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 some of the 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.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. first: 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 18,000 people have now been airlifted out since the taliban took over. many more are trying desperately to escape. 0ur afghanistan correspondent, secunder kermani and camera operator malik mudassir, have this report from kabul. yelling. 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. bow long have you been here waiting? ——how long have you been ere 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 let 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're 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's 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'll 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 efforts, for americans, and their afghan allies. we're going to do everything, everything that we can provide safe evacuation for our afghan

allies, partners, and afghans who might be targeted because of the 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 world's 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 any american who wants to leave afghanistan is able to do so thanks to the cooperation of the afghans, the taliban, sorry. that is not the wayjournalists on the ground are seeing it and interestingly, the us defence secretary has briefed lawmakers on capital hill and told them that americans had been beaten trying to get to the airport. then there is the issue of the translators and they said —— biden said they should be able

to come out as well because i think about the optics. you are a translator, you have helped the us forces and you have to present your credentials to the taliban to get to the airport. that has left many people feeling incredibly frustrated and vulnerable. joe biden dismisses all this and says this is all process, the policy is right. but 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. 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.com/news and follow the links. 0r download the bbc news app. 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 2,000 people are known to have died. an estimated 135,000 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. lebanon is facing its worst economic crisis in modern times, as the fuel crisis continues to put pressure on the country. the shia militant group hezbollah, says it has now made arrangements to import fuel from iran, despite us sanctions. the bbc�*s azadeh moshiri reports.

with no electricity and therefore no lights, as matt has to improvise to do his job. this is one small example of how lebanon's month fuel crisis is affecting everyday life —— ahmed. is affecting everyday life -- ahmed. ., ., , ., ahmed. that conditions are difficult because _ ahmed. that conditions are difficult because the - ahmed. that conditions are difficult because the power| difficult because the power outage. sometimes we are forced to turn on a phone light so we can continue our work. there is no petrol and no diesel. i�*b�*s can continue our work. there is no petrol and no diesel.- no petrol and no diesel. 7896 of the pepulation _ no petrol and no diesel. 7896 of the population is _ no petrol and no diesel. 7896 of the population is now - no petrol and no diesel. 7896 of the population is now living - the population is now living below the poverty line, according to the united nations, and violence and protests have become a common occurrence. adding even more pressure, the country's central tank announced it was ending imported fuel subsidies last week. the decision has led lebanon's already troubled economy to collapse. restaurants and shops have been forced to close and as fuel supplies wind old, endless queues formed at petrol stations with drivers hoping to fill up before any price hikes.

translation: my car has been parked in a queue outside the filling station for two days and i still have no petrol. is there anything more degrading and humiliating than this? despite months of this crisis, lebanon's divided political factions has still not found a solution. 0r factions has still not found a solution. or even managed to form a united government. the sheer militant group hezbollah has now announced that a ship carrying arabian fuel is headed for lebanon despite us sanctions. it may complicate matters but for lebanon's people, all that matters is keeping the lights on. azadeh moshiri, abc news. —— bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. the bolivian authorities have filed a provisional charge of genocide against the former acting president, jeanine anez, in connection with the deaths

of 20 opposition protestors in 2019. it relates to two clashes between demonstrators and the security forces. ms anez — who was arrested in march — has called allegations against her politically motivated. a rare hurricane warning has been issued for parts of the north—eastern united states as tropical storm henri continues to strengthen. it's expected to hit portions of long island and connecticut on sunday. it would be the first hurrricane to hit the region for thirty years. president biden is nominating the veteran diplomat, nicholas burns, to be the us ambassador to china. if approved by the senate, mr burns will head to beijing with relations between the two countries at their lowest for decades. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: what is one of the quickest resignations of a tv

game show host? washington, the world's most political city, is today assessing the political health of the world's most powerful man. indeed i did have a relationship with miss lewinsky that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. in south africa, 97 people have been killed today, i in one of the worst days of violence between - rival black groups. over the last ten - days, 500 have died. crowds chant: czechoslovakia must be free! _ man: czechoslovakia must be free! - crowds chant: czechoslovakia must be free! _ russia is absolving a national day of mourning for 118 submariners who died on board the kursk. we are all with them now, within our hearts. the pope has celebrated mass before a congregation of- more than 2.5 billion people in his hometown of krakow. | "stay with us, stay with us," - chanted this ocean of humanity. "well, well," joked the pope, "so you want me i

to desert rome?" this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: 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, but democrat voices too. it sounds like joe it sounds likejoe 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 of there,

perhaps that is a response to what dozens of democrats urged in a letter this week tojoe biden, administration folks are 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 a month the more moderate comments, comments we got from democrats, and we heard democrats calling what happened a failure of diplomacy, a failure of intelligence, a top democrat on the senate intelligence committee who had presumably be aligned with joe committee who had presumably be aligned withjoe biden, saying we're going to have to do make have to ask tough questions about how this sort of thing happen, so maybe we could have expected some criticisms and some questions from perhaps more progressive democrats but he is getting it from all sides of the democratic party. internationally there is a feeling, certainly the criticism internationally, the us is standing in the world,

they don't appear to have a great deal of leverage when dealing with the taliban, rings of a country defeated. certainly on the international stage, joe biden is taking hits, taking hits abroad, this was not a great week for him, but now he has, it sounds like on one hand doing damage control, and the other hand really sticking with what he said in his speech almost a week ago, but still addressing some of the concerns that have come up over the past week. interestingly, polls in the usa actually there is broad for the principle of withdrawal, and certainly, before the manner in which it happened, anyway, a great deal of support, and i suppose political calculation, president biden will be thinking in the longer term, that's what will be remembered, fingers crossed, from his point of view. ~ , , ~ of view. writer. it seems like the democrats _ of view. writer. it seems like the democrats are _ of view. writer. it seems like the democrats are united - of view. writer. it seems like the democrats are united in l the democrats are united in this idea which perhaps piercing reflected in the

