barbara plett usher, thank you very - committed to do that yet. ou very much. we'll get more on afghanistan shortly. but first, we're also expecting president biden to address the extreme weather in the us. this is the scene in tennessee where rescue workers are still searching for dozens of people who are missing after severe flooding there. the floods followed what local reporters described as unprecedented rainfall which killed at least ten people, destroying roads and sweeping away mobile phone towers. young children are among the dead. meanwhile tropical storm henri has made landfall in rhode island in the north—east united states. the us national hurricane centre says henri brought sustained winds of over 95 kilometres an hour, and new york was drenched with a record—breaking hour of rain — the most ever recorded in the city in a single hour since the service began tracking more than 150 years ago. a state of emergency has been declared in parts of new york state. here's the outgoing governor of new york, andrew cuomo. new yorkers, please tak

all right, barbara plett _ has not been confirmed. all right, barbara plett usheronfirmed. all right, barbara plett usher, thanks - has not been confirmed. all right, | barbara plett usher, thanks again, life in washington. barbara talking about those who could potentially be left behind and i have been is speaking to the truman security product, which is coordinating with some to help evacuate those afghan allies. �* , ., , some to help evacuate those afghan allies. �*, ., , . ., allies. here's what she said. what is unfolding _ allies. here's what she said. what is unfolding in _ allies. here's what she said. what is unfolding in afghanistan - allies. here's what she said. what is unfolding in afghanistan now. allies. here's what she said. what is unfolding in afghanistan now is| is unfolding in afghanistan now is what we had long feared would be the case and what the us embassy had won wasn't in fact quite imminent, so what we know is there are casualties on the ground and us servicemen have been reported as those amongst the casualties now. this is the islamic

barbara plett usher, for the moment we i for ending the evacuation. n briefing begins, butjust to reiterate what i was saying a few minutes ago the right agency has quoted to us officials saying the number of us troops who have died is at least 12. medics in kabul are saying the overall death toll may be 60. hello there. it felt cooler today right across the board because he had a weak cold front sped a weak cold front spread southwards and introduce fresh air, and quite a bit of cloud in eastern areas, the best of the sunshine is out west. friday similar story, a lot of dry weather around, best of sun in the west and eastern areas. this is the weak cold front which are spreading south, right across the uk. as we head into this evening and overnight, we will all be in that cooler air mass. central and eastern areas will hold on to the cloud, which will tend to edge westwards, the extremities of western scotland, parts of northern ireland and western england and wales will see clearer skies. it could be quite cool here, temperatures in single figures, b

barbara plett usher reporting from los angeles. _ area. r reporting from los angeles. ever since - area. barbara plett usher reporting from los angeles. ever since there | from los angeles. ever since there have been smartphones, there have been emojis. a p pa re ntly apparently not, because if you're under 30, this smiley face a moji is nothing to smiley face. —— nothing to smile about. also out is the crying face a moji, with a whole legion of tiktok used it seriously. how do we... he joins us legion of tiktok used it seriously. how do we... hejoins us now. hello to you, jeremy. what am i feel this is. ,just to you, jeremy. what am i feel this is. , just talk us through why the smiley emoji has change meaning for a certain group of people. i smiley emoji has change meaning for a certain group of people.— a certain group of people. i would start by saying — a certain group of people. i would start by saying there _ a certain group of people. i would start by saying there is _ a certain group of people. i would start by saying there is no -

. >> are state department correspondent barbara plett-usher was asked -- was at the press conference s more details. barbara: mr. blinken said the administration was making plans about how it will continue to provide services to facilitated -- facilitative departures. although he could not say whether or what type of diplomatic presence the u.s. might consider leaving in kabul, at the moment, the ideas for the diplomats to leave with the military. he said the taliban had provided public and private commitments to continue giving safe passage to those who are part of the evacuation effort. that would include american citizens, afghans who work with them, and third country natials. a taliban spokesman did tweet that those with legal documents would be allowed to leave on commercial airlines after tuesday, even though the taliban has broadly said it did not want afghans to depart. reports from the ground to say it is already difficult for afghans who have those documents to get to the airport now. will they continue to brave their way when the taliban are in charge? it is a grim reality.

