welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines. minutes to blast off — this is the scene at cape canaveral in florida — ahead of the first space mission crewed entirely by amateur astronauts. the us, britain and australia agree a closer military allianace — president biden makes it clear the focus will be on boosting their influence in the indo—pacific. the future of each of our nations, and indeed, the world, depends on a free and open indo—pacific enduring and flourishing in the decades ahead. america's most decorated gymnast, simone biles, breaks down as she talks about the abuse she and her

colleagues suffered at the hands of their team doctor. to be clear, i blame larry nassar, and i also blame... ..an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse. and — the bbc reports from one of afghanistan's biggest cities — on how taliban rule is having a profound effect on everyday life. it's 8 in the morning in singapore, 8 in the evening in washington, 1 am in london, and 8 in the evening in cape canaveral — where the space—x inspiration—four mission is about to take off.

four amateur astronauts are being launched into orbit on board of a falcon 9 rocket. it's the first mission to space with no professional astronauts in the crew. the trip has been paid for by us billionaire businessmanjared isaacman, who will travel with three crewmates. the four crew members will be sent into an orbit of about 575 kilometres up — that's above the current orbit of the international space station. they're due to spend three days circling the earth — and have said they hope to inspire others with their adventure.

this is a historic moment for those on board. just to give you some background on the two men and two women on the inspiration for mission, they are amateurs, as we have been telling you. but we will start to listen in on that historic countdown. they are getting ready. six, five, four, three, two, one, ready. six, five, four, three, two. one.— two, one, ignition. it is left off! look— two, one, ignition. it is left off! look at _ two, one, ignition. it is left off! look at that. _ two, one, ignition. it is left off! look at that. blasting i two, one, ignition. it is left. off! look at that. blasting off into orbit- — off! look at that. blasting off into orbit. a _ off! look at that. blasting off into orbit. a historic- off! look at that. blasting off into orbit. a historic moment for amateur delude by astronauts on board. t

for amateur delude by astronauts on board. t plus 30 seconds- _ astronauts on board. t plus 30 seconds- a _ astronauts on board. t plus 30 seconds. a historic _ astronauts on board. t plus 30 seconds. a historic mission - seconds. a historic mission line the inspiration for crew. bottling down in preparation for the period of maximum dynamic pressure.- for the period of maximum dynamic pressure. you can see them inside — dynamic pressure. you can see them inside now _ dynamic pressure. you can see them inside now in _ dynamic pressure. you can see them inside now in those - them inside now in those pictures. the rocket taking off into the atmosphere. the words first civilian mission to orbit. the idea behind this launch, we understand, is to promote the virtues of tourism. we have been seeing a lot of that recently. remember the

first suborbital flight by sir richard branson and we have had another big billionaire with his rocket but certainly a moment to remember. that amateur flight moment to remember. that amateurflight for those amateur flight for those astronauts and we will be following that story for you very closely on bbc news. i want to bring you another story, now. i want to bring you anotherstory, now. let's turn to washington now, where four female american gymnasts have been giving heart—breaking testimony about how a trusted doctor was able to abuse them — despite the alarm being raised. they were some of the sport's biggest names — and all were victims of larry nasser — team usa's gymnastics doctor. the director of the fbi told the same senate committee there was no excuse for the way his organisation had failed to act. nomia iqbal reports. the world witnessed her mental struggles at the tokyo olympics.

today, simone biles spoke about exactly what had impacted her. i don't want another young gymnast, olympic athlete, or any individual to experience the horror that i and hundreds of others have endured. the most successful gymnast of all time, she recalled the abuse she suffered at the hands of herformer coach. to be clear, i blame larry nassar, and i also blame... ..an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse. simone biles and three of herformer team—mates appeared in front of the senatejudiciary committee to testify about the abuse they suffered at the hands of nassar. he's serving a life sentence in jail for sexually abusing hundreds of girls. an investigation into how the fbi handled the case has already catalogued failures and lies told by agents — none of whom have been prosecuted. mckayla maroney was one of the first to report abuse in july of 2015.

i answered all of their questions honestly and clearly, and i disclosed all of my molestations i had endured by nassar to them in extreme detail. she said she felt, even when she had finally spoken out, her concerns were being dismissed. i began crying at the memory over the phone, and there was just dead silence. i was so shocked at the agent's silence and disregard for my trauma after that minute of silence, he asked, "is that all?" it would be more than a year before the fbi investigated the allegations, allowing nassar to continue his contact with children. today, the fbi director, who took the top agency job after the case was reported, said sorry. and i'm especially sorry that there were people i at the fbi who had their own chance to stop this monsterl back in 2015 and failed.

