jon sopel, bbc news, texas.where president trump hasjust been visiting emergency teams. all eyes on how the president deals with this. how much is riding on it for him? well, sophie, you started your bulletin tonight with the situation in north korea. that is undoubtedly the biggest international challenge that donald trump faces, but if you look at the domestic scene, well, this is undoubtedly the biggest thing he has yet to deal with since he took office? january. so far you'd have to say he's handling it very well. in terms of the immediate aftermath of the storm, he was pulling all the levers of government that he could to make sure that the federal rescue effort was in harmony with what was happening at state level as well. you say he's been here today. he is due to leave from this airport very shortly. he was also very careful to avoid the criticism that he was diverting resources away from where the rescue and recovery effort was under way. he went to corpus christi, where the situation is not too bad he'

our north america editor jon sopel reports.ald trump on his weight to a rally in phoenix, arizona, with a tricky sales job rally in phoenix, arizona, with a tricky salesjob on rally in phoenix, arizona, with a tricky sales job on his rally in phoenix, arizona, with a tricky salesjob on his hands. the man who liked to be a crowd—pleaser and throughout campaign delighted audiences with his plans to withdraw us forces from afghanistan. a waste of money and american blood, he said. but last night, as they played hell to the chief, he was prepared to hit the reverse thrust button on that policy. my original instinct was to pull out. historically, i like following my instincts. —— hail to the chief. but all my life, i have heard decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the oval office. but what this flip—flop means in practical terms is hard to assess. the president has not said how many additional troops he will send or how long they will be there. he said is about results, not timelines. and even though kabul mi

jon sopel there.ole in all creatures great and small, and the harry potter films, has died. he was 91. his family have described him as, "gruff, elegant, twinkly, and always dignified, and celebrated by those who knew him, loved him and enjoyed his work." david sillito now looks back on his life. it was all creatures great and small that truly made robert hardy a household name. for 12 years, he played the vet siegfried farnon. biggins? well, i hold you responsible for biggins, james. the character mirrored his own personality, which was described today by his family today as a bit gruff, but also elegant and twinkly. and it was a role that needed a bit of grit. i remember a day when we did a lambing sequence all through the night, in the dead ice—cold of winter, deep snow and endless frost. our own agency — an international feature service. it pays well. in the ‘60s, he'd appeared opposite richard burton, his old friend from his days at oxford, in the spy who came in from the cold. often, i don't kno

interference in the us election. jon sopel, and cute. have become poorer as a result of the government's state pension reforms, according to new research. the institute for fiscal studies say the women are losing — on average — more than £30 a week while the government is saving more than £5 billion a year. but ministers say the changes ensure pensions are fair and sustainable forfuture generations. emma simpson has been looking at the plight of some of the women affected. no trips to the pictures. no trips to the pubs. my life, my lifestyle, has changed. i can't do the things i used to do. shirley from aberdeen is 61. she can't work because of ill health, and she can't get her state pension either for another five years. the effect it has had on me... ending it all. because... having to... rely on your family. but my son said to me, he said, "mum, you brought me up. you always gave me when you had it. now it's my turn." but it's still hard. for decades, the pension age has stayed the same — women retired at 60, men at 65. but by 2020, b

jon sopel, bbc news, washington. of national mourning has begun in sierra leone in the wake of the devastating flooding and mudslides that struck near the capital of freetwon on monday. officials say more than 100 children are among the 400 people who are known to have died when part of a hillside collapsed. and at least 600 people are still missing. from freetown, martin patience reports. in freetown, the ambulances are rushing not to the hospital but to the main mortuary. they are ferrying the dead — victims buried alive by a landslide. the relatives wait outside to collect their bodies. the stench of death is overpowering. emotions are raw. bishi lost her sister. daniel wasn't home when disaster struck. but he tells me six members of his family are dead, including his wife. they died, they died. the grief and anger is tangible here. this is a nation mourning the loss of hundreds. and rescue workers say that authorities are hampering their rescue efforts. this gaping scar was once a neighbourhood. now a landscape c

jon sopel bbc news washington. the more i spoke to phillip lack of allah who formerly served in the justice department and help prosecute watergate during the nixon era. he joined me a short time ago from baltimore. president trump says there's nothing to investigate but what does a grand jury indicate to you. i think beat the principal loves significance of the fact that bob mallrats impaneled a grand jury. is that he has concluded that there are specific. incidents advance and transactions of that he wants to pursue and the reason for invoking a grand jury this early. is to be able to issue subpoenas that compel the production of documents and in order to. use a subpoena in that way the prosecutor has to be able to identify those particular. events or transactions that he thinks are worthy of investigation. if the president right vote in being concerned about the scope of this invention investigation the tech may stray into areas that. aren't directly involving these allegations of collusion between his campaign

