welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: the governor of new york resigns in the face of growing pressure over sexual harassment cases. andrew cuomo said he would leave his post for the greater good. i work for you. and doing the right thing is doing the right thing for you. fleeing for safety in afghanistan. as taliban militants take over an eighth provincial capital, afghans seek shelter from the fighting. the us senate passes a $1 trillion infrastructure bill, with 19 republicans voting for the package. it's a major win for

president biden�*s agenda. and building a new olympic spectacle. beijing prepares for the winter games, which — due to covid — will take place less than a year after tokyo. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to newsday. it's 6am in the morning in singapore and 6pm in the evening in new york, where, for years, andrew cuomo successfully navigated the murky waters of politics in the state, amassing power with precision, leaving his opponents trailing in his wake. but it took just a week for the governor to find himself out of moves following the publication of a report by the new york attorney general�*s office which claimed that mr cuomo had sexually harassed 11 women.

he denied the accusations but faced a growing cacophony of voices from within his own party to resign, and today, he succumbed to those calls. i think that given the circumstances, the best way i can help now is if i step aside and let government get back to governing. and therefore that's what i'll do, because i work for you. and doing the right thing is doing the right thing for you — because, as we say, it's not about me, it's about we. kathy hochul, my lieutenant governor, is smart and competent. this transition must be seamless. we have a lot going on. i'm very worried about the delta variant, and so should you be, but she can come up to speed quickly, and my resignation will be effective in m days.

i'm joined now by max kutner, a journalist and political analyst in new york. great to have you on the programme. when the report first emerged, cuomo said he would not resign and that he was innocent. how much pressure do you think he came under?— you think he came under? there's been a lot — you think he came under? there's been a lot of— you think he came under? there's been a lot of pressure _ you think he came under? there's been a lot of pressure and - you think he came under? there's. been a lot of pressure and certainly a lot has changed since he made those comments, and reallyjust a week ago, when that report came out, yes, he said he was 20 fight the allegations, which she is still saying he will fight the allegations, but evenjust saying he will fight the allegations, but even just days ago his office was releasing photos of him hugging and kissing people and saying, this isjust how him hugging and kissing people and saying, this is just how i am him hugging and kissing people and saying, this isjust how i am and this is how i was raised, and so certainly a lot going from that to a resignation in one week. but they don't actively does not seem to be a way around it. i mean, president biden was calling for this, democrats from his own party in the state had been calling for this and really trying to distance themselves from the governor for some by spoke

with a spokesperson a democratic senator in the state just a couple of days ago about a totally unrelated topic, a piece of legislation, and even at spokesperson used it as an opportunity to distance that state senator from opportunity to distance that state senatorfrom cuomo opportunity to distance that state senator from cuomo also opportunity to distance that state senatorfrom cuomo also missing resignations of people from his office, including a top aid of his, in recent days, so this really i think became inevitable. he in recent days, so this really i think became inevitable. he was one ofthe think became inevitable. he was one of the democratic _ think became inevitable. he was one of the democratic party's _ think became inevitable. he was one of the democratic party's rising - of the democratic party's rising stars before all of this, a huge fall from grace. what does this mean for the democratic party and the biden administration in terms of reputational fallout?— biden administration in terms of reputational fallout? yes, you are riaht, this reputational fallout? yes, you are right. this was — reputational fallout? yes, you are right, this was a _ reputational fallout? yes, you are right, this was a my _ reputational fallout? yes, you are right, this was a my mental- reputational fallout? yes, you are i right, this was a my mental downfall for someone whojust a right, this was a my mental downfall for someone who just a year ago here in new york was really seen as this leader, this potential presidential candidate. he was on the cover of rolling stone magazine last year, he was seen as leading new york successfully through its time as the world's epicentre of covid—i9, so

all of that now has gone away in a short period of time. he is no longer as you said a rising star of the democratic party, and it is also perhaps worth mentioning that he was a long—term governor, he was part of what might be said was a new york political dynasty family. his father had been governor. and so this is a big downfall. what means for the democrats is, frankly, that they have lost someone perhaps who was kind of from this order time, this political family, kind of from this order time, this politicalfamily, and perhaps he will be replaced now from an even newer and more up—and—coming person. there is a new york government oriole race next year, so far no one had sought to challenge cuomo from his own party, surely now we are going to see some democratic challengers and maybe some new faces in the new york democratic party. yeah, and just briefly, where do we go from here in terms of the investigation? and his political

