welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: president biden tells g7 leaders he's sticking to his afghan withdrawal deadline, claiming any delay will expose america to terrorist attacks. each day of operation brings added risk to our troops, but the completion by august 31 depends upon the taliban continuing to cooperate. in kabul, desperate scenes at the airport as the taliban say no more afghans will be allowed there.

we'll have the latest live from washington on the us withdrawal. also in the programme... ..the paralympic games open in tokyo with over 4000 athletes from 160 countries taking part. and tributes to the rolling stones drummer charlie watts, who's died at the age of 80. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. it's six in the morning in singapore, and 6pm in washington, where us presidentjoe biden has resisted pressure from g7 leaders to keep troops in afghanistan and continue evacuation efforts past the august 31 deadline. but mr biden says he's asked the pentagon for contingency plans

should staying longer be necessary. the taliban, though, for a second day running, has made it clear — the deadline stays. and in a news conference, their spokesman said that the americans would not be allowed to evacuate afghans. here's a little of what president biden had to say in the last hour. we are currently on a pace to finish by august the 31st. the sooners we can finish, the better. each day of operation brings added risk to our troops, but the completion depends upon the taliban continuing to operate and allowing access to the airport for those who are transporting out. we'll have more on that in a moment, but first, our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, reports from kabul and the situation at the airport. her report contains some distressing images.

"stay calm," orders this taliban guard. there's no calm here. not in a crowd too big to count, too big to control. but the days are numbered now before the us pulls its soldiers from this airfield, before their last evacuation flight lifts off. panic is rising. most afghans have waited here for days, including four—year—old twins usna and usnia. their father was a guard for the us military. they've got documents to prove it. "it's been such a bad experience," their mother says. "so bad — my children have been so scared." "we are meant to leave." you can feel the fear — it's notjust the kids. wahida faizi, an afghanjournalist, believes she's not safe under taliban rule. they know i'm a journalist.

if they know, i know they will kill me. one day you will come back to afghanistan? never... never. it's not my country. after this, it's not my country. gunshot. these are the last moments for afghans who feel not only are they leaving their country, they're losing it, leaving everything behind. this is a journey like no other. the most important journey they're probably going to make in their lives. and it's a journey so fraught with risk and fear. wahida faizi, in her red headscarf, keeps pushing forward. on this side, american soldiers glance at papers. british soldiers are standing guard — doing whatever they can to contain the chaos. translation: these americans are inexperienced. _

they asked the people to come in a very short time. they made this rush of people. this is the mismanagement of the americans, and nothing else. and at a taliban news conference today, an even starker message. translation: my message - to the americans is that they should evacuate all their citizens by the deadline of august 315t. they have the resources, they have the planes, they have the airport. they should evacuate all their forces and their contractors and those belonging to them. we will no longer allow them to evacuate afghans. in the heart of this city, behind another gate, another place of hardship and heartache — families displaced by fighting. they're on the move too. now that the taliban have taken control, they're boarding buses to take them back to kunduz in the north. this man was injured

there in a gunfight here. translation: yes, i want to go back home. we don't even have food here, and i haven't been able to get treatment for my arm. - a nation wounded by war, a people pushed from their homes. afghanistan's long conflict turns another corner. no—one's sure yet where it will lead. lyse doucet, bbc news, kabul. devastating scenes. i'm joined now by our washington correspondent, nomia iqbal. she has been keeping an eye on those remarks by president biden. very much sticking to that commitment, that august 31 deadline, saying there will be dangers to foreign troops, but also leaving the door open for troops to stay if they needed to. it's a very confusing picture.

needed to. it's a very confusing icture. , ., , ., needed to. it's a very confusing icture. , ., , picture. yes, it was a confusing message. _ picture. yes, it was a confusing message. but _ picture. yes, it was a confusing message. but i _ picture. yes, it was a confusing message, but i don't _ picture. yes, it was a confusing message, but i don't think - picture. yes, it was a confusing message, but i don't think the | message, but i don't think the president wants to make any set in stone statements because after all, he did infamously say last month that it was very unlikely that the taliban would take over afghanistan, and look where we are. but the brutal truth is joe and look where we are. but the brutal truth isjoe biden isn't really calling the shots here, and neither are any of the other 66 neither are any of the other g6 nations, orthe neither are any of the other g6 nations, or the eu or nato or you in, who all had this meeting. who are in control are the taliban. that is effectively what biden was saying, that they are talking to the taliban, and it's all depended on them allowing access to the airport. he knows that is a situation. if the taliban turns around and says if you guys aren't out, that there will be consequences. why would president biden take the risk of leaving

