this is bbc news, i'm lewis vaughanjones. our top stories. despair and danger in afghanistan, as thousands at kabul airport beg for safe passage away from the taliban president biden tells the taliban — any attack on the afghan evacuation mission would be met with force. nearly a week after the earthquake in haiti victims in the some of hardest hit areas are still waiting for help. plus, keeping busy during an unwanted intermission. how the cast of mamma mia found themselves working different jobs during lockdown — now they're ready to go again.

hello, and welcome to bbc news. we're drawing to the end of a seismic week for the people of afghanistan, and those who have served there during america's 20—year military involvement. evacuation flights are continuing from the international airport at kabul, with nato officials saying that 18—thousand people have now been airlifted out since the taliban took over. many more are trying desperately to escape. our afghanistan correspondent, secunder kermani and camera operator malik mu—dassir, have this report from kabul. get back! panic and chaos close to kabul airport. british soldiers guarding a secure compound for those being evacuated. british passport holders in the crowd, desperately trying to get through.

this is my british passport. like this uber driver from west london. he's got kids. we've been waiting. how long have you been here waiting? _ i came morning, five o'clock. still, i'm waiting here. in the last three days, i'm trying to go inside... and they won't letl you into the hotel? even though the embassy has told you to come here. - yes, he said i had to go here. even more distressing scenes at the main entrance to the compound. british soldiers trying to keep the crowd back. this is a scene of total and utter chaos, many of the people here don't have any permission to board an evacuation flight but they are so desperate that they just turned up here anyway. that's making it extremely difficult for those who have

been told to come here by the british embassy to get through. my family, my newborn baby. amongst those trapped by the crowd, this former british army interpreter. his wife gave birth just two weeks ago and he's deeply worried about the baby. maybe i lose my kid and maybe she is not good. she is not good, my wife. you can't stay here. i can't stay here, look at the situation, look at the dirt on the floor here. and, until now, i'm here since morning, i came here, taliban lashed me on the back. most of the people here are in a state of total confusion. they don't know how they can, but just want to leave the country before

the evacuation flights end. what makes you think you will be able to travel? this woman says she was a player on the national basketball team. i am so scared, because i'm a girl. my life is in danger. what... as the day goes on, some of those who are meant to be here eventually get through, including the family with the young baby. many others are still struggling, though. even more who want to leave but can't will be left behind. so that's the scene on the ground — meanwhile in washington, president biden has been putting a brave face on a difficult situation. the administration's withdrawal has been met by fierce criticism, on both sides of the political aisle. at the white house today, mr biden deflected those concerns, and instead focused on evacuation, for americans, and their afghan allies. we are going to do everything that we can to provide safe evacuation for our afghan allies, partners and afghans

who might be targeted because of their association with the united states. but let me be clear, any american who wants to come home, we will get you home. for his take onjoe biden�*s speech, here's our north america editorjon sopel. the thing that struck me most about it was the extent to which the most powerful armed forces are almost entirely dependent on the goodwill of the taliban for this process to unfold in the way that the americans want it to. joe biden said that any american that wants to leave afghanistan is able to do so thanks to the cooperation of the afghans, the taliban. that's not the way journalists on the ground or seeing it. and interestingly, the us defence secretary has briefed lawmakers on capitol hill and told them that

americans had been beaten trying to get to the airport and then there's the position of the translators and joe biden says they must be able to come out as well. think of the optics of it. you are a translator, you've helped the us armed forces attacked the taliban and you have to present your credentials to the taliban to get to the airport. and that is left people feeling incredibly frustrated and vulnerable. joe biden dismisses all of this and says this is a process, the policy is right. of the chaotic way in which the process has unfolded has left tens of thousands of people, afghans who have helped the americans over the past 20 years, feeling very insecure, abandoned and betrayed. it's been nearly a week since a powerful earthquake hit southwest haiti, and there are still some areas that have yet to receive any help whatsoever. more than 2000 people are known to have died. an estimated 135—thousand families have been displaced. 0ur correspondent, james clayton, reports now from the small town of les anglais, where an entire parish is in mourning. to get to the small town of les anglais, you have to take the coastal road. the town is two hours from les cayes, and the road snakes