future over?— investigation? and his political future over? cuomo is facing at least four— future over? cuomo is facing at least four potential _ future over? cuomo is facing at least four potential criminal - least four potential criminal investigations. also... so those are not going anywhere. in terms of the impeachment, state lawmakers had been looking into draughting articles of impeachment. the interesting thing is that now they're have any conversation that federal lawmakers were having around trump just a couple of months ago, whether they should continue with impeachment proceedings even with an outgoing person, perhaps to stop him from running again, so that is going to be the conversation happening now. if you look at what happened to previous new york governor who step down and made similar allegations from 2008, eliot spitzer, he has left politics —— amid similar allegations for perhaps cuomo will leave politics altogether, but because he is from this political family, because he has been such a major nationalfigure family, because he has been such a major national figure over the past

year, it is hard to imagine he is going away. year, it is hard to imagine he is going away-— year, it is hard to imagine he is auoin awa. . ~' going away. max kutner, thank you for “oininu going away. max kutner, thank you forjoining us— going away. max kutner, thank you forjoining us on — going away. max kutner, thank you forjoining us on newsday - going away. max kutner, thank you forjoining us on newsday for- going away. max kutner, thank you forjoining us on newsday for that l forjoining us on newsday for that story. in other news, taliban militants in afghanistan are said to have raised their flag on the main square and the governor's office in pol—e—khomri, the capital of baghlan province, about five—and—a—half hours' drive north of kabul. the islamists have now seized eight of the country's 3a provincial capitals and are threatening more. in farah in the north—west, which also fell on monday, there's been heavy fighting, but in other cities, the government has withdrawn. the red cross has warned the fighting parties to restrain themselves, amid reports thousands of civilians have been killed or wounded in fighting. caroline hawley has the story. the aftermath of the battle for kunduz, the northern city captured by the taliban on sunday, the terrifying cost of urban warfare. the un and other aid agencies are now growing increasingly alarmed at the mounting toll it's taking. civilians have fled the taliban advances in their tens of thousands.

many have reached the relative safety of the capital kabul. translation: those who have been displaced are in a very bad _ and frustrating situation, but those in the government have not sent a representative here to help. there's little comfort for them here, but they've left far worse behind. people are living in fear and dread. women are already being killed and shot for breaching rules that have been imposed on what they can wear and on where they can move without a male escort. it's time for the international community to prioritise peace in afghanistan. securing a cease—fire is the aim of these talks taking place in the qatari capital doha over the next few days. afghan government forces are trying to repel the advances, but it's the taliban

who have the momentum now and very little incentive to stop. caroline hawley, bbc news. i'm joined now by asfandyar mir, a senior expert at the us institute of peace. great to have you on the programme. more cities taken over. as the taliban's plan to keep going? and is kabul next? it taliban's plan to keep going? and is kabul next?— kabul next? it looks like the taliban has _ kabul next? it looks like the taliban has been _ kabul next? it looks like the taliban has been rampaging| taliban has been rampaging through multiple provinces, as report noted, they have not taken a provinces, eight out of 3a full so that is a substantial momentum, and my sense is coming even how they are behaving in the peace talks in doha, they are not negotiating there, they are not putting down any minute for terms they want, that suggest the taliban

are planning on a military takeover of the countries. the are planning on a military takeover of the countries.— of the countries. the advance in afghanistan. — of the countries. the advance in afghanistan, i— of the countries. the advance in afghanistan, i know, _ of the countries. the advance in afghanistan, i know, has- of the countries. the advance in afghanistan, i know, has raised| of the countries. the advance in afghanistan, i | how, has raised| of the countries. the advance in afghanistan, i | how this; raised| of the countries. the advance in afghanistan, i | how this might i| of the countries. the advance in - afghanistan, i | how this might affect concerns about how this might affect terrorist operations concerns about how this might affect terrorist op| outside it. what is your country and outside it. what is your sense? look, the taliban still have robust relationships _ sense? look, the taliban still have robust relationships - a - sense? look, the taliban still have robust relationships - a range . sense? look, the taliban still have | robust relationships - a range of m . rou -s with transnational jihadist greups with. transnational like al-qaeda, and with ambitions, like al-qaeda, and with regional ambitions, such as the pakistani taliban, as well as a number of central asian jihadists. all these groups have bases inside afghanistan and during the taliban advance, the afghan forces are distracted, they are not able to monitor these groups any more, they are not able to target them meaningfully and the us is already out, so these groups are in a very comfortable position and out, so these groups are in a very comfor' fairly rosition and .,,? ' out, so these groups are in a very comfor' fairly up tion and if? ' out, so these groups are in a very comfor' fairly up for] and if? ' out, so these groups are in a very comfor' fairly up for them. ? ' out, so these groups are in a very comfor' fairly up for them. i? ' out, so these groups are in a very comfor' fairly up for them. i think ' coming months, the threat in the coming months, the threat from these groups to both the region