troops in, especially when he's made the point of saying that he wants all americans out but because he doesn't want any more debts? he was focused very much on the evacuation. i think that's a positive spin. you made the point of saying since august, the 12 they have evacuated more than 70,000 —— he made the point. and they will continue to do so. anyone who wants to get out, they will help. it looks like he feels very confident it would appear that they can complete the mission by august the 31st. they don't want to risk anything from the taliban, and i should mention something minced no mac mr biden mentioned. 0n the ground also is isis k —— something mr biden mentioned. a sworn enemy of the taliban, and i don't think americans want to get in

the situation. don't think americans want to get in the situation-— the situation. nomia, i was struck b a line the situation. nomia, i was struck by a line in _ the situation. nomia, i was struck by a line in his _ the situation. nomia, i was struck by a line in his remarks, - the situation. nomia, i was struck by a line in his remarks, indicatedj by a line in his remarks, indicated that us allies are standing shoulder to shoulder with him to meet these challenges. you just outlined that you faced in afghanistan, but they seem to be murmurs of dissent about the usefulness of nato and uk officials, questioning that relationship.— officials, questioning that relationship. officials, questioning that relationshi. . �* , ., , relationship. that's right. it was interesting _ relationship. that's right. it was interesting because _ relationship. that's right. it was interesting because he - relationship. that's right. it was interesting because he used - relationship. that's right. it was interesting because he used a l relationship. that's right. it was l interesting because he used a lot relationship. that's right. it was - interesting because he used a lot of phrases to emphasise that they were all close. he said shoulder to shoulder, but he also said solidarity, he said close. he used all these buzzwords because the truth is that a lot of his allies do feel blindsided by this decision, and it was a decision by president biden, the self—imposed deadline. not only on the evacuation mission, but to get out of afghanistan. he will want to be showing that

solidarity. what i also found interesting was that he talked a lot about working with the taliban, a lot of things were dependent on them, which i think is extraordinary for america. them, which i think is extraordinary for america-— for america. fascinating stuff. nomia iqbal— for america. fascinating stuff. nomia iqbal there _ for america. fascinating stuff. nomia iqbal there in - for america. fascinating stuff. . nomia iqbalthere in washington, nomia iqbal there in washington, thanks forjoining us. we'll have more on those evacuations from afghanistan later in the programme. but for more, just go to our website, where there is a live page updated with all the latest developments on those evacuations from afghanistan — as well as a breakdown on how many afghans are leaving and where they will go. let's take a look at some of the stories in the headlines in the uk. the uk has recorded 174 new deaths from coronavirus, the highest daily figure since march. it comes as weekly coronavirus—related deaths in the uk reach their highest level since the spring. police investigating the disappearance of

claudia lawrence in 2009 have begun a search of fishing lakes near her home in york. detectives said they were unable to explain why the location was of interest, saying the search was one of several active lines of inquiry. mcdonald's has run out of milkshakes and some bottled drinks at restaurants in england, scotland and wales. the fast—food chain said it was facing supply chain issues, and that it was "working hard" to limit the impact on deliveries. firms across a raft of sectors in the uk have been battling with a supply chain crisis blamed on a shortage of lorry drivers following post—brexit eu immigration rules, covid—19 restrictions and self—isolation rules. still to come a bit later in the programme... ..the paralympic games open in tokyo with over 4000 athletes taking part. some of the world's biggest pop and rock stars have been paying tribute to the rolling stones drummer charlie watts, who's died at the age of 80. the musician had been a member of the band since 1963. sir paul mccartney described

watts as a "fantastic drummer, steady as a rock", while sir eltonjohn called him "the ultimate drummer. " david sillito looks back at his life. crowd chants "charlie! charlie!" ijust play the drums for keith and mick. i don't play them for me. charlie watts — cool, calm and distinctly dapper, the steady back beat of the rolling stones. in a statement, the band said it was with immense sadness they were announcing the death of their beloved charlie watts. amongst the tributes, eltonjohn, ringo starr, paul mccartney. charlie was a rock and a fantastic drummer. he was though always a reluctant rock star. i can't play the drums at home, so i walk about, and to play the drums i have to go on the road and to go on the road i have to leave home. it's like a terribly vicious circle

— it's always been my life. a graphic designer by trade, he was not expecting his evening sideline with a little blues band called the rolling stones to make him famous. we'd like to play a bo diddley number... all right! i'm all right! but for fellow drummer, kennyjones from the small faces and the who, he was a crucial part of the stones' magic. charlie was a lovely, | smart, amazing guy. the reason he was such a great. drummer is because he had such a great feeling about himself and for others. _ the way he delivers the beat was absolutely spot on. - he is the heart and the soul of the rolling stones. - but his real passion was jazz and rather than drugs and groupies, he liked antique silver and classic cars — even though he didn't drive. but even the sensible stone had his moments. he knew he had a problem when the high priest of debauchery, keith richards, took him aside one day and gave him a talking to.

