what we hope and pray that finally, after a0 years, the people of pakistan will have peace and stability. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. you rarely get a better stage for addressing the planet than the un general assembly, and president biden has taken the opportunity to lay out his vision of america�*s position in the world. just weeks after the withdrawal from afghanistan, mr biden talked of relentless diplomacy rather than relentless war. he also stated his case for emerging stronger from the covid crisis, and made commitments to greater american funding for developing countries struggling with the effects of climate change. barbara plett usher has more. his excellency, joseph r bidenjunior, president of the united states. this was president biden�*s chance to show that america is back at the table. we stand, in my view, at an inflection point in history. he called for unity to face growing global threats at a time when many allies are sceptical about america�*s leadership, especially after his largely unilateral decision to withdraw from afghanistan. we�*ve ended 20 years of conflict in afghanistan, and as we close this period of relentless war, we�*re opening a new era of relentless diplomacy. a constant theme was us tensions with china, framed as a defensive democracy versus autocracy, although he never called beijing out by name. we are not seeking a new cold war or a world divided into rigid blocks. the united states is ready to work with any nation that steps up and pursues peaceful resolution to shared challenges, even if we have intense disagreement in other areas, because we�*ll all suffer the consequences of our failure. mr biden�*s debut was seen as a test of american credibility after the confrontational years of donald trump, and by that standard, he offered reassurance. as we look ahead, we will lead. we will lead on all the greatest challenges of our time, from covid to climate, peace and security, human dignity and human rights, but we will not go it alone. this is an opportunity for a reset, but us action on covid and climate change will be crucial for convincing the world that america really is back. barbara plett usher, bbc news, new york. the australian state of victoria has been struck by a magnitude 5.8 earthquake. the epicentre was in the regional town of mansfield, about 180 kilometres north—east of melbourne. there are reports emerging of significant damage in some parts of the state. you can see on the map just where mansfield lies — it�*s a small town of a few thousand people. but this quake was felt across the state of victoria, as well as in canberra and as far as sydney in new south wales. the government agency, geoscience australia, measured its depth at ten kilometres. earthquakes of this magnitude are pretty unusual in australia. according to the authorities, there are around 100 a year which go above magnitude three. the capital in victoria, melbourne, has sustained some damage. abc journalist madeleine morris is there, and joined me a short time ago. this is chapel street in windsor, anyone who has visited will have heard of it as a very famous dining destination. behind my shoulder, i can�*t zoom in on my phone but hopefully you can see behind me the damage to the building. there is a burger bar there, and all of the bricks on top of it have fallen down. fortunately no—one was injured when this happened, no—one in the building above, no—one in the building below. everyone is ok. this is the most visible damage we have heard so far from this massive quake in australia, 5.8 the first one. we actually had a second one about half—an—hour later, and that was four on the richter scale as well. these are apparently the biggest earthquakes we have felt in victoria since european settlement. it wasn�*t just felt here in melbourne, it was felt as far away as canberra, adelaide and down in tasmania as well. pakistan�*s prime minister, imran khan, has said preventing women from accessing education in neighbouring afghanistan would be un—islamic. he called for the leadership to be inclusive and to respect human rights. in an interview with our world affairs editor, johns simpson, mr khan laid out the conditions that would need to be met for pakistan to formally recognise the new taliban government. in peshawar, on pakistan�*s north—west frontier, afghanistan feels very close. the streets are thronged with afghan refugees. in the 1990s, the taliban had their origins in the afghan refugee camps here, and pakistan has always been accused of setting up the taliban and helping them take power in afghanistan — something pakistan denies. but when the taliban were thrown out in 2001, pakistan�*s influence in afghanistan fizzled out for 20 years. in our interview, imran khan clearly didn�*t want to seem to be too close to the taliban, but he was careful not to be too critical of them either, over the question of the rights of afghan women, for instance. the women are very strong. i feel, give them time. they will assert their rights. how much time? years? a year, two years, three years. three years? but at the moment, john, it�*s just too early to say anything, because it has barely been a month. after 20 years of civil war, they have come back into power. the taliban —— the word just means islamic students — originally owed their existence as a movement to religious schools in pakistan like this