this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. at least 227 people have died in haiti after a powerful earthquake measuring 7.2 magnitude. a state of emergency has been declared. the government decided this morning to declare a state of emergency for one month following this disaster. the last major city in northern afghanistan — mazar—e—sharif — falls to the taliban, as president biden issues a stong —— strong defence of his decision to pull us troops out of the country. we'll be speaking to a former deputy un special envoy to afghanistan — about the deteriorating situation. also in the programme. tributes to the victims —

as questions are asked of police about why a shotgun licence was returned to the man who killed five people in the uk's worst mass shooting since 2010. and banksy by the sea — as people flock to england's east to see original work by the famed grafitti artist. hello, and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. a powerful 7.2 earthquake has hit haiti — authorities say at least 227 people have been killed. prime minister ariel henry described the situation as dramatic and declared a state of emergency for a month. us presidentjoe biden has authorised immediate help from the us. david willis has more.

one of the poorest countries in the world has been dealt another devastating blow, and the people of haiti are once again dealing with the aftermath of a massive earthquake. this one centred on the country's south—western peninsula, a less populated area than the capital port—au—prince which was flattened by an earthquake 11 years ago, but stronger and closer to the surface. more than 200,000 people died in the 2010 earthquake and haiti's prime minister ariel henry said numerous lives have been lost in today's disaster. translation: the government decided this morning to declare a state - of emergency for one month following the disaster. we call on the population to show solidarity with each other. let us avoid panic in the face of this earthquake. us scientists have predicted

the death toll could run into thousands, and president biden has already promised us aid. haiti's chief seismologist predicted the last big earthquake but admits this one took everyone by surprise. translation: for a few years we have l been carrying out seismic monitoring l in each department with a monthly reports. the southern department was the least at risk among the ten geographic departments. so to me it is a surprise and it shows that earthquakes are totally unpredictable. only last month haiti was plunged into a political crisis following the murder of its former presidentjovenel moise. riven by poverty and gang violence, and now suffering the effects of another massive earthquake, it is also in the path of a tropical storm due to hit the region early next week. david willis, bbc news, los angeles.

earlier, i spoke to dr inobert pierre, director general of st boniface hospital in haiti. this morning, a 7.2 magnitude on the richter scale earthquake hit the southern peninsula and actually caused very severe damage to the third city of the country, and also a little bit further west. so at this point, they have already counted almost 200 people who died from it. and many injured, hospitals are overwhelmed with people having fractures, everywhere, like the limbs and the skull. so it is really bad, really a very bad situation here. and are the hospitals in a position, are they able to help those who have been injured? yes.

our hospital is a bit north of the southern peninsula and didn't get severely damaged so we are 100% functional. and have been receiving patients from most of the hit areas and we are looking forward to helping more people. and this must bring back really troubling memories of the 2010 earthquake and the devastation that was caused by that. had the country had the infrastructure recovered fully since then or were the people still rebuilding from that? no, actually, there hasn't been much progress since 2010. the only difference is that it is now a different area. in 2010 it was mostly the capital port—au—prince but now it is further south.

but it is basically the same conditions that were there before the earthquake. so people are still trying to find their way. and two days ago, they had a tropical storm which doused the whole southern peninsula and many people lost what they own. and now that major 7.2 earthquake just hit. in terms of the fears about people being trapped under rubble, are medics able to start beginning to reach the areas affected to pull them free? so far, not major. actually, effort has been deployed here. the infrastructure is basic and i think probably people are right now trying to get help, to get people under the rubble.

but at this point, some who have been under the rubble not really severely injured, have been able to make their way out. but for those with major injuries or under very heavy rubble so theyjust can't make it through yet. in afghanistan, the taliban have continued to seize yet more territory and are now in control of more regional capitals than the government. it's been reported that mazar—e—sharif, the northern city that was the afghan government's last northern stronghold, has also now fallen to taliban fighters. provincial authorities say security forces abandoned weapons and fled to the uzbekistan border. our afghanistan correspondent secunder kermani reports. this is the very centre of kabul. thousands who have fled fighting across the north now live in these miserable conditions.

this family escaped the violence, but say they still don't feel safe. translation: we're thirsty. we're hungry. we have no home. other makeshift camps are even bigger. but this, in the heart of the city, shows how quickly the country is unravelling. the environment sector was so shattered we don't want to go back to that. today fighting erupted. one of the last major cities here still under government control and which had been a bastion of anti—taliban resistance. by this evening, security forces were fleeing to the border with uzbekistan as the insurgents took it over.

