welcome to newsday — reporting live from singapore — i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines. the taliban tighten their grip after taking over afghanistan — carrying out house—to—house hunts for those who collaborated with western forces. the militants beat back the crowds at kabul airport — as afghans turn up in hope at western embassies — long abandoned. these people have no real information on what they can do to leave afghanistan but they are desperate. in fact, they're coming to us. is a true? with the canadians give me a visa. the fact is, most of these people will get one.

people will never get one. we'll take a look at the winners and losers from the taliban takeover of afghanistan and we hear from an award winning photo—journalist who spent years documenting life for afghan women under the taliban. also on the programme. waiting for aid and answers. why is it taking so long for help to reach the victims of haiti's catastrophic earthquake? and — thirty years on from the failed coup in russia by communist hard—liners. what is its relevance today? it's seven in the morning in singapore, and 3:30 in the morning in kabul. the taliban had promised there would be no retribution against those who worked with us forces. they also said that afghans would be free to leave the country, if they had

the right papers. but today both of those promises look uncertain. an intelligence briefing for the united nations says the taliban are stepping up their search for so—called "collaborators". that includes those who served in the afghan military or police. and the international airport at kabul remains a scene of chaos and uncertainty. our correspondent in kabul secunder kermani reports. this is crowd control, taliban style. outside the airport, thousands of people desperate to leave. this is the road anyone being evacuated has to travel along. the taliban repeatedly stopped us filming. they don't like the images of so many afghans are fleeing their rule. they have denied claims they are at times preventing some afghans with valid documents from entering the airport. but many of those here don't have a visa. they are hoping somehow to leave.

i want to go anywhere else other than here, says this man. but the embassies and offices are closed. what can i do? then taliban fighters bring the interview to an end. the taliban are everywhere you go in kabul. they are heavily armed. but for the most part, in the city, they are friendly. today, so more protests expressing defiance to their rule, rallying around the afghan flag. outside the canadian embassy, more chaos. hundreds of people frantically scribbling their names on pieces of paper hoping it will somehow lead to a visa. the embassy has already been evacuated. these people have no real information about what they can do to leave afghanistan, but they are desperate. they are asking us, is it too, will the canadians give me a visa?

the fact is, most of these people will never get one. this family haven't spoken to anyone at the embassy, but heard rumours that if they turn up, they will find help. there is war, misery. i cannot even buy bread for my children, says this man. new footage today of the even more chaotic scenes at the airport earlier this week. some parents so desperate, they hand their children over. new details of the horrifying story of those who lost their lives. one of the young men clinging to a plane, clinging to it even after take—off, a talented footballer who had played for the national youth team. a generation of afghans now facing an uncertain future. a un document says the taliban are intensifying their hunt for people who worked for and collaborated with nato and us forces. the document says those

at particular risk are people with positions in the military, police and investigative units. this letter was highlighted in the report. it was written to an individual threatening "if you do not report to the commission, your family will be arrested instead, and you are responsible for this. you and your family members will be treated based on sharia law". here's one of the report's authors. the taliban, in advance of moving into all major cities in afghanistan, notjust kabul, they have more advanced intelligence system, they have a list of individuals and even in the very first hours of moving into kabul, they began to search for former government employees, especially intelligence services and special forces units and this is not the action of random taliban groups seeking revenge. this involved written

orders from the military commission of the taliban. it involves actual intelligence, photographs and so on of the individuals they are searching for. this is a different animal than what we encountered 20 years ago. they are more advanced, they have a much more improved financial system and intelligence system and the fact that they can commence this hunt for former collaborators or individuals working with western intelligence services or special forces units, notjust in kabul but elsewhere, shows that they were very well prepared on this. the us says it's evacuated seven thousand people from kabul airport since the taliban took over in afghanistan. as thousands more desperately try to flee afghanistan — every one of them has a real, human story to tell. our special correspondent,

lucy manning, has been speaking to one family who managed to escape kabul, and an interpreter who worked with british forces, who is still trapped there. to stay is dangerous, to try to go isn't much safer — but it's a risk many are taking. this man worked in afghanistan, a british afghan, here pictured with the country's former defence minister, thanking him for his work. he and his family were flown out of afghanistan two days ago by the raf and are now quarantining in manchester. yes, i feel good, we are safe. we will start back from scratch in the uk. his wife isn't a dual national. she was told to stay behind and then struggled to get into the airport. the situation is very bad because we were literally inside the compound, we could see the fighting, the shooting. she was crying. when we met her again in that,

there was one of the officers, he was a british officer, he was actually...he cried too. how was the situation on the plane for everyone? the situation was chaotic. the plane was completely full. one of my children was sitting on the floor. with his work for coalition forces, he feared for his life. we are the lucky ones. we made it. there are lots of people who really need help. others haven't made it out. these, the certificates of a former british interpreter we are calling abdul. good enough to risk his life, but refused permission to come to the uk.

