welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: taliban fighters enter the presidential palace in kabul as they retake the afghan capital, 20 years after being forced from power. their arrival sparks an exodus from the city, as afghans try to board flights out of the country, and president ghani flees. embassies are closing, diplomats are flying out, leaving afghan civilians, and former top officials fearing what lies ahead. imight i might face consequences that i'd never even dreamt of and i guess that is the price that we

pay for trying to make this world a little better. and in haiti, the search for survivors, as the death toll from a huge earthquake rises to nearly 1,300. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. one story dominates our programme — the taliban are now in control of afghanistan after taking over the capital, kabul, almost exactly two decades after they were ousted from power. fighters were filmed inside the presidential palace, after ashraf ghani, now the former president, fled the country. afghans, and foreign nationals, have been trying to get on planes at the main airport,

but security there is reported to be fragile. the latest developments come after the taliban moved through one province after another in recent days, without much resistance. our first report is from our diplomatic correspondent, paul adams. afghanistan has new masters stopping 20 years later, the taliban are back. hours after arriving in kabul, sitting at the president's desk. earlier at the same desk president ashraf ghani clinging to the last fragments of power. but the man gazing down on kabul�*s street has gone, fleeing to uzbekistan. in a facebook post he said he left to avoid bloodshed. as the taliban moves in the west moves out. american helicopters busy over kabul today, ferrying diplomats from the us embassy to the airport.

this disorderly end was not a plan. hundreds of british troops have now arrived in kabul to help with the evacuation of thousands of british and afghan civilians. the operation is well under way, these trips may not be on the ground for long. kabul is in chaos, people desperate to leave, taking what they can, fearing a bloodied assault stopping is little violence so far but a lot of panic. crowds descended on banks trying to take out their savings as police officers and security officials abandoned their positions, the taliban urged people to stay calm. you wanted to avoid large — people to stay calm. you wanted to avoid large shed _ people to stay calm. you wanted to avoid large shed and - to avoid large shed and destruction, two properties of the people and not to give a chance to plunder is, looters who are waiting for such

moments to loot or plunder the properties of the people. but the streets _ properties of the people. but the streets are _ properties of the people. but the streets are full of dread stopping tens of thousands of civilians displaced by fighting elsewhere living out in the open, telling stories of abuses at the hands of the taliban. translation:— at the hands of the taliban. translation: ., ,., . ., translation: the taliban came into our village _ translation: the taliban came into our village in _ translation: the taliban came into our village in the _ translation: the taliban came into our village in the night. - into our village in the night. after a few days we managed to escape as they were murdering the men and boys. they accused them of being in the army or police. they were taken out of their homes and murdered because they worked for the government.— government. outside the ca - ital, government. outside the capital. the _ government. outside the capital, the taliban - government. outside the capital, the taliban are i capital, the taliban are consolidating their grip on afg hanistan's consolidating their grip on afghanistan's major cities like afg hanistan's major cities like herat. afghanistan's major cities like herat. unfazed by their kid success which has government is reeling. success which has government is reelina. , success which has government is reelin. , , reeling. the saddest part is that i reeling. the saddest part is that l didn't _ reeling. the saddest part is that i didn't expect - reeling. the saddest part is that i didn't expect this, . reeling. the saddest part is. that i didn't expect this, that now i might, i might face consequences that i'd never even dreamt of, and i guess

that's the price that we pay for trying to make this world a little better. fit for trying to make this world a little better.— little better. at the border with pakistan, _ little better. at the border with pakistan, afghans - little better. at the border| with pakistan, afghans are leaving, with or without fighting, the taliban's takeover looks set to trigger yet another wave of refugees. tonight at kabul airport, military and civilian planes offer the only way out. at the gates, chaotic scenes. who will leave and who will be left behind? is this how the west's 20 year adventure in afghanistan will be remembered? for the united states, the lowering of the flag and the closure of its embassy in kabul marked the end of a phase that began almost exactly two decades ago in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. our north america editor jon sopel has been looking what these events mean for the biden administration. over many years and at a cost of tens of billions of dollars,

