welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: the taliban leader says the rights of women will be respected as long as they adhere to islamic laws. translation: there | will be nothing against women in our ruling. our people accept our women are muslims. they accept islamic rules. if they continue to live according to sharia, we will be happy. they will be happy. the uk government announces up to 20,000 afghans will be resettled in britain in the long term. how is china responding to the developments in afghanistan, and how will they approach relations with the taliban? we'll be talking to an expert on the region. also in the programme... the authorities in haiti now

say more than 1900 people have died following saturday's powerful earthquake. the plague is still a killer in parts of the world. now a new vaccine could consign it to history once and for all. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. we begin in kabul in afghanistan, where taliban leaders who've never been seen in public before have been making theirfirst statements on afghan soil, to a world still shocked by their lightning victory. they hope to have calmed a worried nation and international community, with assurances that those afghans who assisted international forces would come to no harm, that media

freedoms would be protected, and that women would be allowed to study and work, within islamic principles. with the story of how the taliban claims it will rule, here's our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet. the republic has fallen. its leaders fled. taliban rule is returning, day by day its fighters more visible on the streets of kabul. patrolling with us military vehicles left behind or lost by government forces. taking on tasks to show they're in charge now. and showing the new face of afghanistan to the world. today, the first press conference by a man who's long been a mystery. taliban spokesman zabihullah mujahid showing his face in public for the first time, making their message clear. translation: i reassure| all internationals, the un, all embassies, our neighbours, that we will not be allowing

the soil of afghanistan to be used against anybody. we have given amnesty to everybody. there is no revenge. all those young people who have talent, who have got an education, we don't want them to leave. day by day, afghans come to terms with the taliban again. waiting, not for words, but for what will change in their lives. let's see what afghanistan brings. i want to stay here, i want to fight for my students. i want to fight for our vision of afghanistan. and i know things are never going to be the same any more. it'sjust i have to be here. and so far, some surprises. female presenters are still fronting popular news programs. a talib taking her questions. but many fear it's just a shiny new show for now. women are already taking to the streets.

"we exist," they shout. "work, education, political participation, is our right." women make up half of afghan society. "don't upset us," they tell the taliban. "be our voice." today, the taliban also focused on that fear. translation: there | will be nothing against women in our ruling. our people accept our women are muslims, they accept islamic rules. if they continue to live according to sharia, we will be happy, they will be happy. they've said that so many times before. as an afghan woman, i wouldn't trust them because they don't have a very good track record of keeping their promises or something like that. if they were so keen on women's rights, they wouldn't stop girls from going to university. they wouldn't stop women working in banks. these are two different narratives. with fighting finished, time forfun, too — taliban style.

not the usual image of austere islamists, but it may be but a brief pause before new rules come into force. look atjust one snapshot of how many people, afghans and foreigners, are fleeing as fast as possible. the evacuation from kabul airport proceeds ever more urgently, including britain's operations. the taliban are promising stability too, and a government that's different this time round. their words have changed, many wait to see what they really mean. lyse doucet, bbc news. the british government has announced further details of a bespoke resettlement scheme for afghan refugees. 0ur political correspondent, nick eardley, explained what we know so far, about how it will work. up to 20,000 afghan refugees

to come to the uk and resettle over the next few years — 5000 in the first year, the rest expected to come after that. and ministers here say it will focus on what they're calling the most at risk, in particular, women and girls. it is different from the scheme which had already been announced, which was for afghans who worked with uk forces over the past 20 years and their families. we expect about 5000 people to settle in the uk under that scheme, but this is 20,000 people separate from that. we don't have details about how it's going to be funded just yet, but we do know that the government plans to work with local councils and devolved governments to figure out the best places for refugees to be housed over the next few years. but the message from government tonight is that they believe this scheme, which is modelled on the one which

