welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: the taliban is strengthening its grip on power almost five days after taking the afghan capital kabul. scenes of panic and desperation at kabul airport, as afghans try to flee the country before it's too late. despite assurances from the taliban that anyone linked to the government will be given an amnesty, many here are deeply fearful for their future. that's why we're still seeing these chaotic scenes at the airport. president biden tells abc news that leaving afghanistan without chaos was unavoidable and says us troops won't leave any americans behind, even if it means staying for longer than agreed.

as western countries ramp up their evacuations from kabul airport, we'll have the latest on president biden�*s remarks. also on the programme... who will help us? the people of haiti hit by a massive earthquake five days ago say there's still no assistance. five from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. —— alive. it's newsday. it's 7 in the morning in singapore, and 3.30 in the morning in afghanistan, where the taliban is strengthening its grip on power, as pockets of unrest continue. in the eastern city of jalalabad, they violently put down an anti—taliban demonstration, reportedly shooting dead a number of people. there have been more chaotic scenes outside the international airport in kabul, as thousands

of afghans try to flee the country. the nation's ousted president has made his first public comments, saying his security team �*forced' him to leave the country for the united arab emirates. our correspondent secunder kermani starts our coverage. outside the airport, chaos continues. thousands are still desperate to leave the country. here, a girl — terrified. "the taliban are coming for me", she cries. this family has been camped outside here for five days. "the situation here is very bad", she says. "no one wants to live here. "everyone wants to live in peace and to be able to study. "we want to go anywhere that is safe." despite assurances from the taliban that anyone linked to the government will be given an amnesty, many here are deeply fearful for their future, and that's why we're

still seeing these chaotic scenes the airport. no one's clear yet what comes next, but political discussions have begun. this was the arrival of a deputy leader of the taliban in kandahar — their spiritual home. whilst this is a member of the notorious haqqani family, deeply entrenched in the taliban's leadership, meeting with former president hamid karzai and other senior afghan politicians. in a speech tonight from the gulf, the former president, ashraf ghani, said he supported the efforts and hoped to return to the country. that seems unlikely. in the centre of kabul, early signs everyday life is beginning to resume. heavily armed taliban patrols are all around but shops and streets are busier than they've been since the takeover. "it's not the same as

before", says this man. "people are scared, but it's better than the past few days, at least." there are far fewer women out and about than before and they're addressed more conservatively, though not in the all—encompassing burqa. many major businesses have sent female employees home, unsure whether the taliban will allow them to work. but there have been signs of defiance. this is a protest in support of the afghan flag, replaced in some areas by the taliban's. a number of demonstrators were reportedly shot dead in jalalabad. whilst this was another rally in eastern afghanistan. look at the huge taliban convoy that's speeding towards it. the taliban have been making conciliatory noises in public, but many fear they won't tolerate any challenges to their authority. secunder kermani, bbc news, kabul.

within the last hour, the us broadcaster abc has aired an interview with president biden. in it, he said that "chaos" was inevitable once the united states decided to leave afghanistan after two decades of war, and he said the collapse of the afghan army was to blame for the taliban's success. when you had the government of afghanistan, the leader of that government taking off on a plane and going to another country, when you saw the significant collapse of the afghan troops we had trained — up to 300,000 of them — just leaving their equipment and taking off, that was, you know, that's what happened. that's simply what happened. i'm joined now by our north america correspondent, david willis. a strong defence from president biden that wejust

a strong defence from president biden that we just heard. can we see this as an indication that troops will be in afghanistan for longer than expected? what does that actually mean?— expected? what does that actuall mean? , ., actually mean? good question. joe biden actually mean? good question. joe biden was _ actually mean? good question. joe biden was talking _ actually mean? good question. joe biden was talking about. joe biden was talking about that, pressed on that. so far, the united states has airlifted about 5000 people out of afghanistan. that leaves around 75,000 american citizens and afghan support staff still to 90, afghan support staff still to go, withjust afghan support staff still to go, with just two weeks left. 0r less than two weeks on the calendar before those self—imposed deadlines. it's starting to look, even given the accelerated pace of evacuations, the us won't meet its deadlines. joe biden was pressed on that, and he somewhat reluctantly conceded that it might be needed that us troops remain in afghanistan beyond that deadline of the sist beyond that deadline of the 31st of august. in order to get

