welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: the taliban flag is raised in the one part of afghanistan that has remained outside its control. the resistance says it will fight on. relatives of the 298 people killed when malaysian flight mh—17 was shot down over eastern ukraine seven years ago give harrowing testimony to a court in the netherlands. waiting for the chance to eat — concern grows that millions could go hungry, as myanmar edges towards civil war. and countdown to completion — it's one of the biggest restoration projects of a british landmark building. four years on, big ben has

finally got its hands back. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. it's 7am in the morning in singapore and 3:30am in the morning in afghanistan, where the taliban say they're now in full control of the country after seizing the panjshir valley, the last area of armed resistance. the taliban have released a video of their flag being raised in the centre of the provincial capital. but the leader of the resistance fighters has called for a national uprising against the taliban. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet has the latest. a white flag of victory, the taliban flag. the centre of the scenic panjshir valley.

this last redoubt of armed opposition, now claimed by the taliban. "god is great," their fighters cry. in kabul today, the taliban spokesman had a message for the enemy. translation: we have captured panjshir, with the will of god. - we are telling those people who still want to fight, if they want a normal life, they are welcome in afghanistan, their home. but they need to stop fuelling instability. a defiant reply on social media. 32—year—old commander ahmad massoud vows to continue the resistance. he says his men are still in panjshir valley and urges afghans to rise up. the taliban are getting on with the business of being in charge. this, the first visit by the un's humanitarian chief martin griffiths. he also stopped by here

earlier today, a tented camp in a kabul park. thousands displaced by fighting in northern provinces when the taliban advanced towards kabul. displacement, drought, hunger. afghanistan was confronting a major humanitarian crisis even before the taliban took power. now, the needs of this nation pose an urgent test for the international community and the taliban. shafiqa tells me she lost her husband in this war. now she worries the taliban won't let her work to support four children. "what should we eat, what should we do?" at kabul airport, before he left, mr griffiths told us he stressed the rights of women in his talks here. the international community needs to know that there is a genuine will on the part of the authorities to adhere to these principles, to understand them and to learn about them over time.

i've heard good words here, but none of us believe only in the value of words. many now wait to see what the taliban will do. aid agencies, allies, most of all, afghans. the first step — forming a government to start moving forward. lyse doucet, bbc news, kabul. earlier, i spoke to nathan sales, who served as the former coordinator for counter—terrorism at the us state department. he gave me his assessment of the situation. i think we're seeing what is very much a fog of war situation, where it's very difficult for us to figure out exactly what the circumstances are on the ground. i think going forward, we understand that massoud has indicated a willingness to stop fighting and tojoin a government led by the taliban as long as it is representative

of all of afghanistan and inclusive. i have to say, though, i am not terribly optimistic that the taliban would be willing to share power with those who favour democracy and human rights and women's rights in particular. my fear is that the taliban sees themselves as poised to achieve victory militarily, and in those circumstances, it doesn't seem to me that they will have much interest in negotiating away what they think that they can acquire via brute force. so, nathan, with the picture that you've just painted, what prospects are there for people who are living in panjshir and if, eventually, they do come under taliban rule? well, i think the resistance in panjshir and elsewhere in afghanistan is very important for the afghan people, but it is also important for western countries as well. these partners of ours are committed to human rights and rule of law, they are resisting

the taliban's attempt to destroy the constitutional government of afghanistan. and make no mistake, the odds are certainly stacked against them, but it is important, i think, for the united states and for the international community to provide them whatever support they need, starting with diplomatic support. the west should not be rushing to recognise the taliban at a time when the taliban is going door—to—door and conducting reprisals, at a time when they are saying to women in afghanistan, "stay in your houses because our fighters have not been trained how to respect women." that's one way to put it! yeah, on that issue of western intervention, we understand that the us secretary of state, antony blinken, is in qatar for crisis talks. what are you expecting from these talks? well, the face that the taliban shows in doha is very different than the face that the taliban shows in afghanistan itself. we've seen over the past

two years, and even longer, that the taliban spokespersons in doha say what western audiences want to hear, but then those promises, those commitments, they never actually get around to implementing them on the ground. so if past pattern is any prediction of the future, i would not expect much in terms of deliverable promises from the taliban in doha. that was nathan sales with the scowcroft initiative of the atlantic council. don't forget, you can get more on the situation in afghanistan from our website, where there is a live page that will keep you up to date with events. meanwhile, in other headlines, the families of those killed by the downing of mh—17 have been giving evidence for the first time at the murder trial

in ther netherlands. four suspects, three russians and one ukranian, are accused of shooting down the plane over "rebel—held" eastern ukraine in 2014, killing all 298 people on board. all four are suspected of being key pro—russian separatists, and none are attending the trial. anna holligan sent this report. the bereaved families want the world to know their scars may have healed but the wounds remain. ria van der steen was the first relative to speak in the courtroom. her father and stepmother were among those killed. she described her recurring nightmare in which she is walking through what should have been beautiful fields of sunflowers, but they are full of wreckage and bodies. she smells fire and death and calls out, "dad, where are you?" her father is eventually identified by two tiny fragments of bone.