the us trained and equipped afghan forces to be ready to take back control of their country. but they collapsed like a house of cards — one of many miscalculations made by the biden administration over these dizzying few weeks. and today america's most senior diplomat was trying to put a brave face on events. what we're focused on now is making sure that we can get our people to a safe and secure place, that we can do right by the people who stood with us in afghanistan all these years, including afghans who worked for the embassy, worked for our military. we have a massive effort under way to bring afghans at risk out of the country, if that's what they so desire. america's attempt to export liberal democracy to afghanistan is well and truly over. america's effort to build a civil society in kabul and beyond also in tatters. and joe biden's

prediction from five weeks ago that everything would be just fine has not worn well. first of all, the mission hasn't failed, yet. so the question now is, where do they go from here? that, the jury is still out, but the likelihood there's going to be the taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely. the taliban wants to make a deal... the withdrawal policy was framed during the trump administration and embraced byjoe biden, who is at camp david and today was being briefed by his officials. he believes passionately that america can't stay in afghanistan indefinitely. but foreign—policy hawks are rounding on both men. what we are watching now in afghanistan is what happens when america withdraws from the world, so everybody who has been saying america needs to withdraw, america needs to retreat, we are getting a devastating, catastrophic, real—time lesson in what that means. archive: the us i embassy helicopters flew from roof to roof... america's most scarring

military defeat was summed up in the images of the last helicopter flying off the roof of the us embassy in saigon at the end of the vietnam war. today's scramble to get out of kabul may not be that, but it's not far short. here's more from our north america editorjon sopel, on how some afghans in the us have been reacting to the news out of kabul, and more analysis on what this means for president biden. the few hundred afghans who have gathered here are furious at what has unfolded in these dizzying few days you think we got to distinguish between the policy and the implementation stopping the policy of america saying we can't stay for ever, we will need to pull out, afghan dominic afghanistan needs to take charge of its own affairs enjoys widespread support but the miscalculations and warnings ignored are something else altogether stopping there are talks going on with the taliban and us officials in the taliban have written roughshod over them so

what leverage does that leave the americans in future going forward? joe biden hasn't spoken yet, he is going to have to address the country stopping this may have been donald trump's policy but it'sjoe biden's and limitation and i think he will pay quite a price for the shambles that has unfolded over the last few days. in the uk, the prime minister borisjohnson has said that it's now clear there will be a new government in kabul, and that every effort is being made to move british citizens from afghanistan as soon as possible. he chaired an emergency cobra meeting on sunday afternoon, and parliament is being recalled this week. here's our political correspondent ben wright. for 20 years, the uk has committed its military, money and lives to afghanistan. some of the fiercest fighting was here in helmand. the effort ends with a frantic scramble to get out.

the situation in afghanistan continues to be extremely difficult, getting more difficult, i would say. and our priority is to make sure that we deliver on our obligations to uk nationals in afghanistan, to all those who have helped the british effort in afghanistan over 20 years, and to get them out as fast as we can. uk troops first went to afghanistan in october 2001 after the 9/11 attacks, joining us—led action against al-qaeda and the taliban. by the time combat operations ended in 2014, a54 uk soldiers and military personnel had died. successive prime ministers stressed their commitment to the country and protecting the progress made. today, cross—party fear that progress could vanish. the real danger is that we're going to see every female mp murdered. we're going to see ministers strung up on street lamps, and this is the decision that i'm afraid has been taken. we haven't heard from the foreign secretary in about a week, despite this being the biggest single foreign policy department, disaster, sorry, since suez.

