abdullah abdullah the country's chief executive the 2 have been in an uneasy government of national unity since 2014 when they both claim victory in elections marred by fraud whoever wins this time will have to find a way to deal with the taliban don't you know are you sure the taliban forces who have threatened this election process i would like to say as a citizen of this country and as a voter that threatening innocent people is not a demonstration of strength on your part 1. 100 casualties among innocent civilians will not benefit you. after decades of war and misery and a number of fraudulent elections voters will be demanding bold action from the new president in a country that continues to face very difficult conditions. ok let's bring in our correspondents under pages man she's reported extensively from afghanistan there's a heavy so we've heard from president ashraf ghani we've also heard from his main rival abdullah abdullah both saying that this election seems to have gone better than 2014 you've been talking to your sources in afghanistan what's the sense of how it actually did go well let's start with what we didn't see there wasn't any major attack in the capital kabul as many observers had anticipated but having said that there were no my deposed small scale attacks throughout the country with dozens of people killed and injured as is the case on most days in afghanistan which is still the words that the conflict today and that i think is the sad reality that the scare tactics of the taliban seem to have worked because a lot of people just decided to stay home today because of lack of security. there was a lot of people coming out but 1st estimates indicate that voter turnouts might be anywhere between one or 2000000 people compared to the last presidential elections in 2014 this is a mess if massive drop back then close to 8000000 voters were brave enough to cause the ballot despite equally

abdullah abdullah, the man who lost to the current president that is still his main contender now. >> with all our strength, we will prevent any kind of fraud in this election. at the last election i said we won't accept any government based on fraud, but it happened, because afghanistan was facing multiple threats at that time. the start of withdrawal of foreign troops, the rise of islamic state, and also the taliban had an upper hand. correspondent: to fight electoral fraud, around 100 thousand election observers will monitor polling stations across the country, but they will be allied to candidates. one third of the afghan defense forces will be on hand, but that is still not enough. some polling stations will stay shut, because the army cannot protect them. voters are worried both about their personal safetety, and far elections. >> we all participate in the elections inin large numbers. we trust the government will provide security and transparency of free elections. >> the taliban are threatening us all t the time to stop us frm participating in these elections. they threaten us every day, but despite this, i believe most people will vote in the elections, to defend democracy. correspondent: protecting voters' lives and democracy in a country where violent militants control or are active in a most half of the territory. brent: my colleague joins me now. she has reported extensively from afghanistan. it is good to see you again. former president hamid karzai has warned holding the election now in afghanistan is like asking a heart patient to run a marathon. is this the responsible thing to do? reporter: there are no two ways about it, voters going out tomorrow in an effort to cast votes are under threat. the taliban have made crystal clear that anyone who participates in these elections, who facilitates them, is a target to them. as we have seen in the 2014 elections, i was on the ground to cover them, it was really a messy affair, messy because the elections were manipulated. there was ballot stuffing, all of that, but also because security couldn't be granted and a lot of voters lost their lives or their fingers. they use this indelible link and you can get it off, so it stays with you for days. the taliban use that to identify voters and chop off their fingers. brent: considering all this, which candidate is in the best position to reach some kind of peace agreement with the taliban? reporter: we only have two candidates who really have a chance of winning tomorrow. and they were partners in government for the past five years. that is president gotti and his -- president ghani, and his chief executive officer, abdullahullah. oath say they want peace for afghanistan, but how they go about it is different. yes, it needs the afghan government, civil society representatives, he needs the youth and the international community. in saying that, i i mean more tn just the united states. there are a lot of international players afghan -- active on the afghan battlefield. brent: we know there is this mortal threat for people who are going to vote. what is the appetite among afghans for this weekend's election? reporter: it depends on who you ask. if you talk to young people who are part of the liberal, educated elite, they see it as a sign of protest and will vote because they think it is our right, now we can come up and want to cast a vote. but if you go to the countryside, and we hardly get access there, millions of people will be disenfranchised. for them, it is, how i get the next meal for my family, how i survive the next day, those are bread-and-butter issues and those weren't addressed in this election

