welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: in president biden has given a robust defence of his decision to withdraw us troops from afghanistan. i stand squarely behind my decisions. after 20 years, i've learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw. desperate scenes at kabul airport, with people cleaning to moving planes, trying to flee the country. taliban militants patrol

the streets of kabul— there's widespread fear the regime will bring repression. so what does the future hold for the people of afghanistan, especially women, under the taliban and will the threat of international terrorism also increase? i'll be discussing that with guests from washington and india. also on the programme: nearly 1,300 people are known to have died in a massive earthquake in haiti, and a tropical storm is now heading towards the devastated country. live from our studio in singapore, this is newsday. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. we begin in washington, where in the past hour or so, president biden has sought to defend the manner of the us withdrawal from afghanistan. it comes after chaotic scenes at kabul airport, as desperate afghans

try to flee the country following the taliban's takeover on sunday. people have crowded around departing aircraft, with some even clinging on as planes take off. mr biden said he stood squarely behind his decision, and that there was never a good time to withdraw. our first report is from washington and our north america editor, jon sopel. the sudden capture of the country's capital has shocked the world. whatever the political bent of the network... the taliban has taken over afghanistan, seizing control of kabul... ..the verdict today has been unanimous and brutal. the biden administration is - redefining the word "incompetent". an epic humiliation of us foreign policy, a woeful mishandling by president biden. just a month ago, the president said a taliban takeover of afghanistan was highly unlikely. and given this backdrop, he had little choice but to cut short his vacation and return to washington by helicopter

to answer his critics. he was unrepentant. i stand squarely behind my decision. after 20 years, i've learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw us forces. i always promised the american people i would be straight with you and the chooses test did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated. he shifted the blame firmly on the leaders of afghanistan and the military. we gave them every tool that they could need and paid their salaries, provided for the maintenance of the airforce. of their airforce. we gave them every chance to determine their own future. then he posed this question. i'm left again to ask of those who argue that we should stay, how many more generations of our daughters and sons would you have me sent to fight the afghanistan civil war?

the hurried evacuation of the us embassy caught everyone by surprise and unleashed a torrent of criticism. it seems again the biden administration has no plan and has created another crisis in afghanistan where it it didn't need to be. this is about leadership and the way in which we are removing ourselves and withdrawing from afghanistan didn't need to occur. outside the white house, there have been protests from pro—afghan groups. this woman served two tours of duty in afghanistan with us air force. today, i'm embarrassed to an american. - why? | because we pretended to be allies| with these people and then we just left them like lambs _ to the slaughter and it's immoral. america is better than this. the anguish is deep among

former afghan nationals. they don't care any more about afghanistan. we are not as important as we were back in 2000. that's the reason we are here, we're here to speak up for the women who worked for the united states. today near the iranian border, life is carrying on with an air of normality, but what will the city and the country feel like in a few months with the taliban back in charge? will it be 2001 all over again? jon sopel, bbc news, washington. i'm joined now by kamran bokhari, director of analytical development at the newlines institute in washington. great to have you on the programme. president biden had just set in that speech that the whole point of the us involvement in afghanistan was about continuing the terror threat and the threat has gone past afghanistan. that's the justification for pulling us troops out. could he come to regret that statement?—

out. could he come to regret that statement? , ., , statement? book, nobody can actually redict the statement? book, nobody can actually predict the future. _ statement? book, nobody can actually predict the future. if _ statement? book, nobody can actually predict the future. if we _ statement? book, nobody can actually predict the future. if we look - statement? book, nobody can actually predict the future. if we look at - predict the future. if we look at what happened in iraq, we pulled horses out when president biden was vice president —— forces out. only to have to go back three years later, not at the same scale, but with 5000 or so troops to fight isis. that may happen down the road in afghanistan because at the end of the day, this country is far more shattered than iraq is. iraq has a state even if it is weak, and under the influence of the iranians, but here, we have under anarchy, as was demonstrated by the utter collapse of the state that we spent 20 years building. of the state that we spent 20 years buildinu. �* ., of the state that we spent 20 years buildin. ~ ., ., ~ of the state that we spent 20 years buildinu. �* ., ., ~ ., , building. america's talk military aeneral, building. america's talk military general. the — building. america's talk military general, the return _ building. america's talk military general, the return of— building. america's talk military