jon sopel bbc news washington. and a brief time ago i discussed the strategy president trump laid out with lieutenant general david barno. who phony commanded combined forces in afghanistan? general bonnet thank you very much for coming in up now the administration won't go into numbers it went given the idea about how long this commitment might lost but in your experience. how many troops is it going to take to turn this? bush may be two different questions i think the actual number they're considering is probably the range of about four thousand or five thousand two. adding on top of maybe eighty eight hundred americans that are there now doing both advisory work with the afghan military and also counter terrorist forces are special operator. show it's probably about a fifty percent increase if they put in for five thousand more whether that's gonna be enough to actually quote unquote win this decisively or achieve victory or even. be able to. for style a a taliban victories on now section to the sunset but. the

jon sopel, bbc news, washington. irish prime minister, leo varadkar, has called for "unique solutions" to preserve the relationship between the uk and the european union after brexit. during his first official visit to northern ireland, mr va radkar raised concerns that the irish border could become a barrier to free trade and commerce. our ireland correspondent chris buckler reports. leo varadkar crossed the irish borderfor the first time as ireland's prime minister to set out his concerns about what could happen to it after brexit. he arrived in belfast having upset unionists with recent comments about brexiteers. but, inside queen's university today, the new taoiseach was keen to talk about solutions, not divisions. at a time when brexit threatens to drive a wedge between north and south, between britain and ireland, we need to build more bridges and fewer borders. he is a taoiseach of a new generation. the referendum over the good friday peace agreement marked the first time he was eligible to vote. he said the c

jon sopel bbc news washington. and a brief time ago i discussed the president's comments with the former us defense secretary republican senator william cohen. along with wrong christie who formerly served as an adviser to george w. bush. a signature can if i can start with you you've had condemnation from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. you cut the minute tree speaking out. but you've also had business leaders resigning over these comments but president trump is apparently without regre. just how dangerous is his stones. well i think you saw the of the real. president trump come out. during this last press conference. he had suppressed that. in a previous press conference in which reading from a script. and then got into trouble when they were not descriptive bit. but you saw the real love potion trump this isn't what he feels. there should be no question about it there are no two sides to hitlerism there are no two sides from nazism their honor to side so to racism. and for the president to say both sides a

jon sopel, bbc news, washington. of the other stories making the news: prosecutors in france have ruled out a terrorist motive after a man drove a car into a pizza restaurant in a paris suburb. a teenage girl was killed and eight other people injured, five of them seriously. the incident happened to the east of paris, in the village of sept—sorts, in the seine—et—marne region. pro—government supporters in venezuela have been holding a rally after president trump's assertion that he hadn't ruled out military intervention there. the country's president, nicolas maduro, announced nationwide civic and military exercises for later this month. during a visit to colombia, the us vice president, mike pence, said he hoped a peaceful solution would be found to the crisis in venezuela. the british man credited with stopping hackers from spreading the wannacry computer virus has himself appeared in court in america on unrelated hacking charges. marcus hutchins denied writing and distributing code which could help steal banking d

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.rofessor at northwestern university in illinois and an employee of britain's oxford university have been arrested in the united states following a nationwide manhunt. 42—year—old wymondham lathem and 56—year—old andrew warren were detained in california. police want to question the two men in connection with a fatal stabbing at mr lathem's apartment in chicago. a british computer expert has appeared before a judge in las vegas, charged with creating software to steal bank details. prosecutors said 23—year—old marcus hutchins had admitted writing and selling the malware code, but his lawyer said his client denied all the charges against him. our correspondent james cook was in court in las vegas. this was supposed to be a relatively brief procedural hearing, but actually it went on for a reasonable amount of time as both sides, the government side and the defence lawyer, debated and discussed with the judge whether or not marcus hutchins should be released on bail, albeit on some pretty

jon sopel in washington, thank you. at its lowest level in more than a0 years. there's also been a slight rise in average earnings. our economics correspondent andy verity is here with the details. jane. yes — if you look at the total number of unemployed people — it's 1.48 million. part of the reason it's such a low rate — 4.4% — is because it's a smaller and smaller percentage of an ever—growing workforce — 32.1 million people. now with the unemployment rate that low — in theory wages should take off — because employers need to pay more to attract staff and workers have greater bargaining power. that hasn't been happening. pay rises did improve slightly — the average was 2.1%. but we used to take it for granted that pay would rise faster than inflation. that changed in the wake of the financial crisis, when pay rises — that's the blue line here — fell behind price rises — so we couldn't buy as much. in 2014 pay rises improved. but this year they flopped back again below inflation. in spite of low unemployment, earning