all the americans that are currently in the country out of it. this is only likely i think to fuel criticism ofjoe biden�*s approach to this withdrawal. the chaotic scenes across kabul airport the other day have fuelled criticism on his democratic party and from the republican party. the president has continued to maintain, as he did in this interview, that the blame lies with the afghan government which led, of course, and the lack of will on the part of afghan forces, who are basically nodded into the shadows. basically nodded into the shadow-— basically nodded into the shadows. �*, . shadows. david, he's received so much criticism _ shadows. david, he's received so much criticism from - shadows. david, he's received so much criticism from both . so much criticism from both sides of the aisle now. how much has his political credibility been damaged by what's happened in afghanistan? it's very interesting because up it's very interesting because up until quite recently, all the polls showed that americans were in favour of the us

withdrawal from afghanistan. and all that change, of course, on sunday, when we saw this chaotic scenes from kabul airport. a poll released yesterday from reuters showed that the president's approval rating had tumbled to its lowest since he took office at the beginning of the year. less than half of those questioned said that they liked how he had handled the withdrawal from afghanistan. so, this could hurtjoe biden politically, depending of course on what happens over the next few days as far as the rest of the withdrawal is concerned, and whether al-qaeda is allow to regroup and afghanistan and mount an attack on the west. what's your sense of what people are saying in terms of that? i know intelligence agencies, there has been warning about afghanistan

becoming a new terror base for the al-qaeda and other militant groups. i5 the al-qaeda and other militant urou s. , , , ., groups. is interesting. general mark millie _ groups. is interesting. general mark millie gave _ groups. is interesting. general mark millie gave a _ groups. is interesting. general mark millie gave a press - mark millie gave a press conference at the pentagon, and he was asked whether this failure to recognise the rapid advance of taliban forces came down to a lack of intelligence orjudgment or what. he basically said whilst they had for seeing the potential the taliban could take over in this way, they had not foreseen it happening so rapidly within the space ofjust ii happening so rapidly within the space ofjust 11 days. a lot of head scratching going on amongst officials in the biden administration at the moment. they're trying to work out what went wrong, but more to the point, how to plot the path forward from this.- forward from this. david willis, with _ forward from this. david willis, with excellent. willis, with excellent analysis, thank you so much for joining us on newsday. marvin weinbaum is a former intelligence analyst at the us

state department and director for afghan and pakistan studies at middle east institute in washington, dc. i asked him how he thinks the taliban will govern now that they've won the war. we might look back at what happened in the 19905, when they controlled the country, most of the country until 2001. that was a rather minimal definition of what an administration should be. they were spending most of their time fighting and praying, and had services that were available, being provided by international aid agencies, islamic charity groups and ngos. so, we can't really... we should be able to put back, but we don't get a sense here that at that time, most of the country had emptied out, especially the cities.

when it came to governance, that wasn't as much of a challenge. just to jump in there, who do you see as the key players in the formation of a new government if one is or can be formed in a legitimate fashion? well, i think it's pretty clear now that there's going to be a chief executive. he has been a major figure here in negotiating both with the united states and with other afghan elements. so, he steps in and he's got all the credentials, he's well—regarded within the movement, he's seen as a conciliate in person and he has those political skills so that he will become the political face of this country. when it comes to governing the country, that's another matter entirely,

which will require skilled individuals, and they're going to be in very short supply. marvin, we've already seen some resistance in afghanistan against the taliban, the afghan flag—waving for instance, in jalalabad. do you see this resistance growing, and what do you expect the taliban response to be? more violent as we've seen? they'll have no choice but to use as much force as they feel is necessary. i don't really believe that we're going to see any kind of logistics except sporadic at this point. of resistance except sporadic at this point. the taliban can be rather ruthless, and that will become clear. most of the people who really feel they cannot live under a taliban regime for economic reasons as well as cultural reasons, social reasons,

will try as much as they can to get out of the country. former intelligence analyst at the us state department. as the taliban takeover in afghanistan continues to fill the void left by us troops, neighbouring pakistan fears trouble spilling over the border. for decades, pakistan has served as a sanctuary for afghans fleeing violence and war. but now the government in islamabad says it has reached its limit and cannot accept more afghan refugees. there are two main border crossings between the two countries. bbc urdu's sarah atiq reports now from the one at torkham in the northwest of pakistan, where the taliban are now in control of the afghan side. 0n the surface, it almost looks normal on this part of the pakistan—afg hanistan border. but look closer. so much has changed. the taliban are now in control

of torkham, the busiest crossing with pakistan. a few days back, hundreds of panicked afghan civilians gathered here for days, desperate for a way out. but then, what seems inevitable happened. 0utnumbered afghan police forces surrendered to the taliban. now the number of afghans seeking refuge is much less. the taliban are not letting anyone out. 0nly traders or those with valid travel documents are allowed to cross. we are seeing that more afghan citizens are interacting with the taliban fighters. they are quietly standing at a safe distance. the border security officials have told me that since the situation in afghanistan has deteriorated, they have increased the vetting procedures of those coming into pakistan. so, that is why we see the queue of people waiting here to enter into pakistan.

