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. while it was always the president of intent to end that war it is also undeniable that decisions made and the lack of planning done by the previous administration significantly limited options available to him. . , , him. the french president urges his chinese _ him. the french president urges his chinese counterpart - him. the french president urges his chinese counterpart to - him. the french president urges his chinese counterpart to help i his chinese counterpart to help stop the war in ukraine and bring rusher to its senses. israel carries out an air attack on gaza following an

intent rocket bombardment from across the lebanese border. 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. live from our studios in singapore. this is bbc news. newsday. at eight o'clock in the morning here in singapore and 8pm in washington where the white house has released 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 started evacuating kabul earlier be a spokesman blamed the chaotic withdrawal on a deal that donald trump did with the taliban.— the taliban. transitions matter- _ the taliban. transitions matter. that _ the taliban. transitions matter. that is - the taliban. transitions matter. that is the - the taliban. transitionsi matter. that is the first lesson learned here and the

incoming administration wasn't afforded much of one. thus, president biden�*s choice was starc. eitherwithdraw president biden�*s choice was starc. either withdraw all our forces or resume fighting with the taliban. he chose the former. . the taliban. he chose the former-— the taliban. he chose the former. . ., , g ., _ former. that was john kirby, our correspondent _ former. that was john kirby, our correspondent in - former. that was john kirby, - our correspondent in washington jessica parker has more. so, this is a 12—page summary, declassified a report looking back at what happened during that chaotic withdrawal from afghanistan. so many people will remember those scenes from kabul airport in the august of 2021 during that withdrawal. but broadly, this 12—page report and remarks earlier from john kirby, the white house's national security spokesman, it's a defense of what happened, saying it was the right thing to do. and what's also quite striking is that they lay some of the blame of how things unfolded on the previous administration, donald trump, including what they say was a lack

of preparation and planning by the trump administration as well, that a visa scheme hadn't been invested in properly and low troop numbers on the ground in afghanistan. so an attempt there to blame the previous administration for that. there is some admission of intelligence failures in the lead up to the withdrawal. one intelligence report, for example, suggesting that the taliban wouldn't reach kabul for maybe one or two years. of course, they actually arrived in the end within days in august 2021. and there was a sense, i think, watching the white house briefing of quite a kind of combative briefing over what had happened, questions about whether anyone might get fired for what had happened. of course, one thing to remember is during that august, there was a suicide bombing in which 170 afghans and 13 us soldiers died. whenjohn kirby was asked

if he had any regrets or they had any regrets over how everything had happened. he talked about how the president was proud of the personnel who had carried out that operation, including, of course, that airlift. and he said as well that no security operation, no operation ever goes quite according to plan. and interestingly, there are also efforts in this report to say that they've taken what's happened in afghanistan, tried to learn lessons from it and apply it to what's happening or what's been happening in ukraine. that white house report and for more we can hear from the foreign policy fellow at the dilution, that is i think tank in washington and she explained the significance of this announcement.- the significance of this announcement. ., announcement. the timing of the announcement _ announcement. the timing of the announcement and _ announcement. the timing of the announcement and obviously - announcement. the timing of the announcement and obviously the | announcement and obviously the substance is significant because resident biden and his team are essentially defending what is seen as one of the major foreign—policy failures

of his administration majorforeign—policy failures of his administration in the first year that he was in power, and this comes as congress has increased its scrutiny of the afghanistan withdrawal because the republican house is now investigating it and it comes as narratives will begin to shape up, given the fact that the 2024 elections are now looming on the horizon. so the white house — looming on the horizon. so the white house is _ looming on the horizon. so the white house is blaming - looming on the horizon. so the white house is blaming the - white house is blaming the chaos on a deal that the former president donald trump had made with the taliban a year earlier. how fair is that in your assessment given the research you have done in this area? , . , ., ., area? the trump administration is certainly _ area? the trump administration is certainly to — area? the trump administration is certainly to blame _ area? the trump administration is certainly to blame partly - is certainly to blame partly for how things unfolded in afghanistan, in particularfor afghanistan, in particular for that afghanistan, in particularfor that so deal. when it was signed in february 2020, really felt more like a surrender rather than a deal on equal footing. 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 is disingenuous to suggest that only the trump administration is to blame for how things unfolded the sum of 2021 and then august 2021 in particular with those scenes of the hurried evacuation at the airport in kabul. and in particular i would say two things. one is that president biden and his team had a little bit of wiggle room, had a little bit of agency in the months leading up to the withdrawal. they announced an unconditional withdrawal but the zohar deal left in place some grey areas which could have been exploited to perhaps negotiate with the taliban a conditional withdrawal, conditional withdrawal, conditional on a peace deal between the taliban and the afghan government. once president biden announced the unconditional withdrawal essentially in april 2021, that

basically meant the taliban ran out of the peace deal and instead shifted to a military takeover and that is again something that is a second element, the biden administration did not predict the quick fall of the afghan army, the quick military takeover of the taliban and then the fall of the afghan government which led to the scenes we saw in august 2021. that was foreign policy fellow at the brookings institution speaking to me a little earlier. the israeli army has confirmed it is carrying out strikes in gaza. explosions have been heard over the territory. it comes after more than 30 rockets were fired from lebanon on into northern israel, that is the highest number since 2006. most of them were intercepted. the israeli armed forces claimed that palestinian militants were responsible.