and that is inexcusable, - it never should've happened, and we're doing everything. in our power to make sure it never happens again. a report by the department of justice found two fbi officials lied during interviews to cover up their errors. the fbi says one of those officials was fired last week. this hearing is the first public questioning of the case, but also one of the last opportunities for the athletes to get justice. they have called on the committee to ensure those who mishandled the case will be held accountable. nomia iqbal, bbc news, washington. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. the international criminal court has authorised an investigation into the philippine president, rodrigo duterte, for possible crimes against humanity. the court said there's evidence that his �*war on drugs' was a systematic attack on the civilian population. the un security council is expected to hold an emergency session to discuss missile tests which have been carried out by both

north and south korea. the north koreans have warned that relations with the south could be �*completely destroyed' by the illogical acts of the government in seoul. the uk high court has agreed to to assist a team of lawyers from new york, who are trying to serve prince andrew with legal, on behalf of a woman who is suing him over allegations of sexual assault, allegations he denies. the case brought by virginia guiffre had its first pre—trial hearing in new york this week, at which prince andrew's lawyers argued that he hadn't been properly served with papers. the us, the uk and australia have announced a landmark security pact. it will see more shared intelligence, pooling of some resources, and new deals on providing military hardware. but — hovering in the background — seems to be the growing military power of china.

more on that in just a moment — but first, here's how us presidentjoe biden and uk prime minister borisjohnson characterised the new pact sot we all recognise the imperative of ensuring peace and stability in the indo—pacific over the long—term. we need to be able to address both the current strategic environment in the region and how it may evolve. because the future of each of our nations, and indeed the world, depends on a free and open indo—pacific enduring and flourishing in the decades ahead. we will have a new opportunity to reinforce britain's place at the leading edge of science, strengthening our national expertise, and perhaps most significantly, the uk, australia, and the us will be joined even more closely together. president biden has made it very clear that the focus of this strategic partnership is definitely china. here's our north america correspondent david willis

he sees it quite simply as a fight between democracy and autocracy. if fight between democracy and autocracy-_ autocracy. if you like, almost between _ autocracy. if you like, almost between a — autocracy. if you like, almost between a good _ autocracy. if you like, almost between a good and - autocracy. if you like, almost between a good and an - autocracy. if you like, almost between a good and an evil l autocracy. if you like, almost i between a good and an evil and his concerns, as far as the us are concerned, regarding china, are concerned, regarding china, are of course over those competing claims over the south china sea. china is increasing disregard, it seems, for human rights in hong kong and so on plus of course the ongoing cyber warfare between china and the united states. crucial to all of this as far as the united states is concerned as preserving those crucial trade routes in the indo pacific. they bring oil from the middle east and raw materials from africa hence, speaking in the last hour, the president talked

of a new phase of security operation connecting america's existing alliances in new ways. this agreement, he said, was designed to bring peace and stability to the indo pacific in the long term. stability to the indo pacific in the long term. it's just over a month since the taliban swept to power in afghanistan. they entered kabul on the 15th of august — turning history on its head. the taliban are still transitioning from an �*insurgent force' to a government. they face a mounting economic crisis and scepticism over their commitment to human rights. today we take a snapshot of life under the taliban outside the capital, in the north of the country. secunder kermani and cameraman malik mu—dassir have sent this report from mazari sharif. crossing into the islamic emirate, a cargo train

from uzbekistan. this is now passport control. the taliban even have their own stamps. an hour's drive away, the city of mazar—i—sharif. on the surface, life appears to be continuing as normal, though many are suffering, with a shortage of cash in banks. this was the blue mosque, the city's cultural heart, shortly before the taliban takeover last month. now the group have allocated separate visiting times for men and women. some are still coming, but there seem significantly fewer than before. my host here is a leading local taliban figure. your critics would say you are killing off the cultural life in this country. and why do you need

to change the culture? what's wrong about the culture that was already here? everyone was muslim... we literallyjust came out of the blue mosque and saw a crowd gathered in the city centre. we made our way to the middle of it and there are four dead bodies laid out here. one of them has a note on top of it saying, "these men were kidnappers — anyone who wants to do the same, this is going to be their punishment." all around me, there is a huge crowd of people trying to push their way forward to have a look at the site. a group of young children were rescued by the taliban from the kidnappers. many praise the group for tackling violent crime that had plagued major cities.