was used during the syrian war, and ultimately saw 20,000 people settle in the uk over around five years. ministers saying the new scheme for afghanistan will ultimately save lives, and we've seen those pictures over the last few days that show how desperate some people are to leave kabul and to leave the country as a whole. and the hope in the uk government is that this will be part of a wider humanitarian effort. yes, money for humanitarian aid, but also countries who have been involved in afghanistan over the last 20 years pledging to take significant numbers of refugees. nick heard only three embassies now remain in operation in kabul, with china one of the handful of countries that is keeping its office running in the afghan capital. beijing says it will continue to cooperate with afghanistan, but has also warned the taliban

against the use of terrorism. last month, china held talks with a taliban delegation, and with the two countries sharing a border, attention is now turning to how beijing will respond to recent events. for more on this, we can speak to raffaello pantucci, a senior research fellow at the royal united services institute and a senior visiting fellow at the international centre for political violence and terrorism research at the s rajaratnam school of international studies in singapore. great to have you on the programme. how much is the us�*s retreat an opportunity for china, especially in economic terms? i china, especially in economic terms? ~' ., china, especially in economic terms? ~ ., , terms? i think from china's perspective. _ terms? i think from china's perspective, actually, - terms? i think from china's perspective, actually, it's. perspective, actually, it's possible that what we're seeing now will be incredibly further complicated. china always had a relationship with the afghan government. we've seen sort of

study drip of the chinese economic projects along the way. the two biggest economic investments we've seen enough management —— afghanistan have been chinese, but both face enormous difficulties while you had a relatively stable and internationally recognised government in place. that's now changed and you now but a government that is not really being recognised by a lot of the world. there's a lot of questions and scepticism, and it's not a government that's try to manage large—scale investment before. so i don't know china will find it that much easier.— know china will find it that much easier. ~ ., ., , ., ~' much easier. what do you think will be the _ much easier. what do you think will be the biggest _ much easier. what do you think will be the biggest concern - much easier. what do you think will be the biggest concern for. will be the biggest concern for the chinese as they try to navigate this rather difficult relationship between beijing and the taliban? i relationship between bei'ing and the taliban?i and the taliban? i think the most complicated _ and the taliban? i think the most complicated aspect i and the taliban? i think the | most complicated aspect will

and the taliban? i think the - most complicated aspect will be how reliable the partner is on the other side, and i say that in terms of the fact that as we've seen from the recent meeting, the primary concern the chinese expressed was the taliban did not let their country control, become a base from which militants could use, build bases to attack china. and this will remain their primary concern when they look forward. when their companies or investors are trying to look at going into afghanistan, the difficulty will be very similar. how stable a country are you really dealing with? chinese companies tend to have a higher risk threshold than others around the world. there are certainly lots of economic opportunities in afghanistan. you've got lots of mineral resources in the country. at the same time, you're dealing with a situation which is very

unstable, and we just don't really know what kind of country we're going to be seeing. this means from a chinese investment perspective, you're going into a very unstable environment. if you're talking about billions of dollars, you want to make sure you can get your investments back out and you can actually complete the project. they struggled to do that so far. it's difficult to imagine this will be much easier with the government having power now. raffaello pantucci, thank you so much forjoining us on newsday. events in afghanistan have been moving fast, so check out our website for all the latest news and development, plus analysis from our team on the ground. that's at bbc.com/news. a tropical storm is severely hampering efforts to help the survivors of saturday's powerful earthquake in haiti, with the number of dead now more than 1900. tens of thousands of people

forced into temporary shelters are now having to deal with flooding, heavy winds and rain. unicef says half a million children have been left with limited or no access to shelter and safe water. 0ur correspondentjames clayton reports now from the town of les cayes, one of the worst affected areas at times, it feels like haiti is being hit from all directions on multiple fronts. first the earthquake. then the storm. it hit just after dark. violent winds and horizontal rain. misery loaded on top of misery. all across this town people have been left with a stark choice. do they either sleep in unsafe structures or do they decide to sleep on the streets in the wet and the cold? this is the biggest camp in the area. people seeking refuge on a football field. they were told they'd be safe here, but as the rains poured, they were soaked, their tents