in a moment we'll be speaking to barbara plett usher from washington but first live to our chief internationaldoucet who's live in kabul. a significant moment at the end of a scramble of the last fortnight. fix, scramble of the last fortnight. scramble of the last fortnight. scramble of the last fortnight. scramble of the last fortnight intensified security measures in the last few days and in the last hour, the kind of gone far but i'm sure all of our viewers can hear. it is why i am wearing a helmet tonight. this guy were full of red tracer fire, machine gun fire, bullets being fired in celebration. america's longest war has finally ended here in afghanistan. there will be a long night of celebration by taliban supporters. they will hail, notjust the departure of the last american soldier from afghanistan, the last of what they describe as a foreign occupation, but they hey lead as the defeat of the mighty american empire. it is nearly 20 years since the us led invasion toppled the taliban and tonight at kabul international airport saw the images of the last american soldiers face—to—face wit

our state department correspondent barbara plett usher gave this assessment of president biden�*s speechrecent polls show there is still a majority of support in the country for ending the war in afghanistan and bringing troops back. but there is strong disapproval for how it was conducted. the president is focusing on how it was conducted and painting a sort of positive picture about steps that have been taken, that is his approach. he talked about having picked up the pace of the evacuations at the weekend, he said it was an extraordinary airlift and he talked about improving access to the airport for those who wanted to get there, he suggested the perimeter, the us forces had extended the perimeter around the airport, the safe zone. he also talked about the vulnerability of it and he said it was dangerous and there are possibilities of attacks by islamic state militants and they were being diligent but he said there was no reason to think we could not keep up the pace of the evacuation. he also said that they hoped they could complete this by the deadline, which is the end of the mont

barbara plett usher has this report.a. greenville didn't stand a chance. this historic downtown muscle of the of that era. that's gone now. as the fire roared closer, residents were ordered to leave immediately. we're all evacuating. everyone's driving home as fast as they can to get there. well over 100 homes were destroyed as well as businesses. a swift and brutal loss that left both people and politicians in anguish. we lost greenville tonight, and there's just not words for how us in government haven't been able to get the job done. dixie is the sixth—largest fire in california's history, but only one of dozens burning in the country this year. these are torching mostly western states that are suffering exceptional heat and drought which scientists say is tied to climate change. california's fire season usually peaks later in the year. it's on pace to be even worse than 2020. here, firefighters did everything they could. increasingly, that's just not enough. barbara plett usher, bbc news, los angeles. now to south af

barbara plett usher one president biden�*s remarks on afghanistan. thank you forjoining us.me in the later hours of newsday... us vice president kamala harris's trip to singapore, which has been overshadowed by fast moving events in afghanistan, with regional security expert lynn kuok. but first, more on our top story. whilst chaos at the airport has dominated the coverage so far, many of the afghans staying in the country are worried about what the future holds for them under the taliban's return to power, in particular on the issue of women's rights. the group have promised that women will be allowed to go to work, and girls go to school but many remain sceptical and anxious. 0ur correspondent secunder kermani sent this report, and a warning that it contains some distressing images. when the taliban took over kabul, many residents were terrified. but rowena, a young female journalist, decided she should go and talk to them, for her youtube channel. that was the last video she uploaded. she is unsure if the group will approve of her working or not. for now, many offices hav

barbara plett usher.scape afghanistan, turkey has warned of a new wave of migration, and called on european countries to take responsibility. greece has also built a new 25—mile fence and surveillance system along its border with turkey. the greek government says it won't wait passively, for the possible impact of a refugee crisis, following the taliban takeover. the freelance journalist daphne tolis is in athens and gave us more details about the wall. the a0 kilometre steel fence has been completed. the defence minister and the citizens protection minister were both yesterday, friday, there. they visited the wall, the border there. they said that greek borders will remain secure and impenetrable and that border forces are on alert for any possible wave of afghan refugees trying to cross into europe through greece. it is widely supported, i would say, especially after last year, the events of february 2020, when thousands of refugees and migrants attempted to cross in large numbers from turkey's land bor