general, the return of the - building. america's talk military i general, the return of the taliban and afghanistan could accelerate. how worried are you about this? i am worried. how worried are you about this? i am worried- i am — how worried are you about this? i —n worried. i am worried because how worried are you about this? i —n worried. lam worried because it's worried. i am worried because it's notjust worried. i am worried because it's not just afghanistan, worried. i am worried because it's notjust afghanistan, it's pakistan next door as well, which has huge extremist society. the afghan taliban, there are transnational jihadist, so this could become a singular battle space in a worst—case scenario, where the border between afghanistan and pakistan is disregarded, as was the case with isis when it essentially moved back and forth from syria and iraq. i'm not saying that will happen here because pakistan is a robust state with a large army, even if it has its problems. but i can

see large parts of pakistan becoming the scene of growing extremism and terrorism. ., ., , terrorism. could there have been another solution _ terrorism. could there have been another solution for _ terrorism. could there have been another solution for the - terrorism. could there have been another solution for the united . another solution for the united states? for instance, president biden presented this as a straight binary choice, stay or go. could they have kept more troops on the ground? they have kept more troops on the round? ., ., �* ~' they have kept more troops on the round? ., ., �* ~ �*, ., ground? no, i don't think there's a arallel. ground? no, i don't think there's a parallel. south _ ground? no, i don't think there's a parallel. south korea _ ground? no, i don't think there's a parallel. south korea is— ground? no, i don't think there's a parallel. south korea is a - parallel. south korea is a completely different story. you have a nuclear armed neighbour that is very hostile, and backed by china. with artillery aimed at seoul, that reality hasn't changed. i think you can't make that analogy. to answer your question, there were a lot of things that went wrong going all the way back to the bush administration. we could have done this far better, but we didn't. that doesn't mean you

keep troops for an undetermined period of time with no hope of a solution. so i think the president �*s right there, but what i think he isn't talking about is what is administration did in terms of the final pull—out. the botched operation to pull out the embassy and get people out.— and get people out. thank you for “oininu and get people out. thank you for joining us- — more now on the day's events at kabul airport, where american forces fired into the air to disperse crowds attempting to force their way onto departing planes. several people are reported to have been killed. american and british troops are engaged in evacuating their citizens, while the international community tries to define its response to the taliban's lightning—speed victory. here's our afghanistan correspondent, secunder kermani.

running for their lives, frantically trying to escape afghanistan on this us military plane. this is how desperate some afghans are to leave the country. a handful tragically clinging on even after take—off, before falling to their deaths. foreign nationals — and some afghans — are being evacuated, but huge crowds gathered after rumours even those without visas could travel. gunfire. outside the airport, even more chaos. taliban members firing in the air to assert their authority, trying to keep control. despite the dangers, some residents still risking their lives to try and get inside. the group has promised

an amnesty to those with links to the government, but many still fear they'll be targeted by the militants. inside the airport, american forces fired into the air too. us officials claimed two armed afghans were killed. an eyewitness told the bbc the victims were ordinary people. i just saw with my eyes three people, but there's more people, maybe. it's a very, very bad situation and people are in chaos. no—one is quite sure what comes next in afghanistan, though it's clear the taliban are in charge. their members are out in force, patrolling in vehicles seized from government security forces. "we're preventing looters and thieves from harming the people," says this fighter. the group has also reportedly been demanding all weapons are handed over to them. the unravelling of the state has come at a pace many

