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. the uk government announces up to 20,000 afghans will be resettled in britain in the long term. we'll be speaking to the afghan women's associaiton in australia to find out what life might be like now for women under the taliban. also in the programme: half a million children

in desperate need of shelter and safe water in haiti after saturday's earthquake claimed nearly 2,000 lives. and — 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. 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. despite the taliban publicly pledging to protect women's rights, a number of international organisations have already expressed concern about what the future holds for afghan women under the new regime. the taliban have previously

suppressed women's rights, with girls prevented from going to school and women facing physical assault for being seen to be improperly dressed. to discuss more on how women will now be treated in afghanistan, we can speak to mariam aslami who is the vice president of the afghan australian women association. she joins us from adelaide. thank you so much forjoining us. i understand you still have family and friends in afghanistan, how are they taking the news of the taliban being in power and what are they telling you about what life is like now there? thanks for having _ life is like now there? thanks for having me. _ life is like now there? thanks for having me. to _ life is like now there? thanks for having me. to be - life is like now there? thanks for having me. to be honest, | for having me. to be honest, everyone back home and all around the world, all afghans are shocked. they are heartbroken overjust are shocked. they are heartbroken over just what happened. we knew the taliban

were coming, but we never expected them to just take over overnight. everyone isjust overnight. everyone is just shocked overnight. everyone isjust shocked and people don't have good experience from their government in the past two decades. that is why they don't trust what they are actually telling people, what they are assuring people of. they are in fear. my family and friends have locked themselves at home, they don't want to face the same situations they used to face when the taliban was there before. so everyone is shocked. you know, in our report the taliban have said in a press conference that the rights of

women will be respected and under the framework of islamic law, do you believe that? to be honest, law, do you believe that? to be honest. n0- _ law, do you believe that? to be honest, no. all— law, do you believe that? to be honest, no. all these _ honest, no. all these politicians, even before the taliban, they have been promising these promises and they have never fulfilled these promises. in afghanistan, nobody would believe any politicians because they have broken their trust. so how can we actually trust these people? these people were the ones who have been killing innocent people on the streets. how can we trust them now? they have to actually prove that for the afghan people and afghan communities so they can trust them. they have broken the trust now. i don't think anybody would actually trust them. they do say, ok, women will have the right to education, they will have the

right to work under sharia law. previously, women had the right to go out, but wearing a burqa and that was under sharia law. they had to have a male member of theirfamily with they had to have a male member of their family with them to go out. and this is the thing, half of the women of afghanistan have lost their male members of the family, like theirfathers, sons male members of the family, like their fathers, sons and brothers in the world. they don't have any men in the family to support them. how are they going to leave under those circumstances? do they have to prove this before people actually believe them? briefly, can ou actually believe them? briefly, can you talk — actually believe them? briefly, can you talk us _ actually believe them? briefly, can you talk us through - actually believe them? briefly, can you talk us through the - can you talk us through the situation for women in rural areas, who we haven't had that much from?— areas, who we haven't had that much from? yes, i have been in contact with _ much from? yes, i have been in contact with some _ much from? yes, i have been in contact with some people - much from? yes, i have been in contact with some people who l contact with some people who have been in rural areas. they have been in rural areas. they have the same fear, they couldn't go out. hearing from

people... last night i saw the statements they gave on the tv. they said they haven't committed these crimes of forcing young girls to marry them, but in rural areas it has actually happened. if they are denying this, they have to investigate this, they have to prove that if it is not them than they have to find out who is these men forcing these young girls to marry them, killing the men in the family and taking these young girls away. they are so many things they need an explanation for. 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.

a tropical storm is severely hampering efforts to help the survivors of saturday's powerful earthquake in haiti. at least 1,941 people are known to have died. 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 correspondent, james 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. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme. queues in shops ahead of new zealand's lockdown, as four new covid cases are confirmed. we'll hear from a kiwi in isolation after returning from the uk.

this is newsday on the bbc. 0ur headlines: taliban leaders vow to respect the rights of women in their first 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. 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 to get a spot in miq's quite hard. when the plane lands in new zealand and pulls up to the air bridge and some of the military comes on board, grabs the intercom and says, "welcome to new zealand, we're putting you on a bus and you come and get put in a room like this and you're here for two weeks." if you test positive, you head up to aukland... that's where i am right now. i'm on my second week, so i'm on the home run.

