welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines. a white house report says little more could have been done to prevent the taliban takeover of afghanistan, but evacuations should have started earlier. president biden�*s choice was stark — either withdraw all our forces or resume fighting with the taliban. he chose the former. the french president urges his chinese counterpart to help stop the war in ukraine and "bring russia to its senses". london's metropolitan police diverts dozens of its serious crime officers to investigate their own colleagues as it tries to expel hundreds of corrupt officers. and buckingham palace says it's co—operating

with an independent study into the british monarchy�*s links to the slave trade. 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 the white house is releasing —— seven in the morning and 7pm. a report which says little more could have been done to prevent the taliban takeover of afghanistan. the review, commissioned by president biden, does admit the us should have begun evacuating kabul earlier. a spokesman blamed the chaotic us withdrawal in august 2021 on a deal donald trump did with the taliban. transitions matter, that's the first lesson learned here, and the incoming administration wasn't afforded much of one. thus, president biden's choice was stark —

either withdraw all our forces or resume fighting with the taliban. he chose the former. that's the picture from the white house. i spoke to a foreign policy fellow earlier in washington, who explained the significance of this announcement. the timin: of this announcement. the timing of _ of this announcement. the timing of the _ of this announcement. tue: timing of the announcement of this announcement. tte: timing of the announcement and the content of it is significant because president biden and his team are essentially defending what is seen as one of the major foreign policy failures in his administration, and this comes as congress has increased scrutiny of the afghanistan withdrawal because the republican house is now investigating it. given the

fact that the 2024 elections are now looming on the riser and —— horizon. 50 are now looming on the riser and -- horizon.— are now looming on the riser and -- horizon. so the white house is _ and -- horizon. so the white house is blaming _ and -- horizon. so the white house is blaming the - and -- horizon. so the white house is blaming the chaos l and -- horizon. so the white | house is blaming the chaos on a deal that the former president donald trump has made with the taliban a year earlier. how fair is that in your assessment, given the research you've done in this area? the trum you've done in this area? he trump administration you've done in this area? tte: trump administration is certainly to blame partly for how things unfolded in afghanistan, and in part particularfor afghanistan, and in part particular for the afghanistan, and in part particularfor the doha deal, which felt more like a surrender rather than a deal on equal footing. surrender rather than a deal on equalfooting. it did not bring the afghan government into the equation, and it essentially gave the taliban everything they wanted for very little in return. but it's disingenuous to suggest that only the trump administration is to blame for how things unfolded the summer of 2021, and that august 2021 in particular, with those scenes of the evacuation. in

particular, i would say one, president biden and his team had a little bit of agency in the months leading up to the withdrawal. they announced and unconditional withdrawal, but the ideal less than play some grey areas which could have been exploited to perhaps negotiate with the taliban a conditional withdrawal between the taliban and the afghan government. 0nce president biden announced the unconditional withdrawal in april 2021, that basically meant the taliban ran out the clock on the peace deal, and instead, sifted to a military table. that's the second element the lighted administration did not predict, the quick fall of the afghan army, the quick military

takeover of the taliban in the fall of the afghan government, which led to the scenes we saw in august 2021.— which led to the scenes we saw in august 2021. that was mafiha afzal there. _ in august 2021. that was mafiha afzal there, foreign _ in august 2021. that was mafiha afzal there, foreign policy - afzal there, foreign policy fellow at the brookings institution. the rebel publica ns the rebel publicans have been demanding to see this report for weeks —— the republicans. a summary of its conclusions put together by the white house national security council with input from president biden himself has been made available to the public. what's more on the bbc website on this story, including a link to the summary of those conclusions, so do had their if you're looking for more analysis. next i want to move on. in the last few minutes, the israeli army has confirmed it's carrying out strikes in gaza. explosions have been heard over the territory. it comes after after more than 30 rockets were fired from lebanon into northern israel — the highest number since 2006. most of them were intercepted. the israeli armed forces

claimed that palestinian militants were responsible. 0ur correspondent lucy williamson reports. explosion. israel's air defences streaking towards the lebanese border to prevent an attack. their target, dozens of rockets fired by palestinian militants, israel says. that boom — the sound of a missile intercepted. six rockets slipped through, landing in towns like shlomi. this bank closed today for the passover holiday, badly damaged by shrapnel. i hearthe siren, i hear the boom, i was in my home. it was very, very scary. 20 miles away, another community hit. translation: we heard booms and sirens. - a rocket hit the roof of a car as it was passing by my house, but the rocket didn't explode. when i went after the car,