it has been a catastrophic miscalculation, that is absolutely clear. the uk and the united states both overestimated the capacity of the afghan government to hold off the taliban and underestimated the capacity of the taliban to advance throughout the country, and that has been clear, actually, for days. the uk says its mission in afghanistan had to end once the us announced its decision to leave, despite the consequences. it's a mark of the crisis that mps and peers will be brought back from their summer break on wednesday for a day's debate. many are livid about the way afghanistan is being left. but talking here won't stop the taliban and all mps can do is ask ministers how a humanitarian and security disaster might be avoided. forjames kyle, for james kyle, today

forjames kyle, today is difficult he served in afghanistan in 2007 and 2009, the year the regiment lost six of its soldiers. it’s of its soldiers. it's incredibly - of its soldiers. it's incredibly sad - of its soldiers. it's incredibly sad to l of its soldiers. it's i incredibly sad to see of its soldiers. it's - incredibly sad to see the change happen so quickly after years and years of incredible hard work from remarkable armed services in the country. i don't know how i could ever look the parents of fallen soldiers in the eye and say what they did was worth it. the situation in _ what they did was worth it. the situation in afghanistan will be deeply felt by many families closer to home, reflecting on a mission that wasn't meant to end like this. we'll have more on afghanistan a bit later in the programme. and you can of course find much more on our website. we have a special live page dedeicated to afghanistan, with all the latest lines and developments. just go to bbc.com/news and follow the links. or you can doenload the bbc news app.

the death toll from the earthquake that hit haiti on saturday has risen to almost 1300 and at least 6,000 people have been injured. haiti's civil protection service said hospitals in the area have been inundated and struggling to cope. aid workers are racing to provide food, water and shelter before the arrival of a tropical storm on monday. the epicentre of the 7.2 magnitude quake was 150 kilometres from the capital port au prince, where hundreds of buildings have been flattened. the last thing a country in political turmoil needed was this. friends and family searching the rubble for loved ones — looking, praying, for any signs of life. the morning earthquake brought buildings tumbling down — buildings made of heavy cinderblocks and cement. many people didn't have a chance.

translation: the quake killed her. this death hurt us a lot because she is a street seller like us. this church was one of many structures that succumbed. the scenes eerily reminiscent of haiti's devastating 2010 earthquake. this area is remote, and many of the injured are being tended to in makeshift emergency treatment centres. translation: we cannot | provide an assessment yet, because the situation is very critical. we have to mobilise and divide the resources of the hospital. the president has declared a state of emergency. however, the previous president was assassinated only last month, and some worry that haiti's turbulent political situation makes the country poorly placed to handle a humanitarian disaster on this scale. james clayton, bbc news. peter finlay is a delegate with the red cross, he's in port au prince and told me how the rescue effort is going.

the rescue operations are still ongoing. there is a very difficult situation in trying to get to the area which is pretty much in communicated. right now it is only by air and by sea that we can arrive at the locations. construction equipment to assist in the rescue effort is also scarce, so mostly picks and shovels are being used to remove the rubble. i being used to remove the rubble. , ., ., being used to remove the rubble. , . . ' ~ rubble. i understand that 1696 orso rubble. i understand that 1696 or so of haitians _ rubble. i understand that 1696 or so of haitians live - rubble. i understand that 1696 or so of haitians live in - rubble. i understand that 1696 or so of haitians live in the i or so of haitians live in the affected area from the quake, i know you have talked about construction equipment that you need, what are the other key priorities?— priorities? well, the international - priorities? well, the - international federation which is supporting the haitian red cross is launching an emergency appeal to assist 25,000 persons, at least 5000

households, with their basic needs and first response activities, search and rescue, the supplying of health, water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, basically trying to supply shelter materials, basically we are working on the areas where our goal is to be able to supply these needs for at least 18 months. the emergency appeal will have an effect which is for, i guess, around 10 million of strength, we will focus on livelihood, shelter and basic needs. —— 10 million francs. i shelter and basic needs. -- 10 million francs.— million francs. i am so sorry, 'ust to million francs. i am so sorry, just to say. _ million francs. i am so sorry, just to say. i _ million francs. i am so sorry, just to say, i understand - million francs. i am so sorry, | just to say, i understand there is also a tropical storm headed your way, tropical storm grace. that is likely to make the relief and recovery effort even more difficult, isn't it?-

more difficult, isn't it? well, the "apical— more difficult, isn't it? well, the tropical storm _ more difficult, isn't it? well, the tropical storm is - the tropical storm is approaching the dominican republic, it has downgraded to tropical depression, but is bringing times of order. the bounds of rain have already started touching the dominican republic. —— bands. we expected to cross into haiti sometime after midnight today. if you wanyt to get in touch with me i'm on twitter, @bbckarishma. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme, as us citizens leave kabul we speak to a democracy specialist about whether or not the taliban advance was inevitable, even if us troops hadn't left. 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 brutal former dictator has died at the age of 80. he's been buried in saudi arabia where he lived in exile since being overthrown in 1979. two 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.