but many others here don't feel safe. private universities like this one have reopened. female and male students are separated by a curtain, as per new taliban rules. but with money tight in the future unclear, only a handful are turning up. how does it feel, studying but not knowing whether you will be able to work or not in the future? the last time the taliban were in power, they imposed even more restrictions. but however they may have

evolved since then, afghan cities have changed much more. the taliban control the country, but still need to win hearts and minds. secunder kermani, bbc news, mazar—i—sharif. 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: could the photo—sharing app instagram have a harmful effect on teenagers? we have a report on the latest research. 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 forcefully presented by the justice minister. 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. (oov)the first space mission crewed entirely by amateur astronauts has blasted off from cape canaveral the leaders of the us, britain, and australia have agreed a military pact to boost their influence in the indo—pacific, where china has expanded its military presence. to japan now, where 51% of its population has been fully vaccinated, according to government figures released this week. the nation made a slow start but has overtaken the united states in the proportion of those who have had at least one jab. so how has japan done it? i asked this to tokyo—based journalist william pesek. (sot i asked this to tokyo—based journalist william pesek. two months ago i really was looking at airfares. i was considering flying back home to new york city to get vaccinated

so i finally got fully vaccinated at the end ofjuly. it is quite a turnaround. i think, in many ways, there was a lot of bad press before the olympics injapan internalise olympics in japan internalise that olympics injapan internalise that bad press and got its act together on vaccinations and pulled offjoe biden, if you will, in very short order. and now we are actually above 52%, approaching 53%, which is pretty incredible given where we were just two months ago. yes. we were 'ust two months ago. yes. , ., , we were 'ust two months ago. yes. , . , , we were 'ust two months ago. yes. , ., , ., ~ we were 'ust two months ago. yes. , , yes. this has been taking place auainst yes. this has been taking place a . ainst a yes. this has been taking place against a fair _ yes. this has been taking place against a fair amount _ yes. this has been taking place against a fair amount of- against a fair amount of political turmoil injapan. we political turmoil in japan. we have political turmoil injapan. we have seen the prime minister, for instance, decide that he no longer is going to be prime minister. he is out of the political picture. he didn't stand to gain the most from the recent vaccine success in the upcoming leadership race? itrefoil upcoming leadership race? well one politician _ upcoming leadership race? well one politician until _ upcoming leadership race? -ii one politician until recently was the vaccines are, if you will. he is the person gets

most credit for getting japan up most credit for getting japan up to speed, if you will, so he will be the most likely successor to the prime minister. and in many ways the success with the vaccination process will give him a bit of a tailwind, if you will. there are five or six candidates that have thrown their hat into the ring but he, by far, has the highest poll numbers and visibility. he has basically the momentum at the moment and the momentum at the moment and the selection is his to lose. later this month you have the ruling party will have its election next month in october and we are expected to have a general election with the party is likely to win and he could indeed be the next prime minister. indeed be the next prime minister. shamima begum, who left the uk as a teenager tojoin the islamic state group in syria, has begged to be allowed to return to the uk — insisting she could help

in the fight against terror. the 22 —year—old — who has been living in a syrian refugee camp for the past two years since her british citizenship was revoked — claimed she had been "groomed" to flee to syria as a "dumb" and impressionable child. our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford, has more. this was shamima begum in february 2019, as she emerged from the collapse of the islamic state group's brutal rule in syria. she told bbc news that weekend that she could see justification for the manchester arena bombing, as retaliation for the deaths of children in is territory. this is shamima begum in her latest bbc interview, her hair uncovered and asking for forgiveness for joining islamic state. isis ruined people's lives. isis ruined my life, my family's life, and i will have to live with that. i mean, when you think back to being part of a group that

did commit genocide, that did murder, that did carry out attacks around the world, how does that feel? it makes me sick to my stomach, really. it makes me... it makes me hate myself. shamima begum had left home in east london, aged 15, with two school friends. they travelled through turkey to syria and married islamic state fighters. at the time, is were beheading hostages and throwing gay men from high buildings. she was stripped of her uk citizenship because of intelligence about what she'd done during her time with is. the decision to take away shamima begum's british citizenship was made by sajid javid when he was in charge here at the home office. today, he said of the intelligence that he saw at the time, "if you knew what i knew, you would've made exactly the same decision." shamima! shamima begum is still in a camp in kurdish—held territory. her three young children by an is fighter all died of malnutrition and disease as islamic state's so—called caliphate collapsed.

