welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... donors pledge more than $1 billion to afghanistan amid a growing humanitarian crisis. but on the ground, evidence of taliban killings despite promises of restraint. us secretary of state antony blinken defends america's withdrawal from the country, saying staying longer would not have improved anything. if 20 years and hundreds of billions of dollars of support, equipment and training did not suffice, why would another year? another five, another ten? in a new bbc series exploring the impact of extreme heat, we ask why nigeria's oil industry is making the effects of climate change even worse.

and surfing china—style. we'll reveal why catching a wave there has never been so popular. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it's newsday. it's 7am in singapore, and 1am in geneva — where, at an emergency aid conference, more than $1 billion dollars has been pledged to help afghanistan. the country is facing a major humanitarian crisis, with the impact of fighting and drought made worse by instability following the taliban's takeover last month. the un secretary general, antonio guterres, said one in three afghans did not know where their next meal would come from. the people of afghanistan need a lifeline.

after decades of war, suffering and insecurity, they face perhaps their most perilous hour. now is the time for the international community to stand with them. and let us be clear, this conference is not simply about what we will give to the people of afghanistan. it is about what we owe. joining me is dr mohammad haqnal. he's the former head of afghanistan's public health system, now a lecturer at city, university of london after arriving to the uk in 2019. it would be the moment where we are going to be able to speak

to him shortly, i believe. but at this point in time, we can speak to him at this point in time, we can speakto him and at this point in time, we can speak to him and go straight to the doctor. he's there with us right now after those technical difficulties. great to have you on the programme, doctor. the devastating situation we are seeing now in afghanistan — what has the biggest contributor to this situation, and how much has the taliban cosmic presence on the made things worse? we cosmic presence on the made things worse?— things worse? we have to apologise _ things worse? we have to apologise for _ things worse? we have to apologise for the - things worse? we have to| apologise for the technical difficulties on that line, we will be sure to try and get back to the doctor as and when we can get back to that interview.— we can get back to that interview. �* u, ., ., interview. but we can now move on to other _ interview. but we can now move on to other stories. _ interview. but we can now move on to other stories. i _ interview. but we can now move on to other stories. i want - interview. but we can now move on to other stories. i want to - on to other stories. i want to

move on to this special report. as the taliban took control of the country they had promised no revenge attacks on their opponents. but the bbc has obtained and verified footage showing civilians being killed by their fighters. it's further verified that more than 20 people have been killed in panjshir province, where the taliban have been fighting opposition forces. a taliban spokesperson has denied any such killings are taking place but, based on our reporting, says they will investigate. some of the details in our correspondent yalda hakim's exclusive report are distressing. a reign of terror on the streets of kabul. the taliban bundle two men into the back of a car. the bbc has established this disappearance took place in the past few days, in an area of the capital where people are known for their opposition to the taliban. the panjshiri community is desperately searching for any information on the fate of their loved ones. the bbc has also confirmed that the taliban are committing human rights abuses

in the panjshir valley. it lies 100 miles north—east of kabul. a warning — you may find this video distressing. here, a man in military clothing is dragged away. it's unclear if he was in the army — this is common dress in the valley. voices are raised. seconds later, he's shot several times and killed. we're not showing those images. a bystander insists the man they have just killed was not in the military. the bbc has confirmed that more than 20 people have been killed since the taliban entered the province. one of them was a shopkeeper and father of two called abdul. he was accused by the taliban are selling sim cards to resistance fighters. locals had urged him to leave when the taliban arrived, but he said he was just a poor man who had nothing to do with war. a taliban spokesperson told

the bbc that civilians are not being targeted. translation: we'll i launch an investigation. i have no information about this case and the location it happened. however, if some military personnel or militia attacked our soldiers, ourfighters have the right to defend themselves. human rights watch says the taliban are breaching international law. we are documenting human rights violations across the country. and what seems to be happening in panjshir, as well as other places, are the summary executions and detentions, particular of former security forces. when the taliban entered the valley, they promised peace and stability. but these pictures show that people are not waiting to see if the taliban will keep their word. with telecommunications cut, its hard to get information out. but the international community is warning of the taliban that they are watching and that they will be held accountable for their actions.

yalda hakim, bbc news. joining me is dr mohammad haqnal. he's the former head of afghanistan's public health system, now a lecturer at city, university of london after arriving to the uk in 2019. great to have you on the programme finally, doctor. just to go through what the situation is in afghanistan, devastating scenes on the ground that we are hearing about now — what's the biggest contributor to this situation? how much has the taliban's presence made things worse? i think it's played a important role in this crisis. second was internally displaced people.

