welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: the taliban strengthens 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 and that's why we're seeing these chaotic scenes at the airport. president biden says us troops could remain in afghanistan beyond his deadline at the end of the month — if more time is needed to get every american out of the country. 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. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it is newsday. it's 8:00 in the morning in singapore, and 4.30 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 dressed 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 couple

of hours, 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 getting on a plane and taking off and going to another country. when you saw the significant collapse of the afghan troops we had trained, up afghan troops we had trained, up to 300,000 of them, just leaving their equipment and taking off, that is what happened. that is simply what happened. earlier, i spoke to our north america correspondent, david willis, and asked him if we can expect american troops to be in afghanistan longer than expected.

joe biden was talking about that, pressed on that. so far, of course, the united states has airlifted about 5000 people out of afghanistan. that leaves around 75,000 american citizens and afghan support staff still to go, with just two weeks left, less than two weeks on the calendar, before the self—imposed deadline. it's starting to look, even given the accelerated pace of the evacuations, that the us won't meet its deadline. joe biden was pressed on that in the interview with abc, and he somewhat reluctantly conceded that it might be that us troops remain in afghanistan beyond that american deadline of august 31, in order to get all the americans currently in the country out of it. and this is only likely, i think, to fuel criticism ofjoe biden�*s approach to this withdrawal. the chaotic scenes, of course,

at kabul airport the other day have fuelled criticism from both his own democratic party and those, of course, in the republican party. the president has continued to maintain, as he did in this interview, that the blame lies with the afghan government, which fled, of course, and with the lack of will on the part of afghan forces, who basically melted into the shadows. david, as you point out, he has received 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 until quite recently, all the polls showed that americans were in favour of the us withdrawal from afghanistan. and all that changed, of course, on sunday, when we saw those chaotic scenes from kabul airport. a poll released yesterday,

carried out by reuters, showed that the president's approval rating had tumbled to its lowest since he took office at the beginning of the year. indeed, 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 of course ultimately whether al-qaeda is allowed to regroup in afghanistan and potentially mount an attack on the west. what's your sense, david, of what people are saying in terms of that? i know intelligence agencies, the military, there has been warnings about afghanistan becoming a new terror base for al-qaeda and other militant groups. it's interesting, general mark milley, chairman of thejoint chiefs of staff gave a press

conference at the pentagon. he was asked whether this failure to recognise the rapid advance of taliban forces came down to a lack of intelligence or a lack ofjudgment or what. and he basically said that while they had foreseen the potential of the taliban taking over in this way, they had not foreseen it happening so rapidly within the space ofjust 11 days. a lot of head scratching amongst officials in the biden administration at the moment, as you can imagine. they are trying to work out what went wrong, but more to the point, how to plot the path forward from this. 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 gained control. we might look back at what happened in the 1990s when they controlled most of the country from 1996 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 the services that were available or being provided by international aid agencies, charity groups and ngos, non—government organisations. we should be able to look back, but we don't get too much of a sense here, because at that time much of the country, especially in the cities so than when it came to governance, it was a much as a challenge.

governance, it was a much as a challenge-— challenge. just to “ump in, who do ou challenge. just to “ump in, who do you h challenge. just to “ump in, who do you as _ challenge. just to “ump in, who do you see as the — challenge. just to jump in, who do you see as the key - challenge. just to jump in, who do you see as the key players l do you see as the key players in the formation of a new government, if indeed one is or can be formed in a legitimate fashion? it can be formed in a legitimate fashion? , , , . ., ., fashion? it is pretty clear now that there _ fashion? it is pretty clear now that there will _ fashion? it is pretty clear now that there will be _ fashion? it is pretty clear now that there will be a _ fashion? it is pretty clear now that there will be a chief - that there will be a chief executive. it will be the major figure in the negotiating, both with the united states and with other afghan elements. he steps in, he has all the credentials and is well regarded within the movement. he is seen as a conciliator of a person and he has the political skills so that he will become the political face of this country. when it comes to administering country, governing the country, that will be another matter and that will be another matter and that will be another matter and that will require skilled individuals who are our and they will be in very short

supply at this point. already we have seen _ supply at this point. already we have seen some - supply at this point. already i we have seen some resistance supply at this point. already - we have seen some resistance in afghanistan against the taliban, the afghan flag waving in the city ofjalalabad. do you see this resistance growing and what do you expect the taliban response to be? more violence as we reportedly seen in that city?— in that city? they have no choice but _ in that city? they have no choice but to _ in that city? they have no choice but to use - in that city? they have no choice but to use as - in that city? they have noj choice but to use as much in that city? they have no - choice but to use as much force as they feel is necessary. i don't really believe that we are going to see any kind 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, and that will be very important reason, as well as cultural social reasons, will try as much as they can to get out of the country.

