welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines — an olympic sprinter from belarus who was ordered home takes refuge at the polish embassy in tokyo and is granted a humanitarian visa. i'm sarah mulkerrins with all the latest from the games in tokyo, where this morning's athletics is set for a aoo—metres hurdles battle between norway's world record holder karsten warholm and the usa's rai benjamin. as the delta variant leads to higher covid infection rates across the world, rich countries are urged to share their excess vaccine doses. vaccines are critical. they are inequitably being rolled out. africa, in the last month according to who, has had

an 80% spike in deaths. this is completely unacceptable and unethical. and scaling the heights of physical endurance — we meet the teenager championing the new olympic event of sport climbing. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. it's 7am in the morning in singapore and 8am in tokyo, where a sprinter from belarus who refused her team's order to fly home early from the olympics has been granted a humanitarian visa by poland. krystsina tsimanouskaya sought refuge in the polish embassy in tokyo after claiming she was taken to the airport against her will. she had criticised her coaches on social media. rupert wingfield—hayes reports.

this was the moment earlier this evening when krystsina tsimanouskaya stepped onto polish soil. safe from the belarusian officials she says were forcing her to leave tokyo against her will. the saga had begun to days earlier with this social media post. next, ms tsimanouskaya was spotted at tokyo's hamada airport about to board a flight to istanbul. but it's very clear she didn't want to go. the belarusian team says that claim is nonsense, that she was being sent home because of her emotional and psychological state. but the polish government has decided to believe her story and to offer refuge. what's going on here in tokyo has very much the whiff of history about it because back in the days of the cold war, olympic defections were a regular event.

the last one i can find was in los angeles in 1984. now we have someone defecting from belarus, a country that's been described as the last dictatorship in europe, and she's going to poland, a country that was once part of the soviet bloc and is now very much the opposite. last year, belarus was rocked by huge protests demanding an end to the 27—year rule of alexander lukashenko. poland was a vocal supporter of these protests, and it's clear today's offer of refuge to ms tsimanouskaya fits in with warsaw's support for the opposition. "every person who cannot return to belarus for political reasons and wants to come to poland can count on our support," the deputy foreign minister says. "ms tsimanouskaya is under the care of the polish state. she wants to come to poland. we will grant her all support." back injapan, there is relief this drama has been resolved so quickly. but with six more days

till the olympics close, tokyo must be a little worried that other athletes could be tempted to follow ms tsimanouskaya's lead. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo. let's go live to tokyo and speak to our correspondent mariko oi. has there been much press coverage injapan? what is the reaction to this story injapan? i saw it being covered by several news programmes this morning but it is definitely not the top story. i grabbed it some newspapers for you this morning and it is still very much about that surgeon covid—i9 cases and also how the government is now asking people to stay at home unless your symptoms are really severe, indicating maybe that hospitals are getting somewhat overwhelmed. but also still a lot of coverage as you can see here on the metals being won by

japanese athletes yesterday in wrestling as well as gymnastics. as for sport papers, a lot of excitement about japanese baseball team beating the united states in this article saying two more victories to the gold medal. but when it comes to the belarusian athlete, i thought it was interesting on social media that some were comparing about how she, a white athlete, was treated compared to the ugandan athlete who tried to escape earlier in the games. of course it's not as simple as their skin colours. one tried to just their skin colours. one tried tojust run their skin colours. one tried to just run away from his hotel room, the other sought help through unofficial channel through unofficial channel through the ioc. others are also speculating whether the fact that she did not seek asylum injapan may have refuted to the way she was treated because of course japan does not grant asylum to many people, including any athletes. this is just one example of the

controversies that have surrounded the games in tokyo from the start. are they casting a shadow on the games surge, the pandemic we have talked about, has? in surge, the pandemic we have talked about, has?— talked about, has? in a way, es. as talked about, has? in a way, yes- as you _ talked about, has? in a way, yes- as you say. _ talked about, has? in a way, yes. as you say, it's - talked about, has? in a way, yes. as you say, it's been i talked about, has? in a way, l yes. as you say, it's been one scandal after another, even leading up to the opening ceremony, we had a number of scandals surrounding the composer, the creative director and so allegations of bullying and so allegations of bullying a classmate to racism to sexism. and now of course we have the pandemic and these top news headlines making around the world. here injapan, though, it's been quite interesting that those global headlines that we keep covering have not been getting that much attention, including the fact that the first ever transgender athlete competing yesterday. it's very much a bit about the covid—i9 situation and the supplements by the japanese athletes here.—