barber usher speaking to us earlier. —— barbara plett—usher.more on the action at the tokyo olympics. the question was whether we wanted to save our people and japanese as well and win the war, or whether we wanted to take a chance on being able to win the war by killing all our young men. the invasion began at two o'clock this morning. mr bush, like most other people, was clearly caught by surprise. we call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all iraqi forces. 100 years old and still full of vigor, vitality and enjoyment of life. no other king or queen in british history has lived so long, and the queen mother is said to be quietly very pleased indeed that she's achieved this landmark anniversary. this is a pivotal| moment for the church as an international movement _ the question now is - whether the american vote will lead to a split - in the anglican community. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines. the taliban have seized a provincial capital in southern afghanistan, as the un's envoy demands the militants end their of

barbara plett usher reports. governor had been banking on a run for a fourth term in office and now he is plotting furiously to salvage his job. just a year ago it was arguably the most popular governor in the most popular governor in the us, leading the fight against covid, a darling of the democrats. more like a pariah now, deserted at the parties highest level, after the damning results of an investigation found he sexually harassed nearly a dozen employees. i harassed nearly a dozen employees-_ harassed nearly a dozen emlo ees. ~ , ., employees. i think he should resin. employees. i think he should resign. what _ employees. i think he should resign. what i _ employees. i think he should resign. what i said _ employees. i think he should resign. what i said was - employees. i think he should resign. what i said was it - resign. what i said was it investigation of the attorney general concluded that the allegations were correct, that, backin allegations were correct, that, back in march, i would recommend he re

barbara plett usher has the full story.e most popular governor in the us, leading the fight against covid. a darling of the democrats. more like a pariah now, deserted at the party's highest level, after the damning results of an investigation found he sexually harassed nearly a dozen employees. i think he should resign. what i said was, if the investigation of the attorney general concluded that the allegations are correct, that, back in march, that i would recommend he resign. that is what i am doing today. the report was five months in the making. investigators revealed a disturbing pattern of abusive behaviour that they say said violated state and federal law. the investigation found that governor andrew cuomo sexually harassed current and former new york state employees by engaging in unwelcome and non—consensual touching, and making numerous offensive comments of a suggestive and sexual nature. they described a climate of fear that long prevented women from coming forward with complaints. the most serious was the gove

barbara plett usher, bbc news, los angeles. downing street, say they are getting weaker by the day. they are calling for gurkas who retired before 1997, to be eligible for a uk armed forces pension. ministers say they're committed to ensuring the gurkha pension scheme is sustainable and fair. our correspondent lebo diseko reports. british and gurkha troops are battling to split the terrorist into isolated bands and then wipe them out one by one. isolated bands and then wipe them out one by one-— out one by one. they are a force that has served _ out one by one. they are a force that has served the _ out one by one. they are a force that has served the crown - out one by one. they are a force that has served the crown for. out one by one. they are a force i that has served the crown for more than 200 years, fighting all over the world. but these gurkha veterans do not receive a full uk armed forces pension. they are now on hunger strike and say they are willing to die to write what they see as an historic wrong. gurkhas who reti

barbara plett usher is at the us state department for us in washington. hello, barbara.s exactly what this resolution says, please? exactly what this resolution says, lease? , ., , , , please? yes, it has been put toaether please? yes, it has been put together by _ please? yes, it has been put together by the _ please? yes, it has been put together by the united - please? yes, it has been put i together by the united states, britain and france, and it essentially lays out the principles that the international community or that the international community or that the international community or that the un would expect the taliban to uphold. there are four main areas, one is that wooden it would not allow a safe haven for terrorists, another it is that it would continue access for humanitarian aid, a third is that it would grant safe passage for those who want to leave afghanistan, even after the military airlift has ended, and a fourth is that it would respect the human rights of all of its citizens, especially women, children and minorities, and that there would be effor