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 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 thejewish 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 thatis let's turn to china now because that is where the french president has been over the last two days at. 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 the chinese president xijinping to urge russia to stop the war in ukraine. translation: stop the war in ukraine. tuna/mom- stop the war in ukraine. translation: the russian aggression _ translation: the russian aggression in _ translation: the russian aggression in ukraine - translation: the russian aggression in ukraine has. 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. he borders and avoids any form of escalation-— escalation. he sounds pretty confident. — escalation. he sounds pretty confident, doesn't _ escalation. he sounds pretty confident, doesn't he? - escalation. he sounds pretty confident, doesn't he? we i confident, doesn't he? we can speak to the executive director of asia society centre for china analysis and he joins

of asia society centre for china analysis and hejoins me live from sydney. i don't know how much of what president macron was saying that you were able to hear. it sounds like he is expect the chinese leader xi jinping to do more. will dispatch work?- jinping to do more. will dispatch work? well, i don't think it's — dispatch work? well, i don't think it's going _ dispatch work? well, i don't think it's going to _ dispatch work? well, i don't think it's going to have - dispatch work? well, i don't think it's going to have the i think it's going to have the intended effect of getting beijing to condemn russia or to take a more constructive role as peacemaker there, but it does send a strong message nevertheless back to the home audiences in europe that beijing has to understand that the relationships are deteriorating there for china, precisely because of its continuing implicit support for russia, and also in europe i think the understanding has to be that france is trying to balance this relationship, both urging beijing to be more constructive but at the same

time trying to maintain important economic relations with china at the same time. it is a tricky one, isn't it? what do you think it would take for beijing to get involved? what do they want out of this relationship?— do they want out of this relationship? do they want out of this relationshi - ? �* ., , ., relationship? bei'ing wants to t to relationship? bei'ing wants to try to maintain, — relationship? beijing wants to try to maintain, as _ relationship? beijing wants to try to maintain, as they - relationship? beijing wants to try to maintain, as they sit. relationship? beijing wants to try to maintain, as they sit in | try to maintain, as they sit in their statements, they want europe to maintain a quote unquote independent foreign policy, meaning independent from the united states to the degree that it is increasingly taking a harder line towards china. i think macron perhaps succeeded in at least maintaining a little bit of that in getting some of the economic deals pushed through as a result of his visit, but i think china is increasingly aware that its relationships with europe are not going in the right direction.—

with europe are not going in the right direction. even that ressure the right direction. even that pressure that _ the right direction. even that pressure that you _ the right direction. even that pressure that you were - the right direction. even that i pressure that you were talking about from the united states, do you see it increasing in the future? does it make it quite difficult for france and other european countries to try to strike a relationship with china over this? absolutely. this is a _ china over this? absolutely. this is a very _ china over this? absolutely. this is a very difficult - this is a very difficult tightrope act that i think european leaders such as macron or olaf scholz in germany are trying to take. on the one hand yes, rhetorically and even in terms of some of its diplomatic relationships, a much harsher line. certainly hearing that from ursula von der leyen during her time from ursula von der leyen during hertime in from ursula von der leyen during her time in china but at the same time trying also to maintain a degree of beneficial economic and even people to people ties. it is going to get harder and harder i think for european leaders to pull this off especially as the war in ukraine drags on. in off especially as the war in

ukraine drags on. in terms of china as a — ukraine drags on. in terms of china as a powerbroker, - ukraine drags on. in terms of china as a powerbroker, what are your thoughts on that? because we saw pictures yesterday of saudi arabia and around's foreign ministers in that big breakthrough meeting. is this how the rest of the world should not deceive china now, how it wants to be seen as a global powerbroker? it is certainly — a global powerbroker? it is certainly how _ a global powerbroker? it is certainly how china - a global powerbroker? it 3 certainly how china wants to be seen. i think there has been a bit of overreach and there is still a lack of capacity or even will in china to be able to really step up and assume larger global responsibilities, peacemaker or otherwise and i think the meeting between putin and president xi in moscow demonstrated that, that at the end of the day china couldn't bring russia over the line if it indeed intended to play peacemaker but more broadly, yes. we are going to see a much more proactive and engaged china in the developing world, in the global south and the meeting yesterday between the iranian and saudi foreign ministers in beijing wasjust