abdullah abdullah the turnout was low but afghan officials prayed those who braved the odds and cast their ballots the taliban who came out against it and called it a foreign process and in. and out it the legitimacy and the shadow put shadow on the legitimacy of the elections people still came out to risk their lives it doesn't matter how many people came out what ever the number they risked their lives to. to show that they want to be in control of their own future and have. be able to determine their next president. and our correspondent ernie burton send this report from kabul. a city in lockdown the streets of kabul almost deserted on election day because polling stations open the biggest and tightest security operation ever in the capital was under way the taliban had warned people not to vote and it didn't take long before the group carried out its threats. encounters there were attacks around the city aimed at disrupting voting roads were blocked and lines of communication cut a mortar round was fired into the grounds of the school used for polling hospital confirm civilians had been killed and a number were injured elsewhere the taliban launch more attacks to north of kabul one in helmand and one in one the hard province no casualties were reported but a number of people were injured in a blast at a kandahar polling station it didn't deter some others from voting a lot of despite all the hardships and violence we haven't lost hope we have to vote and think about future generations this is afghanistan's 4th presidential election the government officials maintain the use of advanced technology and highly trained personnel are making these the freest elections to date but there were reports of some polling stations failing to open and voters complaining that they hadn't been registered i came here to choose a person who can help the poor of this country but they say i'm not registered to vote it's not right at the last presidential election 5 years ago there were queues of people waiting to vote at this polling station in central kabul on saturday it was a trickle and voting had to be extended 70 slow we'll have to see. has extended for couple of hours we hope that people. come out and make the choice but as well as in security people have also become disillusioned with politics in afghanistan and the broken promises in failure to tackle corruption poverty unemployment and security international aid agencies say the situation. today is worse than 5 years ago though not everyone agrees there is improvements being made we cannot deny that but there are some traits in or taliban decrees increase their attacks you know so there are other factors that affect it there are so many other factors that affect it more and bigger taliban attacks had been expected perhaps an indicator the group may be keeping its hardline element of peace while at the same time pushing a diplomatic strategy for peace talks with the u.s. they were abruptly canceled by president trump this month election results will be announced on november the 7th but it's not just important who wins but whether the other candidates and all the other groups accept them and agree to work with them and in the fractured world of afghan politics that hasn't always been easy but in 2014 it only happened because of the strong arm tactics of the united states attorney berkeley al jazeera kabul into saturday meza lecture at more i university in kabul am a political analyst and he says the security forces faced a big challenge securing the polling stations. today was a different day the that the way taliban were warning the afghan people that they have not get out of their homes them if they have to be attacked by a symmetric security threats i think for 2 reason that has not happened number one i think the crits must go to the afghan security forces big because they have been able to satisfy control who are deep pool in station that's why a lot of security incident has not have happened or do taliban has not been so much crucial in their taxes they have been so much hard in the did it tricks to warn the afghan people so yeah of course there has been a number of attacks but that has not been a say we just as we were expecting so hopefully that was something that we experience today well i'm sure the 2014 violent history may be repeated very much optimistic that something will happen. within countries. in recent election has been also an experience that we can consider why and we are expecting that itself from these election these 2 candidates has been the quite strong candidate they have been in contention the number for the other 12 candidate has not been only to win the election there has been only. for making a political deal so doctor up the law of the line dr ghani. people who are fighting it against each other. well the vote in afghanistan came just weeks after talks between the united states and the taliban fell apart the u.s. has now spent 18 years in afghanistan its longest ever involvement in a foreign war ellen fisher takes a look at what might lie ahead for the u.s. afghan relations. 18 years more than $4000.00 american deaths and $800000000000.00 spent donald trump wants to significantly reduce the american military footprint in afghanistan there are $14000.00 troops there no but the threat from the taliban remains significant one former u.s. ambassador to kabul says the u.s. is still there because each president looks for a quick way out by my count we have had 9 changes of policy in the 18 years we've been in afghanistan we don't convey consistency to anyone when we rethink our policy every 2 years so i have a problem with that the trumpet ministration but there was trouble palmer 5 changes of policy in the obama administration come afghan president ashraf ghani campaign 5 years ago on the idea of peace talks with the taliban but he was sidelined as the group met negotiators in qatar a deal was close but in the week of the anniversary of the 911 attacks in the us donald trump called an end to the talks they're dead they're dead 1st i'm concerned that they thought that there to kill people in order to put themselves in a little better to go share that vision this administration has threatened to withhold $100000000.00 in funding to afghanistan alleging government corruption and mismanagement in the run up to important presidential elections that has been seen by some as an implicit criticism of the cum president danny but not an endorsement of his main challenger abdullah abdullah one afghan expert says to the u.s. the process may be more important than the result for the travel ministration they are simply looking for a key. wins the election and is free if and fair a possible way as possible they want to have a president that is seen with credibility and legitimacy by the afghan people it's very unlikely that's going to happen with donald trump insisting he has no intentions of restarting the peace talks in afghanistan and a new initiative will have to come from whoever wins the presidential election there and that means for the time being the war continues and so does the cost in money and lives alan fischer al jazeera washington. ok moving to some other news now in yemen to the rebels say thousands of saudi backed fighters have surrendered along with the weapons and military vehicles during a months long military campaign there were these have been targeting the southern region of not drawn a spokesman says they've also captured several saudi army