that was barbara plett usher talking about addressjoe that was barbara plett usher talking about addressbarbara plett usher talking about addressjoe biden made. purity is. about address joe biden made. purity is. ., , ._ about address joe biden made. purity is. ., , , ., is. the longer we stay starting with the acutely growing _ is. the longer we stay starting with the acutely growing risk— is. the longer we stay starting with the acutely growing risk of - is. the longer we stay starting with the acutely growing risk of a - the acutely growing risk of a terrorist threat growing by isis k, which is a sworn enemy of the caliban as well, we know isis k are seeking to target the airport and attack both us and allied forces and innocent civilian. that attack both us and allied forces and innocent civilian.— innocent civilian. that was a fraction of _ innocent civilian. that was a fraction of what _ innocent civilian. that was a fraction of what the - innocent civilian. that was a l fraction of what the president innocent civilian. that was a - fraction of what the president said. let's talk t

barbara plett usher at the white house.nd more to come later. right now, it is 12:22pm. let's turn to that story there. there's a clue. manchester united announcing they have re—signed the portuguese superstar cristiano ronaldo from juventus. let's head and talk to nesta mcgregorfull tub what do you make of it because yellow it is a busy 0ld what do you make of it because yellow it is a busy old trafford as well. -- it is —— it isa —— it is a busy 0ld —— it is a busy old trafford. this morning he went into the aventis training ground and said he wanted to leave. less than seven hours later a statement on the manchester net website saying they were delighted that he would be returning —— juventus. mind you delighted that he would be returning ——juventus. mind you it delighted that he would be returning —— juventus. mind you it has delighted that he would be returning ——juventus. mind you it has been an emotional day for united fans. they woke up with the news he could possibly be joining manchester city. 0nce manchester city

barbara plett usher reports.ombative governor had been banking on a run for a fourth term in office and now he is plotting furiously to salvage his job. just a year ago, he was arguably the most popular governor in the us, leading the fight against covid, a darling of the democrats. more like a pariah now, deserted at the party's highest level after the damning results of an investigation found he sexually harassed nearly a dozen employees. i think he should resign. what i said was if the investigation of the attorney general concluded that the allegations were correct, that, back in march, i would recommend he resigned. that is what i'm doing today. the report was five months in the making. investigators revealed a disturbing pattern of abusive behaviour that they said violated state and federal law. the investigation found that governor andrew cuomo sexually harassed current and former new york state employees by engaging in unwelcome and nonconsensual touching and making numerous offensive comments of a sugges

barbara plett usher, bbc news, los angeles.passed on documents to russian intelligence in exchange for cash. he was detained following a joint investigation by the germany and british authorities and will appear before a judge later today. here in the uk, there are calls for reforms to the a—level system after this year's results saw record numbers of students given top grades. the government is considering a range of options for the future grading of results in england. labour says the coronavirus pandemic has widened the gap between private and state schools. simonjones has this report. oh, my god! a bumper yearfor top grades, with traditional exams replaced by teacher assessment. i've got three a*s. oh, my god, that's fantastic! hard work rewarded after the most challenging of years — but concerns, too, about how the grades are being awarded. 0verall, more than 44% of pupils received the top a* or a grades, but in private schools that figure was more than 70%. in comprehensives, it wasjust over 39%. labour is asking why priv

virginia and pennsylvania, which killed nearly 3000 people. 0ur north america correspondent, barbara plett ushereople have signed this letter, including survivors and first responders. they have been asking for access to classified government documents on whether the saudi arabian government was implicated in the al-qaeda plot, whether saudi officials helped or funded the hijackers in any way. the saudi government says they were not involved. previous us administrations have refused to declassify the documents, seeing it as a national security issue. this letter says, is is 20 years since this has happened, no reason why it should be kept secret. joe biden made a campaign pledge to try to resolve this issue. if he does not do so, people who signed this petition say they will be obliged to stand against him partcipating in any memorial services in september. they are basically drawing a line in the sand. the white house has responded, the white house spokesperson has said thatjoe biden was still committed to that pledge. also that white house officials had met family members a number of times. bu