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.ur with reports we're getting from north korea that kim jong—un has been briefed on a plan to fire missiles towards the us pacific territory of guam. the territory a tiny island home two us airmen and naval bases. —— to usairand —— to usair and naval bases. the bbc‘s yogita limaye joins me from seoul. what's the reaction? we expect the president to speak in a couple of hours, its liberation day in south korea, will be celebrated by north korea, will be celebrated by north korea as well. the details of that statement, published in the north korean official news agency today, basically says kim jong—un carefully examined this plan and discussed it for a long time with his generals. but it also says he is going to watch for a little more time what they describe as the foolish and stupid behaviour of the us before they decide to make that strike. if south korea was expecting the rhetoric to calm down a bit, that doesn't seem to be happening, even though yesterday the south korean president

jon sopel, bbc news, leesburg, virginia.ictim in india has given birth to a baby girl, weeks after a plea for an abortion was rejected by the country's highest court. the victim was allegedly raped by her uncle, who has been arrested. the supreme court court turned down the request after a medical panel said her pregnancy was too far advanced. police have put a red alert on south africa's borders to prevent the zimbabwean first lady from fleeing the country. grace mugabe is accused of beating a 20—year—old model in a hotel room nearjohannesburg with an extension cord. police expected mrs mugabe, 52, to turn herself in on tuesday, but she failed to show up. the nobel prize winning activist, malala yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the taliban for advocating education for girls in pakistan, has confirmed she's been accepted into 0xford university. she'll read philosphy, politics and economics, starting this october. around a dozen sailors from the united states navy are facing punishment over a collision with a philippine

jon sopel, bbc news, texas. more heavy rainfall is expected in india's financial capital of mumbai.is already at a virtual standstill after rains flooded streets and caused transport chaos. the state chief minister has urged everyone to stay indoors. muslims from around the world are in saudi arabia for the start of the annual hajj pilgrimage this week. it's estimated that two millions pilgrims will travel to islam's holy sites of mecca and medina. saudi officials say they have increased security this year, with the red crescent providing two and a half thousand aid workers and volunteers. britain has asked for the un security council to meet on wednesday to discuss the escalating violence between rohingya insurgents and myanmar security forces in rakhine state. thousands of muslim rohingyas have fled their homes in recent days following the clashes. and there's a lot of extraordinary weather out there at the moment. this is a storm off russia's black sea coast, near the resort of sochi. not just one twister was spotted, but two or three, right next to the olympic village. and here

jon sopel in washington, thank you.eared dead in west africa after a massive mudslide in sierra leone. torrential rain caused a hillside to collapse on the outskirts of the capital, freetown, burying houses in mud. the number of casualties is expected to rise, with hundreds of bodies thought to be still trapped under the debris. 0ur correspondent umaru fofana is in sierra leone, 0ur diplomatic correspondent james robbins reports. snatched video on a mobile phone shows a torrent of mud and water carrying away everything in its path. this driver risked his life on a bridge all but overwhelmed by the flash floods. freetown is an overcrowded coastal city with few defences against heavy rains. they come every year, but not usually with quite such ferocity. about 250 bodies have been recovered so far. the authorities fear there could be many more trapped in the ruins of houses. the bbc‘s umaru fofana is there. i went down to the spot myself and you could see people using their bare hands, pulling up corpses from beneath the m

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.l tower disaster had their final chance today to submit ideas for the scope and remit of the public inquiry into the tragedy. 330 submissions are thought to have been made, but some campaigners still fear the inquiry won't be wide—ranging enough. our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds, reports. day after day, the names of the grenfell victims are confirmed. today, fatima choukair, just 11, hashim kedir, a favourite uncle, firdaws hashim, his daughter. how, why did they die? this man, the chairman of the grenfell tower inquiry, sir martin moore—bick, has to answer those questions but, when he asked the community what other topics he should consider, he got a rough ride. this is why it's so important to get the terms of reference right and for you to tell me what you think it should cover. we did, and then you dismissed them on tv. i think you've misremembered what i said. thomasina hessell‘s been in a hotel since the fire, caught between her old life before grenfell and an unknown