and then the suspension of foreign aid by the international community left the country, several international organisations that were involved in, educational services and others, they pulled their services. so these all played an important role in the current crisis.— an important role in the current crisis. how bad are thins, current crisis. how bad are things. if— current crisis. how bad are things. if you _ current crisis. how bad are things, if you could - current crisis. how bad are things, if you could give i current crisis. how bad arej things, if you could give us current crisis. how bad are l things, if you could give us a picture, of what life is like on the ground they are? and how bad, in your view, on the ground they are? and how bad, in yourview, might on the ground they are? and how bad, in your view, might they get? bad, in your view, might they aet? bad, in your view, might they iet? , ., bad, in your view, might they aet? , ., ., ., , get? let me give you an example ofthe get? let me give you an example of the health _ get? let me give you an example of the health signal— get? let me give you an example of the health signal - _ get? let me give you an example of the health signal - 3596 - get? let me give you an example of the health signal - 3596 of - of the health signal — 35% of our health budget has been abandoned on foreign aid. 75% of the health budget was suspended by foreign aid, the same also with other signals. so it civil servants are losing theirjobs, the system has not

been working properly, and also we've been separated from the prices in the ground. so again, the hospitals funded by foreign aid, clinics and the community of funded by foreign aid — so all these play an important role and create a humanitarian crisis, and i hope the international community, what they have announced today, i hope they will start immediately the implementations of those projects based on the commitments of the united nations in geneva. mi commitments of the united nations in geneva.- commitments of the united nations in geneva. all this is happening — nations in geneva. all this is happening against _ nations in geneva. all this is happening against the - nations in geneva. all this is i happening against the backdrop of covid. how much is this exacerbating the situation? well, because it's not only one thing. there's also another area where public health

professionals left the country. so this also created a kind of empty space in terms of the capacity on the ground. set as i mentioned, it's very difficult to describe the situation. today i was discussing... and also they are not sure what will happen, whether they will be receiving salaries in the future because most of the economics that employed them, their salary was dependent on foreign aid, and now they are not sure what will happen, and what changes the taliban will allow within the system, how many will be removed from the system. so this is chaos, it's difficult, people are completely stressed. doctor, thanks so much for

joining us on newsday. in the us, secretary of state antony blinken has been defending the biden administration's withdrawal from afghanistan. speaking to the house foreign affairs committee from the state department, mr blinken said the decision to leave was a tough one, but necessary. upon taking office, president biden immediately faced the choice between ending the war or escalating it. had he not followed through on his predecessor's commitment, attacks on our forces and our allies would've resumed, and the taliban's nationwide assault on afghanistan's major cities would have commenced. that would've required sending substantially more us forces into afghanistan to defend themselves and prevent a taliban takeover. here's our state department correspondent barbara plett usher with the latest from washington. well, democrats accepted that.

some allowed that the operation could've been handled better, others ask questions about the chaotic evacuation and those left behind. but they also criticised president trump and argued that it was an issue of a 20—year failure of war, notjust the failure of one administration. republicans by and large rejected it — one of them did say that both the biden and the trump administrations were responsible, but by and large, republicans used this as an opportunity to really have a go at mr blinken, saying this had been a "surrender" to the taliban, this was a disaster of great proportions, and this had been a betrayal of those people in afghanistan who had worked with the united states and had been left behind.

and there's much more on our website about afghanistan, with news and analysis from our correspondents around the world — including a story that you might have seen on social media — afghan women who have started an online campaign to protest against the taliban's strict dress code for female students. using hashtags like "do not touch my clothes" and "afghanistan culture", many are sharing pictures of their colourful traditional dresses. lots more on our site, so be sure to head to bbc.com.news or download the bbc news app. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines... israel's prime minister, naftali bennett, has described his talks in egypt with president abdel fattah al—sisi as very good and important. speaking after the first official visit to egypt by an israeli leader for a decade, mr bennett talked of a "deep connection" between the two countries. the egyptians said ways to revive the israeli—palestinian peace process were discussed. campaigners say more than 220 people were murdered last year while trying to protect their environment or land. global witness, which compiled the figure, said it was a new record for the second year in a row. latin america was the region with most killings while colombia was the worst affected

country with 65 deaths. a fake news release supposedly from walmart led to a spike in the cryptocurrency litecoin — and then a tumble in the share price. the statement, published by a newswire service, claimed that the us retailer would accept the crypto currency. walmart said the announcement was "inauthentic". at a court in new york right now, a pre—trial hearing, is under way in the civil case filed by a woman who claims prince andrew sexually assaulted her when she was 17. last week, lawyers for virginia giuffre claimed they had successfully served prince andrew with legal papers. prince andrew has always denied the allegations, and says he has no recollection of meeting ms giuffre. here's neda tawfik in new york, who is following the developments for us. it's a phone conference. and actually, what the judge has said so far is that he has received the letter