abdullah abdullah, who was made chief executive after negotiations in 2014. we'll have full coverage of the vote, here on bbc world news. i'm joined by murid partaw, the former afghan national representative to us central command — now at the school of global studies at the university of south florida. thank you so much for your time. first of all, given those levels of violence we are seeing, how possible is it that these elections will be fairand is it that these elections will be fair and free of fraud?” is it that these elections will be fair and free of fraud? i think this election is going to be different compared to the one in 2014, because the afghan security forces are in a better state than five years before. and, more importantly, the afghan election commission, the independent election commission, has also promised to conduct these elections ina promised to conduct these elections in a free and fair way. so i think that despite the taliban announcement that they are going to disrupt the process, for the most pa rt disrupt the process, for the most part the security forces and the afg ha n part the security forces and the afghan election commission will be able to provide a safe environment for afg ha ns to able to provide a safe environment for afghans to cast their vote. but surely with as levels of violence, as you say, the taliban wants to disrupt the elections, surely we're not going to the voter turnout that you would need to have a kind of convincing result? there are approximately 9.5 million afghan voters registered right now, according to the afghan independent election. i think that the turnout, as you pointed out, will probably be as you pointed out, will probably be a little bit low given the level of violence that has been happening across the country. nevertheless, the elections will be happening around the country and the places that these votes will be cast will be, for the most part, secured by the afghan security forces because the afghan security forces because the afghan security forces because the afghan security forces recently announced they have deployed close to 70,000 forces in charge of the election security. as you say, there's been a lot of concern about fraud in the past. we saw those allegations in 2014, 2018, what provisions have the government put in place so that doesn't happen ain? in place so that doesn't happen again? there are some good provisions that have taken place by the afghan election committee. 0ne is the biometric system that they have in place in this polling stations, that they will undergo with those votes that have been biometric clear approved. so that's a good provision in place. and, secondly, there are some other good managements in place, such as observers from the candidates, especially from the two main contenders, abdullahstations in order to prevent fraud in these polling stations. and in addition there are some international observers to, listing kabul and other major cities... murid partaw, i'm so sorry. we are out of time. thank you very much. murid partaw, former afghan representative to us central command. a huge crackdown by egypt's security forces has prevented mass protests from taking place in the capital cairo. there were online calls for demonstrations against alleged corruption by president abdel—fattah al sisi and the military — instead it was the leader's supporters who staged rallies in his defence. protests broke out last week and since then human rights groups say nearly 2,000 people have been arrested. sally nabil is our correspondent in cairo. it has been a quiet day in cairo so far, although there were calls for huge anti—government protests. but it seems that the people are too scared to take to the streets, like they did briefly last week. security presence has been beefed up all

and his main challenger, doctor abdullah abdullah, conveyed a similar message.ay's vote a success? from a security point of view, yes. but the taliban threats worked. voters didn't turn out. taliban threatened particular, certain objectives for them. they were going to attack the sites, they were going to make targeted attacks in cities. but today, they failed to do it. but if voter turnout is as low as predicted, how much legitimacy will the next afghan president have? martin patience, bbc news, kabul. those results of the election in afghanistan are due to be announced inafew afghanistan are due to be announced in a few weeks time. you will have all the coverage on bbc news. now on bbc news, as the wealthiest i% are on course to control two thirds of the planet's wealth by 2030, the bbc‘s world debate looks at the issues surrounding global inequality. hello and welcome to the united states for this world debate. i'm on wall street in new york, the centre of globalfinance, wall street in new york, the centre of global finance, in a country which is that the hea

election, which pitted afghan president ashraf ghani against afghanistan's chief executive abdullah abdullah. abdullah abdullah iss already coming victory. the bbc c reports at least five people were killed in attacks on voting stations. another 80 were wounded. the prominent egyptian dissident alaa abdel-fattah has been arrested again and a growing crackdown on anti-government protesters. abdel-fattah was arrested on sunday as he was preparing to leave an egyptian police station where he has been forced to sleep at night since being freed in march after serving a five-year prison sentence. a lawyer representing abdel fattah was also arrested. egyptian authorities have arrested more than 2000 people amid an outbreak of anti-government protests. alaa abdel-fattah was a leader of the 2011 uprising against hosnsni mubarak. he spoke to democracy nonow! in 2014. arere on a sentencing frzyzy. this is s not just aboutut me. it is almost as if it is a war on a whole generation. amy: to see our recent coverage of the crackdown in egypt, visit democracynow.org. houthi rebels in yemen are claiming to have killed