pakistan, worried about a spill—overfighting, had shared its side of the border prior to taliban's takeover. torkham has been the main point of refugees' influx into pakistan for decades, but amid the increasing violence across the border in recent years, the country has been fencing itself off from afghanistan. but whatever happens on the other side of the border will always resonate here. this market, just a few kilometres away from torkham, is frequented by afghans who had fled to pakistan. translation: a lot of people | are not happy with the taliban. the people who live in villages have been around them, but those who come from cities aren't happy because they're not used to restrictions. almost 3 million afghan refugees, half of them have been living in pakistan for decades.

the un refugees agency is asking islamabad to reopen its door to afghans who want to flee the prospects of a taliban rule. but the government here insists that it cannot bear any new wave of refugees from the war—torn country. sarah atiq, bbc news, torkham, on the pakistan—afghanistan border. events unfolding in afghanistan are still capturing the world's headlines, 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. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... desperation in haiti as hundreds of thousands hit by a massive earthquake five days ago say there's still no assistance.

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. i'm karishma vaswani. 0ur headlines: there have been chaotic scenes outside kabul airport as governments rush to bring home their citizens as well as afghan colleagues. president biden has told bbc news that leaving afghanistan president biden has told abc news that leaving afghanistan without chaos was unavoidable. afghan civilians continue to bear the brunt of the taliban takeover in the country where humanitarian needs remain critical. according to the un refugee agency, nearly 400,000 afghans were forced from their homes since the beginning of the year, joining 2.9 million who are already internally displaced across the country at the end of 2020. the us and uk governments are being urged to help provide

safe routes out of afghanistan for people at risk from violence and reprisals by the taliban. we can speak now to eric schwartz, president of refugees international who joins me live from washington. great to have you on the programme, eric. in the first instance, how big is the potential scale of this crisis? in terms of the number of people who will be on the move to her want to be on the move, we're talking about hundreds of thousands —— or who want to. they are at risk and may wish to leave and they will be trying to leave the country. the international rescue committee has estimated that if you talk about those who are affiliated with the united states, their estimate is about 300,000. of the states, their estimate is about 300,000. of the number of

people at risk would be far greater than that . what are challenges people face as they _ . what are challenges people face as they try _ . what are challenges people face as they try to _ . what are challenges people face as they try to leave - . what are challenges people face as they try to leave the l face as they try to leave the country at the moment? we have seen those desperate images of people at kabul airport, but even across the country, what are you hearing?— are you hearing? well, i think it's important _ are you hearing? well, i think it's important to _ are you hearing? well, i think it's important to say - are you hearing? well, i think it's important to say that - are you hearing? well, i think it's important to say that the l it's important to say that the escape from kabul airport is extremely important, and i credit the american coverage for its efforts to get people out. but even at the most optimistic, you're talking in the tens of thousands, and there will be hundreds of thousands of people who will not be able to leave. so, there are reports of the taliban restricting movement in bordered areas. and there have

been some reports that the pakistanis have permitted some cross, but there's also reports the pakistanis are very reluctant and resistance. so, the us and its allies and the un have got to first make the point very clearly to the taliban that if they want to have any recognition from the community, they need to let people in. community, they need to let peeple im— community, they need to let eole in. , . , ., people in. germany, the uk and india are now— people in. germany, the uk and india are now amongst - people in. germany, the uk andj india are now amongst countries offering the settlement programmes. is this enough? what more can countries besides what you have just described, what you have just described, what can they do to get refugees out?— what can they do to get refugees out? well, first of all, refugees out? well, first of all. they — refugees out? well, first of all, they need _ refugees out? well, first of all, they need to _ refugees out? well, first of all, they need to be - all, they need to be negotiating with the government of pakistan, i and turkey. they need to say the governments, you will be provided with assistance —— iran and turkey.