from the defence — sorry, from virginia giuffre's lawyers outlining why they feel prince andrew has been properly served. but he has asked lawyer david boies if he is going to request the court to intervene — so the court to get in touch with the relevant authorities in the uk on behalf of virginia giuffre to serve those papers. he was saying, "would that make sense," rather than waiting for the motions to go through where he will have to decide if, in fact, based on what prince andrew's legal team are saying, that the papers weren't actually served with due process, that they could get the ball rolling with having the court intervening with uk authorities. but the hearing is still under way, it will be for a bit longer, and we haven't heard yet from prince andrew's lawyer who has been chosen specifically for this hearing by the duke of york to argue

that this court has no jurisdiction, and again, on this issue of whether the court papers were served. if you want to get in touch with me, i'm on twitter at @bbckarishma. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: glamour, flamboyant costumes — and new york's a—listers, can mean only one thing — the return of the fashion world's met gala. 30 hours after the earthquake that devastated mexico city, rescue teams still have no idea just how many people have died. well, there's people alive, and there's people not alive. we're just helping and giving them whatever we've got. a state funeral has been held for princess grace of monacol

at the church where she married prince rainier 26 years ago. - it looked as though they had come to fight a war, but their mission is to bring peace to east timor — and nowhere on earth needs it more badly. the government's case is being forcibly presented by the justice minister. —— forcefully. he's campaigned vigorously for abolition, having once witnessed one of his clients being executed. elizabeth seton spent much of her time at this grotto — and every year, hundreds of pilgrimages are made here. now that she's become a saint, it's expected that this area will be inundated with tourists. the mayor and local businessmen regard the anticipated boom as yet another blessing of saint elizabeth. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. 0uh headlines... the united nations says more than $1 billion of aid have been promised for afghanistan — funding it says is needed to avoid

a humanitarian catastrophe. the bbc has obtained and verified footage which shows civilians being killed by taliban fighters in afg hanistan's panchir valley. i want to bring you this story now. bbc analysis of global climate data has found that the number of extremely hot days, when temperatures reach 50 celsius has more than doubled in the past a0 years. the bbc is launching a series called life at 50 c, exploring the impact of extreme heat — starting in nigeria, where climate change has destroyed much of the fertile land. the country's oil production has added to the problem, as millions have been forced to live near toxic gas flares. peter 0kwoche reports. this is my mum. she's going to the city fire. under the scorching sun, and in front of an open gas flare in nigeria's oil—rich south, joy risks her life to support her family.

temperatures here reach boiling levels. but, despite the risks, joy uses the heat to speed up drying time for her tapioca sweet puddings. translation: the reason i have short hair is because, _ if i grow my hair long, it could burn my head if the flare shifts direction and explodes. the use of fossil fuels worldwide has had a devastating impact on nigeria's climate. the country suffers from severe droughts in the north, and flash floods in the south. when i was a kid, the rain was not like this, the weather is not like this. so i think that life isn't about to end. but nigeria is also a major producer of oil, with a particular admission problem. this is the flare of the gas that the inhabitants - of this land are suffering, with the abject poverty. l flaring is the process of burning the natural gas that is released when oil is extracted from the ground. the process is a large source

of greenhouse gases, and a major contributor to climate change in nigeria. it is also illegal in the country. yet about two million nigerians live within four km of a gas flare — including joy and her children. these are my children. forjoy, working around the gas flare is one way of making ends meet. translation: it'sj bad for our health. but we say, to hell with the consequences. we need to support ourfamilies. joy and her children have been working extra hard for four days straight. they are processing the tapioca to help herfamily pay for the funeral of her mother. when i came here, i had no work, nojob. i saw the women working this tapioca. then i asked them, could you let me? although they need the money,

joy's family still wants the gas flares to stop. translation: in my view, | the government should lead efforts to end gas flaring in the oil industry and hopefully that will significantly reduce the heat wave and associated health hazards. nigeria's economic development is highly dependent on oil revenue. yet the industry's making it one of africa's largest emitters of greenhouse gases. and, until the government fulfils its promise to end gas flaring by 2030, the country's landscape and the lives and livelihoods of millions likejoy remain at risk. peter 0kwoche, bbc news. pope francis has told jewish leaders in slovakia of his shame at the murder of more than 100,000 slovakian dues during the second world war. 0n the first full day of his visit, he lit a candle at the holocaust memorial

in bratislava, and condemned what he called the frenzy of hatred of that time, as well as present day anti—semitism. it is the first papal visit to slovakia since 2003. for a year—and—a—half now, the coronavirus has caused massive disruption, chaos, pain and suffering across the globe. as we've been reporting for you every single day. however, in coming to live with it, there have also been some unexpected positive effects, with people rediscovering the joy of travelling in their own countries. in china, this has led to an explosion in — wait for it — surfing! china correspondent stephen mcdonell reports from hainan island.