officials organizing the elections 5 years ago allegations of systematic fraud marred the last one abdullah abdullah the man who lost to the current president ashraf ghani then is still his main contender now but. with all our strength we will prevent any kind of fraud in the selection at the last election i said we won't accept any government based on fraud but it happened because afghanistan was facing multiple threats time at the start of withdrawal of foreign troops the rise of islamic states and also the taliban have an upper hand. to fight electoral fraud around a 100000 election observers will monitor the nearly $5000.00 polling stations across the country but they will be allied to candidates. one 3rd of the afghan defense forces will be on hand but that is still not enough some polling stations will stay shut because the army cannot protect them coaches are worried both about their personal safety and fair elections without that we will participate in the elections and large numbers in iraq as a government that it will provide us with security and she was the terms parents of the election w

there's a heavy so we've heard from president ashraf ghani beef also heard from his main rival abdullah abdullah both saying that this election seems to have gone better than 2014 you've been talking to your sources in afghanistan what's the sense of how it actually did go well let's start with what we didn't see there wasn't any major attack in the capital kabul as many observers had anticipated but having said that there were no magic mike to post small scale attacks throughout the country with dozens of people killed and injured as is the case on most days in afghanistan which is still the words that the conflict today and that i think is the sad reality that the scare tactics of the taliban seem to have worked because a lot of people just decided to stay home today because of lack of security. there was a lot of brave people coming out but 1st estimates indicate that voter turnout might be anywhere between one or 2000000 people compared to the last presidential elections in 2014 this is a mess if massive drop back then close to 8000000 voters were brave enough to cause the ballot despite equ

abdullah abdullah the man who lost to the current president ashraf ghani then is still his main contender now but tomorrow with all our strength we will prevent any kind of fraud in this election at the last election i said we won't accept any government based on fraud but it happened because afghanistan was facing multiple threats time at the start of withdrawal of foreign troops the rise of islamic states and also the taliban have an upper hand. to fight electoral fraud around a 100000 election observers will monitor the nearly $5000.00 polling stations across the country but they will be allied to candidates. one 3rd of the afghan defense forces will be on hand but that is still not enough some polling stations will stay shot because the army cannot protect them coaches are worried both about their personal safety and fair elections without that we will participate in the elections and large numbers of iraqis the government that it will provide us with security and chose the terms parents of the election was. threatening us all the time to stop us from participating in these elections they threaten us every day but despite this i believe most people will fights in the elections to defend democracy. and publish a couple of a mix on protecting both voters' lives and democracy is a tall order for a government in a country where violent militants control or are active in almost half of the territory. and now to some of the other stories making news around the world. egyptian security forces have sealed off cairo's to rear square to prevent expected protests against president abdullah. several nearby subway stations have also been shut for alleged maintenance closures come amid a harsh security clampdown following anti corruption demonstrations across egypt last weekend. haitian police have used tear gas and live ammunition to disperse looters in the capital port au prince least 4 people have been killed in the latest wave of street violence which is being driven by feud food and fuel structured agendas protesters are demanding of the government resign over the crisis. and now to a disturbing discovery in nigeria police in the northern city of could do not have rescued hundreds of boys and young men many of whom were shackled some had been tortured and physically assaulted they were all said to have been attending an islamic boarding school in the building where they were held in the reports that follows d.-w. is not showing the faces of the rescued boys. these police were sent to boarding school for a religious education instead they were starved chained and whipp

afghanistan good to have he has andras so we have president ashraf ghani and his main rival abdullah abdullah saying the election was a success you've been watching very closely how did it go well there wasn't a major attack that was something that a lot of observers presumed would happen today we haven't seen yet but i would be a little bit careful to give it you know any kind of stand this was a good election yet because we don't have the complete picture yet information is just trickling in and also if we had as we have seen in other elections before authorities were kind of keen to suppress information if it came to a texan civilian casualties so we don't have the complete picture yet ok so we don't have a clear picture but it's all about the 2014 election this compay these 2 polls in terms of security an organized. what can you say at this point well 2014 did see major attacks but again we only learned about it much later what we know right now is that they have been up to 70 attacks country white smaller explosion spam shoot outs so that of course is a concern and to the main difference

the incumbent president and long time rival abdullah abdullah other candidates have already alleged the process has been manipulated and warned of chaos and violence if this election result is discredited . on earlier i spoke to journalist in the afghan capital kabul i asked him how the reports of violence of polling stations have affected voting the issuance has definitely affected voting and it's going to affect places where people who are already i'm sure whether they should vote or not but one thing that we have to take in consideration that's really affecting voting right now is the logistics. i went to vote earlier this morning for me you know the polling center was supposed to open at 7 it didn't end up opening until closer to 8 and even then people had issues you know getting to the booth they were supposed to get to understanding how to vote where to put their votes and now the biggest problem is you know i've been to 4 different polling centers and in the last few hours and everywhere i go there's dozens of people who say that their names aren't on the list at all and they're