through earthquake—scarred villages and even through a river. this is what's left of the town's church. a mass christening was about to begin just before the earthquake struck. the church had been filling up with people. dafica had woken up excited. her daughter was one of the dozens of children to be christened that day. translation: the church already had a lot of people inside, - so i was looking for a good place to sit. i put my bag down and just as i was about to sit down, the earthquake struck. everyone started running but each side of the church was full of people. i was holding my baby. i tried to get out of the front. i was so nearly out and that's when it collapsed on me. dafica suffered injuries to her head, back and legs, but survived. her daughter esther

died in her arms. translation: we were inseparable. when we went to the church, we were two, but i came back alone. i will never forget her. this is a town still in mourning. 22 people died here in the collapse, including many children. this man shows us belongings laid out in the cemetery across the street, including a christening veil, as yet uncollected. "sometimes i ask myself, does god exist?" he says. "it's too much, it's too much." nearly a week after this earthquake and the true scale of the devastation is still revealing itself, and that's why it's feared that the death toll here could rise further. some help has started to arrived here, desperately

needed food and clothes. but this earthquake has turned communities upside down. trauma that may never heal. a 10—day lockdown has been imposed in sri lanka in an attempt to combat a surging number of coronavirus cases. it follows mounting pressure from medical professionals warning of an overburdened health system as tanya dendrinos reports. shoppers in colombo stocking up before locking down. a picture of all to be avoided amid surging coronavirus infections. a large cloud and little room for distance. translation: this is a good thing but if they had given a few days' warning it would have been better. people are flocking to by things so it may defeat the purpose. there were

queues outside supermarkets and forfuel, too. the number of restrictions were already in place across sri lanka the government delayed the implementation of the lockdown to shield the struggling economy. but on friday the president heeded calls for more action. translation: our country, which has a small economy, should also take advantage of this opportunity. we cannot allow the country's economy to a collapse completely by refusing to take required action however, i have decided to impose a lockdown from 10pm today until 4am on the 30th of this month. in order to contain the increase of covid patients. around 100 of the country's population is fully vaccinated hospitals and marks are overwhelmed with the health minister taking to twitter to

urge citizens to go home but not to delay isolation. —— not to delay vaccination. —— not to delay vaccination. (pres)india's drug regulator has approved the world's first dna vaccine against covid—19 for emergency use. the three—dose zycov—d vaccine prevented symptomatic disease in 66 per cent of those vaccinated, according to an interim study. previous dna vaccines have worked well in animals but not humans. vaccine makers cadila healthcare say they're planning to manufacture up to 120 million doses of india's second home—grown vaccine, every year. doctor syra madad is senior director, of the system—wide special pathogens program for new york city health & hospitals — and also principal investigator at the city's center for global healthcare preparedness. she explained how the dna vaccine works. the way that it works is that it uses the dna pattern which encodes a small amount of, you

know, genomic information and this dna enters the cells and enters the nucleus and essentially it is transcribed into a molecule. the molecule leaves the nucleus and is translated into a protein and when their protein leaves the cells that is what elicits an immune response. all these different types of vaccines, whether these vaccines, viral fact of vaccines of the dna —based covid—19 vaccines all have the same purpose which is eliciting a robust immune response. i eliciting a robust immune re5ponse-_ eliciting a robust immune resonse. , ., ., response. i 'ust about follow the signs _ response. i just about follow the signs of _ response. i just about follow the signs of it. _ response. i just about follow the signs of it. what - response. i just about follow the signs of it. what is - response. i just about follow the signs of it. what is the i the signs of it. what is the advantage of this method as opposed to any of the others? there are a few advantages. the stable and relatively inexpensive to produce. it has good storage components and you don't have to use ultracold, you know, storage requirements like with other vaccines. it is easier to produce. these are