people have been surfing on hainan for years, but it was pretty niche. now, there's been this big influx of people coming to the island to learn a new sport, and who to thank for all this? the coronavirus. because of the pandemic, overseas holidays are impossible for most here, leading to a boom in domestic tourism. new businesses have been popping up along the coast to accommodate the subsequent surfing craze.

cece was on china's national women's surfing team. she and a few friends now run the school with six coaches. this is one of many. in other parts of the world, people who've become really good at surfing now live next to the coast and go out most days. it's the only way to really build up your skill level. the coaches here are telling us that despite that, they're getting students coming back throughout the year time and again to have another crack at it. in china, like elsewhere, the coronavirus hammered tourism, but with this country's huge population on the move again, the industry has had a major rebound. in fact, right now on hainan island, tourism revenues

are actually better than before the virus struck. of course, the big question with a coronavirus—fuelled surfing scene is what happens when we go back to something along the lines of normal and people can travel again? will it kill the scene or will it survive? stephen mcdonell, bbc news, hainan island. what i would give to be on that beach right now. another place i want to be? i'll tell you. a—listers are descending on new york's metropolitan museum of art for the return of one of the bigest events in fashion — the met gala. the glamerous event reknowned for spectacular and flamboyant costumes was cancelled last year due to the pandemic. this year's theme is "in america", giving guests a chance to showcase the best of the usa. the gala is smaller than usual, with manadatory vaccination and mask wearing.

procceeds from the annual event go to funding the museum's fashion institute. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello there. this upcoming week is looking pretty changeable. we've started off with a bit of sunshine around and some warmth. today, though, it looks decidedly wet for parts of england and wales in particular. then midweek, a ridge of high pressure will settle things down, we should see some good spells of sunshine before more rain arrives for friday and a new low pressure moves in off the atlantic. now we've got a complicated area of weather fronts moving northwards across the country — this first one bringing light and patchier rain across parts of scotland and northern england, but it's this batch of rain across parts of central, southern, and eastern england which will be quite heavy with the risk of some

localised flooding in places, maybe some rumbles of thunder as it continues to journey its way north eastwards. but i think we should start to see skies brightening up in northern ireland, wales, southwest, but the sunshine comes out and could set off a few heavy showers. but disappointing temperatures where we have the cloud and the rain, otherwise highs of around 19—20 celsius in the warmest spots. that rain eventually clears away into the north sea. could see a few showers, though, clinging back across eastern england, and we'll see this very weak weather front push into the northwest of scotland to bring some patchy rain. but elsewhere, mainly dry, temperatures just into single figures under clear skies. 0therwise, relatively mild again where we hold onto the cloud. so, for wednesday and indeed, for thursday here, we have this ridge of high pressure building in, which is going to settle things down. there could be quite a bit of mist and fog, low cloud to start the mornings, but into the afternoons, i think there'll be plenty of sunshine around. i think wednesday looks like being the mistiest, murkiest to start to the day. still a few showers across eastern england thanks to that area of low pressure, and a chance of some showers pushing to western scotland and northern ireland. otherwise for most, it should be dry where we get the sunshine breaking through, highs of around 20—21 degrees. otherwise, the high teens for most.

thursday, again, a bit of early mist and fog, and then it promises to be a largely dry day — i think thursday looking like being the driest and sunniest day of the week. but we'll start to see wind increasing with outbreaks of rain across the far northwest of the country later on. top temperatures, though, 22—23 celsius. more change, though, for friday. a new area of low pressure sweeps in off the atlantic. it'll bring a band of rain, some of it heavy, into western areas. it'll tend to weaken as it pushes eastwards, and behind it, we'll see sunshine and showers following. those temperatures a little bit lower on friday than thursday because there'll be more of the breeze, more cloud and outbreaks of rain.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories at the top of the hour as newsday continues straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. it barely merits international headlines these days, but america's guantanamo bay prison is still operational. a0 inmates are left. most have been held for nearly two decades without being charged or tried. for 1a years, my guest today, mohamedou 0uld slahi, was held there, having been

identified as a high—value al-qaeda terrorist.