welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines. pressure builds to extend the deadline for foreign troops to leave afghanistan — but the taliban say no. that is a clear violation, one thing. secondly, about consequences, it is up to our leadership how to proceed. afghan refugees have been arriving in the united states — it's still unsure how many more will follow. we'll have the latest from washington. also in the programme... on her visit to asia — as us vice president — kamala harris pledges an enduring commitment to the region. locked down in their own country — australians wonder when they can expect things

to open up. and — the french football club, nice is forced to close part of its grounds — after a mass brawl inlvolving players and supporters. hello and thanks forjoining us. diplomatic pressure is building to try to extend the august 31st deadline for foreign troops to leave afghanistan. britain, france and germany want more time to allow people to be airlifted to safety. the united states says it hasn't ruled out troops staying a little longer. the issue will be the main point of discussion at a virtual g—seven summit

later on tuesday. but the taliban are hostile to the idea — saying it would breach a previous agreement. this report from kabul is by secunder kermani. it's crowded, filthy and baking hot. but desperate afghans keep coming to kabul airport. so many children in such a terrible place. this woman worked alongside german forces. she has documents proving it — but no permission to travel. "i've been here with my kids for the past five days, waiting for the soldiers to look at my papers," she says. "but i can't even take two steps in this crowd." everywhere we go, people beg us for help, beg us for information. we're being just surrounded by dozens and dozens of people who are desperate to leave, showing us their documents. this chap worked with the afghan security forces. a foreign airfield. someone else who worked

with foreign forces. someone else has got other documents. most of these people don't have permission to leave. some of them do and still can't get through. everyone is desperate to get out, everyone is totally confused as to what to do. you've got an email saying that you should go? yes. you should come here? are you able to get through? no, no. with the deadline for international forces rapidly approaching, many are panicking, fearing this is their last chance to get out. taliban officials say foreign forces must leave by the end of the month. if they extend behind the 31st of august, that is a clear violation, one thing. secondly, it is up to our leadership how to proceed and what kind of decision they take. that decision

will be implemented. elsewhere in kabul, there's an uneasy sense of calm. shops and some government offices are open, but the streets are still quieter than usual, whilst banks remain closed. the taliban forces have been gathering close to panjshir, the one province yet to be captured, where fighters calling themselves the resistance are based. for now, though, the focus is on the crisis around the airport. some are managing to make it out. my family, my newborn baby... last week, we filmed this former british army interpreter and his newborn baby. yesterday, they arrived in the uk. it is fantastic, it is very good being in the uk, it is a very good feeling. but are you sad at the same time about having to leave your country?

when you leave your sisters, your brothers, your mother, those things are sad, but now i am happy in the uk. a happy ending amidst so much misery. secunder kermani, bbc news, kabul. we mentioned the pressure on the united states from other western allies to extend the deadline for evacuating afghans. this is what the german foreign minister had to say on the matter. translation: firstly, - we are talking with the us, turkey and other partners with the aim of facilitating a civil operation at kabul airport. to enable the evacuation of people beyond august 31. we will also have to continue to talk about this with the taliban, who of course have a special role to play in the operation of the airport after the withdrawal of american troops. there are discussions in the us about whether it will even be possible to fly out all american citizens in the remaining time.

this is extremely questionable, and that is why they are considering extending this mission. however, this will only be the case if security assurances are given. let's go to our correspondent nomia iqbal in washington. to get a sense of what the issues are on the ground in the united states. good to have you. i understand president biden expected to decide within the next 2a hours whether to extend the deadline — what have you heard? that's right, and we are hearing that mr biden public advisers are arguing against extending that deadline. the? extending that deadline. they are worried _ extending that deadline. they are worried about _ extending that deadline. they are worried about the - extending that deadline. tie: are worried about the security as we have been seeing him of the taliban has basically threatened, made a threat saying that it is a redline for them and there will be consequences. if the august 31 deadline is not met and all the troops are out. at this kinds of quizzes will be we don't

know but it is not a risk that i imagine president biden could take but we are expecting him to make an announcement i what the decision will be after this g7 virtual meeting from many countries including the uk, germany and italy on tuesday. on that g7 meeting as you point out, it will be talking about a lot of things, afghanistan obviously top of the agenda. many of these countries are pushing jill many of these countries are pushingjill biden many of these countries are pushing jill biden to leave soldiers at the airport to keep it open. do you think they will be successful in that? it is really tricky _ be successful in that? it is really tricky to _ be successful in that? it is really tricky to say - be successful in that? it is| really tricky to say because joe biden is in a bind here at the moment. he's been very defiant about his decision, he wants out and once the american troops out of there, he knows the longer they stay there the more at risk there will be. it's a tricky one. they have forces on the ground but the uk