this is newsday on the bbc. the taliban's lightning week—long offensive across afghanistan has culminated in their seizure of kabul, 20 years after they last held power. they took the capital after president ashraf ghani fled to uzbekistan. the taliban have urged calm but kabul is in chaos. people are desperate to leave, fearing a bloody assault. there's little violence so far, but plenty of panic. let's get more now on the situation in afghanistan. i'm joined now by steve fish, politics professor, at the university of california, berkeley. i want to start by asking you, we've seen this rapid advance by the taliban, did you expect them to move as quickly as they have? i them to move as quickly as they have? . . . , them to move as quickly as they have? ., , ., , have? i actually thought they would.

have? i actually thought they would- and _ have? i actually thought they would. and i _ have? i actually thought they would. and i think _ have? i actually thought they would. and i think the - have? i actually thought they| would. and i think the bynum administration grossly underestimated how fast the taliban would move once the united states withdrew its troops. —— biden administration. we actually tend to base their estimates on how long it would take a couple to fall based on, you know, what the military capabilities of the government world, and what they were, rather than taking account of the psychological effects of knowing they were going to lose once the american administration made it clear that we were on our way out. —— kabul to fall. there wasn't much reason for the afghan army, the afghan government army, the afghan government army and the police, to pose a kind of last stand against the taliban. and so they ended up melting away very quickly. i frankly think this is something divided administration should have been aware of, and should have been aware of, and should have taken precautions to make sure that the citizens we needed evacuated work, that we provided aid to the afghans,

afghans were actually cooperating with the western government, and with the afghan government, and with the afghan government, before actually engaging in withdrawal. i think that was a big mistake. i engaging in withdrawal. i think that was a big mistake.- that was a big mistake. i know ou that was a big mistake. i know you specialise _ that was a big mistake. i know you specialise in _ that was a big mistake. i know you specialise in issues - that was a big mistake. i know you specialise in issues of - you specialise in issues of democracy. president biden says the us troops could not have stayed in afghanistan indefinitely. he didn't want to hand this war over to a fifth american president, he said. was the taliban takeover of afghanistan inevitable, no matter what happened, it wouldn't have made a difference? it wouldn't have made a difference?— difference? it wasn't necessarily - difference? it wasn't i necessarily inevitable. difference? it wasn't - necessarily inevitable. the united states could have kept its contention that contingent of a few thousand troops there and maintain control over at least the cities of afghanistan indefinitely. the question is whether the american people and people on both sides of the aisle, both republicans and democrats, were satisfied with that arrangement. that was kind of the status quo we lived with for many years. it seemed unsatisfactory because it is hard to just kind of keep

fighting these wars decade after decade stop it is the same... inaudible. as they were when we were really fighting the war. , ., ., when we were really fighting the war. ,, . ,., . ~ the war. oh, you are back. steve, the war. oh, you are back. steve. one _ the war. oh, you are back. steve, one more _ the war. oh, you are back. steve, one more question | the war. oh, you are back. i steve, one more question to you. what is the taliban's endgame all of this. the endgame _ endgame all of this. the endgame is _ endgame all of this. the endgame is fairly - endgame all of this. iie: endgame is fairly simple. endgame all of this. "iie: endgame is fairly simple. they take over the whole country. they are taking kabul right now. they will control all political power in afghanistan very quickly. i don't think there is going to be a civil war. i think basically, the country is now the taliban's. and that is the new reality on the ground. and that is the new reality on the ground-— the ground. steve fish, politics _ the ground. steve fish, politics professor - the ground. steve fish, politics professor at - the ground. steve fish, j politics professor at the university of california berkeley, thanks forjoining us on tuesday. kristen rouse is a board member of iraq and afghanistan veterans of america. she served in afghanistan and is in contact with people on the ground who are fearing for their lives.