married for more than 50 years, he was happiest at home with his dogs and horses, but his place in music history is on stage keeping it together with the world's greatest rock and roll band. as expected, there's been lots of reaction to charlie watts' death. ringo starr, the beatles drummer tweeted a picture of him passing charlie a set of drumsticks, along with the message, "god bless charlie watts — we're going to miss you, man". canadian singer bryan adams described him as "one of the greatest rock drummers ever and a real gentleman", and passed his condolences to family and the band. eltonjohn posted a picture of himself with charlie. he wrote that it's a "very sad day", and that "charlie watts was the ultimate drummer and "the most stylish of men." and nile rodgers, guitarist and songwriter from the band chic, posted a him, tweeting "rest in power charlie watts."

if you want to get in touch with me, i'm on twitter — @bbckarishma. i'm looking forward to hearing from you. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: fireworks marks the official beginning of the paralympic games in tokyo, with the opening ceremony taking place in an almost empty stadium. 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 connection is an important milestone 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. big ben chimes this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our top story: president biden tells g7 leaders he's sticking to his afghan withdrawal deadline, saying any delay will expose america to terrorist attacks.

over the last week, we've seen chaotic and desperate scenes at kabul airport as people try to flee afghanistan. one of them was a young woman from nottingham, who was visiting relatives with her mother and two young siblings when the taliban took control. she's now back in the uk, and our correspondent navtej johal has been speaking to her. glad to see you again. lovely to see you. you look so handsome! thank you! the sound ofjoy and relief. rageeb has spent the past week worrying about his wife, adult daughter and two small children who have been trying desperately to leave afghanistan. they travelled there last month from their home in nottingham to visit sick elderly grandparents, and never expected to be caught up in the taliban takeover. these images were filmed by rageeb's 24—year—old daughter last week, as they tried to get through to the airport in kabul. rageeb, a taxi driver,

said he feared for their lives. now they've finally returned to the uk. how are you feeling today? i'm very happy, very happy. just so happy and glad. just obviously, they are so tired at the moment, just landing at the airport. i'm very overjoyed because i didn't even know that. in the morning, i felt so angry and annoyed, but then when i heard that, like, when i heard they were here, my emotions, like, immediately changed. his daughter spoke to me from inside the airport. watching the taliban on tv was, it was just like a horror movie for me. but seeing them face—to—face, it was something like — i can't describe it at all. it has been really, really tough. because everywhere you go, you see them. with their guns, and they're really,

really rude, there's no respect for women. much relieved to see my siblings here, really happy, oh, we are home, back, we're going to see dad. so, they're really happy. seeing them happy, mum happy, it's just everything for me. and i'm just waiting to see my dad and my brothers. the family who have returned from afghanistan will need to complete a ten—day hotel quarantine before they can be reunited with the rest of the family in nottingham. and although they are still worried about their relatives that remain in the country, this family are looking forward to putting the anxiety of the last few days behind them. navteonhal, bbc news, nottingham. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. sadly, not everyone has a happy ending. the us house of representatives has approved a $3.5 trillion budget plan, strictly along party lines.

the measure would pave the way for a vast expansion of social services and climate initiatives. lawmakers will take up that bill in late september. us vice president kamala harris has accused beijing of �*coercion and intimidation�* over its claims to large parts of the south china sea. the hotly disputed territory has long been a bone of contention in the region. harris has now arrived in vietnam for the next leg of her south east asian tour, but speaking in singapore, she reaffirmed us commitments to the area. these unlawful plans have been rejected by the 2016 tribunal decision. in beijing's actions continue to highlight the rules that threaten the sovereignty of the

nations. the united states stands without allies and partners in the face of these threats. former new york governor andrew cuomo has been stripped of his international emmy award. cuomo received both critical acclaim and public praise for his regular televised briefings during the height of new york's covid crisis last year. monday marked his last day in office, following allegations of sexual harassment by multiple women. he denies any intentional wrongdoing. the opening ceremony for the delayed paralympic games is wrapping in tokyo. 4,000 disabled athletes from more than 160 countries are taking part in two weeks of competition. as with the olympic games, stadiums will be largely empty, but tokyo's national stadium was still the focal point of the ceremony, which started with a firework display against the skyline of the city. dozens of dancers started the show, invoking the japanese tradition of puppetry. then came the athlete parade,