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.ani, who's in the afghan capital, kabul, for us now. president trump says he is sending more troops. what has been the response? the afghan president ashraf kearney has welcomed the announcement. he said that it shows that america would stand with afghanistan until the end. security in afghanistan has been deteriorating. the government here only controls about 60% of the country, and there had been fears that if president trump had ordered a complete withdrawal of american forces, that would have been in another boost for the taliban. mr trump's comments on pakistan and his tough stance on pakistan is another thing that has gone down well here. afg ha n thing that has gone down well here. afghan security services have long claimed that pakistan is supporting the taliban and have asked for more to be done to crack down on these so—called safe havens for militants. those comments by president trump, though, have been met with anger in pakistan, where the authorities have consistently den

jon sopel, bbc news, leesburg, virginia.other of two when he crashed into her, was riding a bike with no front brakes. charlie alliston hit 44—year—old kim briggs in east london in february last year. he denies manslaughter and another charge. tom burridge reports. kim briggs was killed when crossing the road in her lunch break. she was knocked down by a man on his bicycle. in what's thought to be a legalfirst, the cyclist, charlie alliston, is charged with manslaughter. moments before the crash, he was travelling at around 18 miles an hour. in the final metres, he slowed to between ten and 1a miles an hour. charlie alliston told the court he shouted out to kim briggs to warn her before he reached this yellow crisscross area on the road. a few metres later, he shouted again. he then said he swerved to the left to try and pass her on the inside. kim briggs was already out in the road. he told the court that at the last moment, she stepped back and into his path. this was his bike. it's a fix geared track bike. crucially, with

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.ne confounded pollsters and commentators, taking many by surprise. very few had expected theresa may to lose her parliamentary majority. for the past three years the british election study has followed a panel of the same 30,000 voters, asking them hundreds of questions about their political views and choice. it offers the most detailed look at the issues which most concerned the electorate. our home editor, mark easton, has been examining the results. and what we're saying is the conservatives are the largest party. they don't have an overall majority at this stage. it was the election result that almost no one forecast. certainly not prime minister theresa may who had anticipated the result would strengthen her mandate. i felt, i suppose, devastated really. yes, a little tear. so what happened ? the gold standard of electoral analysis is regarded as the british election survey which followed a panel of 30,000 voters before, during and after the campaign. now we can reveal what was re

jon sopel expressed deep concern about. jon sopel, live in washington.an end up two years behind their more affluent classmates, by the time they finish secondary school. the findings from the think tank, the education policy institute, suggest youngsters who've been eligible for free school dinners, which is a key measure of poverty, are increasingly lagging behind by the time they sit their gcses. 0ur education editor branwen jeffreys reports from darlington, one of the areas judged to be failing to close the attainment gap. nicole gibbon isn't afraid of tough jobs. she took on a darlington school in crisis, worked to win trust from parents. some families, and darlington certainly isn't unique to this by a long stretch, social mobility is incredibly low and don't leave the area. schools here get less funding than london, and nicole told me many families have never moved from darlington. i have to take mum, dad, nan, grandpa with me on thatjourney, so that we're all working together and there's nobody behind, we're all together. what are the kind of fea

the first time at odds with many observers of his us administration, as our north america editor jon sopel billed as the last supper. anthony scaramucci last night having dinner at, where else, the restaurant in the trump hotel just hours after he'd been unceremoniously dumped. at roughly the same time came this extraordinary tweet from donald trump. what? are you kidding? well, no, he wasn't. the swearing in of generaljohn kelly as chief of staff being seen as a new beginning for this administration. he will do a spectacularjob, i have no doubt, as chief of staff. so could this mark the end of what's been a turbulent, dysfunctional six months for all the president's men? the former national security adviser was the first to go. fired afterjust 2a days in the job, after he lied about his contacts with the russian ambassador. three months after being fired, trump's first communications director, the rather anonymous mike dubke, handed in his resignation. he cited personal reasons. then came the super sacking. the high profile and brutal dismissal of the former fbi director, james comey. inf

