welcome to bbc news. our top stories: tributes to colin powell the first african—american to be appointed us secretary of state who has died at the age of 8a. yellow mckee gave the state department the very best of his leadership. his experience, his patriotism, he gave us his decency. and the state department loved him for it. let us keep silence. the british parliament - let us keep silence. the british parliament remembered one of their own paying tribute to david amess who was killed in a knife attack on friday. trump files a lawsuit against the select committee investigating the attack on congress as he tries to keep

records from his presidency secret. take to the skies to vaccinate all of australia, we visit the remote areas where an airborne logistical effort is getting in arms and the cinema, a hollywood star urges film fans not to watch as new sci—fi epic on the small screen. welcome. colin powell, the first african—american to serve as us secretary of state has died at the age of 8a. following a distinguished military career which culminated in his appointment as chairman of thejoint chiefs of staff he served a secretary of staff he served a secretary of state in the first term of president george w bush when he sparked controversy by helping

build support for the iraq war. our north american editor looks back at his life. general colin powell, the very embodiment of the american dream. the first black secretary of state, the first black leader of the us military. yet he was born to jamaican immigrants in harlem and was lost as a teenager. today, flags were lowered to half staff and the tributes have been lavish. he broke so many barriers and those barriers were not easy to break by any stretch. but he did it with dignity, he did it with grace. until saddam hussain�*s invasion of kuwait in 1990, colin powell was relatively unknown. after it, he became a household name, as america's first black commander of the us military. he developed the powell doctrine — don't start a war unless you know how

you are going to end it. in many ways, he was a reluctant warrior, having been injured during the vietnam war, but if force is to be used, then let it be overwhelming. our strategy to go after this army is very, very simple. first we're going to cut it off and then we're going to kill it. having reached the top of the military, he'd now blaze a new trial, becoming america's most senior diplomatjust before 9/11. it's a great honour for me to submit the name to the united states senate of colin l powell, as secretary of state. and at the un, he made a case for the invasion of iraq that he would later ruefully admit was based on incorrect information. there can be no doubt that saddam hussein has biological weapons and the capability to rapidly produce more, many more, and he has the ability to dispense these lethal poisons and diseases in ways that can cause massive death and destruction. but for all that, this moderate republican was being courted by both parties to run to become the country's first african—american president.

powell decided against, instead throwing his weight behind democrat barack obama's bid for that place in history. this morning a great soldier, a great statesman, a great american, has endorsed our campaign for change. i am so proud that i have had this chance to serve my nation. this venerated soldier in later life used his ammunition sparingly, only intervening when he felt something needed saying, like earlier this year after the attempted insurrection at the capitol, when he called for donald trump to stand down immediately. i wish he would just do what nixon did and that's step down. somebody ought to go up there and tell him it's over. the plane is waiting for you, you're out. colin powell preached tolerance and moderation. he was a leader, warrior and statesman. and, according to many of the tributes today,

a genuine american hero. the former us secretary of state. a key adviser to several presidents who died at the age of 8a. joining me now is a lecturer at the freeman institute at stanford university who worked with colin powell in the us state department from 2001 until 2005. thank you very much forjoining us. tell us what he was like to work with. welcome he was a terrific _ was like to work with. welcome he was a terrific human - was like to work with. welcome he was a terrific human being. l he was a terrific human being. his intelligence was readily apparent but so too was his concern for the people. with whom he worked, the people in the country is that the united states was dealing with, his determination to listen and to pay attention to what he heard made him just a delight to work for. made him 'ust a delight to work for. w �* ., made him 'ust a delight to work for. �* ., ., for. raced in the bronx and writin: for. raced in the bronx and writing up _ for. raced in the bronx and writing up the _ for. raced in the bronx and writing up the ranks -