i saw someone was injured. israel says the palestinian militant group hamas carried out the attack and that iran was probably involved. the country's top security chiefs are meeting tonight to discuss a response. washington was quick to offer its support. our commitment to israel's ironclad and we recognise l israel's legitimate right to defend itself against| all forms of aggression. anger has been building in the region after israeli police entered the al—aqsa mosque injerusalem on the past two nights and clashed with palestinians inside. the holy month of ramadan overlaps with the jewish holiday of passover this week, making any incident more sensitive. what happens here at the al—aqsa compound can quickly reverberate across the region, but tensions between israel and its regional enemies have been building for months. tonight, people here and in lebanon will be watching

for israel's response. this old city a symbol and a spark for many old conflicts that stretch much further afield. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. let's turn to china now. because that's where the french president, emmanuel macron, has been over the last few days. beijing laid out the red carpet for the french leader, but while president macron may have appreciated the pomp and ceremony, his mission was clear — he wants chinese leader xijinping to urge russia to stop the war in ukraine. translation: the russian - aggression in ukraine has ended decades of peace in europe. i know i can count on you to bring russia to its senses and everyone to the negotiating table. but we need to find a lasting peace. that is to say, a peace that respects internationally recognised borders and avoids any form of escalation.

that sounds pretty confident. i spoke to sophia gascon earlier. she's the head of head of foreign policy at the think—tank policy exchange. i think there is some wishful thinking. macron is certainly a leader who likes to practice diplomacy by dialogue. i think it was interesting that he brought ursula von der leyen, the eu commission president, along with him there, trying to sort of paper over some of the divides that there are within europe about the way in which they should be engaging with china on this. i think certainly there are some that feel that china should and could play a role in a resolution here. in a resolution here,

maybe that president xi is the only one that putin will listen to. i think others are feeling more cautious and certainly sceptical about the prospects for any kind of resolution here. how successful do you think the visit has been so far? you talked about the fact that ursula von der leyen is there. there's also a big delegation from the business community there as well, underlining the fact that this is as much a trade visit as it is a political one. how do you think it's been going? well, i think certainly there was no expectation, that this would tie everything up neatly with the bow. up neatly with a bow, but i think certainly, there has to be some disappointment that, in the public statements issued thus far, we haven't seen any sign from president xi that he's really moving towards wanting to intervene or more publicly shifting china's rather ambiguous position on ukraine. of course, it has claimed that it is neutral in this,

but i think certainly, nobody geopolitically really believes that to be the case. i think certainly, there were some hopes that there could have been a softening of language or a coming—together. we haven't seen that yet. what's interesting, you note there the presence of the business delegation, this is all part and parcel of, i think, the motivation on both sides to meet. certainly, the chinese are interested in continuing to engage with europe as a market and perhaps being able to even just carve out a distinct approach to dealing with europe than they are with the united states. for its part, the eu recognises its value there to china and is hoping that it can leverage its market status as a way of gaining some diplomatic ground. that was sophia gaston speaking to me earlier. let's take a look at some of the stories in the headlines around the world. the republican—controlled house of representatives in the us state of tennessee has begun

the process of expelling up to three democratic members who took part in a gun control protest in the chamber last week. in the protest, hundreds of demonstrators marched to the state capitol days after a school shooting in nashville, which left six people dead, including three children. there've been clashes between police and protestors in paris during demonstrations against reforms to the pension system. people came out on the streets in cities across france. one group set fire to the famous la rotonde cafe in the capital, while others smashed the windows of two banks. this was the 11th day of protest against the pension changes. to the uk now, where the depth of alarm about the state of the metropolitan police — the biggest force in the uk — has been highlighted by the measures now being taken by the commissioner, sir mark rowley. he's moved dozens of officers from their work tackling organised crime and terrorism

to focus instead on identifying colleagues who are unfit to be in the force. helena wilkinson reports. liz, who's waived her anonymity, was groomed and sexually abused by a serving metropolitan police officer when she was a teenager in the 1990s. he was a good police officer, in many respects. yet by putting that uniform on, by having that warrant card, it enabled him to carry out these acts thinking he was untouchable. where would i go to if i can't go to the police? he is the police. her abuser, anthony smith, was jailed last august for raping and sexually assaulting three young girls. it's officers like smith and david carrick, another met police officer, who raped and sexually assaulted 12 women over nearly two decades, whose cases have exposed

failings within the force. injanuary, after carrick�*s case, the met commissioner promised to root out rogue officers. dozens of serious crime and terrorism officers have now been moved from their roles to help investigate wrongdoing in the force. sir mark rowley expects this may lead to hundreds of officers having to leave the force over the next two or three years. one of the things that encourages me about the future is, we were oversubscribed with volunteers in the organisation who wanted to help. the tens of thousands in the majority are as angry, and frustrated and embarrassed about this as many of your callers will be and they want to help sort it out. taking questions from londoners, the commissioner also renewed his calls for more powers. there are independent legal tribunals who can decide

that we have to keep somebody, even though we want to sack them. and that's one of the powers i have asked to be changed from the home secretary, and she is doing a review that will be published at the end of this month. but i think if you expect me to sort out the cultural issues in the met and get rid of people, then give me the powers to do it. there's no doubt the scale of the work needed to be done to get rid of rogue officers is huge. there's also an urgency to get the work done, but it will take time, as will restoring public confidence and trust in the police force. within 18 months, we might start to see the number- of complaints and concerns i levelling off and the number of police officers being sacked from the metropolitan police i beginning to reduce and diminish. - liz says she believes the met is now moving in the right direction. i do think that if the public can see that people are being sacked, or they are held to account for what they've done, we can move that forward.