and what is your message to the british government? the home office says it carries out thorough checks, but his bags are packed with nowhere to go. lucy manning, bbc news. a 5—year—old boy from afghanistan who arrived in britain with with his family just a few days ago, has died in an accident

at a hotel in sheffield. it is reported that mohammed munib majeedi fell from a ninth—floor room where he was staying with his mother, after fleeing the taliban. medical staff attacked, hospitals understaffed and a divisive vaccination rollout. that's the dire situation painted by healthcare workers and volunteers in myanmar, as the nation battles a third, devastating wave of covid—i9 infections. the number of daily deaths are officially around 360 — this is thought to be a vast underestimate and cremations in yangon, myanmar�*s biggest city, are said to be inundated with bodies. one organisation working on the ground is medecins sans frontieres, commonly known as doctors without borders. it's calling on myanmar�*s militaryjunta, now in power after february's coup, to ensure people have safe access to healthcare, and for medical staff to provide care without intimidation. we can now speak to jason mills from medecins sans frontieres in myanmar. hejoins us now from myit — chi—ina in kachin state. the first instance, just talk us through what it's like being a health care worker

on the ground in myanmar, and what some of your biggest challenges are? it's challenges are? been a very challenging year it's been a very challenging year here in me and more for health care workers. between the political turmoil six months ago and the covid—i9 wave that it is two months ago, it is just, wave that it is two months ago, it isjust, this majority wave that it is two months ago, it is just, this majority of health care workers on strike because the public health system has been largely shut down due to them protesting the democratically elected government. and a lot of them have faced the challenges of 437 were killed and your reporting on health care has been quite good and we've got about 190 health care staff under this. and getting this covid—19 situation under control here is going to

require health care workers to go back to work. and that means people have to compromise and we will need to see the people who were on strike able to treat patients legally and we will have to see them involved in civil society organisations to build the trust in the public health response because you cannot have a response in the epidemic like covid—19 and herfor p rev the epidemic like covid—19 and her for p rev trust in the health system. i think all of your viewers can understand it's very difficult to roll out a successful campaign if people do not actually have a lot of trust in the health system. that is in short supply here right now. i that is in short supply here right "ow-— right now. i know that it is very difficult _ right now. i know that it is very difficult to _ right now. i know that it is very difficult to talk - right now. i know that it is very difficult to talk about| very difficult to talk about some of the things that you've mentioned on the programme in a way that it is very sensitive and i understand that. all of this is taken place against the backdrop of the second a second wave of covid — more devastating than the last

are we getting an accurate picture of how many deaths there have been due to covid and what is the level of vaccination coverage? most of the population is currently vaccinated and only ten vaccines are coming into the country in the next couple of months, by 4 million of those are coming in with the kovacs programme, the pfizer vaccine and many are coming from china. if they successfully roll out the vaccination campaign over the next couple of months, you'll get the vaccination right up to only 13%, which is not nearly anywhere we need to be in order to see how we can control this delta wave after the initial peak and how it reemerges because of the lack of trust in the public health system, covid—19 goes underground and people try to self test and they tried to seek a home care from people that they know in the trust and that means do not

necessarily reporting to the public health system. and all of the information that we see out of me and more in terms of deaths, positivity rates, all of these things, they are just a small little snapshot and not necessarily indicative of the overall picture. i've talked with my staff and one of them had launched this and these are not reported deaths, these are not reported deaths, these are not in any of the initial statistics. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme. we talk live to an award—winning photo—journalist who spent years documenting life for afghan women under the taliban two decades ago. washington, the world's most political city the health of the worlds most powerful man.

indeed i did have a relationship with her that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. in south africa, 97 people have been killed today were the worst days of violence. over the past ten days, 500 have died. czechoslovakia must be free! russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 100 eighteenths of mariners who died of board. we are with them now in our hearts. - the pope has celebrated mass before a congregation of more than two and a half million people in his hometown. stay with us, stay with us chanted this ocean of humanity.