as well as to the us and europe is you know, you likely to grow. you know, you referenced — likely to grow. you know, you referenced the _ likely to grow. you know, you referenced the peace - likely to grow. you know, you referenced the peace talks . likely to grow. you know, you | referenced the peace talksjust likely to grow. you know, you - referenced the peace talksjust now, referenced the peace talks just now, many of those being marshalled by the chinese, the pakistanis and directions. how much do these talks, though, the taliban?— though, the taliban? look, what these talks _ though, the taliban? look, what these talks have _ though, the taliban? look, what these talks have done _ though, the taliban? look, what these talks have done is - though, the taliban? look, what these talks have done is they've| these talks have done is they've given the taliban the sense that the international community is willing to engage with them —— empower the taliban. the taliban have a sense that the world wants to have a relationship with them and that even if they don't negotiate meaningfully, there is a possibility that they will have international recognition if they come to power literally. mr recognition if they come to power literall. ~ a ., recognition if they come to power literall . ~ ~ , ., ~ recognition if they come to power literall . ~ ~ , . ~ ., ~ literally. mr asfandyar mir, thank ou so literally. mr asfandyar mir, thank you so much _ literally. mr asfandyar mir, thank you so much on _ literally. mr asfandyar mir, thank you so much on newsday - literally. mr asfandyar mir, thank you so much on newsday on - literally. mr asfandyar mir, thank you so much on newsday on that| literally. mr asfandyar mir, thank - you so much on newsday on that story —— if they come to power militarily. the us senate has passed a $1 trillion infrastructure plan after months of political wrangling. unusually in the divided political town of washington,

the measure had bipartisan support — nearly 20 republicans joined democrats in voting for the bill. it now goes to the house of representatives, and if passed there would head to president biden's desk. let's look at what this bill would do. $550 billion in new money would be spent over five years. $110 billion will be invested in roads, bridges and dams. $66 billion will be spent on passenger and freight rail. and another $65 billion goes to expanding high—speed internet access. president biden praised the new legislation. i know compromise is hard for both sides. but it's important, it's necessary, for democracy to be able to function. so, i want to thank everyone on both sides of the aisle for supporting this bill. today, we proved that democracy can still work.

well, let's take a look at some of the stories in the headlines in the uk. record numbers of students in the uk are celebrating achieving top grades in their a—levels. in england, wales and northern ireland, 44.8% obtained a—star or a grades. with record numbers also applying for university, there's likely to be more pressure on places for the most competitive universities and courses — such as medicine. britain's health secretary, sajid javid, has said the roll—out of covid boosterjabs could begin next month. mrjavid said more than 75% of uk adults had now been fully vaccinated, and a third dose could be offered to some people, alongside the flu jab. the boyfriend of a british woman who went missing while hiking in the pyrenees has

found her body and belongings. esther dingley, from durham, vanished on a solo trek in november sparking major searches by french and spanish police and her partner daniel colegate. if you want to get in touch with me, i'm on twitter — @bbckarishma iam i am looking forward to hearing from i am looking forward to hearing from you. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: building a new 0lympic spectacle. beijing prepares for the winter games, which due to covid will take place less than a year after tokyo. the big crowds became bigger as the time of the funeral approached. as the lines of fans became longer, the police prepared for a huge job of crowd control. idi amin, uganda's brutalformer dictator, has died at the age of 80.

he's being buried in saudi arabia, where he lived in exile since being overthrown in 1979. 2 billion people around the world have seen the last total eclipse of the sun to take place in this millennium. it began itsjourney off the coast of canada, ending three hours later when the sun set over the bay of bengal. welcome back to newsday.

i'm karishma vaswani reporting from singapore. nations around the world have been reacting to yesterday's landmark climate report, warning that urgent action is needed to avoid catastrophe. experts agree that without big reductions in global carbon dioxide emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. china is the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide, followed by the united states and india. in a moment, we'll get an assessment from our correspondents barbara plett usher in the us and danjohnson in delhi, but first here's robin brant in shanghai. china is the world's most populous nation. and for some years now, it's also been the world's most polluting nation. rapid economic growth here over the last 20 years, fuelled by plentiful coal, means that china is now the world's biggest emitter of carbon dioxide. it's responsible for more than one quarter of all the greenhouse gas emissions on the planet. half the coal burned in the world is burned here, and it's going up. china says it won't hit peak coal use for a further five years. its president, xijinping, says that by 2030 it will hit its peak in terms of carbon emissions.

