wales will bear the brunt during the course of sunday. further east, a little bit drier. but fresher, temperatures down on those of saturday. and then how far east will it push into monday? so, as i say, that's the big question mark at the moment. elsewhere, high pressure's bringing a lot of dry and settled weather — yes, it's fresher — but as ever, if you have plans for the next couple of days, stay tuned to the forecast.

this is bbc news. the headlines: president biden has appealed for national unity ahead of the commemorations, 20 years on from the 9/11 attacks on the united states. he paid tribute to the nearly 3,000 people killed when al-qaeda terrorists crashed airliners into the world trade center in new york, and the pentagon in washington. lawyers for the american woman suing the duke of york over sexual assault allegations say they've successfully served him with legal papers — a condition for the lawsuit to proceed. ajudge must now decide if the papers were indeed served. prince andrew has always strongly denied the allegations. excitement is growing ahead of the women's singles final of the us open. for the first time in more than 20 years, both competitors are teenagers. leylah fernandez from canada will face the british player emma raducanu. the winner gets a cheque for $2.5 million.

now on bbc news, the travel show.