once in kandahar, their spiritual home, the taliban cemented their position with a flag—hoisting ceremony. finally addressing the nation this morning, president ghani didn't comment on rumours he may resign. instead, simply promising to re—mobilise beleaguered forces. for now, for many people here in kabul, life is continuing more or less as normal but the taliban are getting closer and closer to the city and there is increasing concern that a fierce and protracted battle for control of kabul could be imminent. the speed of the taliban's advance has led to the us and uk together deploying more than 3,500 troops to afghanistan to repatriate their own citizens and many of their embassy staff. many afghan cities are now being handed over to the taliban, following local deals with the security forces. that may be the only way to avoid even more suffering in kabul, too, but would mean an end to life here as residents know it. secunder kermani, bbc news, kabul.

president biden, who's facing mounting criticism for ordering the us troop withdrawal from afghanistan, has said he could notjustify an endless american presence in the middle of another country's civil conflict. in a written statement, mr biden said even five more years would have made no difference if the afghan military could not or would not hold its own country. mr biden also said he was increasing the number of american troops helping to move us diplomatic staff and nationals out of the country to 5,000. peter galbraith is a former deputy un envoy to afghanistan. he joins us now from us state of vermont. good to have you with us. when you look at the situation, after all the

effort, all the money that had gone in over the last 20 years, it seems almost as though there is very little current need to show for it, where did it all go? that is a great question, and ijust watched the rapid collapse of these major cities in afghanistan, with disbelief and horror, and sorrow for the afghans with whom i have worked over this period of time. at the root of the problem, it is with the afghan political leaders and military leaders who were interested in power but not doing anything once they were in office. in a series of fraudulent presidential elections, they were then put in by power brokers who were then stealing the

country, just massive corruption. it is also the fault of the united states and its allies that poured into afghanistan much more money that could be used, that built roads all over the country that were supposed to bring goods to market and improve the standard of living of rural afghans but were used by corrupt police to exact holes so no one would use them and are now being used by the taliban to access areas that had previously been defensible, and the former president was corrupt and the former president was corrupt and ineffective, illegitimate, current president is an honest man but weak. finally i would put some fault on the military leaders who proclaimed that our strategy was a counter insurgency strategy, who said if you have this, you need a

local partner and they knew full well the afghan government was not a suitable partner. in that sense, what can now be done to try and turn the tide of the taliban advance we are seeing, that even on the worst case estimates, predictions by strategists, they thought this might happen over six or 12 months after us troops left, it has happened within six — 12 weeks. and much within the last week. this is a bit like what happened in vietnam in 1975, south vietnam, and in iraq when isis attacked. you have military forces that have not been paid, not supplied with food, who sensed that the whole situation is collapsing, and so they flee. nobody, nobody wants to die or even fight in a lost cause. and so this kind of thing accelerates. there are

probably two things that can be done now in terms of helping the afghans. the first, if you look at the map of afghanistan, the areas taken over by the taliban, you will see a central area that is still under government control, not kabul, i am talking about the central highlands whose population know that they face oppression, possible genocide if the taliban come back, so there ought to be some effort to enable them to defend themselves. and finally, i am not sure the collapse of kabul is inevitable. it might be some military support for the afghan forces there. but it is a really dire situation. i but it is a really dire situation. i have seen it written that the instability and the uncertainty that was left in iraq led to the rise of ias, what is the risk of what could

emerge from the situation in afghanistan? there is nothing to suggest the taliban are reformed or any different from the group that took overin different from the group that took over in 1995, in terms of the repression against women, against minorities, the killing of people who were associated with the previous government. what president biden is hoping, and expecting, is that they will not support international terrorism, in other words, they're terrorists will limited to afghanistan. i suppose there is some logic to that, because they appear to be quite strong, which means they are able to deal with some of their terror rivals like isis which has a small presence in afghanistan. but it is certainly going to be a bleak situation for