it will be a further 30 years, to 2060, until, he says, this country will be net zero on carbon emissions. china is, though, gradually changing its energy mix. it's investing a lot, in particular, in solar. it wants a neat, cleaner, less polluting air for its people. the government says the world should have full confidence in its climate plan, but it's clear that beijing doesn't want to endanger, as it sees it, its economic powerhouse by weening itself off of coal too quickly. here in the united states, people shouldn't need a wake—up call about climate change from a scientific report because they're already living it. unprecedented heat and severe drought are fuelling massive wildfires across the north—west of the country. the us has itself to blame. historically, it's released more carbon dioxide into the air than any other country — 400 billion metric tonnes. now, it's the world's second biggest polluter after china.

in 2019, it produced 6.6 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide, but that number fell dramatically last year because of the brake that covid—19 put on travel. and the biden administration plans to reduce emissions even more. the president is reversing donald trump's roll— back on climate regulations and he's pushing an ambitious agenda for a switch to green energy, so he welcomed the climate report as an urgent call to action. across india, hundreds of people have died in flash floods over - recent weeks during the monsoon, and those rains are likely- to intensify and get - even harder to predict, which could mean millions of people living under threat. _ so, extreme weather is a real risk. and there are ambitious targets here for increasing renewable energy, - especially from solar power. but fossil fuels will play- a major role, way into the future, as the country keeps growing i and developing and the overall energy demand rises further.

and there is a sense that climate changel is the responsibility of others — industrial nations like the usa, that have burnt coal- for more than a century. and while india is the third—largestl emitter, despite being home to 17% of the world's population, i it only produces 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions. so, while other countries have i set targets for reaching net zero in terms of carbon emissions, there isn't even a date underl consideration for that here yet. well, climate change is being seen as playing a key role in wildfires burning around the world. the algerian defence ministry says 18 members of the military have died fighting fires in forests east of algiers. flames have been threatening towns and villages in the area. algeria is the latest country on the mediterranean to be hit by wildfires. president putin has ordered more firefighters to be sent to siberia to tackle catastrophic forest fires there. more than 84,000 square kilometres

of forest have burnt in russia so far this year. earlier, nasa said smoke from the russian fires reached the north pole, 3,000 kilometres away, apparently for the first time. and firefighters in greece have spent an eighth day trying to control wildfires on evia, greece's second largest island. one of the world's greatest ever footballers — lionel messi — has been given a rapturous welcome in france as he arrived to finalise a two—year deal with paris st—germain. it's one of the biggest transfers in recent memory — the argentinian star could earn more than half a million pounds or about $700,000 a week. messi left his club barcelona on sunday after 21 years — he joined as a teenager. 0ur sports correspondent katie gornall reports. he was dressed a bit like a tourist. but this was no ordinary day—tripper. lionel messi, one of the game's greatest players, had arrived

at a french airport ready to sign for paris saint—germain. fans, some of whom had been waiting for days, could barely contain themselves. i watched him play in barcelona, and how he acted, how he's playing with his team—mates, how he's finding ways to play the ball, it'sjust amazing. and his goals, his free kicks, everything is just amazing. he's the best player. translation: today is a historic day. - the biggest player on the planet is here in the capital. i'm not going to stay in my neighbourhood. i have to be here. for argentina and for his club, messi has always been a class apart. and secured ten league titles, and there could have been more. in a tearful farewell press conference on sunday, messi said he never wanted to leave the club he joined when he was 13, but due to la liga salary cap rules, they could no longer afford to keep him. barcelona kept spending, spending, spending. you know what happens if at home you spend more that you have? you cannot afford certain things. so, right now, if you look at what happened last season,

with a87 million euros in debt, just from last season, plus the wages of the players, it's110% of what comes in, so technically barcelona are bankrupt. and paris saint—germain was perhaps always the most likely destination, a club backed by qatari money and already littered with stars, including kylian mbappe and his former ba rca team—mate, neymar. barcelona are now moving on without their biggest star. for messi, a new story is beginning. katie gornall, bbc news. the world's attention will soon turn to beijing for the winter olympics, coming up injust six months. before the current delta variant outbreak, chinese officials were confident they could have crowds for all events. but there are also political challenges for the chinese government hosting the games, as it's accused of serious human rights abuses. our china correspondent stephen mcdonell reports

our china correspondent stephen mcdonell has more. in the mountains around the chinese capital, thousands of workers are busy. next to the space age skijumping center, they're making the most of the summer months for construction. justin downs is a canadian winter sport specialist who's been advising games organisers. well, there's no question beijing will be ready for the competitions. in fact, all of the competition venues are already ready and they've already hosted test events, so what you see going on around us here isjust the supporting infrastructure. before the sliding center is iced overfor the bobsleigh runs, they're putting on the finishing touches. a high—speed train connection with the city is already operating. around it, hotels, temporary stands for spectators, food and beverage sites are all being built. here at the olympic village, there's still work to be done to have everything ready in time for the games.