for. raced in the bronx and writing up the ranks to - for. raced in the bronx and writing up the ranks to be l writing up the ranks to be a—star general and then secretary of state. what was it that made him so successful? i think his ability, his intelligence was of course very important but there are a lot of smart people. what he had that far too few do have is compassion. integrity. commitment to do the best that he could, to do the right thing under the circumstances. and people knew it. and they wanted to help him to succeed. bud people knew it. and they wanted to help him to succeed.— to help him to succeed. and of course one _ to help him to succeed. and of course one of— to help him to succeed. and of course one of the _ to help him to succeed. and of course one of the main - to help him to succeed. and of course one of the main things| course one of the main things that we are talking about today is that he made the case of the us invasion of barack to the un security council, didn't he? 0n the basis of what turned out to be fraud intelligence and he had talked, and tea? about his regret for that. did you see that in him? did you talk about that in him? did you talk about that with him? at that in him? did you talk about that with him?— that with him? at the time i was the rentable _

that with him? at the time i was the rentable deputy - that with him? at the time i was the rentable deputy in i that with him? at the time i l was the rentable deputy in the bureau of intelligence and research. our pure did not participate in speech and it was a decision made by my boss. but colin powell brought to me and number of drafts asking that i review it. in that case it was i with my expert people. and we try to make it better. but we did not agree with the conclusions in the report. sometime later, the secretary told me that we had convinced him but that he felt it was his responsibility to make the best case for the administration. of course, he has said publicly that he regretted doing that. i try did he talk to you about that regret? not about the regret. what he did was he said

you convinced me. but i could not convince others in the administration. i knew what he meant. we do not need to express to me or to the others who worked with him every day what has later been widely reported. it what has later been widely reported-— reported. it is great to get our reported. it is great to get your thoughts _ reported. it is great to get your thoughts on - reported. it is great to get your thoughts on him. - reported. it is great to get i your thoughts on him. thank reported. it is great to get - your thoughts on him. thank you very much. british mps pay their respects to the murdered colleague david amess at a special sitting of the house of commons. he was stabbed to death on friday while meeting members of the public. boris johnson told mps that his death left a vacuum that could never be filled. the prime minister also announced that the mp's local area of southend will be granted city status, because long wished for by sir david.

holding on... ..at a church that should be a place of sanctuary, instead — for their father and husband — a place of violence. this family shattered, left reading messages from others. "thank you for all you have done." a simple note among the blanket of flowers. a way to express sorrow and support at parliament too. then the ultimate mark of respect... ..to still the commons' usual clamour. 0n so many of their minds, perhaps, a phrase sir david himself wrote, "when mps are doing theirjobs, it could happen to any one of us." sir david was taken from us in a contemptible act of violence, striking at the core of what it is to be a member of this house and violating the sanctity both of the church in which he was killed and the constituency surgery that is so essential to our representative democracy.

granting his dearest political wish. her majesty has agreed that southend will be accorded the city status it so clearly deserves. hear, hear! but mps on all sides have fears about their and their staffs safety. this place can be the scene of tantrums and torment — not today. i want to lean across, to reach across, and to acknowledge the pain that's felt on the opposite benches, and i do. hear, hear! of course our differences matter.

after all, that is what democracy is about. but today we are reminded that what we have in common matters far more. in a packed commons, the only empty spot, sir david's old seat. his close friend furious at how mps are treated, urging a crackdown on online abuse. we are now systematically vilified day after day, and i simply say to you, ladies and gentlemen, that enough is enough. i'd like to drag mark zuckerberg of facebook and jack dorsey of twitter to the bar of the house. the survivor of a similar attack urged them to stand firm. we must not give up on the accessibility of members of parliament. if we do, the sponsors for those who attacked david and who attacked me will have succeeded. isn't it fitting that his last

acts were acts of service to his constituents? there are tears on all sidesl of the house this afternoon. but an argument about civility in politics doesn't explain why, like five years ago, a family is in pain. it brought it back very physically. i was sort of shaking and unable to process it, really. that moment when you are told that they haven't made it and the weeks and months of despair and anguish that follow, i guess. if you were a young couple now, when she first said, "i think i want to go into parliament," would you try to persuade her not to do it? she had a vision for a society she wanted to see, and she would have taken personal risk to see it. so, i wouldn't have either tried or succeeded in trying to convince her to do anything differently, but i do think that there will be people that will be put off. this place is normally fuelled by difference, by argument, but tonight, they walked together across the road together... ..sang and listened together.

