>> this is dw news, live from berlin. three days after seizing control of afghanistan, they are carrying the afghan flag as pockets of protests break out the country. witnesses say several people are killed. the mysterious havana syndrome makes a comeback.

u.s. authorities launched an investigation. the refugee prices -- blocked from entering the eu. to our viewers on pbs in the united states and around the world, take you for being with us. the first signs of civil unrest since the taliban returned to power in afghanistan are emerging. small demonstrations have been reported in a handful of cities. witnesses say the taliban shot dead three protesters who were waving the national flag. taliban fighters are reported to have fired shots into the air to disperse crowds trying to reach kabul airport.

they have changed and want peace. many afghans find that hard to believe. >> defined scenes on the streets of jalal about. the taliban say they have changed but the response to this show of dissent tells a different story. dozens have gathered to over the militant group's banner and raise the national flag when taliban opens fire. these distraught journalists say they were beaten as they tried to cover the protests. people with afghan flags in their hands were chanting long live afghanistan and saying the flag should not be desecrated. we were taking pictures and videos as they reached the roundabout. a taliban started hitting me with a gun from behind as i was filming. shots also rang out today

outside the international airport in kabul as the taliban sought to disperse crowds attempting to flee. as foreign evacuation flights ramp up, there were unconfirmed reports of a stampede at the airport. the country's new rules have been meeting other political forces. the taliban leader who arrived back from exile on tuesday is expected to play a key role in negotiations. the taliban are seeking to form an inclusive government. he said he was in talks to return to afghanistan. >> more from our journals, what can you tell us about these anti-taliban protests? >> according to sources on the

ground, protests were organized on social media by civil society activists who put out messages and showed support to the national flag. i was told that beyond supporting the national flag, hoisting the national flag, the protests were not asking for a specific legal system or specific leaders, then scenes turned ugly with the taliban opening fire. and then similar protests were held. they have also been reports about gunfire. there scenes have seemed to be less rheumatic. the taliban spokesperson had no announced the taliban were set

to conduct a clearing operation and having a indefinite curfew which seems to be a reaction to today's protests. that all shows that the taliban apparently don't like this and are not afraid to act decisively against it. >> we will see what develop means occur with that clearing operation. taliban cofounders -- this teledyne co-founder is one of a number of leaders that have returned from exile. tell us more about him and what part he is likely to play. >> he was the guard of the taliban and then he was arrested anspent years in a pakistani president which beat at his health. he was then released to move

forward peace talks. he was up on his valise. he presided over negotiations that led to the u.s. telemann agreement signed in february of 2020. subsequent negotiations between the taliban and then -- the then african government. it is unclear what exactly it means. there has not been any official statement since he returned. the taliban have ousted the former government. to all the deputies, their whereabouts are unknown. it is unclear where they will

surface. >> what is the latest -- and -- >> there are reports of the taliban opening fire. >> snes at the airport are still chaotic. the taliban have set up checkpoints outside of it. there have been hundreds of thousands of people going to the airport hoping to get out. there have been reports that the taliban turn some away. there has been no clear procedure. there have been huge crowds that have caused stampede. there have been reports about warning shots that might have also injured people. however, with the casualties, it is hard to tell whether this is

due to the shooting or the crowd being out of control and people being trampled. >> thank you so much. for more, we are joined by mark jacobson. the german government has admitted operational errors. was the troop withdrawal a mistake? >> i have argued for months that the troop withdrawal was a mistake. the biden administration set up a false choice between endless war and full withdrawal. there were lotsf choices. we know that there was a small u.s. and even smaller nato contingent. we saw one of the major mistakes

was making very clear to the taliban and to the afghan government that there would be no more air support. i am not sure any well-trained military would be able to operate against its enemy without air support. those were major mistakes. there were other things that could have been done. a longer-term training mission which was not war to help the afghan national security forces fight. >> why do we think the president made that clear? is that the leadership in afghantan? >> it is an interesting thought. what it did is and up encouraging the taliban. showing there was true point beyond which the afghan national security forces would not be able to fight. i think that president biden is laser focused at withdrawal. i do not think they geood

way to the consequences. there have been reports that the cia explained it the white house that you would see this sort of collapse of the afghan government. i don't know the timeline yet because i have not read the report but this is as we speak. right now, as we speak, the secretary of defense is briefing on this very subject and what is going on in afghanistan. >> biden said we give them every chance to determine their own future. what we could not provide them was the will to fight for that future. essentially blaming the country possibly her's and security forces. do you agree with that assessment? >> absolute li na. there are 60,000 national security forces who ha been killed fighting the taliban. there are still afghani fighting the taliban right now. whether they are in tangier or in the south that refused to surrender.