the various benefits of using a dna —based vaccine. the various benefits of using a dna -based vaccine.— dna -based vaccine. more testin: dna -based vaccine. more testing and _ dna -based vaccine. more testing and things - dna -based vaccine. more testing and things like - dna -based vaccine. more j testing and things like that dna -based vaccine. more i testing and things like that to come but how close are we to seeing this anywhere else. we know it has got emergency use in india. what about the rest of the world? it in india. what about the rest of the world?— in india. what about the rest of the world? it is unclear the timeline as — of the world? it is unclear the timeline as to _ of the world? it is unclear the timeline as to when _ of the world? it is unclear the timeline as to when it - of the world? it is unclear the timeline as to when it will. of the world? it is unclear the timeline as to when it will be | timeline as to when it will be made available around the world and every country has its own regulator so here in the united states we have the fda enter you that the application go from there. with a good other countries in the all have their own regulatory body which goes through a process so it is a little unclear whether the drugmaker is going to apply in other countries to have the vaccine made available. it is good news for india because if we are looking at the population there anywhere from 9-13% population there anywhere from 9—13% are fully vaccinated so there is a large population that remains vulnerable so they want to make sure they are protecting as many people as possible and this is good news for india. i5 possible and this is good news for india. , ., .,

for india. is there an argument that we know _ for india. is there an argument that we know we _ for india. is there an argument that we know we have - for india. is there an argumentj that we know we have vaccines so she would just concentrate efforts and rolling them out? there is an argument for that given we have a number of safe and effective vaccines around the world and we know that we are still, you know, in this pandemic we are seeing close to a million new cases around the day with 10 million deaths. we should try to see we can ramp up should try to see we can ramp up the production of the vaccines using the capabilities that we have for the existing vaccines and have more people inoculated. that is something that needs to be discussed more globally but, as you know, where we live in a globalised world, every country has its own pathway and every country wants to you expertise and develop their own vaccines so it is a lot easier said than done. thousands of people continue to mass at kabul�*s airport, in the hope of being flown out of afghanistan.

it comes amid reports of executions and torture by the taliban president biden has told the taliban — any attack on the afghan evacuation mission would be met with force. well earlier i spoke to us political analyst max kutner and asked what he made of president biden�*s response to criticisms from not only republican by democrat voices too. it sounds like biden is going to stick with what he has been saying all week that he is comfortable in his decision but he is planning on getting those people out there. perhaps that is a response to what dozens of democrats urged in a letter this week to administration folk saying that while they appreciated some of the administration's efforts the administration's efforts the administration really needs to focus on getting those people out. they said they have grave concerns and that was some of the more moderate comments that we got. we also heard democrats

calling what happened the failure of diplomacy, failure of intelligence, and a top democrat on the senate intelligence committee who would presumably be aligned with biden said we are going to have to ask tough questions about how the sort of thing happened. maybe we could have expected some criticisms and questions from perhaps more progressive democrats but he is really getting it from all sides of the democratic party. internationally there is a criticism that the us don't appear to have a great deal of lavage when dealing with the taliban. it rings of a country defeated. taliban. it rings of a country defeated-— defeated. certainly on the international _ defeated. certainly on the international stage - defeated. certainly on the international stage as - defeated. certainly on the i international stage as taken hits there and he is taking hits there and he is taking hits abroad. this was not a great week for him but now he is sort of, it sounds like he is sort of, it sounds like he is doing damage control and on the other hand really sticking with what he said in his speech a week ago. it still addressing

some of the concerns that have come up over the past week. polls in the us are saying there is broad support for the principle of withdrawal and certainly before the manner in which it happened anyway, a great deal of support. and i suppose political calculations, present biden with them, the longer term, that is what will be remembered, fingers crossed, from his point of view. it seems they are united in this idea you were seen reflected in the polls that it was a good idea to get out but it may be was not done in the best way. and that is the kind of criticism that he is now trying to go up against. you are talking about political futures for biden. if he is up against trump in 2024 there will be a lot of finger pointing on sides because remember, biden did adhere to the trump administration timeline and if trump does not run in 2024

biden would perhaps have a tougher time pointing the finger and he could be taking a lot of criticisms about what we're hearing this week into the selection few years from now so i don't think these criticisms are going away anytime soon and he will have to weather the storm which, from the clip you play, it sounds like he is already trying to do that. one of the most beloved tv shows in the us —jeopardy! — has come underfire after its new co—host has been accused of making sexist and racist comments in an old podcast. tv presenter mike richards stepped down from his role just nine days after getting the job. he had been appointed to replace host alex trebek, who died last year after more than three decades on the show. joining me now to talk more about this story is the editor in chief of the hollywood international filmmaker magazine, sandro monetti. thank you so much for coming on