many of the people of a dance done and particularly the minorities. given that the foreign troops could not have stayed indefinitely, do you think this was inevitable when they left this would happen sooner or later? yes. i mean, president biden has a very good point. the international forces had been there for nearly 20 years. the us has invested almost $1 trillion. and spent billions on the afghan military, billions on the afghan military, billions on the afghan police. and if they cannot hold out, it has only been 3,000 american troops there now withdrawn, so if they can't hold out after 20 years, there is no reason to think they would hold out after 30 or a0 years. because the root of the problem is and afghan medical and

military leadership —— political. who are interested in feathering their own nest. on the national and local level. and they are not able to defend their country or do anything for the population. peter, very good to get your analysis. thank you very much. a massive search and rescue operation is continuing in northern turkey where at least a0 people have died in flash floods. the floods swept through the black sea region earlier this week, causing some buildings to collapse, and damaging roads, bridges and power lines. it's the second natural disaster to hit the country this month, following wildfires in the south. the us federal weather agency says july was the hottest month globally ever recorded. the national oceanic and atmospheric administration calculates the combined land and ocean surface temperature was 0.93 celsius above the 20th century average of 15.8 celsius.

in italy, which has reached its peak holiday weekend, 17 cities are now on red alert because of the heatwave being suffered across southern europe. here in the uk, the decision to return a shotgun and a licence to the man who killed five people in plymouth on thursday is being examined by the independent police watchdog. jake davison�*s victims included his mother maxine, a three—year—old girl sophie martyn, and herfather lee. davison also injured two other people before turning the gun on himself. our correspondentjon kay has more. 200 miles from westminster, the home secretary came to plymouth to pay her respects. five people were shot dead by the gunman. the first was his mother, maxine davison. then there was lee martyn and his

three—year—old daughter, sophie. 66—year—old kate shepherd, from cornwall, a talented artist. and stephen washington, who was 59 and killed while walking his dogs. it's tragic beyond words, really, really tragic. priti patel promised to support the community, with specialist help for anyone left traumatised. she wouldn't comment on news that the gunman, jake davison, had his firearms licence returned to him last month, even though he posted hate—filled rants online. home secretary, should davison have had a gun? you say you want to reassure people here, a lot of people have questions about gun control. my brain can't process it, physically can't process that information i was given. chris says his family is reeling. not only was his auntie maxine shot dead, but it was her son that killed her.

chris never met his cousin jake davison and doesn't understand what has gone so catastrophically wrong. it's impossible, you can't plan for this, you can't see the next day or the day after or the day after, you just literally take each day as it comes. but ijust know that, as a family, they will come together, be there for each other and try to understand this horrendous thing that's happened. and also the other four innocent people that had no part in this. i'm sorry to everybody going through this, it must be the worst thing in the world and i can't even imagine to understand. among those grieving are the family of three—year—old sophie martyn and her father lee, apparently shot at random as they walked home together. they were definitely a pair, little one running around and, you know, eating all the ice creams. only last month, sam wright was watching the euros with them at the anchorage pub. you know, he just absolutely doted on her, she was an amazing little girl and he was a great dad. she hasn't even started her life,

she is so little and it's just, yeah, it's terrible. silence this afternoon at plymouth argyle's match. concerts have been cancelled. a8 hours on, this city has so many questions. as the community grieves, detectives investigate. here at the scene where the shootings began on thursday night and at 12 other locations around this area. and it's notjust members of the public who witnessed these attacks that are being offered counselling — so, too, are members of the police force. jon kay, bbc news, plymouth. some clinically vulnerable children in england are struggling to access a covid vaccine, nearly four weeks after they were added to the roll—out. our health correspondent katharine da costa reports. clever girl. lovely, and what a lovely smile.

15—year—old veronica enjoying an online therapy session at home in south—west london during lockdown in february. she has severe neurodisabilities. last month 12—15—year—old children who are at high risk from covid like her were advised to have a vaccine, as well as those living with someone with a weakened immune system. but nearly four weeks on, and with the start of a new school term in sight, dozens of families like hers are still desperate for information about when they will get one. i think the urgency of the vaccine rollout for our children has been completely forgotten. it is not good enough. if something is announced on 19th july, having to wait until the end of august for a vaccination, it is too late. immunity isn't going to have time to have kicked in in a meaningful way. doctors say they are still waiting for search guidelines to help them identify from patient records

which children are eligible. i can understand that parents and children are anxious about that because they want to ensure they get at least one vaccine before the school year starts in england. however, we have not yet received guidance on how the programme will be implemented, so doctors, that includes gps like myself but also paediatric doctors, are still awaiting guidance from the nhs about how this programme will be implemented. but nhs england say they have provided guidance on how to proceed. in a statement they said... eligible children in the other uk nations are also being invited in for a jab. the nhs in scotland said nearly a quarter of 12—15—year—olds there had received a first dose.