we will be substantially settling programmes. i urge president biden to announce the united states is prepared to resettle up to 200,000 as part of the international responsibility sharing effort. that has to happen. though things have to happen. the us must be willing to resettle large numbers and provide assistance to governments at the borders of afghanistan. eric schwartz, president of refugees international, thank you so much forjoining us on newsday. the head of the pan american health organization has called on the international community to provide urgent medical personnel and equipment to haiti, which suffered a devastating earthquake last saturday. carissa etienne said many hospitals in the worst affected regions had been either damaged or destroyed. the earthquake is now known to have killed nearly 2000 people and injured about 10,000. much of the response effort has been focused on the badly hit

city of les cayes and has not yet reached the rural areas. 0ur correspondent james clayton reports from the village of marceline, near the epicentre of saturday's quake. as you head out from the city of les cayes to rural marceline, the road is marked by landslides... ..and deep cracks. the village is remote and the scale of the damage, catastrophic. rosemary took me to her house. her 15—year—old son was charging his phone when the quake hit. the wall collapsed on him. translation: these are his books. - he had recently got them so he could start a new year of school. and now, he's gone. i wrap his shirt around my waist. it keeps me strong.

when you come to these rural areas, the level of destruction just ups a notch. almost every single house here is completely destroyed. five people were killed in this house alone. and to understand why, you have to look at the cement and rock that these houses are built from. it's really hard to lift this, it's really heavy and of course, when those kinds of walls fall down, they can cause catastrophic injuries. with no sign of aid or help, many people are living on top of the rubble of what was their homes. "do we have to scream for the government to hear us," this woman says, "or is life over?" the people of haiti feel like they've been forgotten, and in many ways, they have. james clayton, bbc news, marceline. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. european union interior

ministers have pledged to send experts and equipment to the eu's borders with belarus to cope with what they see as an orchestrated influx of migrants. they're accusing president alexander lukashenko of encouraging migrants to cross in retaliation for sanctions. that's been denied by belarus. more than 1000 people have died as a result of myanmar�*s coup, according to an activist group which has been recording killings by security forces. the military overthrew the government in february and quickly cracked down hard on the widespread protests, firing live rounds into crowds and storming towns across the country. the tissue used by lionel messi during his farewell adress to the spanish football club fc barcelona is being sold at auction. the tear—soaked kleenex was put on the market by an anonymous seller, with the price set at $1 million.

there is much more coming up on the channel. to stay with us. hello. it feels a little bit like our weather has been sulking so far this week — kind of stuck in a rut of grayness and lingering cloud. it's not in a great hurry to get out of that position through today, either. we did see some sunshine on wednesday across central and eastern england, and i'm hopeful we will see some for at least a time today — this break in the clouds ahead of a weak weather front coming in from the west. so through the morning, some sunnier skies working their way eastwards, perhaps something a bit brighter behind that band of shower re—rain further west of showery rain further west for the afternoon. but still, a lot of cloud for many of us, and temperatures a little down on where they should be

for the time of year. a few heavier showers roaming around through the evening, but overnight, guess what — it's all pretty quiet and light winds, a lot of cloud, quite misty and murky around the coast and for the hills. friday daytime, looking at that chart, you think, oh, things might start to get moving. well, not in any great hurry, i'm afraid. this weather front will push some rain into northern ireland through the day, throwing some showers towards wales, as well. potentially, though, with a little bit of a strengthening southerly breeze, we could break the cloud up a little bit more across southern and eastern england. looking pretty gloomy and murky there across scotland and generally across the northern half of the uk. for the weekend, however, this low will make a bit more of an effort, and friday into saturday, this front pushes slowly further eastwards. the notable thing that it does, though, is drag up some warmer air from the south for central and eastern england. so after a week where temperatures have sat below average, we could actually see some significantly warmer weather, at least briefly this weekend. but there is a price to pay. saturday, we will see, i think,

temperatures getting up into the mid—20s across central and eastern england with some sunshine. but coming into the west, some heavier and more persistent rain, some strengthening winds, as well as that area of low pressure finally gets down to business. for sunday, even more widespread showers, i think, as the low pressure sits across the uk. and we start to lose that southerly airstream as the low shifts, temperatures edge down yet again. a bit dryer for monday, but still a little on the cool side.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour as newsday continues — straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. taliban leaders in kabul are engaged in careful message management — amnesty for all, no safe haven forforeign fighters, and respect for the rights of women and girls, they say. but then the rider — under their islamic law. now, it's too early to know what taliban governance 2.0 will look like, but it is clear many afghans are fearful. my guest is kamila sidiqi, a trail—blazing women's activist, entrepreneur, and former government official in kabul. is her cause lost? and where does the blame lie?