and other countries know they can't do it without the americans, they need the us power there. they imagine there will be trying to persuade the deadline so that they can get more flights into, orflights over to try and help with the evacuation process. joe biden wants to try and win over his allies. rememberwhen wants to try and win over his allies. remember when he won the election last year he said he wants to show that america is back and wants to have a good connection with his allies and says that his predecessor did not have. a tough balancing act for him. at did not have. a tough balancing act for him-— act for him. at home increasing ressure act for him. at home increasing pressure and — act for him. at home increasing pressure and a _ act for him. at home increasing pressure and a backlash - act for him. at home increasing pressure and a backlash on - act for him. at home increasing pressure and a backlash on joel pressure and a backlash onjoe biden�*s strategy in afghanistan. give us a sense of what the domestic mood is like about this operation. it depends who you ask. for the mainstream media they're pretty unanimous on this.— unanimous on this. liberal and conservative _ unanimous on this. liberal and conservative media _ unanimous on this. liberal and conservative media believe - unanimous on this. liberal and conservative media believe it's one of the worst foreign policy disasters. the conservative media going particularly hard onjoe biden and conveniently

forgetting it was actually mr trump his predecessor who made the deal with the taliban, liberal media pointing out while he could have overturned in the way he overturned other trump policies. the poll suggests they are really behind joe biden on this. it's a long war that is seen so many deaths and they want out. they want a plan though. they want to see competency and compassion which is actually two of the attributes thatjoe biden�*s supporters say got him the white house. and his critics are saying there's not a lot of those attributes being shown right now. it will be interesting to see what happens with there with him on this and i think it is how this withdrawal happens that matters to them. ., ,. ., withdrawal happens that matters to them. ., , , to them. fascinating stuff there in washington. - you can access you can access more of oui’ you can access more of our reporting on afghanistan by going to our website. there's a live page with all

the latest developments, plus this piece on the afghan resistance group who are holed up in the panjshir valley area and vowing to fight the taliban. go to the bbc news website to find that. lets take a look at other news making the headlines today. pfizer's two—dose covid—19 vaccine has received full approval from the us food and drug administration — the firstjab to be licensed in the country. the vaccine was previously being given under an emergency use authorisation. us presidentjoe biden says the announcement should encourage companies to demand their employees get the jab. in germany, tighter restrictions have come into force to access to a wide range of services such as hotels — swimming pools — hospitality and hairdressers. in most german regions access to these facilities in high infection areas will be restricted to those who have been vaccinated, tested negative or have recovered from the virus recently.

eight members of the climate change campaign group extinction rebellion have been arrested after mass protest in central london. the anti—fossil fuel protestors are fastening chairs to the ground to express solidarity with nations disproportionately affected by climate change. the taliban's swift return to power has cast something of a shadow over the united states' status as a global player. on her tour of asia, vice president kamala harris has offered reassurance of washington's commitment to the region. she's currently in singapore and will also be visiting vietnam. our south east asia correspondent jonathan head has more. well, this trip by the us vice president must�*ve been planned several weeks ago as part of a salvo of visits by senior us officials to this region to demonstrate the biden administration's renewed interest in southeast asia. but it is hard to imagine they would have gone ahead

with it had they known it was going to come right after the disastrous scenes that we have all witnessed in afghanistan. i mean come on one of the countries on her itinerary is vietnam, which inevitably invites unflattering comparisons with the last time the us was so humiliatingly defeated. kamala harris is relatively inexperienced in foreign policy and she is having come on this trip, to fend off questions not just about the dreadful events in afghanistan, but also about the overall reliability of the united states as an ally. now, of course she could point to the remarkably close relations today between the united states and the very same communist regime that drove it out of vietnam 46 years ago as evidence that the us can and does bounce back from its reversals. and the budget administration has made the point that getting out of the long wars in the middle east will enable it to focus more of its energy and its time on important relationships in places like the asia—pacific. but governments here are going

to want to see more specifics. they are going to want to know what differentiates the biden administration from its two predecessors, the obama and the trump administration. both of which had some trademark asian policies, but neither of which were able to reverse this perception that us influence in this region has been declining for many years while china's continues to rise. so what can the budget administration offer? one area that has an advantage is in cooperation on medical health care technology, pandemic preparation. the us has got a lot of goodwill here for the donations of us—made vaccines that it has made recently to help this region deal with a very difficult resurgence of covid—19. if you want to get in touch with me i'm

on twitter — @bbckarishma you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... para—badminton and india's rising star palak kohli both prepare to make their debut at the tokyo 2020 paralympics. he's the first african—american to win the presidential nomination of a major party. and he accepts exactly 45 years ago to the day, that martin luther king declared "i have a dream". as darkness falls tonight, and unfamiliar light will appear in the southeastern sky. an orange glowing disc that's brighter than anything save the moon, our neighbouring planet mars. there is no doubt that this

election is an important milestone in the birth of east timor as the world's newest nation. it'll take months and billions of dollars to repair— what katrina achieved injust hours. - three weeks is the longest the great clock has been off duty in 117 years. so it was with great satisfaction that clockmaker john vernon swung the pendulum to set the clock going again. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our headlines. pressure builds to extend the deadline for foreign troops to leave afghanistan — but the taliban refuses. afghan refugees begin arriving in the united states — but there are still thousands at kabul airport, desperate to leave.