we know the taliban aren the middle of an offensive but we are out of here and our air is out of here. what choice did they really have other than to lay down their arms and maybe cut a better deal to try to make sure their families were safe? the withdrawal is what made the collapse inevitable. >> what can international airlines do to stabilize the situation in the country? quite the most imrtant thing that ls can do is help get them out. i realize the u.s. has to bear the brunt of this ever given the military had the airlift capabilities but we have seen has been really slow and problematic in kabul. there are some glimmers of hope but the plan is to get 7-9000 americans and afghans and some other foreign nationals out per day. they are going to have to do a

lot better. it has been a couple hundred if that the last couple of days. let's hope today proves to be better. the focus has to be on getting people out and then the international community can work together to hold the taliban to what i thi are empty promises about respect for human rights. if the taliban want to go down that path, the international community has to hold them to that promise. >> much appreciated. the taliban takeover of afghanistan is a rapidly moving story. here are some of today's other developments. amid reports the taliban are blocking access to kabul airport , lloyd austin said the u.s. expects the militants to allow those with the right credentials to depart safely. the eu foreign policy chief has said that it will be necessary to talk to the taliban to secure the evacuation of foreign

nationals and afghans who have worked with nato forces. this is part of efforts by the insurgents to set up a government. the british government says it will welcome up to 5000 afghan refugees. let's take a look at some other headlines around the world at this hour. police in hong kong have arrested for university students under the chinese territory's controversial national security law. they say the students were paying tribute to a pro-democracy advocate who stabbed a police officer and then killed himself. authorities have previously cautioned people against morning the attacker, describing it as tantamount to terrorism. the death toll from saturday's massive earthquake in haiti has risen to nearly 2000 people.

emergency crews are searching for survivors. rescue efforts are being hampered by a tropical storm which has brought heavy rains and strong wind. flooding in russia's far east has inundated thousands of homes, causing hundreds of residents to be evacuated. emergency crews are only able to access some areas by boat. floodwaters have damaged rivers and railways. u.s. authorities are reported to be investigating more cases of the mysterious havana syndrome. this time among american diplomats here in germany. the wall street journal reported at least two staff members at the u.s. embassy in berlin have sought medical treatment after complaining of symptoms such as headaches and vision problems. havana syndrome was first reported among u.s. diplomats in the cuban capital in 2016 and has since been found at sites in

china, russia and the united states itself. joining us from our studio here in berlin is simon young. simon, thank you for joining us. what more do we know about this so-called havana syndrome? >> there seems to be a pretty diverse problem. as you said, headaches and nausea. there is a tiredness and confusion. some people report vision problems or problems with their hearing and so on. it is quite difficult to pin down. some people in the past two have been affected by this have in fact not been able to continue working. some have been left with lasting neurological problems and even mild brain damage. it is a pretty serious thing. >> has been recognized formally

as a health condition? >> not to my knowledge. it covers quite a large range of things. quite the symptoms of headaches and vision problems are fairly broad. what is the advice being given to staff in berlin? >> we don't know that. lee u.s. embassy here has not confirmed this is a problem they are looking into and nor has the german foreign ministry. we know there have been similar reports in the past. this is a credible media report. we have seen around the world, we have seen it even in european countries. there were many reports in the austrian capital of vienna where there is a large u.s. diplomatic mission. if this is confirmed, this would

be the case in a natural country where u.s. troops are stationed so that gives it extra seriousness as well. >> it strikes me that some people may think this syndrome is just one big conspiracy theory with fingers pointing squarely at russia and china. >> in the past, that has been the direction of travel. the investigation and the website said they have evidence of russian scientific research into the use of some kind of radiation, microwaves, radio waves to target human beings and certainly what we have heard in the past is that there is a suggestion that the russians could be behind the u.s.

authorities. the cia have reported that a surprisingly large proportion of those affected by the savanna syndrome are people who have been intelligence experts who have been involved in attempting to block russian espionage against the u.s.. authorities do say they don't know the explanation for this problem and it is a top priority for them to find it out. >> much appreciated, simon. the european union has blasted belarus. interior minister's met today to discuss the growing crisis on the border. thousands of migrants are currently stuck there after being lured by house and

lukashenko. he wants to use the migration flow as a pressure -- way to pressure the eu. nick connolly received a mobile phone footage from one of the people stranded there. >> latvian guards ahead of them and russian guard behind them. unable to move forward or go back. one of them, a young man. >> we just need help because the

children don't have any food. >> like thousands of other iraqis, these believe that they were accessible. voting the risks of crossing the mediterranean. they entered belarus illegally on tourist visas. their aim was to cross to latvia before moving onto germany and other western european countries. they were soon stopped by latvian authorities as this footage from wednesday shows. not before these migrants say that they threatened and beat them. >> they are hitting us by electronic. i don't know the name but there is this electronic thing that is so bad for humans. they do that with us.