the programme. if you ever fancy stepping away from the bbc thus, there is a big vacancy over here. i bbc thus, there is a big vacancy over here. i will not take u- vacancy over here. i will not take up the _ vacancy over here. i will not take up the very _ vacancy over here. i will not take up the very kind - vacancy over here. i will not take up the very kind offer, | take up the very kind offer, thank you. lots of people will probably have heard of the show jeopardy but may not know much more of the details of what has gone on here? b, more of the details of what has gone on here?— gone on here? a national institution _ gone on here? a national institution for _ gone on here? a national institution for over - gone on here? a national institution for over 8000 | institution for over 8000 episodes in 37 years on prime time, jeopardy has had nonstop success and not a hint of controversy until now where their long search a host ended in mike richards and he has lost thejob afterjust in mike richards and he has lost the job afterjust nine days after it emerged that the rojo series of offensive comments he made on a podcast. he was already coming into this job with enough red flags to make a quilt and this seems to have pushed things over the top. he is out and after a

search for a host, the search starts again. search for a host, the search starts again-— search for a host, the search starts again. quite remarkable because presumably _ starts again. quite remarkable because presumably these - starts again. quite remarkable i because presumably these things were out there and a matter of public record. you'd have thought the producers would have done their due diligence. this is not the first time. remember a couple of years ago the comedian kevin hart was set to host the 0x goes but lost the job when offensive historical tweets appeared so you would think that the people doing the search would actually, you know, check into the history of these leading candidates but this guy was the executive producer of the show who made no secret of the fact that he wanted to step in front of the camera. you'd previously produce the price is right and addition for the host ofjob there and not got it. you would also, if he had such ambitions, he would have taken down those old podcasts. it is interesting. a lot of people in

entertainment are trying to sort of airbrush their history in case this happens but this escape the search team but it did not escape the press. ems; did not escape the press. any other names _ did not escape the press. any other names in _ did not escape the press. any other names in the fray? lots of people would have been interested in the past? names floating around but what happens next?— floating around but what ha ens next? , ., , happens next? they had been additional _ happens next? they had been additional hosts _ happens next? they had been additional hosts for _ happens next? they had been additional hosts for most - happens next? they had been additional hosts for most of l additional hosts for most of this year and got incredible names including aaron rodgers, an nfl quarterback, who was prepared to give up his football career to host a show he loves so much. another popular favourite was burton star burton star of star trek the next generation. these are very popular guests host with viewers but ofjeopardy goes back to them now they can't help feeling they are a second choice to the drawing board and like i say, don't be surprised if they come tapping you on the shoulder. .. , .. . shoulder. unlikely i think but likel to shoulder. unlikely i think but likely to have _ shoulder. unlikely i think but likely to have you _ shoulder. unlikely i think but likely to have you on. - shoulder. unlikely i think but likely to have you on. thankl likely to have you on. thank you.

likely to have you on. thank ou. . ~' likely to have you on. thank ou. . ~ , ., likely to have you on. thank ou. . ~ i. ., likely to have you on. thank ou. . ., ., ., i am available. taj mahal will re—open for night viewings on saturday for the first time in more than a year. he vast white marble mausoleum in the city of agra is a huge tourist attraction, and viewing it by moonlight is a particular draw. but viewings after dark were stopped completely during india's coronavirus lockdown — and never reinstated. from broadway to the west end, and many places in between, theatre productions are gearing back up. but it's been a long year—and—a—half for performers. many of them had to find a way to fill their time, and pay their bills. david sillito,has been speaking to one group of people, who found themselves facing an unexpected career change.the cast of the west end musical, mamma mia. he plays "somewhere over the rainbow". it always begins with an overture. a little musical welcome from 93—year—old david dennis to his daily carer, stephen beckett.