mr sessions also says his crackdown could target the press, as our north america editor jon sopel explainsrump is never happier than when he is out of washington. this is where he belongs. an adoring crowd in west virginia, the problems of russia, collusion, special counsels and grand juries a long way from these country roads. have you seen any russians in west virginia or ohio or pennsylvania? are there any russians here tonight, any russians? cheering and applause. the russia story is a totalfabrication. it is just an excuse for the greatest loss in the history of american politics, that's all it is. he didn't mention the special counsel by name but had him in his sights when he said this. i just hope the final determination is a truly honest one. a grand jury is made up of members of the public meeting behind closed doors to consider the evidence that has been gathered. they can force people to testify or to hand over evidence. they will decide whether the material is strong enough to proceed to a criminal trial. but crucially, they don't decide if a potential defendant is innocent or

our north america editor jon sopel reports. # amazing grace... memorial service for heather heyer, a protest and moan down by a white supremacist in cha rlottesville on and moan down by a white supremacist in charlottesville on saturday. but farfrom an in charlottesville on saturday. but far from an occasion when a nation comes together, america seems more bitterly divided than ever. they tried to kill my child to shut her up. well, guess what? you just magnified her! this was cha rlottesville magnified her! this was charlottesville on friday night. racist groups chancing juma crowes will not replace us, carrying ku klux klan style torches, although marching to the slogan white lives matter. yesterday the president blamed both sides for the violence that ensued. you had a group on one side and a group on the other and they came at each other, and it was vicious and horrible, horrible thing to watch, but there was another side. there was a group on this side. there was a group on this side. you just called them the left. they came violently attack

our north american editor jon sopel reports.n suspended, the president returned to washington this morning from his holiday to meet the director of the fbi and the attorney general following the weekend violence in charlottesville. meanwhile in the university of virginia town, there were scuffles outside the court where james alex fields appeared this morning on murder charges after a car ploughed into antiracism protesters. oh, my god, people are badly hurt. oh, my god. the president's "everyone‘s to blame response" and silence until now lit a firestorm of criticism. so why has donald trump been so unusually tongue tied over this? well, the number of fully paid—up white supremacists may be small. the number who have sympathies is probably far larger, and they were among the most vociferous supporters of him last november. certainly, his surrogates have condemned the far right, but donald trump reluctantly so today, 48 hours on, a dramatic shift in language from the embattled president. he sounded tense. there was no freewheelin

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.tal of seoul where the president is at his first press conference since taking office. it marks the anniversary of 100 days of presidency. he has addressed conflicts with north korea. we have translation, let us cross live now. i try to hear the hurt of the people, and i want to become president for all. i want to help the victims and their families. i wa nt to the victims and their families. i want to try to share the hurt of the people. the speech made for remembrance day, i shared my commitment and i tried to correct my past wrongs. the national role tried to be re—established for the country, and remove the past corruption is —— corruptions and to move on without stopping. the power agencies are making efforts to be the agencies for the people, and we have apologised for past wrongdoings to the people. this new wave, the new work stream has been made. there are more challenges that we are facing, so, fellow countrymen, i am very pleased to introduce new policies for the people that

our north america editor, jon sopel, reports. i'm going to be brief, i'm going to make my remarks informal... well, he was right about that, wasn't he? it is day one on the job, and certain things are instantly clear. anthony scaramucci does not lack for self—confidence, swagger or bravado. but i love the president, and i'm very, very loyal to the president. this would be his first and last appearance at the white house podium. ten days later, the new communications director is gone, the white house blowing him a kiss goodbye. but let it not be said it was an uneventful ten days. it told the bbc he would be straight—talking. you know, one of the things i cannot stand about this town is the backstabbing that goes on here, 0k? where i'm from, where i grew up, we're front—stabbers. we tell you exactly where we are from, and what we are doing. turbulent does not begin to describe it. in a foul—mouthed tirade, he went to war with the two most senior people in the west wing who are not the president. in his conversations with the new y

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.hain bhs, dominic chappell, is to be prosecuted by the pensions regulator forfailing to provide information to an investigation into its sale. bhs went into administration last year, causing 11,000 people to lose theirjobs and leaving a £571 million pension deficit. our business correspondent emma simpson gave us the latest. this saga is far from over. you join me at what used to be bhs‘s flagship store on oxford street. you just might be able to make out a huge curtain covering up the refurbishment work inside. but today, what has been revealed that dominic chappell has been summoned to appear before brighton magistrates‘ court next month forfailing to provide information and documents without a reasonable excuse. the pension regulator wants this material because it's still pursuing mr chappel over whether he avoided his responsibilities to the bhf pension scheme. you may remember back in february, sir philip green finally stumped up £363 million to settle his case with the regulator.