the noble calling of politicians in a democracy is to make all manner of sacrifices — seen and unseen. a moment to remember a man who believed in that, their common cause. laura kuenssberg, bbc news. taking covert vaccine to australia's remotest areas we join the flying doctors on a mission to north queensland. a historic moment that many of historic moment that many of his victims have waited for four decades. the former dictator in the dark, older, slimmer and as he sat down, obedient enough. dawn and as the sun breaks through the piercing chill of night on the plane outside, it lights up a biblicalfamine. now, in the 20th century. the depressing

conclusion, in argentina today, it is actually cheaper to paper your walls with money. we have had controversies in the past with great britain but is good friends we have always found a good and lasting solution. concord ball�*s out in style after almost three decades in service, an aircraft that has enthralled its many admirers for so long taxis home one last time. this is bbc news. the word remembers general and statesman colin powell who has died at the age of 8a. british members of parliament have been paying their respects to their colleague david amess who was killed in a knife attack on

friday. donald trump is filed a lawsuit seeking to block the release of white house documents to a congressional committee investigating the january six assault on the capital. mrtrump january six assault on the capital. mr trump called the committee's request for white house records illegal, unfounded and over it claims material is covered by executive privilege which protects the confidentiality of some white house records. but speak now to richards, ethics lawyer. he is now a law professor at the university of minnesota. hello to you. can you just explain to us what executive privilege does cover, usually? executive privilege does cover, usuall ? ., ., usually? good morning. iwant to say that _ usually? good morning. iwant to say that the _ usually? good morning. iwant to say that the executive - to say that the executive privilege is unclear as to what it covers, the court said, for example, president nixon could not exert executive privilege of white house tapes recording

his phone calls in which he had instructed others to obstruct the watergate investigation. sometimes executive privilege is upheld. but one thing is very clear, that the executive privilege belongs to the president of the united states, the current sitting president of the united states and that isjoe of the united states and that is joe biden. of the united states and that isjoe biden. joe biden has the right to assert the executive privilege with respect to communications of any prior president because he holds the presidency. and then the courts will disc decide whether the executive privilege stands or does not. and like richard nixon in 1973 there is no way that he can assert the privilege sitting on a golf cart in florida as a former president. he has no standing to assert privilege and i don't

believe that the courts will pay any attention to this. his case claimed _ pay any attention to this. his case claimed that dot—mac. dot-mac. at least since the civil war — dot-mac. at least since the civil war and _ dot-mac. at least since the civil war and even - dot-mac. at least since the civil war and even then - dot-mac. at least since the civil war and even then in l dot-mac. at least since the l civil war and even then in the civil war we had nobody invade the capitol building of the united states. this is a very serious matter and congress rightfully is conducting an investigation of what happened on january investigation of what happened onjanuary six, and they want to know whether anyone in the white house including the former president trump was involved in that, and incited the insurrection, he gave speeches which clearly appeared to incite interaction and congress is absolutely right to point out what happened and indeed i have called upon the department ofjustice to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the events of

january six. that has not yet happened and thejustice department, president biden, needs to make that decision. but at this congress has decided to move forward with an investigation. this was a very serious matter and could have been with resulted in a coup, and over throughout the united states government and establishment of a dictatorship in the united states would have also very dangerous onjanuary six and there is every right and responsibility to investigate. i track back to this lawsuit, do think that if he doesn't think that dot—mac does he think that he can win this case? but if not, is this just an attempt to delay proceedings? this is one more frivolous lawsuit brought by donald trump after he lost the election. donald trump and his campaign and various supporters of his, in the republican party, organisations throughout the united states brought lawsuits to try to overturn the results of an election thatjoe