in a moment, we�*ll get an assessment from our correspondents barbara plett—usher in the us, and danjohnsone world�*s most populous nation. and for some years now, it�*s also been the world�*s most polluting nation. rapid economic growth here over the last 20 years, fuelled by plentiful coal, means that china is now the world�*s biggest emitter of carbon dioxide. it�*s responsible for more than one quarter of all the greenhouse gas emissions on the planet. half the coal burned in the world is burned here, and it�*s going up. china says it won�*t hit peak coal use for a further five years. its president, xijinping, says that by 2030 it will hit its peak in terms of carbon emissions. it will be a further 30 years, to 2060, until, he says, this country will be net zero on carbon emissions. china is, though, gradually changing its energy mix. it�*s investing a lot, in particular, in solar. it wants a neat, cleaner, less polluting air for its people. the government says the world should have full confidence in its climate plan, but it�*s clear that beijing doesn�*t want to endanger, as it sees i

barbara plett usher is in washington. le who are glad the president is taking the troops home.— taking the troops home. i think there are people _ taking the troops home. i think there are people here - taking the troops home. i think there are people here in i taking the troops home. i think i there are people here in washington you are glad the president has pulled the troops out of afghanistan, but there is a lot of concern about the manner in which it was done, looking like a humiliating exit for a superpower basically having spent 20 years there, now having spent 20 years there, now having the taliban take over the entire country again, the city, armed with rocket propelled grenades and ak—47s, and the americans scrambling for the exit — that's what it looks like. they are not happy with that image at all. a lot of the criticism is about the way this war has ended. we have just had a national security adviser at the white house press briefing again defending mr biden's exit here. he said that we were clear eyed that t

our state department correspondent barbara plett usher gave this assessment of president biden�*s speechrecent polls show that there is still a majority support in the country for ending the war in afghanistan orfor bringing troops back from afghanistan, but there's strong disapproval for how it was conducted. so the president here is focusing on how it was conducted and painting a sort of positive picture about steps that have been taken and that has been his approach. so he talked about having picked up the pace of the evacuation at the weekend. he said it was an extraordinary airlift. he talked about improving access to the airport for those who wanted to get there. he suggested that the perimeter — the us forces had extended the perimeter around the airport or the safe zone. he also talked about the vulnerability of it. he did say that it was dangerous, that there were possibilities of attacks by islamic state militants, and they were being vigilant. but he said that there was no reason to think that they couldn't keep up the pace of the evacuation, and he also said that they would h

barbara plett usher reports. this has been quite a year for britney spears.fe. the target of that anger was herfather, jamie, the man who became her conservator, after she apparently suffered a breakdown 13 years ago. it is a sort of guardian role, to handle all of her affairs. during recent court hearings, the singer accused him of using her money for himself, and of abusing his power. speaking directly to the judge, she said she wanted more control of her finances and her body. she even alleged that the conservatorship was forcing her to use birth control, when she wanted to have a baby. mr spears has also become a focus of anger for fans in the free britney movement. he says the attacks are unjustified, and that there are no grounds for removing him, but that he is now willing to step down to avoid a public battle with his daughter. when the time is right. the singer still can't spend her vast fortune as she pleases. it is likely her father will eventually be replaced by a professional accountant, but her fans and her lawyer are hailing what they see as a

more details from our washington correspondent, barbara plett usher: that ongoing chaosis chaos is aituation that could change by the hour. it is them to stay away from the gates because they wanted to avoid large crowds and they also said it would continue the possibility of being worried about an attack by the branch of the islamic state group and are looking at alternative routes to try to bring evacuees to the airport and the president has discussed a potential islamic state with his national security team. so far islamic state has not public threatened to attack kabul and it is notjust threatened to attack kabul and it is not just an threatened to attack kabul and it is notjust an enemy of the united states, it is an enemy of the taliban and issued a statement calling the taliban us stages and said it was going to start a new jihad. let's speak to our correspondent, danjohnson who's covering the story from delhi. it is still chaotic outside kabul airport and if anything it's only getting worse. it is sweltering hot and there are thousands of people crammed in tight spaces and to