but it's a huge task to undertake, but the public need to see that that's being done. the met commissioner says the public should judge them on the actions it's taking and is confident about reforming the force. helena wilkinson, bbc news. much more on the bbc website on that story. around the world and across the uk — this is bbc news. he may be 100, butjohn�*s memory is as bright as his medals. 0bviously, getting to 100 is pretty good in my line of business. people don't last that long. john was responsible for targeting a bomb in calais, which hitler planned to use for a huge attack on london.

it wasjustjohn's skills that his 22,000 lb bomb landed pretty much about five metres from the edge of the bunker. william and john both live at the royal air force's association retirement complex, where william organise a birthday fly—past, a symbolic tribute to the man believed to be the last surviving wartime aircrew member of the dambusters squad. you're live with bbc news. to north korea now, where, if you'll recall, borders were shut in 2020 in response to the pandemic, which made entry into the country virtually impossible. security measures have since been increased, and punishment for those trying to cross to south korea have become even more frightening. the number of those arriving safely in south korea dropped to just 67 people last year. 0ur seoul correspondent, jean mackenzie, has spoken

to a woman called song—mi — one of the few who've managed to escape. there are days song—mi still doesn't believe she's living with her mother. what she has endured to be here made it seem like this day would never come. song—mi was four years old when her mother tried to escape north korea, with her strapped to her chest. her mother was caught, and sent to prison. when she was released, she decided to escape again — this time, alone. song—mi was left with her grandparents, but shortly after, they died, leaving song—mi to fend for herself. translation: i made a living by foraging - for herbs in the mountains and selling them. i was just trying to survive for the day without starving to death.

it would take years before song—mi's mother was able to arrange her daughter's own treacherous escape, across the river to china. translation: before you cross the river, i you're supposed to be scared. the river is deep and the current is strong. we could have died. but the thought of getting to my mother felt like i was throwing away a heavy burden and flying away. after 14 years apart, the pair have reunited in south korea. but song—mi has never asked her mother why she left — until now. translation: l was nine - when you came back from prison. why did you escape then? translation: i'd wanted to bring you with me - at first, but the broker said no children. if we got caught, both of us would have suffered again,

so i asked your grandparents to watch you for a year. but much more time has passed. translation: i see. translation: i knew the morning she left. | i rememberjust lying in bed, crying. what would you like to say to your daughter? what would you like her to know? translation: i want to say that i didn't abandon you. _ i made a choice to leave first, to give you a better life. this choice might seem unthinkable, but these are the lengths people must go to to escape north korea, and it's only getting tougher. jean mackenzie, bbc news, in seoul. time to take a look at some other stories making

headlines in the uk. a man has beenjailed for a minimum of 20 years for killing his pregnant wife by pushing her a 50—foot cliff edge at arthur's seat in edinburgh. 31—year—old fawziyahjaved died when kashif anwar pushed herfrom the rocky outcrop while on holiday in september 2021. he initially claimed he'd slipped and accidentally bumped into her. hundreds of people living with inherited breast or prostate cancer could now benefit from a targeted therapy on the nhs in england and wales. some 800 people will be eligible for the treatment which involves the drug olaparib, which is designed to treat specific cancers linked to faulty versions of genes. an mp has been suspended by the conservative party after a newspaper published a video of him offering to lobby for a fake firm. scott benton was filmed by undercover reporters appearing to explain how companies and mps can avoid registering corporate hospitality. commons rules mean mps must

disclose hospitality worth £300 — or about $370 — or more. buckingham palace says it will cooperate with an independent study into the links between the british monarchy and the slave trade in the 17th and 18th centuries. the research is being carried out by the university of manchester with historic royal palaces. the palace said king charles takes the issues "profoundly seriously" and the royal household will grant access to its archives, with the study due to be completed in 2026. arley gill is chairman of grenada's national reparations commission. he explained what action he wanted from the palace. the king and the prince of wales, being profoundly sorry full —— sorry full dome