while much of the world begins to open up after coronavirus lockdowns — australia remains a fortress. it's almost 18 months since the country shut its borders to try and control the spread of covid—19. and with limits on how many travellers can come in — tens of thousands of australians are still effectively locked out of their own country. shaimaa khalil reports from sydney. happy memories in a time of grief. christina's mum died just a month ago in sweden. do you remember when my mum was here? yeah. and twice she was refused permission to travel for the funeral. because of australia's strict covid—19 rules about who can come in and out, christina had to watch the service online. it's weird when you see it on small screen on a phone, and i guess the transition

of peace does not come. i felt a lot of guilt, i felt like i left my brother alone. but it's also the respect of being there as her daughter... you know, it's. .. it's a level of respect that i think she should have been given. we have been hearing many stories of separation, of missed weddings and funerals. of new mums and dads struggling without family support. ijust wanting to give their loved ones a hug. about a third of people living in australia were born overseas, so travelling freely is an integral part of their lives. but the pandemic has changed all of that. with no real prospects for the borders reopening anytime soon. anyone who arrives here must do two weeks in hotel quarantine, but there is limited space. this may have worked well for australia during the first year of the pandemic, but the delta strain is forcing the government to give up on it's zero covid strategy.

and there are now growing calls for more international travel. and for people to quarantine at home. anyone who is fully vaccinated is going to be no significant risk to australia. ijust don't understand the conservatism around this at the moment. denying thousands and thousands of people those connections when you look at the risk level itjust beggars belief. about 30% of adults in australia are fully vaccinated. nowhere near the 80% target the government set for more freedom of movement. many have decided not to wait. marissa and herfamily sold their house and are moving to the uk. we are leaving with a really heavy hearts. like, we have made a life year, we have a beautiful home. our daughter was born here, we really never thought we would leave. but we have not seen our families for 18 months now, and it is not at all clear where we are going to have that opportunity again. she needs to know her grandparents.

she literally thinks her grandparents live in the computer. even with sydney's outbreak, covid—19 cases and deaths remain very low compared to other countries. and despite the complaints, tight border policies are still largely popular. but even if australia has been a lucky place to be during the pandemic, that feeling of being locked in his taking a huge toll. it's grandma. in swedish it's grandma. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, sydney. such a difficult dilemma for governments to manage with such big repercussions on their people. the authorities in france have ordered that the french football club nice must close its south stand to supporters for the next four matches. the decision was taken after violence broke out during nice's home league match against marseille, which was abandoned after a brawl involving fans and players. joining me now is french

football expert adam white. to talk about the situation more. ijust want to talk about the situation more. i just want to start by asking you. such disturbing pictures — talk us through what happened. yeah, it was quite incredible. you are absolutely right. a big darby between these two teams always a sort of hotly contested fixture. after the game offensive and throwing bottles onto the pitch towards the players with corner taking on the penalty area and one of those bottles struck a player on the back and he went down. and then he angrily got up and returned the projectile into the crowd and then they threw another one. things kind of kicked out from there. in

response to him throwing the bottle back fans poured over the boardings onto the pitch and ms brawl and shoot directly back —— brawl ensued. i and ms brawl and shoot directly back -- brawl ensued.— back -- brawl ensued. i seen commentary _ back -- brawl ensued. i seen commentary blaming - back -- brawl ensued. i seen commentary blaming him - back -- brawl ensued. i seen commentary blaming him forj commentary blaming him for throwing the bottle back. did that make things worse? i think it absolutely escalated things. this happened a few weeks ago, very similar situation one of the one of their players was struck by a bottle and his face was cut. it's unfortunately not an uncommon instance from fan in france. but him acting angrily testily escalated things and incited fans. both parties are very much at fault but if he

does not for the bottle back i don't know that the right or the scene unfolds as it did. is this a sufficient punishment — will it be a cautionary tale warning against violence on the fields? no. i don't think it's anywhere near sufficient. as happens this is a relatively common occurrence. and fan violence has seeming to gotten worse in the period. the closure of the one stand that they inhabit is an intermediary and both clubs have been summoned by the authorities for disciplinary hearing. and more strict things likely be handed out. so not the end just yet.—

likely be handed out. so not the end just yet. the end 'ust yet. adam on that sto the end just yet. adam on that story about — the end just yet. adam on that story about violence. - thank you so much forjoining us. the paralympics begin on tuesday and not only is para—badminton making its debut at tokyo 2020, so is india's rising star palak kohli. growing up disabled, palak never knew such a thing as the paralympics existed, let alone that she would go on to compete for her country. nowjust 18 years old, palak is the only indian badminton player to be competing in three categories in tokyo. my name is palak kohli and i'm an international pa ra—badminton athlete. i have transformed my disability into a super ability. even if the world says that it's not possible, but you have to say, "it's possible and i will show that."