this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our headlines. the taliban are tightening their grip following their takeover of afghanistan — carrying out door—to—door searches for those who collaborated with western forces. crowds have continued to mass around kabul airport amid chaotic scenes — with taliban fighters beating back some afghans trying to reach flights. the taliban have said that women will be given rights in afghanistan under the sharia law. but women say it's hard to interpret what that means given the militant group's record in the past. when they ruled in the 1990s education for girls was forbidden, women were not allowed to venture out without a male guardian. earlier i spoke to lynsey addario who is a pulitzer prize—winning photojournalist and author — she's visited aghanistan three times when the taliban were last in control. i asked her what life was life was like for women then.

imean, it was i mean, it was incredibly oppressive. the first time i went, i had never seen a place like that. there were almost no women on the streets. the only women on the streets. the only women out in public were widows who had to beg to get food because their husbands, they had no husbands were unable to work. it is forbidden to work outside of home under the taliban unless you had special permission. i was able to go into private homes and see secret girls schools with very brave afghan families opening up brave afghan families opening up schools for girls knowing that if they got caught, it would be punishable under sharia law. i think it was just very oppressive. all forms of entertainment were illegal. no music, no television and no mixing between the genders. looking at some the photographs you have taken in afghanistan

of women there over the years that you have spent going back each time. how did life change for women each time you did go back. did things get better when the taliban left? yes, they can — when the taliban left? yes, they can only _ when the taliban left? yes, they can only get _ when the taliban left? yes, they can only get better, i they can only get better, really. i witnessed more than a dozen trips in the last 20 years and an incredible awakening of women. they found their voices journalists and actors, lawyers, doctors, parliamentarians, politicians. it was incredible and to really, we promoted democracy, we encouraged women to be independent, to find their voices and afghanistan is a deeply conservative culture, slee had to do that with the permission of their families but it was incredible to watch women really define themselves in afghanistan.—

in afghanistan. those photos are to sleeping _ in afghanistan. those photos are to sleeping off _ in afghanistan. those photos are to sleeping off the - in afghanistan. those photos l are to sleeping off the screen, there is such a vivid insight into life there. what are your fears for the women now, the women are living in afghanistan under the accra one rule? i am terrified as _ under the accra one rule? i am terrified as they _ under the accra one rule? i am terrified as they are _ under the accra one rule? i am terrified as they are in - under the accra one rule? i am terrified as they are in on - under the accra one rule? i am terrified as they are in on my i terrified as they are in on my phone i have messages of women crying, sinking to get my sister out, and former translators and stuck inside, we've been trying to get them to the airport, we have them mindless and potential flights and trying to convince countries to give them asylum, to let them even land there. it has been nonstop since sunday because of course, this came very quickly and i think, we don't know. we are doing our best because i don't believe the taliban's promises that they will open forth in the right to work in the freedom they had before within the parameters of sharia law. thank

ou for parameters of sharia law. thank you for those — parameters of sharia law. thank you for those remarkable - parameters of sharia law. thank| you for those remarkable photos and remarkable stories of her time in afghanistan. and just to remind you that we have a constantly updating live page on the rapidly changing situation in afghanistan, with all the latest news lines and developments. just log on to bbc—dot—com—slash—news and follow the links. anger is growing in haiti as aid agencies are struggling to reach some of the worst affected areas hit by the earthquake on saturday. foreign aid is starting to trickle in but bridges are damaged, roads are poor, so getting it to the people that need it, is slow work. the death toll is now more than two thousand people — thousands more have been injured and are being treated in clinics and makeshift hospitals. let's hear more from nadesha mijoba who is the country director for the health foundation in jeremy, haiti. very difficult to get the aid and one, because the bridge that goes into the area is

destroyed and so, you can only arrive through a certain point and then you have to unload everything before crossing with very small vehicles to be able to distribute the aid. and we continue to see the us coast guard helicopters and i can see it from my office flying back and forth, evacuating patients and forth, evacuating patients and bringing some relief aid and bringing some relief aid and it is stilljust simply not enough when nowhere near what is needed and we are nowhere near getting close to the people that really need a lot of help. japanese martial arts star shinichi "sonny" chiba has died from covid complications, his manager has said. renowned for his role as swordmaster in quentin tarantino's cult film kill bill: volume 1, chiba had reportedly contracted the virus at the end of last month.