polls, that it was a good idea to get out, but itjust wasn't may be done in the best way, and that's the kind of criticism thatjoe biden is now trying to go up against. if you are talking about political futures from joe biden, if he is up against trump in 2024, if trump wins again, there will be a lot of finger—pointing on both sides, because remember, joe biden did adhere to the trump administration's timeline, and if trump does not run in 2024, joe 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 this election a few years from now, so i don't think these criticisms are going away anytime soon and now he will have to be weathering the storm, which from the clip you played, sounds like he is already trying to do that. 0n the one—year anniversary of the poisoning of russian 0pposition leader alexei navalny, western nations and russia are taking actions against one other. the us and britain have imposed further santions on russian individuals, both

for the attack and russia's chemical weapons programme. for their part, russian authorities have now raided more than 500 navalny supporters whose names were leaked online. the taj mahal will re—open for night viewings on saturday for the first time in more than a year. the 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. 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 rolejust 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. sandro monetti

is the editor in chief of the hollywood international filmmaker magazine. he explains why this controversy is such a big deal in america. if you ever fancy stepping away from the bbc desk and into american game—show studio, there is a big vacancy over here,. i there is a big vacancy over here,. ., ., ~' there is a big vacancy over here,. ., ., ~ , here,. i will not take up the very kind — here,. i will not take up the very kind offer, _ here,. i will not take up the very kind offer, thank - here,. i will not take up the very kind offer, thank you. | very kind offer, thank you. let's get on, lots of people will probably have heard of the showjeopardy!, but might not know much more of the details, so what has gone on? fix, know much more of the details, so what has gone on? a national institution. _ so what has gone on? a national institution, over _ so what has gone on? a national institution, over a _ so what has gone on? a national institution, over a thousand - institution, over a thousand episodes and 37 years in prime—time, jeopardy! has had non—stop success and not a hint of controversy, until their long search for a host ended in micah richards, and he has lost thejob afterjust nine micah richards, and he has lost the job afterjust nine days, after it emerged that there were a whole series of

offensive comments he made on a pod cast. 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 hears out and after a year long search for a host, the search starts again! that's quite remarkable because presumably these things were out there, a matter of public record, you would have thought show�*s producers would have done their diligence? this show's producers would have done their diligence?- done their diligence? this is not the first _ done their diligence? this is not the first time. _ done their diligence? this is not the first time. i - done their diligence? this is i not the first time. i remember a couple of years ago, comedian kevin hart was all set to host the 2019 oscars, but lost the job when offensive historical tweets appeared, so you would think that the people doing the search would actually check into the history of these leading candidates, but you know, this guy, he was the executive producer of the show, who made no secret of the fact that he wanted to step in front of the camera. he had previously produced the price

is right an audition for the hostjob there and not got it. you would think also if you had such ambitions, he would have taken down those old pod cast. it's interesting. a lot of people in entertainment are trying to airbrush their history and in case this happens, but this escaped the search team, but it did not escape the press. h0 search team, but it did not escape the press. no indeed. any other _ escape the press. no indeed. any other names _ escape the press. no indeed. any other names in _ escape the press. no indeed. any other names in the - escape the press. no indeed. any other names in the fray l any other names in the fray now? suppose lots people would have interested, lots of names would have been floating around, but what happens next? they have been auditioning hosts for most of this year, they got incredible names including nfl quarterback aaron rodgers, who was prepared to give up his football career to host the show he loves so much, another popular favourite was lavar burton, a former star of star trek the next generation, very popular guest hosts with viewers, but ifjeopardy goes back to the now, you can't help feeling that they are a second

choice, so back to the drawing board, and like i say, don't be surprised if they come tapping you on the shoulder! i doubt it very much. 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 numberand 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. a reminder of our top story: president biden has acknowledged more lives could be lost in the operation to fly people out of kabul airport, but he's insisted the us will help afghans who've worked with american forces. he said the united states had evacuated 13,000 people so far. mr biden described the mission as �*one of the largest, most difficult airlifts in history'. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ l vaughanjones.

this is bbc news. hello again. for most of us, it's been another cloudy day, and that cloudy theme is one thing that we've noticed a lot actually this month. saturday looks to be the wettest day, spells of heavy rain, 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 top of cloud working on from the west, this is a weather front, it is going to continue to bring outbreaks of rain, and instead of clearing through quickly, this front will stick with us all day on saturday because there is this wave, this will wriggle running along it, holding the front back and stop you from clearing away quickly, so western area starting the day on a really 5°99y starting the day on a really soggy note, a little bit drier

further east, but mainly cloudy and through the day our wet weather will stagger its way eastwards with some heavy and possibly sundry bursts mixed in, and even as things brighten up, wales, perhaps northern scotland we will still see some scattered showers and thunderstorms popping up, quite breezy for wales in the south—west, lighter winds elsewhere, and temperatures a little disappointing, really for the time of year, 17— 21 degrees. as we head through saturday night our rain will continue to stagger eastwards but you can see it tending to fizzle away, turning lighter and patio and many places will start sunday morning on a dry note but with a lot of cloud, the mist and mud on what will be a quite mild on muggy night, 13, 14, 15 degrees, so we start sunday with low pressure quite 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, quite a lot of cloud around but that cloud should break from time to time to give spells of sunshine and we will

see some showers breaking out, especially across scotland and parts of england and is likely to stay quite grey and damp across the northern isles, temperatures still struggling after around 21, maybe 22 degrees in the sunniest spots, but, 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, certainly it looks mostly dry, but there is no heatwave on the way, temperatures in the low to 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 2000 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.

now on bbc news, afghanistan: back to the future.