that's how new zealand managed to keep covid out of the country, by having this really strict regime. somehow, the delta variant has gone to five cases. it is kind of concerning, and i haven't made a link about how it's got through the border. that's what health officials are trying to find. lloyd, you look pretty ok for having been in quarantine for more than a week, so good 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? absolutely not. it's worked well in the past. they've had cases like this before, and there's been a bit of transmission.

they've gone hard and fast and it's been stamped out within a few weeks. new zealand went back to normal. i guess what new zealanders are proud of in the way they've dealt with the pandemic is they do go hard and fast and they haven't got fatigued about doing these lockdown like the uk did time and time again. you saw people getting over it, then protest, and they don't really see having any benefit. over here, you go hard and fast, and they managed to out those community cases. by and large, people are following the rules. there are almost no cars on the motorways. other than essential workers. by and large, new zealanders are embracing staying at home and they want to stamp this out. 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. our medical editor, fergus walsh now reports on efforts to combat a disease which still kills 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.

the 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. the man known as the �*godfather of sudoku', has died at the age of 69. maki kaji was a japanese puzzle enthusiast who popularised the number game, coming up with its iconic name in the 1980s. after newspapers begans printing it in the early 2000s, the puzzle became a worldwide craze, with tens of millions of people testing their mental agility with sudoku every day. nick baxter is the captain of the us sudoku and puzzle teams. he told me about the

signficance of maki kaji. the history of sudoku, a lot of strange things had to happen to make it a worldwide craze and maki kaji, editor and owner of nikoli magazines laid the groundwork by importing sudoku in 1984, publishing that and any other logic puzzles, which became quite popular in japan. and of course in 2004, it was discovered by the uk and the rest of the world. why is sudoku just so popular all over the world? i know you have outlined some of those reasons, but what do you think it is that made it such a popular game for people to play? well, the rules are very simple. make sure each row, each column and each box has the numbers one through nine. so in a world of logic puzzles, nothing really could be simpler than that.

i think a lot of people who may be had some maths phobia discovered that they are having success with numbers and i think the combination of those two things, and also whenever you finish sudoku, the ending goes quite rapidly as you fill in the last couple of numbers and so there might even be an endorphin rush as you're competing a puzzle. so all those things combined just created a perfect storm for public acceptance. he has also shared some top tips of the game, i will share them with you another day. you have been watching newsday. a reminder of our top story. in his first news conference in kabul, the taliban spokesman, zabihullah mujahid, has sought to reassure the rest of the world that afghanistan will not be used as a base forforeign fighters to spread terrorism. he also insisted women would be able to work, study,

and be actively involved in society, provided they complied with sharia law. that's all for now. stay with bbc world news. hello there. sunshine was limited across the country on tuesday but we did see some good spells of sunshine for central south—eastern scotland, where temperatures reach the mid 20s. for the next few days we hold onto cloudy skies and it will feel cool for the time of year. we maintain these northwest winds across the uk, rolling and of the atlantic, will bring a lot of cloud and the thickest will be northern and western fringes where they could be light rain or drizzle. 0n could be light rain or drizzle. on tuesday, with shelter to scotland, east of the pennines, south—west wales and south—west england could see some good spells of sunshine. the wind is quite brisk and temperatures

high teens for most but in the sunniest spots, the low 20s once again. as we head through wednesday night it stays benign, pretty cloudy for most and they will be the odd spot of low cloud and drizzle a western hills. temperatures no lower than 11 to 15 degrees, pretty much where they have been the last few nights. as we head into thursday, it is a similar story. a lot of cloud around and rain here and there. the weather front will be pushing into wales and spreading across parts of england. that will bring showery bursts of rain but skies will brighten up across south—western england and wales and that could live temperatures into the low 20s. that weather front spreads across eastern england during the first part of friday and then we have got the new area of low pressure working into western areas. that will bring cloudy, wet and breezy weather to northern ireland and may be western fringes of great britain. i hoped later in the

day we'll see some sunny spells increasing across the south and that will lift temperatures into the low 20s celsius. this lower area of low pressure will work its way in during the start of the weekend but we pick up southerly winds and that will tap into something much warmer across france into central, southern and eastern parts of england. we will see a brief warm spell to start the weekend with some sunshine around, up to 26 degrees in the south. but the weather front will bring showers, some of which could be heavy and thundering in many places will see the showers during the course of sunday.

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