hey, david, how are you doing? i saw a sign, a care agency was looking for staff. i thought i want to contribute, i want to do something, i can'tjust sit around. # here i go again. # my, my, how can i resist you? people at the care agency, they all gave me five minutes. # waterloo, promised to love... it is a bit of a change from what stephen was doing just over a year and a half ago, performing in london's west end as one of the three dads in mamma mia. and stephen's co—stars... richard trinder has been painting and decorating. dad number three has been out on the road. my name is neil, this is gilbert. i normally play harry in the west end version of mamma mia, but now i'm delivering parcels. i'm doing this for something to do as well, i mean, you need to pay the bills and things but to get

out of the house, that was the main thing. lockdown is tough, i mean, i'm on my own, i'm not interacting with people, i'm just delivering parcels and getting out each day. here it comes. don't forget to smile. when the theatre closed in march of last year, much of the cast thought they would be back here in a few weeks, a few months at most. 16 months later, they are finally back in the theatre and reflecting back on, like millions of us, a year in which life was completely transformed. and it also means it's been farewell to mr dennis. # yes, i was broken hearted... and steven's unexpected pandemic career. how are you going to look back on this year? i'm going to look back on it with gratitude. you know, a lot of people in lockdown, especially in that first wave of lockdown, we were the only people that our clients saw four weeks and weeks, sometimes months on end.

this is the last day, are you going to miss him? yes. but he's got my number and i think i've got his somewhere, so we can keep in touch, anyway. he's a good fellow. it's what keeps us going. care, music, friendship. david sillito, bbc news, brighton. the 25th bond film, no time to die, will finally have its premier at the royal albert hall in london next month. the red carpet will be rolled out on the 28th of september — two days before the film's released in cinemas. it's been delayed three times in the last year because of the pandemic. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ l vaughanjones.

some of that rain will be quite heavy. saturday looks set to be the wettest day with spells of heavy rain and even the odd thunderstorm. sunday should be a bit brighter with some sunshine but still one or two showers. this is the recent satellite picture and you can see the dry of cloud working in from the west. it is a weather front and it will continue to bring outbreaks of rain and instead of keeping too quickly this front is going to stick with his all day on saturday because there is this wriggle running around at that will hold the front back and stop it from clearing away quickly. western areas are starting the day on a soggy note.

dry further east but mainly cloudy and through the day wet weather will stagger its way eastwards with heavy and possibly thundery bursts mixing in and as things brighten up for wales and northern scotland we will still see some scattered showers and thunderstorms p°pping up- quite breezy for wales in the south—west. lighter winds elsewhere and temperatures a little disappointing for the time of year. 17-21. as we head through saturday night our rain will continue to stagger eastwards but you can see it tending to fizzle away and it will turn lighter and patchy and many places will start sunday morning on a dry note but with a lot of cloud, mist and what will be a mild and fairly muggy night. we start sunday with a low pressure. still close to the eastern side of the uk but high—pressure beginning to build in from the south—west. so that means something a little bit drier on sunday. there will be quite a lot of cloud around but it should break from time to time to give spells of sunshine and we will see some showers breaking out across scotland and parts of

england. likely to stay damp across the northern isles. temperatures struggling a little bit. 21 or 22 degrees in the sunniest spots. into next week this area of high pressure establishes itself more strongly so a few are looking for drier and brighter weather, the start of next week looks quite promising. we will see some good spells of sunshine and certainly it looks mostly dry but there is no heatwave on the way. temperatures in the lower mid 20s. in the sunshine that will feel quite pleasant.

this is bbc news, the headlines: thousands of people continue to mass at kabul�*s airport, in the hope of being flown out of afghanistan. nato says so far, more than 18,000 have been airlifted out this week. it comes amid reports of executions and torture by the taliban. president biden says the us has made clear to the taliban that any attack on the afghan evacuation mission would be met quickly and with force. mr biden said he was in constant contact with the taliban. there's been anger in haiti over the slow delivery of aid to areas affected by saturday's earthquake. damage to roads is hampering access. more than 2,000 people died in the quake. it also injured more than 12,000 people and the casualty toll is expected to rise as rescue efforts continue.

in a moment on bbc news, the film review.