when we found each other, he wasjust smiling. he said, "oh, you are here." but it wasn't a nice meeting because i had to tell him that i was looking for him because he had died. because he was in the plane. to date, this trial has been dominated by discussions about the weapon, a surface to air missile, used to shoot the passengerjet out of the sky and the four fugitive suspects. earlier this year, the court visited the wreckage recovered from the crash site. over the next three weeks, families from eight nations will testify here. they come from canada, united states, uk, germany, indonesia, malaysia, australia and, of course, the netherlands. this time has been allocated to ensure the enormity, the gravity of their personal loss is reflected in these criminal proceedings.

along with the anger and frustration, among the families�* remaining fears that they will not get justice and those behind the attacks will never take responsibility. a verdict is expected next year. anna holligan, bbc news, at schiphol airport. meanwhile, aid agencies are warning that millions are facing hunger in myanmar, with the country edging towards civil war after the military seized control in february. the world food programme say the number of people needing help to feed themselves could double this year. faced with such uncertainty, many communities are relying on volunteers. ko ko aung has this report. a symbol of desperation. these flags are popping up across myanmar, households asking for help. a white flag is a request for food, yellow signals a shortage of medicine. it's another sign of myanmar�*s

collapsing economy. many people here have little to cook with, simple food with some rice. the impact of the military coup, coupled with a massive wave of covid infections, has left many families struggling. translation: donors came to us yesterday. | they gave us four kilos of rice and a crate of eggs, enough for us for two days or so. after that, i don't know how we'll get food. i can't sleep at night. it's local communities that are providing much—needed hand—outs, private donors stepping help since the government is doing little to provide support. most international aid agencies haven't been operating in myanmar since the military coup earlier this year. translation: donors

like us are not rich. i they are ordinary people like you and me who are willing to give away half of what they have. i'll donate $3 if i have $6, for example. it's just people helping people. in yangon, the business capital, long queues of people waiting hours to buy food at deep discounts. many of them are young and out of work. translation: because there are no jobs, people cannot. afford rentals and so on. young people are reluctant to get donations for free. for those who have stood for hours, their bellies may be filled today, but without greater support from the authorities and the outside world, they and families will continue to suffer. ko ko aung, bbc news. a court in minsk has jailed two of belarus's most

prominent opposition leaders, maria kolesnikova and maxim znak, with respective sentences of ii and ten years. the pair, who deny the charges of extremism and plotting to overthrow the government, led mass protests last year against president alexander lukashenko. our moscow correspondent sarah rainsford sent this report. this was a political trial held behind closed doors, with no evidence ever made public — even the defence lawyers are barred from revealing details — so the guilty verdict was no surprise. maria kolesnikova and maxim znak were central figures in the massive wave of overwhelmingly peaceful protests against alexander lukashenko that swept belarus last year. their team say they're being punished for wanting to change the country for the better. all the opposition leaders are either in exile now or in prison, and the protesters have been scared off the streets. some were outside court in minsk today, though, to show their solidarity. inside, in a cage, maria kolesnikova smiled and made heart shapes

with cuffed hands. last year, the authorities tried to deport her from belarus, but she ripped up her passport and leapt from the car. she has said she doesn't regret that act of defiance and that she won't serve the full 11 years of her sentence, because she still believes that political change will come to her country despite everything. that was our correspondent sarah rainsford there. 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: with eight weeks to go until the next crucial climate summit, we look at the challenges on the agenda. freedom itself was attacked this morning and freedom will be defended. the united states will

hunt down and punish those responsible. bishop tutu now becomes spiritual leader of 100,000 anglicans here, of the blacks in soweto township as well as the whites in their rich suburbs. we say to you today, in a loud and a clear voice, enough of blood and tears. enough! the difficult decision we reached together was one that required great and exceptional courage. i it's an exodus of up to 60,000 people, caused by the uneven pace of political change in eastern europe. iam free!