supplements by the japanese athletes here. well, i imagine that is as _ athletes here. well, i imagine that is as you _ athletes here. well, i imagine that is as you would _ athletes here. well, i imagine that is as you would expect i athletes here. well, i imagine| that is as you would expect the top concerns forjapanese media being that of what is happening injapan. thank you for your thoughts. much more about this on our website, as well as more detail about what life is like in belarus these days. just log to bbc.com/news or download the bbc app. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. fighting in a major city of afghanistan has been intensifying. there are fears lashkar gah in the southern helmand province could be the first provincial capital to fall to the taliban. a tv station is said to have been seized by the taliban and thousands of people have been fleeing rural areas. the uk and us say the taliban may have commited war crimes. translation: | would - like to point out that we have now a very clear vision and plan for taking back control. our security forces are ready. they have reassembled, know the plan and are getting stronger by the day.

we will keep engaging intensely in diplomacy to advance negotiations between the afghan government and the taliban with the goal of a political solution, which we believe is the only path to lasting peace. the uk and iran have summoned each other�*s diplomats in a row over last week's deadly attack on an oil tanker off the coast of oman. the uk, us and israel blame iran for the attack in which two crew members, a briton and a romanian, were killed. iran says it had nothing to do with the incident. the death toll from the floods in china's central henan province last month has risen sharply to at least 302. almost 13 million people were affected and nearly 9000 homes were damaged. the city reported a year's rainfall within the space of three days. still to come a bit later

in the programme, the former prime minister of new zealand and co—chair of the independent panel for pandemic preparedness and response, helen clark, will be giving us her views about the covid—i9 pandemic. but first — we looked at the fate of the belarusian athlete krystsina tsimanouskaya at the start of newsday and how she sought refuge from her country's own officials at the olympics. let's take a look now at what else has been happening at the games with sarah mulkerrins in tokyo. always good to have you on the programme. just want to start by asking you about the transgender athlete laurel hubbard. she made olympic history by entering the games, but it didn't go her way. what happened 7 yes, good morning from tokyo. this was the big talk at sports last night here in tokyo at the olympics. laurel hubbard making history as you say becoming the

first transgender athlete to compete at the limit games in a different gender category to that which she was born. did not quite go her way in terms of the sporting action. she attempted herfirst lift of the sporting action. she attempted her first lift at 120 kilos in the snatch and she found that and her to further attempts at 125 kilos also endedin attempts at 125 kilos also ended in failure. attempts at 125 kilos also ended infailure. her cup attended ended and she exited. and a chinese weightlifter went on to win the competition with an olympic record combined total of 320 kilograms. now her inclusion in the olympic games has sparked a debate. she has been under intense glare and spotlight in the media possibly attention is with the world of journalists at the weightlifting last night, not a sport usually covered to that degree. and it has caused debate because people think that it debate because people think thatitis debate because people think that it is a step for progressive, more in conclusive policies in sports while others

argue and question its fairness in women's sports. let's hear from two perspectives on this. this is a moment that i've been personally waiting for and working for for the last over a decade since i came out as a trans athlete. and, you know, to see laurel on the world stage at the highest level of competition representing her country, representing the trans community and representing the values of sport at the highest level with such poise in the midst of transphobic comments and such poor media coverage about her presence has really been incredible. laurel hubbard is a| veteran male lifter. the only reason that - laurel hubbard has been able to qualify for the olympics is because laurel has - that male advantage. laurel hubbard spoke of everything to the immediate with a prepared statement last night and one of the phrases she included in that what you wanted to pay tribute to the new zealand olympic committee.

she said that she knows her up in these games has not been entirely without controversy and that they have been wonderful and she was so grateful to them. so those are her words after she made history at the olympic games. we can now speak to beau newell, the national programme manager at pride in sport australia, which helps sporting insitutions to include lgbtq people. he joins us now from newcastle in new south wales. firstly, just get your reaction to that moment of history last night here in tokyo. it to that moment of history last night here in tokyo.— night here in tokyo. it was an interesting — night here in tokyo. it was an interesting one. _ night here in tokyo. it was an interesting one. at _ night here in tokyo. it was an interesting one. at the - night here in tokyo. it was an interesting one. at the start, | interesting one. at the start, i interesting one. at the start, i was — interesting one. at the start, i was really excited and i think— i was really excited and i think many were to actually see lauret— think many were to actually see laurel me — think many were to actually see laurel me all the requirements from _ laurel me all the requirements from the — laurel me all the requirements from the ioc, the international weightlifting federation and of course — weightlifting federation and of course the new zealand olympic committee but it was disappointing and the less because she did everything that was required of her to get to the games but unfortunately it did not— the games but unfortunately it did not pan out to be as successful as what we had hoped _ successful as what we had ho ed. �* ., ., successful as what we had hoed. �* ., ., ., hoped. and what do you say to the critics _ hoped. and what do you say to the critics out _ hoped. and what do you say to the critics out there _ hoped. and what do you say to the critics out there who - hoped. and what do you say to the critics out there who argue j the critics out there who argue that there is an unfair advantage in athletes like laurel hubbard taking part? than