barbara plett usher reports.n the remote eastern mountains of california, the dixie fire devours a car after echo of wild land. exhausted firefighters are battling ablaze unlike anything seen before. a perfect storm of severe head, drought and wind, plus the slope of the tender dry terrain is driving the rapid spread. this week, scientists directly linked the conditions to climate change. climate change doesn't cause wildfires or heatwaves or drought. what it does is make them a lot worse. that is what is happening in california, and the forecast does not look good. so people are learning the hard way how to live with the hard way how to live with the new normal. the fire has left a ghostly landscape in its wake. days ago, it dixie tour through greenville, and historic gold rush down, forcing residents to flee for safety. no—one died but homes and businesses were reduced to ash and rubble. evacuation warnings for other communities under threat have been issued in four account counties or stop some greenbelt resid

we can now speak to our correspondent barbara plett usher who joins us from los angeles. ending military troops to evacuate embassy staff — but a humanitarian disaster unfolding at a rapid pace — any sense of accountability or responsibility from the biden administration on this? well, not publicly. just this week president biden said we spent more than $1 trillion there over 20 years, we trained and equipped a big army. now it is up to afghan leaders to come together and to defend themselves against the taliban. and that's been his position all along. we understand his serving top generals advised against this move although they have not publicly criticised it. a former senior general bid or criticise it saying it would've been better to keep at least a small contingent of soldiers there and manage the conflict. and i think now is the administration is watching there is alarm at how fast the taliban is advancing but also frustration with how quickly the afghan army is collapsing especially as there are more of them. 300,000 to the taliban public 75,000. they are better eq

our state department correspondent barbara plett usher gave this assessment of president biden�*s speechcent polls show there is still a majority support in the country for ending the war in afghanistan and for bringing troops back but strong disapproval for how it was conducted. the president is focusing on how it was conducted and painting a sort of positive picture about steps taken and that has been his approach. he talked about picking up the pace of the evacuation. he said it was an extraordinary airlift on the weekend. he suggested that the perimeter the us forces had extended the perimeter and he also talked about the vulnerability of it. he did say it was dangerous and there were possibilities of attack by islamic state militants stop and would be saved. it is said that there was no reason to think that would keep up the pace of the evacuation and he said they would hope they could complete this by the deadline which is by the end of the month. the deadline he has imposed. he also said that military officials were discussing about the possibility of extending it if they had to a

for more onjoe biden�*s speech i spoke with our washington correspondent barbara plett usher.nk his critics will have felt he gave good answers. he very strongly defended his response to the chaos in afghanistan to the way his administration had responded to the requests, the crush of people who want to leave. he stressed they had managed to secure the airport, they were conducting the biggest airlift, one of the largest airlifts in history and that it was dangerous circumstances. and refused to basically acknowledge any responsibility for having planned badly, for miscalculating, for any failure. these are criticisms coming from not only lawmakers but warnings from his own diplomats, saying the evacuation should have happened more quickly. saying they should have anticipated the speed with which the taliban took over kabul. he was basically sticking to the defence of his decision, saying that nobody, the consensus is that the taliban would not act that quickly and the contingency plan had been in place and it was being executed. he gave a lot of details to the americans about

our correspondent barbara plett usher examines whether governor cuomo can survive.mocratic allies have all called on him to resign, including the house speaker, including the senate majority leader and now you have president biden adding his voice to that. he had stayed out as much as he could of this controversy, these allegations of sexual harassment had been swirling for many months until the investigation started five months ago. at that time, mr biden said there should be an independent investigation, if it finds against him, he should go. as you heard today, he said, yes, the investigation concluded that, so he should go. that is a very strong vote against mr cuomo. also the leader of the state assembly has said that he that he should not really stay in office under the circumstances. this is the man who would call for an impeachment if one were to be had, and he said he will conduct an impeachment inquiry. so, what we heard there from mr cuomo in his comments defending himself suggested that he was not planning to go, that he was going to fight on. but it may