in its 1st cabinet after the ouster of long time ruler omar al bashir led by prime minister abdullah abdullah it includes 4 women among them the foreign minister a cabinet is part of a power sharing agreement between the military and pro-democracy activists. for crewmembers the missing after a cargo ship capsized off the u.s. state of georgia the 200 meter long whistle reportedly caught fire shortly after leaving the port and rolled on its side of origins are investigating what caused the ship to overturn. thousands of people have marched in bosnia's 1st ever pride parade in the capital sarajevo went off peacefully despite fears of violence prompted by muslim groups who had organized counter rallies near is the last balkan country to introduce pride march as to its annual events calendar. and the hurricane that ripped through the bahamas has made landfall on the east coast of canada now downgraded to a tropical cyclone dorian whipped up waves and flooded water from areas the storm is lashing the coast with strong winds and pouring rain knocking out power in hundreds of thousands of homes offi

sudan's newly appointed prime minister abdullah abdullah has announced his cabinet is the 1st since the military ousted president omar al bashir in april includes 4 women and as part of a power sharing agreement between the military and the pro-democracy movement docs priorities include tackling the ailing economy and reaching peace with armed groups . the death toll from hurricane dorian will be staggering says the bahamas health minister at least 30 people are confirmed dead but thousands more are missing now downgraded to a category one storm dorian is currently threatening the u.s. state of north carolina. on a state visit to china german chancellor angela merkel has said that the freedoms of the hong kong people quote must be guaranteed after an official welcome at the great hall of the people in beijing michael met premier league and the to discuss the ongoing trade war between china and us said the dispute is having global consequences adding she hopes it can be resolved soon but it was her comments on hong kong that most resonated with merkel saying a peaceful solution to the te

abdullah abdullah has claimed victory in saturday's election and official results is yet to be released and counting is still taking place the independent election commission says it's too early to declare a winner tony berkley with the latest from kabul. mr abdullah said he got the majority of the votes but it doesn't necessarily mean he's got enough to become president to do that he would have to have 51 percent but it's hard to know where he's getting his inside information from so far 3750 polling stations have sent in their votes that and that accounts for about 2100000 people at the still another 750 polling stations that still have to send in their votes the actual interim results will not be known until october the 19th and then the final result will be announced on november the 7th to become president you need 51 percent of the vote if they know they can do it gets that then it goes to a 2nd round probably later in november but maybe mr abdel is posturing for his own supporters maybe has some inside information it just goes to show that a lot of people here believe in conspiracies they believe that this election has been rigged pretty much like the one in 2014 at that time mr abdullah won the 1st round of voting and then president danny w

but how do you see the situation developing ashraf ghani the 2 front runners ashraf ghani and abdullah abdullah have shared power since 2014 in a compromise which was negotiated by the former u.s. secretary of state john kerry if there is deadlock again do you see the american stepping in or will the afghans have to sort it out themselves this time round. yes it is a really critical question because you know i think it's it's clear that the united states is getting tired of its role in afghanistan if there is some good news if there's some progress i think that they will persist but a political crisis of particular something which led to some real you know civil disturbances would tip the balance in the us against continuing to assist off on this town so it's important they resolve this coming to the issue of they know whether there will be a 2nd round or not and this is down to they refer to that what i what i was able to pick up from the early results coming in is that it does look like a 2 horse race that they the minor candidates you know only seem to have picked up really a ask uttering of

the two main candidates, abdullah abdullah and president ashraf ghani, once uneasy partners in government, now election rivals.ecti there five years in power, a time of soaring violence and poverty. vertthe security forces re are n high alert.f the threat oe taliban looms over this election. these two were riously injured fighting the militants.er the former solhave lost >> about 20 of my friends from the army have been killed or injured. the government doesnt support us, our families.vo i want t for a different government. martin: can you show me your injuries? he was shot multiple times. he has had 19 operations andat spent a year and a half in the hospital. >> thereill be no future for afghanistan until the war is over, but it will take time. martin: after 18 years of war and three presidential votes, peace does not seem to be any closer.io previous ele in afghanistan have beeed by massive corruption. the government wants to use this vote to shore up its legitimacyi but how much legitimacy can an election have one large parts of the country are under taliban control, and many people ar

implicit criticism of the come president danny but not an endorsement of his main challenger abdullah abdullah one afghan expert says to the u.s. the process may be more important than the result for the traffic ministration they are simply looking for a candidate that wins the election and is free if and fair a possible way as possible they want to have a president that is seeing with credibility and legitimacy by the afghan people it's very unlikely that's going to happen with donald trump insisting he has no intentions of restarting the peace talks in afghanistan and the new initiative will have to come from whoever wins the presidential election there and that means for the time being the war continues and so does the cost in money and lives alan fischer al jazeera washington. donald trump's ukraine envoy has resigned after being named in a whistleblower complaint that sparked an impeachment inquiry into the u.s. president that's come as democrats in the house of representatives issued a subpoena to the secretary of state they want to hunt of the documents relating to contact with the ukra