laurel hubbard taking part? an interesting debate, and i think the reality is there is a lot of nuance involved for any trans _ of nuance involved for any trans person that would note their— trans person that would note their experience in the affirmation of their gender is going — affirmation of their gender is going to _ affirmation of their gender is going to be very unique. not one — going to be very unique. not one in— going to be very unique. not one in the _ going to be very unique. not one in the same story we can use _ one in the same story we can use when— one in the same story we can use when deciding our governments and our policies in this space _ governments and our policies in this space. like i said, the reatity— this space. like i said, the reaiity is— this space. like i said, the reality is that in this point in time _ reality is that in this point in time from the ioc guidelines and international weightlifting federation rules, laurel met all those _ federation rules, laurel met all those requirements we also know— all those requirements we also know that there is additional conversations happening as we speak— conversations happening as we speak about what trans inclusion may look like for all sports — inclusion may look like for all sports moving forward. and i think— sports moving forward. and i think it's _ sports moving forward. and i think it's an interesting point because _ think it's an interesting point because the reality is there will always be these perceptions and thoughts about whether — perceptions and thoughts about whether someone has a potential advantage in sport and also the debate — advantage in sport and also the debate about whether we should be making spore as fair as possible. but the reality is for is _ possible. but the reality is for is not _ possible. but the reality is for is not fair. if sport was fair— for is not fair. if sport was fair currently be having o—draws in team games and having— o—draws in team games and having no— o—draws in team games and having no people on the podium

from _ having no people on the podium from the — having no people on the podium from the 100 metre dash. all receiving _ from the 100 metre dash. all receiving gold medals. sol think— receiving gold medals. sol think there's a lot more involved in the conversation that— involved in the conversation that he _ involved in the conversation that he will sometimes let on. would — that he will sometimes let on. would you look at different sports specifically? i know the ioc try to get the sport federations themselves to make the rules and only further consultations. is it something each individual sport what to look at? i each individual sport what to look at? ~ look at? i think so. i generally _ look at? i think so. i generally think - look at? i think so. i | generally think that's look at? i think so. i i generally think that's a reality— generally think that's a reality and i think actually that's— reality and i think actually that's an opportunity and a good — that's an opportunity and a good thing because the reality is at _ good thing because the reality is at this— good thing because the reality is at this point in time with the — is at this point in time with the ioc— is at this point in time with the ioc blanket policy, we know that the — the ioc blanket policy, we know that the 1—size—fits—all rule does — that the 1—size—fits—all rule does not _ that the 1—size—fits—all rule does not actually apply or does not apply— does not actually apply or does not apply effectively for all different sporting codes. and the reason for that is because we look— the reason for that is because we look at _ the reason for that is because we look at the different dynamics that sports are played in the _ dynamics that sports are played in the reality with these in policy— in the reality with these in policy is _ in the reality with these in policy is the exact same for rugby— policy is the exact same for rugby union for example as it is for— rugby union for example as it is for table tennis. and those are two— is for table tennis. and those are two very unique and dynamic sports _ are two very unique and dynamic sports in — are two very unique and dynamic sports in the way that they are played — sports in the way that they are played. so i think it's understandable and actually hope — understandable and actually hope it _ understandable and actually hope it does on the path of