beijing's been fortunate, though, in that it's been able to study tokyo to work out the logistics in a time of coronavirus. over three years ago, we filmed some of the test events here. despite the pandemic, china's officials had also been planning to have spectators at the coming olympics. that was before a delta variant outbreak reintroduced the coronavirus to china. yet they say they're still hopeful to bring it under control in time. and most people here seem pretty optimistic about what the beijing games will bring. this area already has the feeling of a full—blown winter sport place.

the hope is that after the olympics, there will be an explosion in china of interest in skiing and the like, and that these facilities will get used quite a lot. one of the things that the beijing olympics is going to find hard to shake is the political element. there are allegations of serious human rights abuses in this country, and some are calling for a boycott of the games. well, here we are at the top of the mountain — not bad, eh? even ruins of the great wall of china overlook the winter olympic sites. but with the coronavirus lingering, how many people will be able to take this all in? stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. lots of controversy around that set of olympics, just like we had around the tokyo olympics i had of that, with concerns over the pandemic. that's all we have time for on newsday. do stay with us on bbc

news. i'm karishma vaswani. hello. tuesday brought us our first 25 celsius day in the uk in over two weeks. and whilst some of that warmth will still be felt on wednesday across the south and east of the country with some sunny spells, clouding over into the afternoon, it's the cloudier conditions in the north and west which will bring different conditions compared to what we've seen. much more in the way of rain and breeze, all courtesy of these weather fronts pushing in off the atlantic. heaviest of the rain into the start of the day across parts of northern ireland and the very far west of scotland, but quite a mild and humid start here, 111—15 celsius. fresher in the east, where there will be a few mist and fog patches, but the best of the morning sunshine. now, the sunshine, as i said, will be best in the morning, clouding over from the west, so there's still some sunny spells to the south and the east. northern ireland should cheer up into the afternoon with some

sunshine, and into late afternoon, we'll see that sunshine develop across western scotland, too. but after the morning sunshine across the far north, into orkney and eastern parts of scotland, a rather damp afternoon, rain coming and going. rain at times in northwest england, though areas around the merseyside, cheshire area mayjust about stay dry. patchy rain across wales and southwest england through the afternoon, but much of the midlands, east anglia and the southeast dry, with temperatures around 211—25 celsius yet again, and a fine day in the channel islands, too. now, that weather front bringing the rain actuallyjust fizzles as it pushes its way eastwards as we go into wednesday night and thursday morning. not much in it as it reaches parts of southern england, the midlands, and east anglia. clearer skies to the north of it means a cooler night to take us into thursday, particularly across scotland and northern ireland. temperatures more widely into single figures. but for thursday, we're between two weather fronts — one which is stalling across the south of the country, and this next one across the deepening area of low pressure out to the west of the uk.

a few showers around. east anglia, with some patchy rain and drizzle which will move its way a bit further northwards through the day. but to the north and west, the breeze will pick up, gales across western parts of scotland, parts of northern ireland, too, and some heavy bursts of rain later. in the sunshine, though, for many, temperatures still where we should be for the time of year, 20—24 celsius. friday sees yet more in the way of heavy, thundery showers across parts of western scotland. winds remain strong. blustery day for all. bye for now.

this is bbc news, the headlines...

the embattled governor of new york state, andrew cuomo, has announced his resignation in the face of a sexual harassment scandal. he will quit office in two weeks' time. the us senate has passed a $1 trillion infrastructure plan after months of political wrangling. unusually, the measure had bi—partisan support — nearly 20 republicans joined democrats in voting for the bill. it now goes to the house. in the uk, record numbers of top grades for a—level students in england, wales and northern ireland after exams were cancelled for a second year in a row because of the pandemic. lionel messi, the world's best paid footballer, is moving to paris saint—germain, subject to medical tests. the argentinian has played for barcelona for more than 20 years, but had to leave the club for financial reasons.