led by the six athletes of the refugee team. the flag of afghanistan was carried by a volunteer as a show of solidarity, as its athletes are unable to compete. 0ur correspondent rupert wingfield hayes has more from tokyo. you can see behind me here the national stadium. inside there at the moment, the opening ceremony for the paralympic games is well under way. you may also be able to see that there are a lot of police around me here in the streets. you may be able to hear them as well, using their megaphones to tell people to disperse. there are quite large numbers of people who've gathered here outside the stadium again tonight to watch the fireworks, to get a sense of the atmosphere as the paralympics opens. not nearly as many we saw a month ago for the opening of the olympics, when literally tens of thousands of people were out on the streets here. partly, that is because the situation for covid has changed

dramatically in the last few weeks. infection rates here in tokyo have risen sharply. we're now seeing 20—25,000 new infections a day injapan. there are more than 10,000 people in tokyo waiting for hospital beds with covid, and because of that, the authorities, the police you can see here behind me, are trying to disperse people to stop them people to stop them coming out and gathering in places that could cause the infection to spread more. so, many people have asked me how do the people of tokyo feel about the paralympics going ahead. is there enthusiasm? is there hostility? and i think the answer is emotions here are, again, very mixed. there isn't hostility towards the games itself, or to the athletes. people here are very welcoming to the people who come to compete, and they will watch the games on television with enthusiasm, as they did with the olympics. i think the hostility is mainly towards the international 0lympic towards the international olympic committee and the japanese

government for the very bad management they have made of the covid pandemic, the very slow roll—out of vaccines here and the fact this has been pushed ahead with despite the fact the pandemic has been getting worse and worse. and the other thing to say about the paralympics is it is a chance for disabled people to showcase their talents to the world and to show that they are basically fundamentally no different from anybody else. to that end, the japanese government was hoping to have tens of thousands of schoolchildren, and attend the events. that has had to be scaled back, and because of that, the impact of these games on the stigma surrounding disability injapan and in asia, unfortunately, may be reduced. rupert wingfield—hayes in tokyo. we'll have much more on the next few weeks on the paralympics. back to one of our main

stories this hour — charlie watts, the drummer with the rolling stones rock band for almost 60 years, has died. he was 80. his agent said he died in a london hospital with his family around him. acclaimed as one of the greatest drummers of his generation, charlie watts was already going to miss the stones' forthcoming tour of the united states. he said earlier this month that for once his timing was off, and he needed time to recuperate after an unspecified medical procedure. with mickjagger and guitarist keith richards, charlie watts was one of the rolling stones' longest surviving members. what a legend there. you have been watching newsday. just to remind you of our top story today, president biden has reiterated he is confident the evacuation mission from afghanistan can be completed by the deadline of august the 31st. he said the pace of flights had increased and all people with the necessary

papers should be able to leave, but he said completion of the mission in the next week did depend on continue will cooperation with the taliban. that's all we have time for on newsday. do stay with bbc news. we've got lots more to come. thanks for watching. we have cool cloud or air conditions in some parts of the country, particularly the midlands. that cloud is around in the same place. high pressure keeping it dry, but more cloud coming down across the north sea. that'll push further inland. the sunshine comes out in many areas. as the cloud comes in into eastern

england, towards parts of wales. we'll have more cloud across the northern isles, but also cloudier skies in the northeast of mainland scotland, perhaps even into the borders. elsewhere, the sun will be out and it will be warm — 26 degrees around glasgow. in northern ireland, 24 celsius. could make 24 in cumbria as well. cloudier weather for northeast england into east wales, but also east anglia. sometime more likely across the southern counties of england and the southeast —— though in the southeast, still chilly wind. a lot of cloud for the first day of the test match. it will be dry for day two on thursday, but it will feel quite a bit cooler. we saw the cloud in the north sea. it's on that weather front there. it's pushing inland during wednesday night, a little light rain or drizzle there, and by the time we

get to thursday morning, it's cloudy and damp across wales and the southwest. sunshine comes out across the west, but more cloud blown in by a strong wind off the north sea into eastern scotland for a while, but more across eastern part of england. here, temperatures may be at 60 degrees. it will be warmer further west, although not quite as warm as wednesday. with that weather front out of the way, we still have high pressure in charge. still a cool breeze coming in around some of those north sea coast, and we'll see cloud developing, particularly in land across england and wales. more in the way of �*s online —— sunshine, and the weather should brighten up a bit more across east anglia and the southeast. temperatures will be near 18-20 southeast. temperatures will be near 18—20 celsius at the end of the week.

this is bbc news, the headlines. president biden has said that there is an added risk to keeping us troops in afghanistan beyond august the 31st deadline. fellow g7 leaders that there is an increasing threat of terrorist acts from the local islamic state affiliate. the taliban says that he can no longer travel to kabul airport and encouraging others not to entice afghan nationals to emigrate saying that their professional expertise would be sorely needed charlie watts has died aged 80. one of the greatest tremors of his generation. ringo starr tweeted, we are going to miss you, man. a

nearly empty stadium in tokyo, over 4000 athletes are involved.