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.us secretary of state rex tillerson said pakistan needs to adopt a different approach. said pakistan needs to adopt a different approachlj said pakistan needs to adopt a different approach. i think the president was clear, this entire effort is intended that pressure on the taliban, to have the taliban understand you will not win a battlefield victory. we will not win one but neither will you. at some point we have to come to the negotiating table and find a way to bring this to an end. this is a regional approach, and part of why it took as long as it did is because we chose to notjust focus on afghanistan, but we took the contents afghanistan, but we took the co nte nts of afghanistan, but we took the contents of review of our relationships in pakistan, and our relationships in pakistan, and our relationship with india, and we see this approach as requiring an integration of all three of those strategies and use pakistan and india to also bring pressure to bear on the situation in af

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.ounced he was suspending hugged up the first one to go from the manufacturing council, ken fraser, african—american who was objecting to the comments after saturday, after the initial riots. the president immediately responded by talking about his company as having ripped drug prices. there has been a haemorrhage of support from those councils. they have left one by one. another one, the strategic policy form, people started resigning from that. now the president has suspended them. in a sense, who ca res. suspended them. in a sense, who cares. a couple of advisory councils, it's pretty tedious and who cares? but many of them are the great and good of american business and manufacturing. when donald trump got elected he promised to bring manufacturing back to the us. these we re manufacturing back to the us. these were the people who were going to help him do all that, supposedly, recreate those jobs and start manufacturing their stuff within the continental us. now he has had to ditch

jon sopel, bbc news, washington. for more on this washington correspondent david willis joins us. man has done and said things that would have demolished anyone else‘s reputation and he has come sailing through. does any of this stop him from doing the things he will select to do? it is a good question. we will have to wait and see. he was the president of the business. he appointed himself as the ultimate dealmaker, or at least described himself as such. one of the first things he did was to set up the first things he did was to set up two councils tube boostjobs and the manufacturing industry, and to deliver on the promise that he made while he was campaigning for the presidency to make america great again. in recent days, we have seen resignations from those bodies, a trickle became a flood. then, word came out that members of one of these groups were thinking of basically disbanding the group itself. the president heard about that and he is of course the man that and he is of course the man that likes to say, you're fired, rather than be told as such. he decided to jump the gu

jon sopel bbc news leesburg virginia. and a reminder of our top story at least thirteen people have been killed and over one hundred injured when a van to lubricate plowed into crowds. but one of the busiest tourist attractions in barcelona in spain. police are treating the incident as a terrorist attack the vehicle sped through the popular loss around last pedestrian marketed we've from side to side of the crowded boulevard. during the height of the tourist season. to recipe made but police now say neither suspect is the driver of the van involved. the so called islamic state has claimed responsibility. and remember you can find constant updates on that story and all the rest of the day's news website and to see what we're working o. to checkout off so the page. i'm john o'brien thank you for watching bbc world news america. with the bbc news out. of vertical videos are designed to look around your lifestyle. so you can swipe your way. to the news of the day. and stay up to date with the latest headlines you can trust. d

jon sopel bbc news texas. and as you saw bad jones say pull was reporting from the grainger earlier today he was talking to people at that very same trailer park. and that is just behind me where people lost their homes and at jane talking to some of the mothers who are trying to get that children back to school at this moment who have lost their homes. this is such a difficult time this is a hard time of transition anyway for kids go to school explode when you have no home. no clothes and you don't even know what you're spending the next night. yeah well today even start to laura what's that priority right now. well at the priority is my suddenly where are you staying and then that is the whole question of the clean up but as the matter of the small town. said to me today it's a moment of hall break but also a moment this fight we call warming and i think that that's definitely true you see the heartbreakers people gosh that homes. see that that possessions been completely ruined and rats and begin to count t

our north america editor, jon sopel, is in washington for us. so what is he expected to say?on this and the decision—making process itself has been absolutely tortuous because within the white house, you have had the faction of the generals wanting to reinforce america's existing troop levels so that the afg ha n existing troop levels so that the afghan army does not collapse and it has increased capability. on the other hand, you have had the nationalist wing, the populist wing, saying, let's get out of afghanistan, there is no good staying there any longer. that faction was represented by steve bannon and there is no coincidence his resignation last friday commons as donald trump is about to announce the new policy today. so the expectation must be there will be additional troops sent first, and possibly as well involving nato troops. so interesting to see if other troop levels from other countries like britain go up as well. the two things donald trump has two avoid. he was so critical of barack obama, has two avoid. he was so critical of ba rack obama, saying has two avoi