anybody who sees me for the very first time always asks me, "what has happened to your hand?" i used to say, "by birth." when i was a child, i didn't even know what the meaning of the word by birth, but i knew that i have to say this word. i never thought of taking any sports professionally. whenever i stepped into any kind of sport, everywhere i used to hear that it's not a cup of my tea. rising from nowhere and coming up into the top six, and qualifying for the paralympics, it's something that was a long struggle, i would say, as well.

there are opportunities in our way. we just need to be positive in order to grab those opportunities and that will take you to great heights. india's rising paralympic star, palak kohli. do check out the bbc sport website for all the latest on the paralympics in tokyo — the opening ceremony takes place of course later on tuesday. you'll find it all at bbc.com/sport — or download the bbc news app. striking video has been captured of lightning hitting the one world trade center in new york city this past weekend, as storm henri approached the north—east of the us. heavy rain caused by the storm has caused damage across several states. millions of people had been told to prepare for flooding, that image resonating across the entire city and the

remainder of the power of nature. that's it for newsday. thank you so much forjoining me. hello there. county tyrone in northern ireland was the warmest part of the uk on monday. and over the next few days, generally, it's going to be the western side of the uk that sees the highest temperatures and the best of the sunshine. the high—pressure is still in charge of our weather, so essentially it is fine and dry. coming in off the north sea, though, there is this cloud that's pushing towards northern england and eventually it will work towards parts of wales and it could produce a few spots of drizzle, some mistiness over the hills. mist and fog patches and scotland and northern ireland will lift, the sunshine comes out and south of our cloud will get some sunshine across more so than parts of england, as well. let's move northwards though into the northern aisles. cloudy skies here, certainly pegging back the temperatures. but elsewhere in scotland,

many places enjoying lots of sunshine. temperatures in the west getting up to 2a or 25 degrees. sunshine for northern ireland, higher temperatures in the west of the country, more cloud than for northern england and particularly as you head towards them north midlands, lincolnshire affecting mid and north wales. south of that, sunshine, stronger wind through the english channel affecting the south coast of england. many parts of the country and to stay with some sunshine, still some cloud in central areas, more cloud into the northeast as well. that is where we will see the weather front approaching as we head into wednesday. still got high pressure in charge, mind you. still some stronger winds as we head to wednesday across more southern parts of england and through the english channel. we still have this cloud in central areas drifting down perhaps across the midlands, wales, maybe even a little further south, allowing more sunshine in northern england, northern ireland, and in scotland away from the northeast. typical temperatures around about 21 degrees or so. but higher temperatures again across northern ireland, western scotland and this time in cumbria. maybe not quite as warm in yorkshire and headingley, but should be dry for day one of the third test. but more cloud and a cooler feel certainly, i think,

for day two on thursday. that is because we will have a strong wind coming off the north sea behind this weather front here, which is more a band of cloud than anything else that will stretch its way down towards wales and the southwest. that cloud tending to break up through the day. but with the stronger winds down to its eastern side of scotland and particularly eastern england, we will have more cloud feeding in here, much cooler on thursday, down to the north sea coast, up to 15 or 16 degrees. it's out to the west that we'll see the best of the temperatures and the best of the sunshine. this is bbc news. you will have the headlines and all the main news stories of the top of the hour as newsday continues

straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. months of conflict in northern ethiopia have cost thousands of lives and brought hunger and fear to millions. late last year, president abiy ahmed's government seemed confident of crushing tigrayan forces. that confidence was misplaced — the war has spread. both the addis government and the rebels stand accused of horrifying war crimes. my guest is ethiopia's attorney—general, gedion timothewos. is his government leading the country to disaster?

gedion timothewos in addis ababa, welcome to hardtalk. thanks for having me. it is a pleasure to have you, mr attorney—general. when we last spoke to each other, nearly nine months ago, you seemed very confident that your government was about to crush the forces of the tigray people's liberation front. are you now prepared to say that your government strategy has gone disastrously wrong? mr sackur, as i started back then we are in a position to retake mekele, and we're able to finalise the initial phase of the operation within a matter of three weeks. we took over mekele, we established an interim administration, we invested in rehabilitating tigray. and remember, it was a conflict that was forced upon us.