now she is offering to help prevent other girls being groomed by extremists, despite herself being regarded as a threat to national security. i could advise people who are in counterterrorism the tactics that groups like isis use to persuade people to come here and ways to speak to people who may be potentially radicalised and ways to speak to them to persuade them not to go and to not be radical. presenting the image of a modern british woman, she wants to win her citizenship back, but the current home secretary is still vigorously opposing that in the courts. daniel sandford, bbc news, at the home office. the photo sharing app — instagram could be having a harmful effect on many teenagers — particularly girls — according to internal research carried out by facebook — the company that owns it. an investigation by the wall streetjournal found that

facebook had conducted in—depth studies showing the dangers of the photo—sharing app — while playing down the issue in public. angus crawford reports a girl with so much to live for, bright and talented. molly russell took her own life in 2017. she was just 1a. after her death, on her instagram account, herfamily found a stream of dark, depressing content and, in part, blame it for her death. now, the wall streetjournal has published internal facebook research labelled "a teen mental health deep dive". itfound... it admitted... and... i don't know, i was sick to the pit of my stomach. it was dreadful... molly's father ian is appalled. if they know more about it

and they're not doing something about it, then they're culpable in a really dreadful way, because this potentially could cost lives. no—one at facebook hq in london was available to talk about instagram, which it also owns, but it did release a blog. the company said it stood by the research, even though it claimed that the wall streetjournal had focused on a "limited set of findings". it also claimed that "wider research on the effects of social media on people's well—being" was "mixed". and finally, it claimed that it was doing extensive work to make instagram "a safe and supportive place". instagram sells itself as a place for fun, friendship, but the company's known for years, for some young people, it's a much, much darker place. angus crawford, bbc news.

that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello. autumn is now gently, slowly but surely, creeping in across the northern hemisphere. our days are getting shorter, but there is still some warmth in the september sunshine. and certainly, it was a good—looking day across a large swathe of the uk on wednesday, although scotland and northern ireland did get lumbered with more in the way of cloud and some outbreaks of rain. we should see more sunshine here, though, in the next few days. another sign, though, that autumn is upon us is the presence of some early

morning mist and fog. the reason it'll be drier for scotland on thursday is high pressure starting to extend up here. it's also the reason, though, that i think we will see some early mist and fog under the ridge where we've had light winds overnight. the sun, however, should burn that back pretty quickly, and then a lot of fine weather and sunshine to come through on thursday. we lose any early showers in the northeast of scotland, temperatures 21—22 celsius. through the afternoon, though, more cloud starting to show its hand into northern ireland — that's the forerunner of this weather front that will push into the west of the uk for friday daytime. we move through thursday evening into the small hours of friday, and we get the rain into northern ireland. it's quite patchy across western scotland, it stays dry across england and wales. a mild enough night, temperatures in double figures — up to 15 celsius in belfast, where we get quite a strong southerly wind as this weather front pushes in. it will move its way into the west of the uk, but then it kind of grinds

to a halt, actually, for friday. so, because it does that, that means the rain willjust keep on coming for the likes of northern ireland, possibly for the southwest of scotland. later on in the day, some downpours for the southwest of england and for wales. but it's northern ireland stuck under the cloud and with the rain on friday. quite breezy here, as well, quite gusty winds at times. big contrast between east and west — just mid—teens, the temperatures in the west under the rain. we could still see maybe 22—23 celsius in the sunshine further east. our front will gradually make its way eastwards across the uk through the weekend. for scotland and northern ireland, i think it'll bring some patchy cloud. but for england and wales, it does bring the threat of perhaps some quite punchy showers, longer, more persistent outbreaks of rain at times. certainly saturday looks like it could be quite wet across england and wales. the showers should thin out somewhat for sunday.

we will have the headlines and all the main news stories at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. back in control.

after nearly 20 years of conflict, thousands of lives lost and trillions of dollars spent, the taliban has seen off the us, nato and their afghan allies. a stunning success for them and another superpower humbled in the streets and fields of afghanistan. but to understand these events and the origins of the taliban, we need to go back to the cold war.