US

The US is facing climate-related destruction across the country and tackling it is "a matter of life and death", the president said.

New York City and New Jersey saw unprecedented levels of rainfall.

Some residents became trapped in flooded basements and cars.

Four states suffered loss of life:

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said at least 23 people had died in his state - most of them stuck in their vehicles as the waters rose

The strike, near Kabul airport, killed 10 members of one family, including six children, relatives have told the BBC.

The US military said it was targeting a vehicle carrying at least one person associated with the Afghan branch of the Islamic State group.

The US was assessing and investigating reports of civilian deaths, it added.

American commanders said there were "significant secondary explosions" after the drone strike - implying there were explosives at the scene - which may have harmed people nearby.

The boy was playing outside his home in Calabasas in the Santa Monica mountains, west of Los Angeles, when the lion pounced on him.

The child was dragged across the front lawn, but his mother ran out and struck the mountain lion with her bare hands until it let go of her son.

The animal was later found and shot dead by wildlife authorities.

The boy suffered injuries to his head and torso, but is now in a stable condition at a hospital in Los Angeles, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Eighteen aircraft will transfer people to third countries from safe sites outside Afghanistan, the Pentagon said.

Many thousands of Afghans are crowded outside Kabul airport, desperate to flee the country after the Taliban swept to power on 15 August.

President Joe Biden said on Sunday that the US had evacuated nearly 28,000 people in the past week.

"There is no way to evacuate this many people without pain and the heart-breaking images you see," Mr Biden told reporters at the White House, adding: "We have a long way to go and a lot can still go wrong."

The joint commitment was made following the first leaders' meeting of the so-called Quad - a group formed in 2007.

The vaccines - expected to be the single-dose Johnson & Johnson product - are set to be manufactured in India.

The US said the "massive joint commitment" would initially focus on delivering doses to South East Asia.

On behalf of the Government of the United States, he said Sir Michael was a great statesman who guided Papua New Guinea’s independence and truly earned the title “Grand Chief.”

“The United States honours the commitment to democracy that Prime Minister Somare demonstrated as Papua New Guinea’s first prime minister,” stated Blinken.

“His five decades of public service are a lasting legacy. In this time of mourning, please accept our profound sympathies and our reassurance that the United States will remember Papua New Guinea’s inspirational first leader.”

National Guard troops have been sent en masse to Washington DC, to deter any repeat of last week's deadly riots.

The FBI has warned of possible armed marches by pro-Trump supporters at all 50 state capitols.

Meanwhile, the Biden team has set out plans to reverse key Trump policies.

In the hours after Mr Biden sets foot in the White House, he will embark on a blitz of executive actions designed to signal a clean break from his predecessor's administration, according to a memo seen by US media.

Among the actions:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorised the US-made jab about a week after approving a Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine which is now being distributed.

The US has agreed to purchase 200 million doses of Moderna, and six million may be ready to ship now.

The country has the world's highest numbers of Covid-19 deaths and cases.

It has recorded at least 311,529 deaths and 17,269,542 infections, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Dr Moncef Slaoui told US network CNN the plan was to "ship vaccines to the immunisation sites within 24 hours" of a vaccine being approved.

The comments come amid a surge in coronavirus cases across the country.

The US has recorded more than 12m cases and 255,000 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

These are the highest tolls registered anywhere in the world.

American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and its partner BioNTech submitted an application on Friday for emergency authorisation in the US of their Covid-19 vaccine.

The grim milestone came on the same day as global coronavirus cases exceeded 50m.

The US has reported about a million cases in the past 10 days, the highest rate of infections since the nation reported its first novel coronavirus case in Washington state 293 days ago.

The country reported a record 131,420 Covid-19 cases on Saturday and has reported over 100,000 infections four times in the past seven days, according to a Reuters tally.