biden won by about 8 million votes nationwide. and so it is quite clear that donald trump is willing to challenge just about anything in a court of law and filed a lawsuit. in the united states unlike the united kingdom, the loser does not have to pay the lawyers fees of the winner. in a lawsuit. everyone pays their own lawyers fees so there is a lot of incentive ever here to file frivolous lawsuits and judges very rarely impose sanctions, unfortunately.— very rarely impose sanctions, unfortunately. right. thank you very much- _ unfortunately. right. thank you very much- a — unfortunately. right. thank you very much. a law— unfortunately. right. thank you very much. a law professor- unfortunately. right. thank you very much. a law professor at l very much. a law professor at the university of minnesota. thank you. the university of minnesota. thank yon-— thank you. thank you. australia's _ thank you. thank you. australia's vaccination | thank you. thank you. i australia's vaccination bill that has been picking up a new south wales where more than 80% of adults are now fully vaccinated and pictorial hit that target soon, triggering and allowing national borders to open. elsewhere, especially remote and regional areas it is a different story. in a land so

basket you leaders in arms can be logistically tricky and now one of the country was the coldest institutions is helping get those numbers up. the bbc�*s simon atkinson reports from north queensland. —— coldest institutions. 50, 40, 30, ten... you don't get many visitors at the ravenswood airstrip. but for years, the royal flying doctors service has brought medical care here. and now, there's an extra bit of cargo on board. ravenswood has two pubs, but the nearest doctor is 100 km away. so this is how locals are getting vaccinated against covid—19. i was wondering i would get the shot at all. it's just convenient and it saves all the travel. and instead ofjoining the queue, we're here getting almost exclusive access. it's a of having to - have it, so i thought, "well, now's the time." this town has never had a case of covid—19 —

so for many here, there's been no real urgency to get vaccinated. but with australia planning to open up soon, there's a warning that even people in remote locations like this can't be complacent. we can't keep covid out forever, we will have to open up, and i think the vaccinated will be largely all right, and the unvaccinated will be in a bad way. it'll have implications for flying doctors, as well, for these remote areas, because there'll be cases of covid. that'll need people to be hospitalised, and we'll have to fly them in full ppe down to the appropriate facility — which i'm not looking forward to, to be honest. clinics like this have given more than 50,000 covid jabs across remote australia, including in several indigenous communities. vaccination rates amongst aboriginal and islanders are far lower than in the country as a whole. but the flying doctors say they are bucking that trend. people in those communities know the service, they trust the doctors and nurses. so if their doctor that they

know and trust says to them, "i think it's in your best interest to have this vaccine," they'll go, "ok, if you think i should have it, i'll have it." some employers in rural australia, especially the mining sector, are now making vaccinations compulsory. workers must decide job orjab. at the ravenswood gold mine, it remains voluntary for now. hoping that the fly—in clinic will make the process so easy that it's hard to say "no". simon atkinson, bbc news, north queensland. rescue teams are scrambling to find survivors after severe flooding killed at least 26 people, five of them were children. homes were swept away by the rising flood waters and they have been landslides following days of heavy rain. here is a south asia correspondent.

the forces of nature have shown no mercy to these people in kerala. every year, they brace themselves for monsoon season, but nothing can prepare you for this. heavy rainfall and landslides have left a devastating and deadly mark across this state in south india. one of india's most beautiful now submerged and struggling. in the town here, terrified passengers on this bus were saved as the waters rose. in this clothes store, now a swamp, is one of many businesses destroyed by the fierce weather. "it was my livelihood," this shopkeeper says. "everything is gone." rescuers have been retrieving the bodies of the dozens who died, many of the victims were young. officials say they found three children who had been buried under the mud as they were holding each other. translation: the hill broke off near us, there's been _ a lot of damage and loss, the house has gone children have gone. for many in kerala, the scenes