one, the zuberia in peshawar, where they were recruited and radicalised. the main teacher, sheikh rahimullah, even helped the taliban to distribute the weapons they captured from american soldiers. "the previous taliban government didn�*t understand the system," he says. "this time, they do understand politics "and international relations. "they�*re not as harsh now as they were before." the new taliban leaders in afghanistan are certainly trying to give the outside world the impression that they�*ve changed. imran khan hopes they have. it�*s very encouraging. they have said they will have an inclusive government. they have said that women can work, can have education. they will give amnesty to everyone. the soil won�*t be used for terrorism by anyone. you know, these are encouraging statements. so, you are approving the way the taliban are operating? no, i�*m approving of what they have said. no—one can tell where afghanistan goes from here, but what we hope and pray, that finally, after a0 years, the people of afghanistan will have peace and stability. but the taliban didn�*t bring peace and stability before and there�*s no evidence they can do it this time. in that case, it wouldn�*tjust be afghanistan that suffered, it would be pakistan as well. john simpson, bbc news, islamabad. an american intelligence agent who was travelling with cia director, william burns, to india this month has reported symptoms consistent with havana syndrome. this mysterious illness that has struck scores of american diplomats and spies. the victim has not been identified but reportedly has had to receive medical attention. it comes after two similar incidents last month in vietnam. the syndrome was first identified in cuba in 2016 and no—one quite knows what causes it, but some wonder if it is a new, secret form of surveillance. we can now spealk to tracy walder who�*s a former cia operative and fbi special agent. first of all, can you give us a sense of what the symptoms and effect of this syndrome is on individuals?— individuals? thank you for havin: individuals? thank you for having me. _ individuals? thank you for having me, david. - individuals? thank you for having me, david. some l individuals? thank you for | having me, david. some of individuals? thank you for - having me, david. some of the symptoms reported i have seen a sort of invisible. we are talking about dizziness, lightheadedness, possible fainting, nausea and temporary blindness, things you seem to be most of the symptoms reported. be most of the symptoms reported-— be most of the symptoms reorted. ., ., ., i. reported. how worried would you be that someone _ reported. how worried would you be that someone travelling - reported. how worried would you be that someone travelling with i be that someone travelling with william burns, for example, seems to have fallen foul of this? i seems to have fallen foul of this? ., seems to have fallen foul of this? . , , this? i agree, it is extremely worrisome. _ this? i agree, it is extremely worrisome, earlier— this? i agree, it is extremely worrisome, earlier this - this? i agree, it is extremely l worrisome, earlier this month, we had an incident with the vice—president, kamala harris, and two of her eight that had a scare and it seems to be quite targeted attacks. they were initially reported in 2015 and 2016 but now we are seeing they are much more targeted and that is much more concerning. find is much more concerning. and ou are is much more concerning. and you are saying _ is much more concerning. and you are saying targeted attacks so there is little doubt in your mind that this is just some unfortunate viral infection or what have you but a very deliberate action? —— aides. i a very deliberate action? -- aides. , , aides. i will be very transparent. - aides. i will be very transparent. when | aides. i will be very - transparent. when when aides. i will be very _ transparent. when when these were first reported in 2015 and 2016, i wasn�*t sure what they were but as we are starting to see more information coming out regarding the attacks on who the victims of them have been, it is really important to me that these are quite targeted. right. you get that. do you think the authorities, that they get it? obviously, if someone is falling victim to this and a serious issue, they need to be looked after? 50 need to be looked after? so blink need to be looked after? sr blink secretary of lincoln, did have a meeting with members of the state department to address this, and the members of the intelligence community, are in harm�*s way and i think they are deeply concerned about this and not to mention that folks who have been a victim of these probably were not able to receive insurance coverage for any of the medical bills they have racked up, mri, things like that, and this is something the community is starting to take seriously and bligh to see that —— blinken. microwave energy is what we think it may be. spice versus spy' think it may be. spice versus spy, is how we see it from the outside, may be that because —— spy outside, may be that because —— spy versus spy, do you think that there is a wider possibility how this is used? i think that is a great question, i think this is a testing ground to see how it works and how it is perceived. by members of america and the west if you will. and i think it could become a broader issue in terms of military, they could be targets as well but i think right now they will be rather isolated to the intelligence community and the embassies. irate community and the embassies. we will wait to see the full impact of that. thank you very much indeed. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: the young man who has gone from a rickshaw driver to an international ballet school graduate, all in underfive years. benjohnson, the fastest man on earth, is flying home to canada in disgrace. all athletes should be clean going into the game. i�*m just happy that justice is served. it is a simple fact that this morning these people were in their homes, tonight those homes have been burned down by serbian soldiers and police. all the taliban positions along here have been strengthened, presumably in case the americans invade. it's no use having a secret service which cannot preserve its own secrets against the world. and so, the british government has no option but to continue this action even after any adverse judgment in australia. concorde had crossed the atlantic faster than any plane ever before, breaking the record by six minutes. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: president biden promises a new era of �*relentless diplomacy�* instead of �*relentless war�*, as he delivers his first presidential address to the un general assembly. a 5.8—magnitude earthquake strikes southern australia. tremors are felt in melbourne, canberra and sydney. let�*s return to the earthquake in australia now, and as i mentioned the epicentre was in the town of mansfield in victoria. mark holcombe is the mayor of mansfield shire and joins me live now. thank you very much, indeed for your time. thank you very much, indeed for your time. what thank you very much, indeed for your thank you very much, indeed for our time. ~ ., .,, thank you very much, indeed for your thank you very much, indeed for our time. ~ ., .,, thank you very much, indeed for your thank you very much, indeed for our time. ~ ., ., ~ thank you very much, indeed for your thank you very much, indeed for our time. ~ ., .,, ~ ., your time. what was it like for ou? it your time. what was it like for you? it came _ your time. what was it like for you? it came as _ your time. what was it like for you? it came as a _ your time. what was it like for you? it came as a real- your time. what was it like for you? it came as a real shock. you? it came as a real shock for us, you? it came as a real shock for us. we — you? it came as a real shock for us. we are _ you? it came as a real shock for us, we are a _ you? it came as a real shock for us, we are a tourist - you? it came as a real shock for us, we are a tourist town and the high country with snow and the high country with snow and lakes. lots of outdoor adventure, but never thought we would have an adventure like an earthquake. having said that, it has been the third earthquake and at the last 80 years, none in the last 25. right, | years, none in the last 25. right, i have seen some pictures from melbourne of a degree of damage, not a huge amount but some buildings have struggled, what about mansfield? no, we are very fortunate, we have had no structural damage. in some houses, walls have cracked, but nothing structural that we have been able to ascertain at this stage, and nobody has been heard, most importantly, so everybody in our community assay. absolutely, and scott morrison is in new york at the moment, he said the sense of distress and anxiety has perhaps been caused. you are the mayor of the town, how have people responded? as i said, it was very much a shock to us, because it is not something we are used to dealing with, and streets in our major town, the shire, everyone raced out of the buildings, they were on the streets after the earthquake. fortunately, there have been no after—shocks of any significance, so i think we are pretty — we have gone through bushfires, et cetera, so we are a pretty resilient town. that is a very good point you make — yes, bushfires, the impact of covid and the degrees of lockdown you have been through, and now you have an earthquake, not much left to throw at you! laughs. no, the kitchen sink comes to mind, that�*s all that is low. yes, correct, it has been a terrible year. the snow season has been cut short because of covid, tourism has been cut short because of covid, and an earthquake is not a good run of events. well, i wish you the very best, thank you very much for your time. thank you, david, thanks for having me. president biden has been advocating forfunding president biden has been advocating for funding for climate change, and he wants to place the us at the forefront of climate issues. the scale of the challenge is greater when you consider the extent to which global warming accelerates the loss of biodiversity, worldwide. it means that more than 1 million plant and animal species are now threatened with extinction. wildlife populations have dropped on average by 68% since 1970, that is unprecedented, and damage to our ecosystems has a direct impact on others, our livelihoods, food security and health. experts say that protecting those ecosystems is one of the best ways to counter climate change in itself. i think boris engineers by excavating waterholes and fertilising the land. money is the key — there is a figure, but for every dollar that governments do spend a nature, $4 governments do spend