ripped apart by the winds. the people here are desperate and angry. translation: we have problems here. - just look at the conditions. and where are the government? they're not here. there are injured people here, too. this woman's foot has a deep laceration, but she's had no medical attention. and another woman tells me she has not eaten since saturday. the other option here is to sleep in homes already badly damaged. joshua runs the local lottery shop. he and his family were lucky the house didn't totally collapse, but they've had to make a difficult decision. and did you sleep here last night? translation: yes, i slept here in this l broken house last night. there was wind and rain. but the other people in the tent city had to sleep outside on chairs. there are simply no good options in this situation. these are desperate times and the storm has meant that the help that is needed

by air and road simply hasn't arrived. james clayton, bbc news, les cayes. if you want to get in touch with me, i'm on twitter — @bbckarishma. i'm looking forward to hearing from you. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... a glimpse of deep space as we've never seen it before. astronomers learn more about the birth and destruction of the stars. 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. 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. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. 0ur headlines: taliban leaders vow to respect the rights of women in theirfirst public comments since re—taking control of afghanistan.

the uk has announced plans to welcome up to 20,000 afghan refugees and calls on other nations to do the same. four new cases of covid—i9 have been confirmed in new zealand. the country has gone into nationwide lockdown again after reporting its first community case of covid—i9 in six months. the prime minister said all the cases have been confirmed as delta variant. this is what she had to say a short while ago. 0ur hospitals kicked straight into gear, already identifying patients they've worked with, getting on with testing straight away, making sure they were putting in those protocols to essentially lock down within the hospital. so, these were unfortunately tojog people's memories. we did from time to time have health care workers who became infected with covid—i9. they are our front line, they are very exposed, so that had happened in previous outbreaks. so, our hospitals are

well—versed in managing these things and moving very quickly on them. lloyd burr is currently in hotel quarantine in rotorua after having travelled back from the uk. he told me about his own quarantine experience. just to get a flight and a spot was quite hard. when the plane lands_ was quite hard. when the plane lands in— was quite hard. when the plane lands in new zealand and pulls up lands in new zealand and pulls up to— lands in new zealand and pulls up to the — lands in new zealand and pulls up to the air bridge and some of the — up to the air bridge and some of the military comes on board, and says— of the military comes on board, and says they're putting you on and says they're putting you on a bus_ and says they're putting you on a bus and — and says they're putting you on a bus and you come and get put in a room — a bus and you come and get put in a room like this and you're here — in a room like this and you're here for— in a room like this and you're here for two weeks. you test positive, _ here for two weeks. you test positive, you have to... that's where — positive, you have to... that's where i— positive, you have to... that's where i am _ positive, you have to... that's where i am right now. i'm on my second _ where i am right now. i'm on my second week, so i'm on the home run _ second week, so i'm on the home run that's — second week, so i'm on the home run. that's how new zealand managed _ run. that's how new zealand managed to keep covid out of the country, by having this really— the country, by having this really strict regime. somehow, the delta — really strict regime. somehow, the delta variant has gone to five cases. it is kind of

concerning, and i haven't made a link_ concerning, and i haven't made a link about how it's got through— a link about how it's got through the border. that's what health— through the border. that's what health officials are trying to find~ — health officials are trying to find. y ., health officials are trying to find. ,, health officials are trying to find. , , find. lloyd, you look pretty ok for having _ find. lloyd, you look pretty ok for having been _ find. lloyd, you look pretty ok for having been in _ find. lloyd, you look pretty ok for having been in quarantine l for having been in quarantine for having been in quarantine for more than a week, so good on you for making it through this long. you'vejust on you for making it through this long. you've just returned from the uk, which sees so many cases a day. is the hard and sharp lockdown strategy in new zealand an overreaction, do you think? ~ , y zealand an overreaction, do you think? ~ , , ., zealand an overreaction, do you think? ~ , ., �*, think? absolutely not. it's worked well _ think? absolutely not. it's worked well in _ think? absolutely not. it's worked well in the - think? absolutely not. it's worked well in the past. i think? absolutely not. it's l worked well in the past. i've had — worked well in the past. i've had cases— worked well in the past. i've had cases like this before, and there's— had cases like this before, and there's been a bit of transmission. they've gone hard and fast — transmission. they've gone hard and fast and it's been stamped out within a few weeks. new zealand _ out within a few weeks. new zealand went back to normal. i guess— zealand went back to normal. i guess what new zealanders are proud _ guess what new zealanders are proud of— guess what new zealanders are proud of in the way they've dealt — proud of in the way they've dealt with the pandemic as they do go _ dealt with the pandemic as they do go hard and fast and they