are still struggling to comprehend. now it will be the taliban who decide what direction the country takes. we want an afghan inclusive islamic government. so, by that, we mean all other afghans have also participation in that government. so, of course, that needs a little bit of time and deliberation and talks. the terror and panic at the airport today an awful ending to two decades an awful ending to two decades of international efforts to rebuild this country. for all its fractures and rampant corruption, afghanistan had also seen fragile progress. the future for its people is now deeply uncertain. secunder kermani, bbc news. still to come a bit later in the programme... we'll be focusing on the outlook for women in afghanistan and assessing

how far their lives may change under the taliban. let's take a look at some of the stories in the headlines in the uk. from today, people in england and northern ireland who've had two covid vaccines won't have to isolate for ten days if they've been in contact with someone who's tested positive. the changes to the self—isolation rules are already in place in wales and scotland. the guidance, which applies to the under—18s too, now says that people should instead take a pcr test. linda bauld, professor of public health at edinburgh university, said close contacts should take this guidance seriously. if you identified as a close contact, you're significantly higher risk than having the virus yourself and potentially becoming unwell even if you're double and vaccinated. although the... i would really encourage people to take it up. it's very important.

bell tolls. a one—minute silence has been held to remember the five victims of the mass shooting in plymouth, in the south—west of england. maxine davison, stephen washington, kate shepherd, along with father and daughter lee and sophie martyn, were killed in the shooting spree on thursday. in response, the uk government is to publish new guidelines on the licensing of firearms. two men were attacked with bottles and had homophobic aid workers in haiti are racing to provide food, water and shelter to survivors of saturday's earthquake, before a major tropical storm hits the country. hospitals are struggling to cope with thousands of injured survivors. nearly 1,300 people are known to have died after the quake struck on saturday. the problems are even more acute in remote areas. 0ur correspondent james clayton managed to travel to the town of les cayes to the south west of the epicentre and sent this report. many of these people were asleep when the earthquake hit, their homes caving in. it's hard enough to treat survivors

of any natural disaster, but when the hospitals themselves are under fear of collapse, it makes it all the more difficult. well, this hospital is simply too unsafe to have people stay inside. so they've brought everyone outside here and they have tried to place them under the trees, under tents, to try and keep them a little bit cooler and out of the hot sun. but what you're seeing here is 48 hours after the quake, the doctors have run out of painkillers. out of painkillers, they've run out of antibiotics. and there are major concerns about things like infection. elsie had just woken up when the earthquake hit. her son has a serious compound fracture and needs to be taken to the airport to be lifted out. seeing him in such pain is overwhelming. there simply aren't enough facilities to treat people in this remote part of the country. from the hospital some of the injured are taken to this airport, waiting for a flight out to the capital, port—au—prince.

like 19—year—old tanya, who's pregnant. so, you woke up and basically tried to run out, but then the house collapsed on top of her? she says her leg hurts and she has abdominal pain. most of the hospitals here are in need of the basics. iv solutions, bandages, medications. iv solutions, bandages, medications, including antibiotics and pain management medications. they're in the same situation where they've run out. 0verall, it's dire. you know, sitting here with three hospitals that are moving patients to the airport for transportation out. there's no coordination. a tropical storm here is also preventing flights in and out of the capital. the people here need help, but at the moment, not enough is coming. james clayton, bbc news. if you want to get in touch with me, i'm on twitter. anything about the situation in afghanistan. i'm looking forward to hearing from you.

you're watching newsday on the bbc. 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 been 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 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. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. 0ur headlines: president biden has strongly defended his decision to withdraw us troops from afghanistan, saying the goal had been counterterrorism, not nation—building. the united nations secretary general has urged the taliban to practice maximum restraint. he said the un

was receiving chilling reports, with mounting violations against women and girls. joining me now is nivi manchanda, author of the book "imagining afghanistan: the history and politic of imperial knowledge". she's currently in delhi. great to have you on newsday. i know your work is focused on women and afghanistan. we're already getting reports of women being somewhat erased from public life in afghanistan. i've heard of no more female broadcasters on some local tv stations for instance. how much do you think life might change under the taliban for women?— you think life might change under the taliban for women? thank you. i think it is inevitable _ the taliban for women? thank you. i think it is inevitable that _ the taliban for women? thank you. i think it is inevitable that for - the taliban for women? thank you. i think it is inevitable that for some i think it is inevitable that for some women and afghanistan, life will get