we would want and demand that that profound sorrow be converted into an apology for acceptance that what they have done is a crime against humanity and they should make some repair with regards to the harm that was caused by the actions and the involvement in the slave trade and slavery. so, we're hoping that this research will trigger the discussion of reparative justice in the castle of the british monarchy and indeed, in the parliament of the british government in the soonest possible time. i asked our royal correspondent, sarah campbell, how significant this is. what we know so far is that it's historic royal palaces, which is effectively a charity which looks after royal palaces, has become a partner in this research project which is being carried out by a researcher at the university of manchester. and the details we know about the project itself are that she, camilla de koning, is exploring, among other things, the links

between the british monarchy and the transatlantic slave trade during the 17th and 18th centuries. and the royal household is supporting this research, and they're doing that by opening up access to the royal connection and the royal archives. we know that this study was started in october 2022, so that was just a month after king charles succeeded the throne, and it's due to be completed by september 2026. now, as any follower of the english premier league knows, football at the top level is a pretty ruthless business. but it can also make for some pretty extraordinary turnarounds. chelsea have just appointed frank lampard as the temporary head coach, which is amazing given he was fired by the same club in january 2021 and by his subsequent employer everton, earlier this year. no wonder the man himself looks delighted. i didn't think i'd never be in the seat.

i'm a confident person, i want to work hard. i understand the game. and this club, obviously, i had a big connection with. if i'm honest, it wasn't my thought one day i would be back here as chelsea manager because myjob is to be as good a manager i can be. unfinished business sounds a bit hollywood, it's like you're looking for a great line. i want to work and i want to help this club as much as i can. before we go, i want to show you some footage which is going viral online of a surprise animal appearance during ramadan prayers in algeria. a live broadcast captured the moment a confident cat leapt onto an imam, who was in the middle of leading an evening prayer. the catjumped onto his chest and eventually scrambled up onto his shoulders, where it proceeded to make itself comfortable. in spite of the distraction, the imam kept his composure and carried on before the cat eventually lost interest, jumped down and sauntered off. that brings us to

the end of newsday. thanks so much for watching and do stay with bbc news. hello there. the weather for the easter weekend is looking pretty decent for many of us. a lot of places will stay dry and there'll be plenty of sunshine around, too. the temperatures creeping up, particularly easter sunday looks to be a warm one across southern areas. however, it's all changed by the time we head into the bank holiday, easter monday. it turns more unsettled thanks to this area of low pressure. but high pressure dominates the scene, as you can see, for good friday. it starts off chilly, though, with some frost around, early mist and fog, which will clear quite quickly. as the temperatures rise into the afternoon, could see some fairweather cloud bubbling up — that could spark off the odd shower across southeast england. a bit of cloud just rolling in off the north sea for northeast england, eastern scotland, and along north sea coasts, it'll be quite chilly with an onshore breeze. 0therwise, elsewhere after that chilly starts,

it's the low to mid—teens for most of us. and then, through friday night into the early part of saturday, temperatures again tumble across central, southern and western areas where skies are clearest. it's particularly cold there, i think, for west midlands, central wales, but eastern scotland, eastern england, more cloud here, so not quite as cold as will be further west. into saturday, then, very little change, high pressure dominates the scene. this weather front getting a little bit closer to northern ireland, but it stays away, i think, throughout the day. so, plenty of sunshine once again through the morning, into the afternoon, a bit of cloud bubbling up — that could just produce the odd shower here and there. but most places will stay dry and there's temperatures ranging from around 11—15 degrees again. quite chilly, though, across north east scotland, with the onshore breeze. easter sunday looks to be a little bit warmer. plenty of sunshine through central and southern areas, a bit more clouds to the east, and then to the west, this weather front starts to bring more of a breeze. outbreaks of rain to northern ireland, the far west of scotland, later in the day. but for the rest of the country, that sunshine around southerly winds,

it could be quite warm — up to around 17 degrees in the mildest spots. then it's all change for bank holiday monday. this weather front spreads across the country with some fairly gusty winds, as it does clear through during the second part of the day, it brightens up sunshine and blustery showers, most of the showers in the north and the west, some some of them will be fairly heavy. temperatures coming down a touch, particularly in the north and the west — highs of 10 to around 13 or 14 degrees for most. and then, the upcoming new week looks unsettled, low pressure always nearby. it'll stay quite showery. a bit of sunshine around, too, but it will be noticeably cooler.

the french president prepares to wrap up his three—day visit to wrap up his three—day visit to china with some economic winds under his belt. plus, what makes a family business? white levi strauss lasts. we speak with an expert to find out. welcome to asia business report. i am out. welcome to asia business report. iam karishma out. welcome to asia business report. i am karishma vaswani. 0ur report. i am karishma vaswani. our top story. the presidents of france and the european commission have wrapped up in a series of high—level meetings with the top chinese leadership. emmanuel macron has called on the chinese president to the negotiation table over

ukraine. the economy it was