iam hearing i am hearing from folks on the ground, in and around the capital, who are hunkering down, they don't have a way out, they don't have these is processed, they are unable to get on flights as of right now, and they are absolutely trapped and they are absolutely trapped and absolutely in fear of their lives with the knowledge of what the taliban has done, and another outline places in the country. there has been door—to—door targeting of any interpreter or worker who has been affiliated with the us or nato or coalition missions. they are being hunted down, and in some cases executed. i and many other veterans who i've been talking with and messaging today, we are even getting messages from our comrade is on

the ground afghanistan, with final messages, because they think they are going to die soon. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines: anti—government demonstrators in thailand have staged a protest involving thousands of cars to demand the resignation of the prime minister over the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. the organisers said they used vehicles to help stop the spread of the virus. infection rates and deaths from covid—19 have soared to record levels in thailand injapan, nearly 2 million people have been urged to evacuate their homes because of heavy rainfall in parts of the country. highest—level rain warnings have been issued in a number of prefectures, including fukuoka and hiroshima. soldiers, police and firefighters have been sent to help with rescue operations in the area. wildfires in forested hills to the west of the israeli city ofjerusalem, have forced the evacuation of the homes of thousands of people. water—dropping planes and helicopters have supported firefighters

battling the blaze. spain has registered a temperature record of 47.2 c and into the current heatwave. the reading was taken at a meteorological station near cordoba on saturday, and it must still be verified. parts of southern europe have seen blistering temperatures in recent days as an area of high pressure moved up from africa. you've been watching newsday. a reminder of our top story, the taliban's lightening week—long offensive afghanistan has culminated in their seizure of the capital, kabul. 20 years after they held power. they took kabul after president ashraf ghani fled to uzbekistan, saying the militants had won by force and were now responsible for protecting the honour, wealth and self—esteem of the afghan people. the taliban have urged

calm, but many say kabul is in chaos. cloud features prominently in our forecast for this week. with the mostly cloudy conditions come some pretty cool conditions for the time of year as well. it will often, if not always, be dry. this is how we start off monday. quite a windy start to the day, especially for north sea coasts. lots of cloud around generally, the odd shower here and there, but some sunshine developing across eastern scotland and down the eastern side of england. further west, we will keep hold of the cloud. while the winds will ease a bit through the day, it will stay quite breezy, and temperatures generally will be a bit below par, 17, 18, 19, maybe 20 degrees. through the evening into the night, we will see this area of rain pushing in from the north—west.

that will get down to england and wales by the end of the night, but with it, notice all of this mist and murk and low cloud working in, especially into western coasts and hills, and we are going to keep a lot of that through the middle part of the week. rather cloudy through tuesday into wednesday, rather cool as well, but most places will stay dry. we still have this northwesterly wind, with high pressure and low pressure trapping us between the two, essentially, but that northwesterly wind picking up an awful lot of moisture, an awful lot of cloud and depositing it on top of the uk. so largely cloudy conditions on tuesday, a little bit of patchy rain and

drizzle here and there. equally, that cloud breaking to give some sunny spells, especially to the south and the southeast of high ground. temperatures, at best, 18, 19, 20 degrees — still a little disappointing. and then into wednesday, more of the same, really, more mist and murk and cloud, the odd spot of drizzle. best of any brightness to the east and southeast of any hills and mountains. and temperatures, well, maybe just creeping up a touch, 21 degrees there in london, 17 in aberdeen. and then as we look towards the end of the week, a quiet sort of day on thursday. by friday, well, there is the chance that we will see some rain pushing in from the west.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hours straight after this programme. # we've lost dancing... covid has meant this has been the view on the dance floor. # we've lost dancing... venues like this have been closed now for over a year. the question is, as everything starts to open up, will the clubbers want to come back? when the clubs reopen, the appetite will still always be there, and we will run straight into the club when we can. and i don't think that'll go anywhere. the government don't understand what we do. they think about a dj as someone — last orders at the bar, and all that stuff.

totally dated view, and everything. the interaction between - yourself and the dance floor,