this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our main story: the taliban say they've seized panjshir province, consolidating their control of the whole of afghanistan. wa nt to want to bring you this story now. unicef has warned one in two children in afghanistan are at risk of severe malnutrition following the taliban takeover. the children's rights charity is continuing to work on the ground to help people at risk from drought, rising food prices and scarcity as well as the upheaval of decades of war. i'm joined now by eliane luthi poirier, who is part i'm joined now by eliane luthi, who is part of the team coordinating the relief effort in afghanistan. great to have you on the programme. talkers of the first instance, the main challenges your sink for children in afghanistan now. i your sink for children in afghanistan now.- your sink for children in afghanistan now. i can say is the needs —

afghanistan now. i can say is the needs of _ afghanistan now. i can say is the needs of the _ afghanistan now. i can say is the needs of the children - afghanistan now. i can say is the needs of the children in l the needs of the children in afghanistan have really never been greater. 10 million children in need a few minutes aryan assistance, high food insecurity —— in need of humanitarian assistance. crisis levels of food insecurity, and this is not something only links to the current situation, this is a country that has struggled with drought, facing water scarcity, there was a poor harvest, so very much a situation where families are struggling to feed their children and the other day our team was in the hospital in kabul and i team was in the hospital in kabuland i can team was in the hospital in kabul and i can tell you that the malnutrition ward there was filled with babies, toddlers suffering from severe acute malnutrition, and some of them are so weakened that they could not even really make eye contact with our team, so it is a dire situation. we are on the ground, we are providing nutrition services, assuring that babies... we have places

for displaced children we also trucking waters and places most affected by the drought. that sounds like _ affected by the drought. that sounds like a _ affected by the drought. that sounds like a desperate situation. what are some of the most urgent priorities in terms of getting help to the children that needed the most? figs of getting help to the children that needed the most? $5 i of getting help to the children that needed the most? as i said malnutrition _ that needed the most? as i said malnutrition is _ that needed the most? as i said malnutrition is a _ that needed the most? as i said malnutrition is a huge _ that needed the most? as i said malnutrition is a huge priority i malnutrition is a huge priority for us. we are expecting i million children this year alone to suffer severe malnutrition in afghanistan for sub that is a life—threatening condition. as we said, we are on the ground, we have supplies, it has been actually difficult to be bringing in some of our life—saving supplies, we have 84 containers of human aryan assistance just waiting to reach children in need, including therapeutic cereals —— humaritarian assistance. it has been extremely difficult to me moving and supplies. we have pre—position supplies and some of the key areas of the

country. malnutrition in the big issue. there is a large levels of displaced children, and some of these children have seen things that no child should see, true atrocities, so there's a very big need for psychosocial support as well, that's why those spaces are there, so children can access workers and be with other children, but the mental health needs are truly great as well. eliane luthi, part of unicef�*s coordinating relief effort in afghanistan, thank you for joining us on newsday. thank ou for joining us on newsday. thank you for having _ joining us on newsday. thank you for having me. _ the uk government minister responsible for the next round of global climate talks has been meeting officials in china. alok sharma said he was there to discuss how to make sure the november summit in glasgow is successful — and with just eight weeks to go, the pressure is on. 0ur science editor david shukman looks at the environmental challenges ahead for world leaders. year after year, the countries

of the world have gathered for huge conferences on climate change. i've seen how a few have gone badly wrong, like in copenhagen in 2009. delegates walked out amid confusion and a lack of progress. well, the first challenge is to get rapid cuts in emissions of the gases heating the planet, something that hasn't happened so far. back in the early �*90s, when climate negotiations started, about 35 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases were being emitted into the atmosphere every year. and since then, despite all the talking, those emissions have just kept climbing. now, with all the plans and promises to cut them, they could fall to about 46 billion tonnes a year by 2030. but the science is incredibly clear that they need to come down far more than that

if we're to have any chance of heading off the worst effects of higher temperatures, which is why this is such a crucial issue for the talks in glasgow. next, there's the highly sensitive question of financial help for the poorest countries. delivering this is long overdue. it's developing nations like the philippines that are hardest hit by the violent weather made more frequent and intense by climate change. more than a decade ago, they were promised $100 billion a year — vital, they say, to help them adapt to more dangerous conditions. we want to see adaptation finance flowing to climate—vulnerable nations that bear the brunt of extreme weather events from climate change but have no recent deposit. a third major challenge for glasgow is finalising the rules for measuring and trading carbon.