a nature, $a is spent on agriculture, forestry and fisheries, which exploit and degrade it. i spoke to the director—general of the wwf about what steps are being taken to meet the challenge. first of all, let me say that today�*s events with that of states, than talking about that as a signal that this is the type of the agenda, alongside climate change, it is considered as dangerous as climate change, and this is really important because we need to understand that we need to be and are nature —positive society. sorry to interrupt you on that, thatis sorry to interrupt you on that, that is an important point, nature —positive is not a phrase that comes to mind. carbon neutral, carbon negative, carbon neutral, you have been a poor relation of this climate change issue. yes, and i think we believe that we need, as a world, to embrace a global goalfor embrace a global goal for nature embrace a global goalfor nature as much as we have embraced in paris a global goal for climate. the two together will support each other, because, as i said earlier, there is no way we can address climate change without protecting nature, and climate change is one of the main drivers of the loss, so that is clear, and it is a new dimension in political debate. 0ne dimension in political debate. one of the critical areas would seem to be this 30 x 30, as people call it, so protecting 30% of the earth�*s land and ocean by 2030. it has a good ring to it. does it have a scientific basis? yes, and assigns is very clear that unless we start reversing — altogether reversing — the loss of forests, the loss of wildlife, particularly on that but also in the ocean with fishing — some of these ecosystems will reach a tipping point, that means they will start to grading on their own, so we need to stop that by protecting 30%, globally, of the nature that is left on the planet but also manage unsustainably the rest, and thatis unsustainably the rest, and that is the important part because we need to change how we produce and consume food, how we create infrastructure, and how it is dominated technology that we have, what we need to put into place, the funding we need to redirect, and not to destroy the environment — develop but not destroyed. that is where it sounds so desperately difficult to change some of the things that are the absolute base plates of our civilisation. it is difficult, but first of all we understand it is necessary, and that is a major cultural revolution. we have taken it for granted up until now, nobody began to understand the consequences for us of nature loss such as climate change, is disastrous. the risk of an action is much higher than the $700 billion that we do spend defects nature loss. then i should say this, we today expand, an equivalent amount of what is needed to save nature on the planet and at the wrong way, we are giving subsidies to countries that destroy the soil polluted through over fishing, destroy the soil polluted through overfishing, we through over fishing, we subsidise through overfishing, we subsidise forestry, that is not sustainable. we need to redirect those funding to sustainable practices. that was marco of the world wide fund for nature. another village has been evacuated on the carary islands as the cumbre vieja volcano on las palmas continues to erupt. more than 6,000 people have fled and hundreds of homes have been destroyed since the eruption began on sunday. authorities say emergency services are powerless to stop the lava in its path. four earthquakes hit the island shortly after the new eruption vent opened. five years ago, kamal singh, was just finishing school and taking his first ballet class. now at 21, the son of a rickshaw driver has gone on to become one of the first indian students to have graduated from the prestigious english national ballet school in london. have a look at this. classical music. translation: when i dance, it feels like everything _ translation: when i dance, it feels like everything is - translation: when i dance, it feels like everything is magic. l feels like everything is magic. when i first started, i didn�*t ever imagine that something like this would happen in my life. now, bally is my dream, my career, my passion. —— ballet. ballet means everything to me. like most people in india, he grew up watching dance forms, but when he saw a particular bollywood form, he was instantly drawn to ballet. translation: i instantly drawn to ballet. translation:— instantly drawn to ballet. translation: i hadn't seen an hinu translation: i hadn't seen anything like _ translation: i hadn't seen anything like this _ translation: i hadn't seen anything like this before, . translation: i hadn't seen anything like this before, allj anything like this before, all jumping around, this is what i like. ., ., ~ ., ., ., like. he got to know one of the dancers in _ like. he got to know one of the dancers in the _ like. he got to know one of the dancers in the film _ like. he got to know one of the dancers in the film that - like. he got to know one of the dancers in the film that he - dancers in the film that he watched ran a school in delhi, and so he decided to try out one of his classes. normally, a 17—year—old boy is already late to start ballet. he was already flexible and his rotation was really amazing. at the end of the class, i told him, you should be a professional dancer. initially, his parents were