let's join our correspondent barbara plett usher in washington.has said that efforts to get remaining eligible people out will go on beyond next tuesday's deadline. that's right, he said that the administration was looking at detailed plans to continue services to facilitate the departures, even after the military airlift ends, although he couldn't say what type of diplomatic presence they would keepin of diplomatic presence they would keep in kabul. he said the taliban had committed to continuing safe passage for those part of the evacuation effort. the taliban have said they would prevent afghans from leaving and i asked about that. a state department official said that was open to interpretation, but they had commitments and a taliban spokesman has said those with legal documents will be allowed to leave after tuesday. the report is afghans with legal documents are sometimes struggling to get to the airport. will they brave their way through when the taliban are in charge? everyone in the state department is well aware of that and it looks as t

to our political correspondent, helen catt, in westminster but first to our correspondent, barbara plett—usherarbara, joe biden says he's sticking to his deadline. but how much pressure is he under there to extend it? he is under a lot of pressure, especially on capitol hill, from both democrats and republicans stop there is overwhelming consensus it cannot be done by the end of the month and there's a real risk of leaving afghan allies behind. river happens express a lot of outraged that the taliban are setting the agenda. —— republicans. there is criticism for causing a dangerous distraction to the operation. they came away with a grim reality check. one said, even if you extend the deadline a bit, we still cannot get everyone out, the evacuation started too late. they are military veterans and there is pressure more broadly from veterans who say the sense of betrayal and anger is off the charts. they are trying to meet biden officials this week to get an extension. president biden has emphasised the security risk of staying longer, as you had. his administration is emphasising the success o

let's speak to our washington correspondent barbara plett usher. building criticism really of the biden administration, barbara? yes. biden administration, barbara? yes, certainly criticism _ biden administration, barbara? yes, certainly criticism here _ biden administration, barbara? 1&1: certainly criticism here in washington from the elite circles foreign policy pundits, diplomats, literary officers. we know mr biden's military generals advised against this move, they wanted to keep a force in the country to help stabilise eight so they were unhappy anyway but the execution is what is getting the criticism now. why did the administration seem so unprepared? why was the draw down so fast? why had they not anticipated the speed of the taliban takeover? intelligence officials had predicted the withdrawal of the us would cause the withdrawal of the us would cause the government to collapse but not so quickly, and they also thought it could result in a division of power, different power centres in the country, not a full taliban takeover. so there ar

let's speak to our correspondent in washington, barbara plett usher. ra plett usher. there will hav| watching politicians there will have been watching that taliban press conference as they incest that they want, you know, a peaceful transition, and they want to talk to the international community. what reaction has there been so far? 0utcome reaction has there been so far? outcome of the press conference has just ended, so i haven't seen any reaction here, but i think watching that press conference that the taliban where certainly hoping that's politicians here and elsewhere where watching. because although a lot of the questions were from afghan journalists and a lot of the answers were about trying to reassure afghans that things would be ok, that there was amnesty for everyone, that everyone should go back to work and so on. there is clearly an attempt to send a message internationally. he had several times one of the leaders on the desks say are there any international journalists desks say are there any internationaljournalists give questions to i

the final extradition hearing is under way in vancouver, and barbara plett usher is following developmentsackground to this case, and why is it so diplomatically sensitive? it's quite complicated because it's about more than just meng wanzhou. she was arrested in december 2018 on a us warrant. the americans wanted her extradited to the united states to face charges that her company, related to her company huawei violating american sanctions against iran. in those legal proceedings about the tradition have dragged on now for more than two years, and the first phase is wrapping up now. that is best way to determine if they would be enough evidence against her for her to stand trial in canada. then thejudge has for her to stand trial in canada. then the judge has to look at the merits of the tradition be asked or divided, and it is expected to be determined by the early autumn. why's it so sensitive? it really is riling relations between china and the us and china and canada. so with us, this case against the top huawei executive coincided with american action against huawei the company, redu