japanese media say he was treated without being hospitalised, but was later taken to hospital for worsening pneumonia. chiba began his career injapanese film and tv in the 1960s, before reaching international audiences. he was one of the first actors to achieve stardom through martial arts. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. the number of covid deaths recorded in iran has passed one hundred thousand, despite tighter restrictions nationwide to contain the spread of the virus. iranian health officials have acknowledged that official figures almost certainly understate the real number, but even they make iran the worst—hit middle eastern country. a man has been arrested after making a bomb threat near the congress building in washington dc. the suspect, identified as floyd ray roseberry, surrendered hours after the threat was made. his motives remain unknown. police are still searching the vehicle. nicole kidman has become the latest hollywood star to come under fire

for circumventing strict quarantine rules for international travellers. the actress's arrival in hong kong has sparked widespread anger after she was reportedly spotted out and about two days after touching down. this is despite the region having some of the strictest rules in place, 30 years ago, a coup was launched in the then soviet union by hardline communist leaders to take power away from soviet president michael gorbachev, who's reform programme was slowly opening russia up. it failed, largely due to massive civil resitance in the capital moscow. stephen rosenberg reflects on the anniversary. it was the day the world held its breath. there had been a coup in a nuclear superpower. tanks rolled into moscow right up to red square. communist hardliners has seized power in the soviet union.

but the people were not having any of it. defiance on the streets. and outside parliament. from russia's president boris yeltsin. the coup collapsed. four months later, so did the country. the soviet union was consigned to history. dmitry had helped build the barricades outside parliament. he and his wife tatiana still remember their elation when the coup failed. i felt a great hope for a great new russia, democratic russia. where everyone has the right to influence all the things going on but now i feel that my hope failed. the economy is deteriorating, human rights deteriorating. the soviet union is an autonomy. the soviet union is returning.

at the time the collapse of the coup was hailed as a victory of people power but in the years that followed, democracy failed to root itself in russia. that is partly because life became so tough here that in the eyes of many russians, the very concept of democracy became discredited. but it is also because for those running russia today, authoritarian rule is back in fashion. this year, the authorities cracked down hard on anti—government protests. and there have been police raids on government critics. so, where does that leave democracy? for many here a distant memory. this monument honours the three men killed in the 1991 coup. there are few visitors. there seems to be little interest in moment in history when russians embraced freedom.

that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello. after what's been a relatively cloudy and relatively cool week so far for many of us, the weather is set to change a little bit through friday and into the weekend. it will briefly turn a little bit warmer. it will also start to turn a lot wetter because low pressure is pushing in from the west. this frontal system bringing rain very early on on friday across northern ireland. that will push eastwards over the coming days. but ahead of that weather front, we draw in a southerly wind, bringing some slightly warmer air in our direction. but many of us are going to start off on quite a cloudy note on friday. for england, wales and scotland, most places will be dry, just the odd spot of rain. but for northern ireland, this heavy rain working its way in. that will persist into the afternoon, rain extending

into southwest scotland, maybe getting into western fringes of england and wales. further east, a few sunny spells will start to develop. turning quite breezy, particularly for western coasts, but with that breeze coming up from the south, it'll feel a little bit warmer. and given some sunshine, eastern england could see highs of around 2a degrees. as we head through friday night, our band of rain will move a little further eastwards. it's likely to dry out a little bit across northern ireland by saturday morning, some mist and murk and low cloud on what will be a pretty mild night. a mild start to saturday with our band of rain working erratically eastwards and heavy bursts running along it. eastern parts of england will see a little bit of sunshine for a time. northern ireland should brighten up, too, along with the far west of scotland, wales and the southwest, but some thundery showers could break out here later. highest temperatures likely to be across eastern england if we see some sunshine, maybe up to 25 degrees. but for the second half of the weekend, this frontal system continues to journey eastwards.

we end up with a little area of low pressure lingering close to eastern counties of england, so still the potential for some rain here. quite windy for some of these eastern coasts as well. elsewhere, some sunny spells, a scattering of showers, but we lose that southerly flow, we lose that slightly warmer feel. now, into next week, high pressure looks set to establish itself, but the winds generally will be coming down from the north. to see any sort of heat wave, we'd need the winds to come up from the south, but that's not going to happen. so, there is some pleasant weather to come through next week. a bit more in the way of sunshine, a lot of dry weather, but no real heat wave. temperatures generally around the low 20s.

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.