very apprehensive about him learning ballet, as not many people in india learn ballet, let alone take it up as a career. translation: ~ ,.., ., translation: we were scared and wondered what _ translation: we were scared and wondered what ballet _ translation: we were scared and wondered what ballet is _ translation: we were scared and wondered what ballet is and - translation: we were scared and wondered what ballet is and how i wondered what ballet is and how we go about learning theirs. with the help of fernando, he was allowed to take up ballet professionally. after three yea rs of professionally. after three years of intensive training with fernando, he went on to get a place at the national ballet school. translation: ~ ., , , ., translation: when i applied to the enalish translation: when i applied to the english national _ translation: when i applied to the english national ballet - the english national ballet school, i was very, very happy, but at the same time i was nervous, as i knew that we couldn�*t afford this, financially, as my father only earns about $a or $5 each day. he managed to raise money for his tuition fees through crowdfunding. back was selected for the year have a long programme with viviana durante. we asked the students to send us images of them dancing. i really liked kamal�*s classicism. kamal hopes that by sharing his story he can encourage other indians to take up ballet professionally. quite an achievement. let me remind you of our main story — the focus on the united nations general assembly as leaders of the us and china have been announcing new commitments to tackle climate change. joe biden said he would pledge more than $11 billion every year for climate —related aid to developing nations, while president xijinping developing nations, while president xi jinping says his government will not find any new coal power stations abroad, though didn�*t mention plants in china. that is it for now. goodbye. hello there. another warm day in the offing for many with spells of sunshine once the early mist and patchy, dense fog clears away. however, further north we do have a different complexion to the weather for the day ahead. some cloudy skies with some rain, heavy to start and the risk of autumnal galesjust on qa the autumn equinox. that�*s all being brought by this advancing area of clouds, it�*s a low pressure system. we do have a weaker weather front ahead of it. so, in contrast, it will be quite a mild start in the north whilst it could be a little bit chilly down to seven or eight in the south. it is here we will see the best of the sunshine once that mist and fog clears away, particularly for the far south. a little bit more cloud for england and wales and the odd spot of drizzle first thing, but that clears away. this is the main rain player through the day, the northwest highlands and the islands initially. it will tend to turn a little bit lighter as it pushes southward, some brightness ahead of it and some brighter weather with showers following behind. but a breezy day even in the south as well, and the winds do escalate towards the evening. so, temperature wise, a cooler day, we are into cooler air behind that weather front, but as recent days, 22 to possibly 23 in the spots in the south and east. through the evening overnight, look at those showers packing in, the winds really strengthen, there is a risk of gales across the far north and west and a cooler feel. while further south, our weather front starts to introduce a bit more cloud, so it will be milder here as we start thursday morning. a little bit of mistiness and the odd patch of fog. we still got that high—pressure close by, but you can see that deep area of low pressure whisking away toward scandinavia. behind it is just introducing that cooler air for a time. but it is just a brief incursion of chilly airfor the far north. i think you will notice a temperature dip a little bit in southern areas as well, with some cloud coming and going but still plenty of dry and bright weather. 0ur weather front, however, just bringing the increased risk of drizzly, cloudy weather into northern and western areas. so, temperaturesjust a degree or so down on those that we are going to see through the day ahead. but then, the wind turns back to the southwest. in fact, by the weekend it�*s turning towards the south actually. so, dragging that warmer air back to all parts. and some fairly settled weather, but always the risk of some showery rain out towards the west. as ever, there�*s more on our website. bye— bye. this is bbc news, the headlines: president biden has used his first address at the united nations general assembly to promise a new era of "relentless diplomacy" instead of "relentless war". mr biden said that battling climate change and coronavirus will not be defeated by a force of arms, or a new cold war. an earthquake has struck the australian state of victoria, causing significant damage to buildings. the epicentre was in the regional town of mansfield, about 180 kilometres north east of melbourne. hundred of people have been evacuated. emergency services say tremors were felt as far away as sydney in new south wales. pakistan�*s prime minister, imran khan, has been talking to the bbc about the taliban takeover in afghanistan. he said neighbouring countries would make a collective decision about whether or not to recognise the new government.