our north america correspondent barbara plett usher explained exactly what the group are asking of theere's around 1,700 people who've signed this letter. it includes survivors and first responders, and they have long been asking for access to classified government documents on whether the saudi arabian government was implicated in the al-qaeda plot — so whether saudi officials assisted or aided orfunded these hijackers in any way. the saudi government has always said it was not involved and previous us administrations have refused to declassify the documents, saying that it's a national security issue. now, this letter is saying, look, it's 20 years since this happened. there's just no reason why this information has to be kept secret. and furthermore, joe biden made a campaign pledge to try to resolve this issue, and if he doesn't do so then the people who signed this letter say �*we will feel obliged to publicly stand against him participating in any of the memorial services come september'. so they're basically drawing a line in the sand, and the white house has responded. the whit

the final extradition hearing is under way in vancouver, and barbara plett usher is following developmentss quite complicated because it's about more than just meng wa nzhou. so, she was arrested in december 2018 on a us warrant. the americans wanted her extradited to the united states to face charges that her company — related to her company huawei violating american sanctions against iran. and those legal proceedings about the extradition have dragged on now for more than two years, and the first phase is wrapping up now. that is basically to determine if there would be enough evidence against her for her to stand trial in canada. and then the judge has to look at the merits of the extradition request itself and decide whether she should be extradited, and that is expected to be determined by the early autumn. now, why is it so diplomatically sensitive? well, it's really roiled relations between china and the us and china and canada. so, with the us, this case against the top huawei executive coincided with american action against huawei the company, reducing its contracts and its influe

the bbc�*s us state department correspondent, barbara plett usher, gave me this update.port is contributing to what the pentagon spokesperson called a "fluid and dynamic" security situation that could change by the hour. so you have this statement put out by the state department warning americans not to go to the airport because of potential security concerns — unless they were told specifically to go. then the state department said it had issued this morning because it wanted americans to avoid these large crowds for security purposes, —— issued that warning, but also because it would make it more efficient to process the departures. then we've also now had these us officials telling american media that they are particularly concerned about the possibility of islamic state attacks — afghanistan's branch of the islamic state group — and they are looking at alternative routes to get evacuees to the airport. so it seems to be in flux at the moment. the white house did say that president biden had discussed with his national security team the potential of the is threat, amo

our correspondent barbara plett usher gave us her reaction to the briefing — and the message being given warning that the us embassy put out say not to come to the airport unless instructed to because of security threats which is a tougher message from the embassy than the ones they have been sending out so far. the pentagon officials were asked about that quite a lot and they did not give specific details about what this threat was. there are unnamed us officials being quoted in the american media just recently saying that one of the biggest current threats is the possibility of attack by the afghanistan branch of islamic state which is also opposed to the taliban. we know, we got a notice from the white house about the national security meeting president biden hasjust had national security meeting president biden has just had that this issue was raised at that meeting. at the pentagon briefing we were told that there was no reported change in what they called the enemy situation around the airport so it seems like there a great deal of heightened vigilance but said that, there is also

in a moment we'll hear from our correspondent barbara plett usher in the us, and danjohnson in delhi,for some years now it's also been the world's most polluting nation. rapid economic growth here over the last 20 years, fuelled by plentiful coal, means that china is now the world's biggest emitter of carbon dioxide. it's responsible for more than one quarter of all the greenhouse gas emissions on the planet. half the coal burned in the world is burned here, and it's going up. china says it won't hit peak coal use for a further five years. its president, xijinping, says that by 2030 it will hit its peak in terms of carbon emissions. it will be a further 30 years, to 2060, until, he says, this country will be net zero on carbon emissions. china is, though, gradually changing its energy mix. it's investing a lot, in particular, in solar. it wants a neat, cleaner, less polluting air for its people. the government says the world should have full confidence in its climate plan, but it's clear that beijing doesn't want to endanger, as it sees it, its economic powerhouse by weening itself of