much as they can to get out of the country-— much as they can to get out of the country. marvin, thank you. meanwhile... _ 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—afg hanistan 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. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... desperation in haiti, as hundreds of thousands hit by saturday's powerful earthquake 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 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: there have been chaotic scenes outside kabul airport as governments rush to bring home their citizens as well as afghan colleagues. president biden has defended his decision to withdraw us troops from afghanistan, insisting there wasn't a way for them to leave "without chaos ensuing". well, one of the fears of the taliban's rule in afghanistan is that the militant group will reintroduce punishments in line with its strict interpretation of islam's legal system, sharia law, as they did in the country between 1996 and 2001. a senior taliban member has told reuters there'll be no democracy under taliban rule, and that an islamic council will decide on the future role of women. earlier i spoke to professor corri zoli, from syracuse university's forensics and national security institute in new york to find out what sharia law is.

sharia law is the religious law, divine law of most of them —— muslim faith communities. it is based on the koran. i can say more about the traditions but essentially, islamic law and sharia are practised by many muslim majority communities, states, nations throughout the world. there are over 49 muslim majority nations and many of them have some islamic inspired values in their legal systems. professor, i crew u- their legal systems. professor, i grew up in — their legal systems. professor, i grew up in indonesia - their legal systems. professor, i grew up in indonesia so - their legal systems. professor, i grew up in indonesia so i - their legal systems. professor, i grew up in indonesia so i saw| i grew up in indonesia so i saw that on a daily basis in my everyday life, but is there a hard and soft approach to sharia and how much does culture play a part? different countries have different interpretations?- countries have different interpretations? there is no . uestion interpretations? there is no question about _ interpretations? there is no question about it. _ interpretations? there is no question about it. the - interpretations? there is no question about it. the shortj question about it. the short answer is yes. there are what

we call conservative or fundamentalist views that implement sharia norms in a rigid or conservative way. the classic example is the kingdom of saudi arabia, in fact their constitution, their basic law is the koran. all of the stipulations are from the ancient period of time, it is part of their daily legal practice. moran is often cited as well as another, what you term, hardline, buti as well as another, what you term, hardline, but i would say fundamentalist or conservative of sharia. —— iran. there are lots of communities, lots of nation states in the world where there is a kind of sharia flavour or islamic flavour to legislation, but it is not dominant or it is more fused with other legal traditions.

according to the taliban, it says women will be respected under sharia law, but what rights will they have in the taliban context?— rights will they have in the taliban context? the taliban is a more extremist _ taliban context? the taliban is a more extremist aversion - taliban context? the taliban is a more extremist aversion of l a more extremist aversion of these issues. we usually distinguish between islam as a religious tradition, as part of a complex and nearly 2 billion people strong faith community thatis people strong faith community that is culturally quite divergent and then political islam, where they have different goals which include terrorism, include political violence. we can talk about isis, we can talk about the taliban as having this revivalist tradition. so the idea that the taliban will be using a form of islamic law

thatis using a form of islamic law that is faithful to islamic practice, which is supposed to be equality before the law, there is supposed to be equal rights between the sexes, inclusive governments. the idea that the taliban will be practising a kind of faithful notion of it law, i think is a bridge too far, it is quite a stretch, i think. bridge too far, it is quite a stretch, ithink. professor, thank yom _ stretch, ithink. professor, thank you. in _ stretch, ithink. professor, thank you. in other - thank you. in other headlines... 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 thousand 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 epicenter 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. devastating scenes.

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 1,000 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 0ur the tissue used by lionel messi during his farewell address to spanish football club 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.

that's all for now, stay with bbc world news. 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 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 drierfor monday, but still a little on the cool side.

it's you're watching bbc news. hello. this week, we are asking how hard is it to report on the ground in china and tell the story of that country to the wider world? journalists covering the fatal floods, which included those terrifying scenes from the underground train as it filled up with water, found that their presence was not always welcome. other major titles,

including the new york times, increasingly have to rely on stringers as their own