previous meetings failed to reach agreement. this matters because as countries cut their emissions, there needs to be a way of accounting for that. likewise, if forests are left intact and the trees keep storing carbon, that has to be recorded so the carbon credits can be traded. it's vital to sort this out. right now, for example, if a major company wanted to, say, invest in preserving standing forest in the amazon, there's not yet any clarity on whether those credits that would be generated from that can be claimed by brazil as well as by the company making that investment. so as glasgow prepares for thousands of delegates, there's a lot at stake. makes it all more difficult, and there are just eight covid covid makes it all more difficult, and there are just eight weeks to get ready. david shukman, bbc news. i wonder how many of you will be able to answer the next

question. what colour are the hands on the clock face of big ben, surely the world's most famous timepiece? the answer isn't what you might think. after a $100 million restoration project, the hands have been returned to their original colour — as tim muffett reports — right on time. countdown to completion. one of the biggest restoration jobs ever undertaken on a landmark british building is approaching the finish line. good to see you, ian. and you. what is it you're doing here? we're servicing the rollers. this is one of the bits that we couldn't actually get to and service while the minute hands were on. if you're a clock mechanic, this is like the champions league and the world cup rolled into one, i'd imagine, this project. working on this clock will be a once—in—a—lifetime opportunity. to actually have taken it all to pieces, putting it back together again, and then carry on looking after it for a few more years, that's just going to be fantastic. one of the most striking things you notice is the colour of the clock faces.

for many years, the minute demarcations, the numbers and the clock hands, were painted black. but during the refurbishment, as many layers of paint were stripped away, it became clear that they were originally this shade of blue — it's called prussian blue — and that is what they've been repainted in. this restoration project was originally budgeted at £29 million. the total bill is now set to exceed 80 million. as you pulled off the layers of this building, you find more and more that needs to be done. when we're taking out one piece of stone, adjacent stones often needed to be replaced. it's one of those things — until you can get up close to it, it's very difficult to see the scope of the repair. chiming with the clock mechanism out of action, a computerised system has meant that on special occasions, big ben has still been struck. we're standing in the belfry of the elizabeth tower, - and it was specially _ constructed so that the chiming bells for the four quarters could be heard _

right across london. there's one piece of damage here that's been deliberately left alone. this crack appeared when big ben was struck during a test in 1858 — the hammer was too heavy, but it gives the bell its unique tone. this is london. chiming it should be e, the note e, but it does give it - a slightly flat sound. a very serious sound, in fact. so that's one bit of repairing you didn't want to do? that's right, yes. no change to the bell whatsoever, becausej it's become the familiar, the familiar note. - chiming a much—loved building, largely hidden for the past few years, slowly revealing itself once more. tim muffett, bbc news. did you get the answer right? send me your thoughts. that's it from moss on newsday. to stay with us on bbc news. i'm

karishma vaswani. well, the warm southerly winds have arrived and a dose of summer heat is on the way. but it's not going to last for very long. yes, a very warm and sunny tuesday on the way, but from wednesday onwards, late on wednesday, we could have thunderstorms in the southwest of the uk brought by this area of low pressure. but for the time being, high pressure over us, and notjust over the uk but much of europe. and here's that warm air coming in from the south, spreading across the uk. so the early hours look pretty quiet across much of the country. there will be some mist and fog forming, maybe northern wales, merseyside, lancashire. and mild, if not quite warm, 15, 16, 17 degrees around dawn. and the temperatures will quickly skyrocket

as we go through the morning and into the afternoon. now, it's going to be sunshine pretty much all around, although across some far northwestern parts of the country, it could be a little hazy and cloudy. and much cooler in stornoway, 18 degrees, but the mid—20s for the lowlands of scotland, 27 for yorkshire, 30 possible in the midlands. and if we do get 30, which we are very likely to get 30, it will be the hottest day since the 23rd ofjuly, after a relatively cool august, because the temperatures never really got that high during august — a little unusual. so this is what it looks like on wednesday, the weather map. you can see a low pressure approaching us, weather fronts here too. these are showers and thunderstorms reaching southwestern parts of england and also wales, some showers getting into northern ireland too, but the rest of the country is still basking in that summer sunshine — temperatures just shy of 30 degrees, i think, on wednesday. i mean, they could reach 30 once again, but look at that, plymouth there, cornwall and devon, only around 19 degrees.

and then wednesday night into thursday, those showers spread across the country. there could be some showers and thunderstorms almost anywhere, really. and on thursday itself, you can see it's much fresher across the uk. some of that warmth is still left around lincolnshire and east anglia, but the vast majority of us are back into the low 20s. so here's the summary and the outlook. you can see that weather going downhill as we go through the second half of the week. and the weekend? the weather's set fair. modest temperatures, around the low 20s. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, as newsday continues — straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. and today i'm on the shores of italy's lake como at the ambrosetti forum — an annual opportunity for politicians on both sides of the atlantic to gather and talk geopolitics. and this year there is one dominant issue — the us led pull—out from afghanistan. now that it's done, how does america see itself

and its global role?