abdullah abdullah who have shared power says 2014 but the election which has been delayed twice is taking place after talks between the u.s. and taliban collapsed earlier this month the taliban has refused to negotiate directly with the afghan government tony berkley is in kabul with more details on the attacks. within 3 hours of the polling stations opening there were at least 4 attacks on polling stations in or around them in afghanistan by the taliban the most serious one was in kandahar where there was an attack from inside the polling station we are told a u.s. is a reporting that at least 16 people were injured but no details about how that attack happened whether it was a suicide bomber or a mortar fired 3 other stations in around have been attacked and targeted north of kabul no details about what was used and no details about casualties so far and also one in helmand province where a mortar was fired near a polling station but nobody was injured the taliban have closed highways they are threatened people that they should not vote they've said they will target polling stations and that may have had an effect on voting i'm at a polling station in central kabul if you can picture the situation 5 years ago at the last presidential election there were queues of people here waiting to vote now today in the 1st 2 hours i'm surprised if more than 200 people have actually voted people here are one intimidated but 2 they are very disillusioned with the political situation in afghanistan 5 years ago there were made lots of promises about improved economy improved security reducing the levels of poverty and reducing corruption none of that has happened so people here are very disillusioned and they may be voting with their feet but when the votes are counted even if there is an outright winner is still going to be problems here because afghans will probably have afghanistan will have a problem in accepting who actually wins but you can see in the ballot box here just a handful of ballots 3 hours after the polling station opened and that may be indicative of the malays that sweeping afghanistan as far as the political situation is concerned the united states says saturday's election in afghanistan must be credible transparent washington's had a military presence there for 18 years as we mentioned talks between the u.s. and talib. fell apart just weeks ago i'm officially looks at what lies ahead for u.s. afghan relations. 18 years more than $4000.00 american deaths and $800000000000.00 spent donald trump wants to significantly reduce the american military footprint in afghanistan there are $14000.00 troops there no but the threat from the taliban remains significant one former u.s. ambassador to kabul says the u.s. is still there because each president looks for a quick way out by my count we have had 9 changes of policy in the 18 years we've been in afghanistan we don't convey consistency to anyone when we rethink our policy every 2 years so i have a problem with that the trumpet ministration but there was trouble palmer 5 changes of policy in the obama administration. afghan president ashraf ghani campaigned 5 years ago on the idea of peace talks with the taliban but he was sidelined as the group met negotiators in qatar a deal was close but in the week of the anniversary of the $911.00 attacks in the us donald trump called an end to the talks. first i'm concerned that they thought that they had to kill people in order to put themselves in a little better negotiating position this administration has threatened to withhold $100000000.00 in funding to afghanistan alleging government corruption and mismanagement in the run up to important presidential elections that has been seen by some as an implicit criticism of the cum president danny but not an endorsement of his main challenger abdullahabdullah one afghan expert says to the u.s. the process may be more important than the result for the travel ministration they are simply looking for a candidate that wins the election and is free if and fair a possible way as possible they want to have a president that is seeing with credibility and legitimacy by the afghan people it's very unlikely that's going to happen with donald trump insisting he has no intentions of restarting the peace talks in afghanistan and the new initiative will have to come from whoever wins the presidential election there and that means for the time being the war continues and so does the cost in money and lives alan fischer al jazeera washington. the u.s. special envoy to crane has become the 1st casualty in a widening impeachment inquiry volcker quits after being named in a whistleblower complaint it accuses the white house of trying to cover up a call between president donald trump and ukraine's leader. reports. a few subpoenas landed at the u.s. sta

a current president ashraf ghani and the courage chief executive the sort of prime minister abdullah abdullah. what do they teach them for well they have been in government together now for 5 years apparently they they don't want to be in the next government together again i think has been difficult as been a difficult ride for them during these last 5 years. and i think it's a mixed balance i mean there's lots of progress in many areas you see how afghanistan has the infrastructure for example has progress i mean it's really kind of amazing what has happened there on the other hand i think there is a new young generation especially the urban elite that is very close to the current president and he's he's got many young people into government young professionals while the law i mean he's he's been in afghan politics for many use. and. i think he also has a lot of supporters and involved there and then also marius with some of the former warlords but at the end of the day i mean to have been in government together briefly when it comes to campaigning. campaigning in afghanistan is it about the