havent— do go hard and fast and they haven't got fatigued about doing _ haven't got fatigued about doing these lockdown like the uk did — doing these lockdown like the uk did time and time again. you saw people getting over it, then— saw people getting over it, then protest, and they don't really— then protest, and they don't really see having any benefit. over— really see having any benefit. over here, you go hard and fast, — 0ver here, you go hard and fast, and— over here, you go hard and fast, and they managed to stamp out those — fast, and they managed to stamp out those communications. by and large. _ out those communications. by and large, people are following the rules— and large, people are following the rules —— those community cases — the rules —— those community cases. there are almost no cars on the — cases. there are almost no cars on the motorways. 0ther cases. there are almost no cars on the motorways. other than essentiai— on the motorways. other than essential workers. on the motorways. other than essentialworkers. by and essential workers. by and large. _ essentialworkers. by and large, new zealanders are embracing staying at home and they want to stamp this out. boyd — they want to stamp this out. boyd berger, who is currently in quarantine. —— lloyd burr. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines.... the latest wildfire to break out around the mediterranean has forced thousands of locals and tourists to flee france's southern coast. officials say the blaze broke out on monday and has so far consumed more than three square

kilometres of forest and scrubland to the west of saint—tropez. the international organisation for migration says at least 47 migrants have died at sea off west africa, while their boat drifted for two weeks. they're reported to have died of thirst and starvation after the boat's motor failed as they attempted the crossing from morocco to the canary islands. seven survivors were picked up by the coastguard in mauritania. scientists in oxford have begun trials of a new vaccine against the plague. a0 british volunteers will receive the treatment, designed by the same labs that created the 0xford—astrazeneca covid jab. 0ur medical editor, fergus walsh, now reports on efforts to combat a disease which still kills between 1000 and 2000 people around the world every year. protection from an ancient killer — a vaccine against plague. larissa is one of the first volunteers to receive it as part of a trial in oxford which will assess the vaccine's

safety and whether it induces a good immune response. i am lucky enough to live in a time where vaccines are being developed, and so when i saw that there was a study in the developing of a vaccine against a disease that's been around for thousands of years and has killed millions of people... and, so, that's the reason i did. plague is caused by bacteria found in fleas and rodents and can be spread by humans whose lungs have been infected. that deadliest pandemic in history, the black death in the 14th century, killed around 15 million people, half of europe's population. plague is thankfully now rare and treatable with antibiotics, but an outbreak in madagascar in 2017 killed around 200 people, and there are cases each year in rural parts of africa and the united states. current vaccines are only

partially effective, so if the oxford jab works, it could help protect vulnerable communities. there's no danger that the vaccines stored in this freezer can cause plague. it contains just a tiny amount of its genetic material, which has been inserted into a disabled common cold virus — the same virus that's been used to create the oxford astrazeneca covid vaccine. we've already done clinical trials using similar technology against a bacterium, meningitis b, and in virus zika, but we're also looking to develop vaccines against new and emerging diseases such as lassa fever or the marburg virus. if the plague study goes well, then scientists aim to conduct further vaccine trials in africa in the hope of curbing one of the biggest killers in history. fergus walsh, bbc news, 0xford.