people have been flocking to suffolk and norfolk in the east of england to see original works by the grafitti artist banksy. on friday night, banksy posted a video on instagram of him working on the creations. one of the pictures has become such hot property that the new owner has moved it to a secret location. jenny kirk has more. is it or isn't it? the question on everyone's lips for the last week has now been answered. i absolutely love it. i think it's wonderful it's come this way to lowestoft. i think it's the best thing that's happened to this town for years, to be honest. for some this is vandalism, to others it is art. and instead of removing it, the local council says they are beyond excited, and it is a real boost for great yarmouth and lowestoft. everyone that's seen these piece has smiled. everyone has had pleasure from what he has put out there, and that is a wonderful thing to be able to do.

hundreds of thousands of people can go and see the artwork and it will make them smile. this is how the elusive artist whose work sells for millions ended the speculation, by posting online his spraycation. but there is less good news for king's lynn. banksy�*s reimagining of a prominent statue with an ice—cream cone has already been removed. at merrivale model village they have had substantial offers for their banksy, but they are not selling. the public unfortunately weren't respecting it. they were trying to climb over, get up close with it, and we were fearful it was going to get damaged so we had to move it off site, and with the news last night the insurance company have insisted we put it in a secure facility. how now to protect and capitalise on his work? a nice problem to have. special to know that banksy actually was here. jenny kirk, bbc news.

now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. hello. it is turning into a very mixed but not particularly dramatic weekend of weather. saturday brought a bit of sunshine, a bit of rain for some. it's a similar mix as we head into sunday. a couple of frontal systems, this curl of a weather front here bringing rain for parts of northern ireland, england and wales at times. this front pushing into northern scotland promises some pretty hefty showers. and in between, some zones of drier, brighter weather. some patchy rain likely to push across east anglia and the south—east through sunday morning, but then brighter skies follow, at least for a time. more cloud for wales and the south—west, spots of rain here. some rain for a time in northern england, but northern ireland should brighten up with some sunshine. quite a lot of dry weather for southern and central parts of scotland, but northern scotland

will see some showers. and it will feel decidedly cool here, highest temperatures across parts of eastern england up to 23 degrees. so, we will see areas of cloud and some showery rain continuing through sunday evening, but most places turn dry into the early hours of monday. notice quite a lot of cloud out west by this stage, and overnight temperatures generally between ten and 1a degrees. so, as we start monday, we have low pressure to the north—east of us, high pressure attempting to build from the west. we are essentially trapped between the two, and that brings a north—westerly wind across the uk, not a particularly warm north—westerly wind, i have to say, and one that will also introduce quite a lot of cloud, especially across western areas. that cloud bringing in some showery rain at times. the best of the sunshine across eastern scotland, down across the eastern side of england, but temperatures will struggle. 16 to 20, maybe 21 degrees in the south of england, that's the very best we can expect. and then as we get on into tuesday, again, we can expect lots of cloud, some showery rain here and there.

we've still got that north—westerly wind, so temperatures are going to be a little disappointing for this point in mid—august. a high of 17 perhaps in aberdeen, 19 cardiff, 20 there in london. and as we head through the middle part of the week, we keep that north—westerly flow across the uk and we keep that feed of cloud. now, it is not going to be cloudy all the time, that cloud will break to give some sunny spells, but generally speaking, if you expect lots of cloud, you won't go too far wrong. temperatures will struggle, though, high teens or low 20s.

hello. this is bbc news. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment. but first, the headlines: more than 300 people have died in

haiti after a powerful earthquake, measuring 7.2 magnitude. a state of emergency has been declared. the last major city in northern afghanistan — mazar—e—sharif — falls to the taliban, as president biden orders 1,000 extra troops to help with evacuations. tributes to the victims, as questions are asked of police about why a shotgun licence was returned to the man who killed five people in the uk's worst mass shooting since 2010. some clinically vulnerable children in england are struggling to get a covid vaccine, nearly four weeks after they were added to the roll—out. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are broadcaster penny smith and political commentatorjo phillips.