worse. for instance, in the urban areas, women have enjoyed far fewer freedom of expression and access to health care. i'm not quite sure how much of a change this will be for women in rural areas. i also think women's liberation is equated with burqas and the headscarves, and i think that the tracks from more important questions around mobility and safety from domestic violence. i think the taliban will make things worse. . �* , . think the taliban will make things worse. ., �* , ., . think the taliban will make things worse. ., h ., . ,., worse. that's an excellent point. i 'ust want worse. that's an excellent point. i just want to _ worse. that's an excellent point. i just want to point _ worse. that's an excellent point. i just want to point out _ worse. that's an excellent point. i just want to point out the - worse. that's an excellent point. i just want to point out the taliban l just want to point out the taliban have said women will be able to go to school, they don't have to wear the burqa, your point extremely important — that's not the only form

of liberation we should look for. how much do you believe them? it’s how much do you believe them? it's ve how much do you believe them? it�*s very hard for me to say, and i suppose my guess would be as good as yours. if the taliban want to be considered legitimate government internationally, we can hope this will be the case. i still think that the bigger question is about women's freedom for local oppression and intervention. this is what women themselves, and affect —— especially feminist organisations have been arguing for decades. 0bviously, feminist organisations have been arguing for decades. obviously, this is a sad day for that. ihlizfi. arguing for decades. obviously, this is a sad day for that.— is a sad day for that. nivi, i know we talk about _ is a sad day for that. nivi, i know we talk about this _ is a sad day for that. nivi, i know we talk about this a _ is a sad day for that. nivi, i know we talk about this a lot, - is a sad day for that. nivi, i know we talk about this a lot, but - is a sad day for that. nivi, i know we talk about this a lot, but to i we talk about this a lot, but to remind our viewers, what was life like for women under the taliban? how much did it change after the us got involved? 50. how much did it change after the us got involved?—

got involved? so, this is an academic— got involved? so, this is an academic second-hand - got involved? so, this is an - academic second-hand accounts. i academic second—hand accounts. i think life was extremely difficult. the taliban are authoritarian and misogynistic. but there were many other practices — poverty, war, no access to hospital, low sanitation, all under the taliban. life did change after the us invasion. some important advances were made in women's rights, which definitely should be spawned at. women's lives are not... they don't exist in a vacuum. the us invasion caused a lot of civilian deaths and failed to build a proper government structure. life did change, but not for everyone, and certainly not enough to celebrate. misti everyone, and certainly not enough to celebrate-— everyone, and certainly not enough to celebrate. . ., ., ., ., to celebrate. nivi manchanda, author ofthe to celebrate. nivi manchanda, author of the book imagining _ to celebrate. nivi manchanda, author

of the book imagining afghanistan, i of the book imagining afghanistan, thank you so much forjoining us. protestors have attacked the home of lebanon's prime minister designate, najib mikati, calling for his resignation. he said he made enemies by pursuing corruption charges against some politicians. he's also faced criticism by failing to control the latest surgeon coronavirus cases. jonathan head has the latest. many would argue that it's remarkable that prime minister muhyiddin yassin lasted even this long, given the dubious way in which he got the job last year — in an internal coup that brought down the reformist coalition he was then part of, leaving bitterfeelings in malaysian politics — given the deep split in his former party, which has been a central part of his governing coalition, and given the herculean task facing any malaysian government in addressing the fast—growing covid epidemic. now the horse trading begins to choose mr muhyiddin�*s successor,