astronomers have captured some of the most detailed images ever seen of galaxies in deep space. the pictures reveal their inner workings in unprecedented detail and show the role of black holes in creating and destroying stars and planets. here's our science correspondent, pallab ghosh. 0ur sun is just one among the 100 billion stars in the milky way, which in turn is one of countless other galaxies in our universe. astronomers have now found a way to see inside them in much greater detail. in this image, the galaxy is in the middle. shooting out either side are jets of material across the expanse of space as a result of a gigantic black hole inside it. these jets are shooting out just like a fountain of water, far, far beyond the reaches of the galaxy itself. i walked around with a huge smile on my face for the rest of the day because i felt so proud that i was able to make this image and be able

to see something nobody had ever seen before. it's just one of several new pictures obtained with the help of these aerials planted in a small field in hampshire. these pick up radio waves from the galaxies. they may not look like much, but astronomers have connected 52 sites just like this one, spread all across europe. astronomers can now see things they've never been able to see before. this is a picture of a galaxy seen through a normal telescope, and here is a standard radio image of it. although it's a lot brighter, a lot of the detail has been lost. now compare it with one of the new, high definition images, which is much sharper, showing features inside in unprecedented detail. the brightest area at the bottom shows the location of a gigantic black hole inside this galaxy. it's bright because of the energy released as it sucks in material around it. this image shows two galaxies colliding.

the bright spots of clusters are exploding stars, creating what astronomers call a galactic wind, blowing dust and gas away from it. and this is a galaxy created early on in the life of the universe, and it too has a black hole, causing jets of material to spurt out. even seasoned astronomers say "wow" at these pictures. it's become very clear that in order to understand galaxy evolution, we need to understand the black hole right at the very centre because it appears to have a fairly fundamental influence on how a galaxy evolves. these new images will help astronomers learn more about how the processes that created stars, galaxies and our own earth actually work. pallab ghosh, bbc news, chilbolton 0bservatory in hampshire. remarkable images. imagination

fast becoming reality. that's it for newsday. do stay with bbc news. hello there. sunshine was limited across the country on tuesday. but we did see some good spells of sunshine for central—southeastern scotland, where temperatures reached close to the mid—20s celsius. for the next few days, though, we hold onto the largely cloudy skies and it's going to feel pretty cool for the time of year. we maintain these west—northwest winds across the uk. west—northwest winds moisture laden air rolling in off the atlantic will bring a lot of cloud, thickest of it across northern and western fringes, where we could see some light rain or drizzle. but, again, like tuesday, with some shelter to central eastern scotland, east of the pennines, southeast wales, southwest england, will see some good spells of sunshine. the winds quite brisk again particularly across northern and western coastal areas. and those temperatures pretty much where they've been the last few days, high teens for most, but in the sunnier spots,

the low 20s once again. now, as we head through wednesday night, it stays rather benign, pretty cloudy for most. there will be the odd spot of light rain and drizzle across northern and western hills. the odd clear spell, too. temperatures no lower than 11—15 celsius, pretty much where they have been the last few nights. so, as we head on into thursday, again, it's a similar story, a lot of cloud around, the odd spit, spot of light rain here and there. a weather front will be pushing into wales and then spreading across parts of england through the day. that will bring some showery bursts of rain. but behind it, skies will tend to brighten for southwest england and wales, and again that could lift temperatures into the low 20s celsius, otherwise, again, it's the high teens. that whether front spreads across eastern england during the first part of friday. and then, we've got the new area of low pressure starting to work its way into western areas. that'll bring some cloudy, wet, breezy weather to northern ireland and maybe western fringes of britain. for most, i think it's another rather cloudy day, but i'm hopeful later in the day, we start to see some sunny spells increasing across the south. that will lift temperatures

up into the low to mid 20s celsius, otherwise, again, the high teens for most. this new area of low pressure will slowly work its way in during the start of the weekend, but we start to pick up southerly winds, and that will tap into something much warmer across france into central, southern and eastern parts of england. so, we'll see a brief warm spell to start this weekend with some sunshine around, could see up to 26 celsius or so in the south. that weather front, though, will continue to push its way eastwards brining some showers, some of which could be heavy and thundery. and many places will see that showers during the course of sunday.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour as newsday continue straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. in the end, it wasn't about fire power or troop numbers. in afghanistan, the taliban had a vital asset, which the us and her allies lacked — strategic patience. two decades after they were expelled from kabul, the islamists are back in power. us and british troops

are scrambling to complete a humiliating evacuation.