>> latvian authorities are adamant that belarus is a safe place. rather than except migrants and process them and their own refugee centers, lafayette is trying to prevent them from crossing the border in the first place, deterring them rather than detaining them. several days into their odyssey, these migrants have given up their dream of reaching germany and just want to go home. >> we are so bad and so tired. no one helps us. >> even if they are deported, one side will have to blink. one thing is certain. they could hardly have imagined they would soon find themselves as bargaining chips.

he and his group understood little until it was too late. >> dw had asks -- asked the latvian and belarusian border to respond to claims about this but neither has made a statement. let's take a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world at this hour. the long anticipated sex trafficking trial of r. kelly has begun in new york. prosecutors accused the 54-year-old grammy award winner of running a 20 year scheme that recruited women and underage girls to have sex with him. he also faces separate charges in illinois and minnesota. the world health organization has announced that current data does not indicate a need for covid-19 booster shots. the group said two shots should be given to the most vulnerable people around the world before

providing third doses to vaccinated people in high income countries. israel has introduced new restrictions to curb the spread of covid-19. vaccination certificates or negative tests will now be required to enter restaurants, bars, cultural and sports events. on tuesday, the country reported a seven-month high in the number of daily cases amid a surge driven by the delta variant. indonesia's covid-19 surge is slowing to about 20,000 cases per day. it's hospitals are still overwhelmed and indonesia is recording some of the highest number of daily deaths in the world with little more than 10% of the population fully vaccinated so far. efforts are being stepped up to get the job to more people. >> the pressure is on,

indonesia, to vaccinate one million people per day. since the arrival of the dta variant, everybody here has come to get the job. among them is this man and his family. the pandemic has hit thousands of low income families like is particularly hard. he used to have a small shop just outside jakarta. >> we now have nothing left. i was made redundant and now we are effectively bankrupt. my wife is trying to sell or cakes online. indonesia began its covid-19 vaccination program this january, using vaccine components from china. indonesia has produced 185 million doses of the sinovac vaccine to date. the country has also received over 19 million vaccine doses from the united nations backed

kovach -- cova initiative. with a number of new infections skyhigh across indonesia, vaccine skeptics have become hard-to-find. >> i don't want the vaccine because there is so much bad news about it. i am just worried for my health. >> a lot of my friends got sick after being vaccinated. so i am afraid. >> to stop rumors about exaggerated side effects, the government has started a new information campaign. the ministry of health is determined to vaccinate 70% of the vibration from the age of 12 by the end of the year. >> if you don't believe that covid israel, just come to the hospital or the cemetery. help the officers bury people without protection.

in a viral video, 2 soccer claims healers did just that. the two of them visited covid patients months ago in order to prove that the disease is not dangerous. both of them died a few weeks later. there should be more simply with the victims. we need to acknowledge the enormous death toll worldwide and particularly in indones. among them are many of his friends. he is glad to have some protection now. in one month, he will receive his second shot. >> formula one news now. the japanese grand prix has been canceled due to the scale of the pandemic in the country. the race was to take place in october at the international racing course. just days ago, organizers of the brazilian grand prix asked for their race to be delayed due to similar concerns.

japan just how the lipid swim embers of the public protested against hosting the games due to rising covid case numbers. a reminder of the top story we are following. protests have broken out in a number of afghan cities for the first time since the taliban came to power. they fired shots to disperse demonstrators, waving the national flag. witnesses report at least three people were killed. that is it for now. after a short break, i will lead you through the day. you can get all the latest on our website, dw.com. thank you for watching.

♪ >> protesters killed by taliban fighters in the east of afghanistan happened in jalalabad after people pull down the taliban flag and replaced it with the afghan official version. there is chaos at kabul airport. foreign powers trying to evacuate staff and citizens. the second evacuation flight arrives at paris. hades death toll rises to almost 2000. the rescue operation has resumed after the passage of tropical storm grace well 30 people have been pulled alive from t