incumbent president ashraf ghani and chidf executive abdullah abdullah, who are partners in the current unity government, are expected to lead the field of 18 candidates. if no candidate gets 51% of the vote, a second round between the top two vote-getters will be held. preliminary results are not expected before october 17 and final results not until november 7. we'll have more on the election and what's next for afghanistan later in the program. the kingdom of saudi arabia unveiled a new visa scheme yesterday that will open the ultra-conservative country to foreign tourism. the plan allows for stays of up to 90 days and marks the first time that foreigners may enter the country for the sole purpose of tourism. citizens of 49 countries will be eligible for visas that the t kingdom hopes will help diversify its oil-reliant economy. but saudi arabia warned future visitors today that it will issue fines for 19 offenses related to public decency, such as immodest dress and public displays of ction. the tourism announcement came just days before the one-year anniversary of the murder of jou

so it's likely to come down to just 2 men incumbent president as afghani and chief executive abdullah abdullah their results will be announced on november 7th tony about the reports from the capital. city in lock down the streets of kabul almost deserted on election day because polling stations open the biggest and tightest security operation ever in the capital was under way the taliban had warned people not to vote and it didn't take long before the group carried out its threats. encounters there were attacks around the city aimed at disrupting voting roads were blocked and lines of communication cut a mortar round was fired into the grounds of a school use a polling hospital confirmed civilians had been killed and a number were injured elsewhere the taliban launch more attacks to north of kabul one in helmand and one in one go hard province no casualties were reported but a number of people were injured in a blast at a kandahar polling station it didn't deter some others from voting a lot of them despite all the hardships and violence we haven't lost hope we have to vote and think about fut

and his main challenger, doctor abdullah abdullah, conveyed a similar message.ay's vote a success? from a security point of view, yes. but the taliban threats worked. voters didn't turn out. taliban threatened particular, certain objectives for them. they were going to attack the sites, they were going to make targeted attacks in cities. but today, they failed to do it. but if voter turnout is as low as predicted, how much legitimacy will the next afghan president have? martin patience, bbc news, kabul. we will have more on the results of those elections in the coming weeks. houthi rebels in yemen claim they have captured thousands of troops, including several saudi army officers, along with a large number of vehicles and weapons. a spokesman for the houthi movement said a three—day operation was carried out near the border with saudi arabia's najran region. there's no independent verification of the houthi claim. it comes two weeks after the iran—backed rebel group claimed responsibility for an attack on major saudi oilfacilities responsible for more than half

considered a two—horse race between the current president, ashraf ghani, and his power—sharing rival, abdullah abdullahelection in 2014 was marred by massive corruption. this time, the government is desperate to claw back some credibility, with biometric fingerprint readers and better training of election officials. in spite of the security concerns, 5,000 polling stations are expected to open, including in remote hillsides where donkeys have been used to transport ballot boxes. a strong turnout is needed to give this election legitimacy but fearfulness and apathy could make that unlikely. we can now speak to bbc afghan reporter shoaib sharifi — as we were seeing their it is a backdrop of violence and fears of corruption that will be very much at the forefront of people's minds during these elections? yes indeed. both the security authorities as well as the afghan independent elections commission have got a most dealer track difficult as today, the abilities both of which have been marred by insecurity as well as literally corruption in every single other, fraud and corruption, elections we have had si

and his main challenger, doctor abdullah abdullah, conveyed a similar message.curity point of view, yes. but the taliban threats worked. voters didn't turn out. taliban threatened particular, certain objectives for them. they were going to attack the sites, they were going to make targeted attacks in cities. but today, they failed to do it. but if voter turnout is as low as predicted, how much legitimacy will the next afghan president have? martin patience, bbc news, kabul. the headlines on bbc news: we're not going to the headlines just yet. doctors are heralding an extraordinary transformation and the treatment of a deadly form of skin cancer. ten years advanced melanoma receivers —— was seen as untreatable but a clinical trial shows half of patients are now surviving for at least five years. the drugs involved target the immune system and are already available on the nhs. helen science correspondent reports. pam smith is alive and well, but it's been more than five years since she had the devastating news that her cancer was untreatable. an aggressive melanom

considered a two horse race between the current resident, ashraf ghani and his power—sharing rival, abdullah abdullahection was marred by massive corruption in this time the government is desperate to claw back some credibility with biometric fingerprint readers and better training of election officials. in spite of the security concerns, 5000 polling stations are expected to open, including in remote hillsides where donkeys have been used to transport ballot boxes. a strong turnout is needed to give this election legitimacy but fearfulness and apathy could make that unlikely. jon ironmonger, bbc news. a huge crackdown by egypt's security forces has prevented mass protests from taking place in the capital, cairo. there were online calls for demonstrations against alleged corruption by president abdel—fattah al sisi. instead, it was the leader's supporters who staged rallies in his defence. human rights groups say nearly 2,000 people have been arrested since protests began last week. sally nabil reports from cairo. it has been a quiet day in cairo so far, although there were calls for huge anti—govern