putting _ hope it does on the path of putting a let more expectation on the — putting a let more expectation on the international sporting federations to come up with their— federations to come up with their own rules. the challenge i suppose _ their own rules. the challenge i suppose in that space will be asked — i suppose in that space will be asked to — i suppose in that space will be asked to what those rules will look— asked to what those rules will look like. _ asked to what those rules will look like, particularly take into— look like, particularly take into account the fact that there _ into account the fact that there is— into account the fact that there is not necessarily a great _ there is not necessarily a great deal of evidence or research in this space for some sports. — research in this space for some sports. so _ research in this space for some sports, so it might be a challenge but an opportunity nonetheless.— challenge but an opportunity nonetheless. ., ,, . nonetheless. thank you so much for our nonetheless. thank you so much for your time _ nonetheless. thank you so much for your time on _ nonetheless. thank you so much for your time on the _ nonetheless. thank you so much| for your time on the programme. national programme manager with pride in sport australia. certainly a certificate moment last night in tokyo with the eyes of the world on laurel hubbard. did not quite go her way and the thanks from her afterwards to the support that she had gotten from her olympic committee. she had gotten from her olympic committee-— committee. yes, such a fascinating _ committee. yes, such a fascinating topic - committee. yes, such a| fascinating topic indeed. and, sarah, what do we have to look forward to today? talk us to the main events. below us we have the open water swimmers training as it will be

in action tomorrow so they might talk about that tomorrow but play more coming up on day 11. let's start off then with. .. 11. let's start off then with... the men's100 metre hurdles but all eyes on this woman here. some mobiles back in action with the beam after pulling out of earlier. also we have... on the track, the morning session has the men's a00m hurdles final which will feature norway's karsten warholm. later on in athletics, it's the women's 200m and 800m track finals, the men's pole vault final, and there will be a new star — as this man, the current world champion, american sam

kendricks, tested positive for coronavirus just before the games. he had to remove himself from the competition. and sport climbing makes its olympic debut. it's one of five new events at these games. we have been enjoying the so much with the drama they can bring. let's take a look at the medal table now. at the start of day 11 of the games, the united states has the most overall medals with 64 all up, but it's china that has more gold medals with a whopping 29 sparklers. after china and the us, we have the hosts japan, australia, who always do amazingly for a country with a relatively small population, and after that we have

the russian olympic committee and team gb. that is about it for me here from tokyo bay. back to you. always great to have you on the programme with your insight. if you want to get in touch with me, i'm on twitter, @bbckarishma. including some of the new sports that cigarette was mentioning there. look forward to hearing your thoughts. at you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme, it's considered one of the hardest gold medals to win — we meet the australian teenager competing in the new olympic discipline of sport climbing. 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 i and unconditional withdrawal of all iraqi forces. 100 years old and still full of vigour, 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 newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our top story: poland has given a humanitarian visa to an olympic athlete from belarus who resisted efforts to send her home from the tokyo olympics

for criticsing her coaches. hundreds of thousands of people in china are being confined to their homes as the country tries to contain its largest coronavirus outbreak in months with mass testing and travel curbs. it's all linked to the fast—spreading delta variant. the central city of zhuzhou in hunan province ordered over 1 million residents to stay home under a strict lockdown for the next three days. also, authorities say seven cases of the delta variant have been detected in wuhan, where the global pandemic is thought to have started. for more on this, i've been speaking to helen clark, former prime minister of new zealand and co—chair of the independent panel for pandemic preparedness and response. i asked if richer countries are to blame for not helping poorer countries when it comes to vaccinations. as long as transmission is raging anywhere in the world, the whole world has a significant problem, and the facts speak for themselves

on the vaccine roll—out. around 40% of people in advanced economies, under 20% in emerging economies have been vaccinated, and then if we look at current centres of the pandemic like indonesia, i understand the vaccination rates are probably still down around 8% or so. so, the inequitable roll—out is a huge problem, but so is not seeing the course on basic improving public health measures which will help stop covid. there's no one answer here. a whole lot of things have to go right to stop it in its tracks. yeah, sorry to jump in there, but your panel's findings recommended that rich countries fund $19 billion to help poorer countries set up those systems that you are taking about, access vaccines and treatments. have you got any pledges of real commitment and support so far? the pledges aren't big enough yet. we said that by the 1st of september, the high—income countries could and should redistribute 1 billion doses to lower and low—middle income

countries, and by mid—next year, another billion. we have an overall shortage of vaccines in the world because production wasn't ramped up enough, but we could but we could redistribute. high—income countries have ordered twice as much as what they need. it needs to get out there, and by the way notjust before the expiry date. developing countries can'tjust snap to and administer vaccines which have got very little lifetime left on them. we need a lot more coordination and cooperation yet. you know, it's been a year and a half since the pandemic first started. you've been speaking about some of these issues for a while. how frustrated are you at the lack of momentum around some of your own recommendations about this? our recommendations came in may, and we just had a very good briefing session of the un general assembly where