jon sopel bbc news washington. well the baby sis noah bakeries in charlottesville for us and join me just a short time again. of the people have been coming here to lay flowers and light candles for had a higher who died. fighting for what she believed and i'm joined now by doctor ways bellamy who is the vice mayor of charlotte spell. i mean you harrods and president trump today is it too little too late. undoubtedly in before we speak about forty five are like to offer. sincerest condolences to have their sister heather as well as the officers who lost their lives. is is extremely tragic thing when we have domestic terrorism in white supremacist coming drop into a crowd full of people. heather was a freedom fighter in every sense of the word and we want to make sure that we represent for her. charlottesville will be stronger together because of her i can assure you that. you say you can share charlottesville about how you going to do it will we have several initiatives already lined up tonight is going to be a com

our north america editor, jon sopel, has been following all the action for us. i'm going to be brief, i'm going to make my remarks informal... well, he was right about that, wasn't he? it is day one on the job, and certain things are instantly clear. anthony scaramucci does not lack for self—confidence, swagger or bravado. but i love the president, and i'm very, very loyal to the president. this would be his first and last appearance at the white house podium. ten days later, the new communications director is gone, the white house blowing him a kiss goodbye. but let it not be said it was an uneventful ten days. he told the bbc he would be straight—talking. you know, one of the things i cannot stand about this town is the backstabbing that goes on here, 0k? where i'm from, where i grew up, we're front—stabbers. we tell you exactly where we are from, and what we are doing. turbulent does not begin to describe it. in a foul—mouthed tirade, he went to war with the two most senior people in the west wing who are not the president. in his conversations with the new y

jon sopel, bbc news, leesburg, virginia. stay with us on bbc news.after his capture by so—called islamic state, a yazidi boy is reunited with his family in canada. washington, the world's most political city, is today assessing the political health of the world's most powerful man. indeed, i did have a relationship with miss lewinsky that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. in south africa, 97 people have been killed today, in one of the worst days of violence between rival black groups. over the last 1ten days, 500 have died. chanting: czechoslovakia must be free! russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 118 submariners who died on board the kursk. we're all with them now, within our hearts. the pope has celebrated mass before a congregation of more than 2.5 million people, in his hometown of krakow. "stay with us, stay with us," chanted this ocean of humanity. "well, well," joked the pope, "so you want me to desert rome?" this is bbc news. the latest headlines: spanish police say they've foiled a second terror attack, shooting

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.ong the 400 people now known to have died in a mudslide in sierra leone's capital freetown. heavy rains brought down a mountainside, and more than 600 people are still missing. from freetown, the bbc‘s martin patience. in freetown, the ambulances are rushing not to the hospital but to the main mortuary. they are ferrying the dead — victims buried alive by a landslide. the relatives wait outside to collect their bodies. the stench of death is overpowering. emotions are raw. bishi lost her sister. daniel wasn't home when disaster struck. but he tells me six members of his family are dead, including his wife. they died, they died. the grief and anger is tangible here. this is a nation mourning the loss of hundreds. and rescue workers say that authorities are hampering their rescue efforts. this gaping scar was once a neighbourhood. now a landscape changed forever. it's the scene of a recovery operation on the hoof. diggers have been drafted in but there are no sniffer dogs, not enough bod

but as our north america editor, jon sopel, reports, there was no detail about how many extra troopsld trump on his way a rally in phoenix, arizona, with a tricky sales job on his hands. the man who likes to be a crowd pleaser, and who throughout the campaign delighted audiences with his promise to pull us forces out of afghanistan, "a gigantic waste of money and american blood," he said. but last night, as the band played hail to the chief, he was preparing to hit the reverse thrust button on that policy. my original instinct was to pull out, and historically, i like following my instincts. but all my life i've heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the oval office. but what this flip—flop means in practical terms is hard to assess. the president would not say how many additional troops he would send, nor commit to how long they would be there. the mission would bejudged by results, not timelines. and although kabul may be a long way from charlottesville, recent events in virginia were clearly on his mind when he said this: loyalty to our nation dema