the two main candidates, abdullah abdullah and president ashraf ghani, once uneasy partners in government and poverty. the security forces here are on high alert. the threat of the taliban looms over this election. nawrooz and ahmed were seriously injured fighting the militants. the former soldiers have lost faith in their government. translation: around 20 of my friends from the army have been killed or injured. the government doesn't support us or our families. i want to vote for a different government. can you show me your injuries? ahmed was shot multiple times. he has had 19 operations and spent a year and a half in hospital. translation: there will be no future for afghanistan until the war is over. but it'll take time. after 18 years of war and three presidential votes, peace doesn't seem to be any closer. previous elections in afghanistan have been marred by massive corruption. the government here wants to use this vote to shore up its legitimacy. but how much legitimacy can that election have, when large parts of the country are under taliban control, and many people are simply t

the two main candidates, abdullah abdullah and president ashraf ghani, once uneasy partners in governmentng violence and poverty. the security forces here are on high alert. the threat of the taliban looms over this election. they were seriously injured fighting the millitants. the former soldiers have lost faith in the government. translation: around 20 of my friends from the army have been killed or injured. the government doesn't support us or our families. they wa nt to support us or our families. they want to work for a different government. can you show me your injuries? he was shot multiple times. he's had 19 operations and spent a year and a half in hospital. translation: there will be no future for afghanistan until the war is over. but it will take time. after 18 years of war and three presidential votes, peace doesn't seem to be any closer. previous elections in afghanistan have been marred by massive corruption. the government here wants to use this vote to shore up its legitimacy. but how much legitimacy can that election have when large parts of the country are under taliban

and his main challenger, doctor abdullah abdullah, conveyed a similar message.ay's vote a success? from a security point of view, yes. but the taliban threats worked. voters didn't turn out. taliban threatened particular, certain objectives for them. they were going to attack the sites, they were going to make targeted attacks in cities. but today, they failed to do it. but if voter turnout is as low as predicted, how much legitimacy will the next afghan president have? martin patience, bbc news, kabul. sethjones is an afghan analyst at the think tank the center for strategic and international studies. he explains why this election is so important. primarily because this is the still the country with the largest number of combat forces in a war zone for the united states. and with the president of the us, donald trump wanting to leave, a lot then hinges on the due to a sea of the afghan government. the elections are one way to test that. given what you've said them, who do you think the white house will be hoping as the winner in this election? i'm not sure the

the two main contenders are ashraf ghani, the current president, and abdullah abdullah, who was madel coverage of the vote, here on bbc world news. so dojoin us so do join us then. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: photos capture what a world without mobile phones would look like. watch out — there's a lot of staring into space. in all russia's two mile it has not quite come to this. resident yeltsin said that they would decide the nation's destiny. the nightmare that many have it for so long as playing at its final active. russians are killing russians in front of a grandstand audience. it was his humility that course of action from many catholics around the world. but his departure is a treasury for the catholic church. it is a's right winger ariel sharon on visited the compound and that started the trouble. he wants israel to have sovereignty over the homesites. an idea that is unthinkable to palestinians. after 45 years of division, germany is one. in berlin, a million germans celebrate the rebirth of europe's biggest and richest nation. this is bbc news, the latest

and his main challenger, doctor abdullah abdullah, conveyed a similar message.ay's vote a success? from a security point of view, yes. but the taliban threats worked. voters didn't turn out. taliban threatened particular, certain objectives for them. they were going to attack the sites, they were going to make targeted attacks in cities. but today, they failed to do it. but if voter turnout is as low as predicted, how much legitimacy will the next afghan president have? martin patience, bbc news, kabul. the white house has restricted access to transcripts of some of president donald trump's calls with foreign leaders. that's according to us media reports. officials say notes about calls to leaders including russia's vladimir putin and the saudi crown prince have not been handled in the usual way. it comes as an impeachment investigation into president trump over his administration's dealing with ukraine, is gathering pace. our north america correspondent, peter bowes has more. well, the significance is that it really exposes two sides of the story, that accordin

candidates to become president are the incumbent, ashraf ghani, and the country's chief executive, abdullah abdullaheth jones, an afghan analyst at the think tank the center for strategic and international studies. why is this election important? this is still the country with the largest number of combat forces in a war zone for the united states, and with the president of the us wanting to leave, a lot then hinges on the legitimacy of the afghan government, said the election is one way to test that. who do you think the white house will be hoping will emerge as the winner in the selection?” house will be hoping will emerge as the winner in the selection? i am not sure the white house is necessarily hoping there is a winner, but what the white house is doing is that the election is clear cut, and that afghans generally accept the winner. there may be concerns about fraud, there has been violence, but generally they accept the outcome, and that's what most people hoping for.” the outcome, and that's what most people hoping for. i mentioned the colla pse people hoping for. i mentioned the collapse of