member states were pretty serious about all this. what we've recommended is they work towards a political declaration on reform path for the global architecture around preparedness and response. our recommendations had two sets. one, this medium—to—longer—terms systems set of issues, but the other, of course, the immediate issues with the vaccines. vaccines are critical. they are inequitably being rolled out. africa, in the last month according to the who, has had an 80% spike in deaths. this is completely unacceptable and unethical, and ijust appeal to high—income countries do whatever you can to fully fund the needs and get the vaccines out there. as sarah was talking about earlier, sport climbing kicks off at the olympics today. with a combination of lead climbing, speed climbing and bouldering, the new olympic sport of sport climbing will be one of the toughest gold medals to win in tokyo. usually athletes focus on one

or two of the disciplines, so being an all—rounder is a big advantage. australian teenager oceana mackenzie will be challenging the world's best at the aomi sports park as the sport aims to gain millions more fans around the world. i'm oceana mackenzie, i do sport climbing and i'm from australia. so, i started when i was about eight, and, yeah, my mum, she actually took my sisters to our local climbing gym, but i would go with them and hang out at the gym and start traversing around the walls. and, yeah, i pretty muchjust loved it straightaway. climbing has this great challenge where you're actually trying to find a way to get up the climb. i loved having that challenge of trying to figure it out and challenge my mind as well as my body. the good thing about climbing is it's always really great to find your own way because you have a special kind of way of doing things. i never expected climbing to be in the olympics, so when it was first decided, i was like, "oh, that's amazing.

it can be really great for the sport!" and then when we realised that i could potentially qualify, it was like, "whoa, i can actually go to the olympics," and it happened. and, yeah, super excited. for the olympics, you do speed, bouldering and then lead. speed climbing, just to get up the wall as fast as you can. bouldering, which is a short wall, so there's multiple boulders, and you have to complete the most you can. lead climbing, which is like 17—metre walls, and that's whoever gets the highest point on the climb. it's a lot to train your mind as well as your physical body. like, its a big part of competition climbing. there's never an end to it, i guess like a lot of sports, but you can never really be the best because there's always going to be a harder climb that you can't do, which is really cool. like, you're always having to keep going, which is really special. what a remarkable attitude. that is all we have time for on news day. thanks so much for watching. so much for you on bbc news i do stay with us.

hello. sunny spells aplenty on tuesday, but there'll be showers around, too. and in fact it's going to stay quite showery for the rest of the week, and, if anything, it'll turn even more unsettled towards the end of the week. now, thejet stream's not on our side. we're on the cool side of the jet. the jet stream separates the cool air from the north and the warm air to the south, and it also sends weather systems in our direction. so, actually much of western and central europe is feeling the effects of that cool air. you can see the yellows there, whereas the hot air is in place across the balkans, greece, turkey and into russia. in excess of a0 degrees there. obviously not for us, not that we'd want it anyway. but this is what it looks like early in the morning on tuesday. a lot of clear weather, sunshine right from the word go, but quite nippy in the morning in some places.

around five degrees in rural spots. so, the weather map for tuesday shows that we're in between weather systems. more weather systems out in the atlantic heading our way, but in between means that we'll see those scattered showers here and there. very light winds as well. now, watch where the showers form, some across the south almost along these distinct lines here. elsewhere, a lot of sunshine around, but if you're caught underneath that area of showers, it could be very, very wet, thunder and lightning as well. but like i say, fine sunny weather for the majority of the uk, and temperature's getting up to around 20 or so. now, the showers could linger into the evening hours for some of us on tuesday. here's a look at wednesday's weather map, and there's a weak weather front approaching from the west. it'll bring some showers to parts of northern ireland, scotland, too, and there'll be one or two showers breaking out elsewhere. but once again, plenty of sunny spells, so it's really sort of all or nothing really over

the next few days. temperatures could get up to around 22 whether you're in the south or the north. now, towards the end of the week, so here's thursday and friday, a low pressure is sitting on top of us. that inevitably means strengthening winds. they could be quite strong and gusty in the south of the country, and they will bring quite changeable weather. so, frequent showers on the way. now, you can see the outlook, really not much changes overall for the foreseeable future. that's it from me. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, as newsday continues straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk with me, zeinab badawi, coming to you from barbados. i'm on an historic sugar plantation where enslaved africans toiled in backbreaking labour during three centuries of the transatlantic slave trade. barbados was one of the earliest and most profitable of the slave colonies in the caribbean.

this is the house on the grounds of the plantation built