and many malaysians fear that that will inevitably involve concessions to or compromises with some of those facing charges for the alleged involvement in the great 1mdb financial scandal, a scandal that the malaysian public by and large wants to seejustice in. what about, though, opposition leader anwar ibrahim, a man who's been campaigning for the top job for more than 20 years, who spent two terms in prison in part because of his efforts? he's often claimed that he's got the numbers to form an alternative administration, but in truth, in part because of his divisive personality and the fact that he's in coalition with the mainly ethnic chinese democratic action party, he's unlikely to get the number of mps needed to form a government. and then, there's the great survivor of malaysian politics, 96—year—old doctor mahathir mohamad. he's been pushing for a kind of national unity reconstruction

council to run the country during this crisis. but even doctor mahathir probably doesn't have the support to push that idea forward. in reality, the country is likely to end up with a kind of compromised candidate as prime minister, perhaps not a very charismatic figure, to lead an interim government that holds the fort until such a time, as the country can hold a new general election safely. jonathan had there. you've been watching newsday. a reminder of our top story. president biden has strongly defended his decision to withdraw us troops from afghanistan. he said the goals were focused on counterterrorism, not nation—building. as to the current situation, he said he had made it clear to the taliban that any attack on us personality would be met with

devastating force if necessary. that's it. i karishma vaswani. hello there. we're looking at a pretty benign week of weather. we've got high—pressure fairly nearby, but a lot of cloud streaming in off the north atlantic, bringing us rather rather cool bringing us rather cool and cloudy conditions throughout the week. a little bit of sunshine here and there, but there will also be some patchy rain, too. these weather fronts bringing the patchy rain through this morning. generally, though, we've got this airflow coming in from the north atlantic, and it's moisture—laden air, hence all the cloud. so, rather grey skies this morning, that patchy rain eventually clearing away from the eastern side of england. there will be further patchy rain for northern and western hills, but many places will turn drier, and we could see some sunshine breaking through eastern scotland, eastern england, perhaps across south wales and the southwest. a breezy day to come, those winds quite fresh from the northwest, and temperatures pretty disappointing for mid—august, generally 15—21 celsius

in the sunnier spots further south. and we hold onto the cloud and the breeze through tuesday night, as well. most places will be dry, further spots of drizzle, though, across some western hills, especially, especially northern and western scotland. but with all the cloud cover and the breeze, temperatures no lower than around 11—15 degrees. so then, for wednesday, very little change — it looks similar, rather grey and breezy once again, further patchy drizzle across some northern and western hills. but again, with some shelter from the breeze, from the higher ground further west, we should see some sunny spells, again, eastern england, perhaps across the south of wales and southwest. again, that pushes temperatures up to 21 degrees — otherwise for most, it's mid—to—high teens. into thursday, some subtle changes, this weather front�*s a bit more this weather front�*s a bit more active, it'll start to wriggle into parts of england and wales. the winds will be lighter on thursday, too, coming in from a more west—southwest direction. again, a lot of cloud around,

but we'll have these showers pushing into england and wales — thanks to that weather front, some of these could be on the heavy side. a bit of sunshine again towards the southwest, highs of 20—21 degrees, otherwise, again, mid—to—high teens. as we move out of thursday into friday, we start to see this more substantial area of low pressure sweeping up very slowly from the southwest. so, that'll change the wind direction to a south—westerly for many of us, it will be light with breeze. again, quite a bit of cloud around, a few sunny spells here and there, the more substantial rain pushing into northern ireland and later, western england and wales. and again, those temperatures range from 15—20 degrees.

this is bbc news, the headlines... president biden has strongly defended his decision to withdraw us troops from afghanistan. mr biden said the clear goals of the us mission in afghanistan were focussed on counter—terrorism, not nation—building. thousands of afghans have been trying to flee the country as the taliban take control. there was mayhem and panic at kabul airport, with people clinging to moving planes, trying to escape. the mayor of kabul says the taliban have asked him to stay on in his post to ensure stability. he said the militants were surprised they'd been able to take over so rapidly and most of their leaders were not in kabul. the united nations secretary general has urged the taliban to exercise the maximum restraint to protect lives. speaking to the security council, antonio guterres called on the international community to make sure that afghanistan was never again used as a safe haven for terrorist organisations.