evoke painful memories of 2018 when the state experienced the worst floods in a century. 400 people died back then, and more than a million were displaced. a study by indian scientists said the number of cyclones out over the arabian sea has doubled in the last two decades due to rising sea temperatures. more storms are forecast in the coming days. here in kerala, known as god's own paradise, they are praying it doesn't get worse. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news. in the wake ofjames bonds returned to the big screen hollywood sci—fi epicjoins 007 in the film industry plasma can campaign to entice people back to cinemas following the pandemic. the star—studded remake of the cult hit goes on wide theatrical release this

week and it is from a acclaimed canadian director who has urged audiences not to dilate their experience by watching from home. finally, kanye west is now legally known as ye. a judge in los angeles gave the go—ahead for the star to officially change his name with no middle or last name and you may ask why but his die—hard fans are not surprised by the change. in 2018 he called his eighth studio album ye after being inspired by the bible. we goes by that abbreviated title on twitter. if you want to get in touch with me on twitter you can. i have got my full name and they're pretty much anyway. and all of our stories, most of them, are covered on our website. go to bbc dot—com.

hello, good evening. quite a few parts of the country had temperatures of 18 degrees today and it's likely to get warmer tomorrow if and when the sunshine does come out. the warmer air is coming our way thanks to the winds from the south or southwest. as we've seen already, it has brought with it a lot of cloud, the cloud still around at the moment. this cloud here coming in from the atlantic is going to bring the next area of rain. the earlier rain and drizzle is moving away, and for a while, there could be a few breaks in the cloud. that will lead to the odd mist and fog patch, and then the thicker cloud arrives mainly across the western side of the uk to bring the rain to these areas. of course, after the warmth that we had during the day, the temperatures are going to fall very low overnight, 12 to 1a degrees. we start with a lot of cloud, outbreaks of rain around that

could be heavy for a while over some of these western hills. as we head into the afternoon, the rain is in the north and west. it could cheer up again later across parts of northern ireland, but ahead of the rain in the afternoon, we should get some sunshine in east anglia and the southeast. and it's here temperatures could reach 20 or 21 degrees with a more typical of early summer. even when we have a cloud or outbreaks of rain, around 17 or 19 degrees. a very mild day. there is more rain in the forecast for wednesday, this time generally moving northwards across england and wales. some thundery downpours possible. either side of that, there's going to be some sunshine. still a mild day on wednesday, just not quite as mild as tuesday. we've got this rain arriving in the northwest of scotland. that's going to be significant because, to the north of that, there is colder air. that will push across the country through the rest of the week and the weather will feel very different. we still have a tangle of weather fronts on the scene during wednesday as we head into thursday. these are the main ones drifting down across the uk, bringing with it some showery outbreaks of rain. then those northerly winds come setting in and it's those northerly winds that will drop the temperatures as well.

we've still got some outbreaks of rain to clear away from eastern parts of england on thursday. otherwise there will be some sunshine and a rash of showers, a rash of showers in the far north over the higher ground, maybe a wintry flavour as well. it's going to be a windy day. the winds generally from the north, possibly touching gale force, around some north sea coasts. that, of course, will make it feel colder, very different from what we're feeling at that moment. 8 degrees the best in northern scotland, 13 in southern england and wales.

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the headlines. president biden has paid tribute to colin powell, the first african—american to be appointed us secretary of state. mr powell died of covid complications at the age of 80. mr biden described him as a barrier and diplomat who repeatedly broke racial barriers. british mps have paid their respects to so david amess was killed in a knife attack on friday. the archbishop of canterbury conducted a memorial service at st margaret's church in westminster. donald trump is filed lawsuit against the us house select committee investigating the attack on congress on january six. the congress onjanuary six. the former president is to keep the record from his presidency secret by claiming that the material is covered under executive privilege.