one more piece of that. so i think going forward, as china's relationships with the global west continue to deteriorate, i think we will see a lot more investment in relationships in the global south and that is exactly what we saw in beijing even as macron and ursula von der leyen were in beijing. fascinating stuff, thank you so much forjoining us, executive directorfor asian —— much forjoining us, executive director for asian —— asia centre for china analysis. you are watching bbc news. he may be a hundred byjohn bell's memory is as bright as his medals. bell's memory is as bright as his medals-— his medals. getting to 100 is re his medals. getting to 100 is pretty good _ his medals. getting to 100 is pretty good in _ his medals. getting to 100 is pretty good in my _ his medals. getting to 100 is pretty good in my line - his medals. getting to 100 is pretty good in my line of- pretty good in my line of business, people don't last that long stop byjohn was responsible for targeting a

bomb on a bunker in calais which housed rockets and super guns which hitler planned to use very huge attack in london. it wasjustjohn's skill use very huge attack in london. it was justjohn's skill as a bomber, £22,000 bomb of his landed pretty much about five metres from the edge of the bunker. ~ ., ., metres from the edge of the bunker. ~ . ., . ., bunker. william and john both live at the _ bunker. william and john both live at the royal _ bunker. william and john both live at the royal air _ bunker. william and john both live at the royal air force's i live at the royal air force's retirement agency at storrington where william organised a birthday fly past, a symbolic tribute to the man believed to be the last surviving wartime member of the dam busters squadron. live with bbc news, and to north korea where if you will recall, borders were shut in 2020 in response to the pandemic which made entry to 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 in south korea dropped to just 67 people last year. are corresponded has spoken to a woman called song li, one of the few who managed to escape. translation: there are days that song li still does not believe she is 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 i 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. 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.

let's ta ke let's take you to the united states where the republican—controlled house of representatives and 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 protest in the chamber last week. , ., , , week. in the protest hundreds of demonstrators _ week. in the protest hundreds of demonstrators marched - week. in the protest hundreds of demonstrators marched to l week. in the protest hundreds i of demonstrators marched to the state capital days after a school shooting in nashville which left six people dead including three children. to the uk where the death of alarm about the state of the metropolitan police, the biggest force in the country, has been highlighted by the measures taken now by the commissioner sir mark crowley. he has 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. 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. in january, 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's 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 levelling off and the number of police officers being sacked from the metropolitan police 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're 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. buckingham palace says it will

co—operate with an independent study into the links between the british monarchy and the slave trade in the 17th and 18th centuries. the research has been carried out by the university of manchester with historic royal palaces, the palace said king charles takes theseissues palace said king charles takes these issues profoundly seriously and the royal household will grant access to its archives. a royal correspondent explained just how significant this is. what we know so far is it is historic royal harrises 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. the details we know about the project are that she is exploring among other things the links between the british monarchy, the transatlantic slave trade during the 17th and 18th centuries, and the royal houseis 18th centuries, and the royal house is supporting this research by opening of the access to the royal connection

and royal archives and we know that this study was started in october of 2022, just a month after king charles acceded to the throne, and it's due to be completed september 2026. finally, as any follow—up of the english premier league knows, football at the top level is a ruthless business, but it can also make for some pretty extraordinary turnaround. chelsea havejust turnaround. chelsea have just appointed turnaround. chelsea havejust appointed frank lampard as the temporary head coast which is amazing he was fired by the same club in 2021. no wonder the man himself looks rather delighted. i the man himself looks rather delighted-— delighted. i didn't think i would ever— delighted. i didn't think i would ever be _ delighted. i didn't think i would ever be in - delighted. i didn't think i would ever be in this - delighted. i didn't think i i would ever be in this seat. delighted. i didn't think i - would ever be in this seat. i'm a confident person, i understand the game, and this club have a big connection, but if i'm honest it wasn't my thought that one day i would be back here because finnish businesses sound a little bit

hollywood, saying that i'm looking for a great line, i want to work and of course i want to work and of course i want to work and of course i want to help this club as much as i can. ., �* , want to help this club as much as i can. . �* , ., as i can. that's it from me, thank you _ as i can. that's it from me, thank you for _ as i can. that's it from me, thank you for watching, - as i can. that's it from me, i thank you for watching, have a great weekend. 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. otherwise, 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 those 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 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.

centre for china analysis. you are watching bbc news. the french president prepares to wrap up his three—day visit to wrap up his three—day visit to china with some economic wins under his belt. plus, what makes a family business last? we speak to an expert to find out. hello and welcome to asia business report, i'm karishma vaswani. ourtop business report, i'm karishma vaswani. our top story for you this morning. the presidents of france and the european commission have wrapped up a series of high—level meetings with the top chinese leadership. emmanuel macron has called on chinese president xi

jinping to bring russia back to the