with is not an option when, when most people are holding the powerful to account as we examine the us, his role in the world on al jazeera. ah, this is al jazeera ah, hello taylor, this is david. is there news? i live from london coming up more than 50 of afghanistan, 370 districts have fallen since the beginning of the un envoy to afghanistan warns that the taliban looks poised to move in as soon as foreign troops complete their withdraw. spain pardons, 9 capital and separatists trailed over,

failed independence bid and move by the prime minister as very accountant to ethiopia as election reports of new fighting in the northern region. and you disco, threatens to put it on its endangered list. if it doesn't make it back on cruise ships permanent. i'm devin asked with bought england go through to the last 16 of 20. 20 is when it's the scotland all knocked out by croatia over $60000.00 found to be allowed to attend the final at the torment at wembley, despite growing concerns over the rise of covey. cases in the u. k. ah, united nations is sounding the alarm after new and sustain true forced by taliban fighters, which is taking the afghan army by surprise. the un special envoy for us got on. so the group has taken more than 50 districts in the past month. it appears to be

moving out of its southern strongholds and making gains further north. as foreign troops pull out. only on tuesday, taliban fighters captured the main border crossing was to jackie stone. i'm sure there was the magic editor james bay's report. the security situation in afghanistan has been deteriorating for years. but what the security council heard in this virtual session was the most grim briefing. yet i cannot restate to the council my concern regarding the present situation in afghanistan. in recent weeks, taliban activity has been focused on a number of key provinces. these pictures from couldn't dues in northern afghanistan where the provincial capital couldn't do city looks at risk of being surrounded. special representative lions said the un believes this may be a deliberate strategy. more than 50 about ghana, stan, $370.00 districts have fallen since the beginning of may. most districts have

been that have been taken. surround provincial capitals suggesting that the taliban are positioning themselves to try and take the capital. one person i fully withdrawn the taliban deny they were responsible for many of the recent attacks, but african astonished foreign minister heath at mar, told the council they are behind them. and it's a clear breach of that deal with the u. s. under the production energy our only the wes fire to signing especially by the united states troops withdraw the master who was in school with car axles. just sending files

off the president biden announced to pull out of us troops in april. his secretary of state antony blinkin, came up with a plan to build on the talks and doha, with the peace conference and it's done. bull. so the taliban and african government could work together. that plan now lies in tatters and most timeless, believe the african people who suffered for decades of war, and now lightly to face an intensified conflict. un experts preparing for a major humanitarian emergency, james bayes al jazeera. no one is electra in politics and international relations at university college and she joins us. scott, thanks very much for being with us. how significant using these advances are by the taliban. well, learn the advances that we've seen this week. our significance there are significant in terms of where they're taking place,

hitting up by the northern borders beyond the normal strongholds of the taliban in the south, in the east. and also the scale of the attacks earlier this week, killing at least 20 a week commandos from the afghan national army. and then today, taking the border crossing which is quite significant. as we've heard, these are again coming on the tail of a much wider offensive across the country with a tower been now expected to hold over more than 20 or more than more than 50 districts. but again, these, this extensive offensive in the north is notable in itself and the u. n. a warning also that it could mean that they could go in to take a take regional capitals at difficult. would it be for government trips to retake these now that foreign troops are pulling out it's going to be very difficult. and as we heard the taliban is positioning themselves in a way that they will probably be able to take many of these provincial capital. when all the forces do withdraw, the afghan national army so far has not been strictly successful against the

taliban. they've ex estimated to have surrendered about $26.00 spaces already. they cannot count on the advantage of air power that they had in the past, which the us and nato forces provided. so while the decision to withdraw the forces was made with the idea that the african national army would be able to. so in that gap so far that has not been the case. and what on in this context, what are the prospects for potential piece talks? it's really difficult right now. lauren, these talks have been slow installed from the start. as we heard the taliban decline to attend to summit, that was attempted to be convened by turkey. back in april, there was a meeting between the 2 contact groups earlier this week in june by did did not get much further than just talking about plans for meetings, nothing substances in terms of proposals. all we have heard from the taliban is a plan for more business law mac model that, that, that's going national government probably wouldn't go for. so they're really quite

sticking point right now. what about other groups? i mean, is some suggestion last year from the us that kind it was effectively bedded within the taliban. and we've, we know that i saw has also been active. how big presence of a with this is certainly one of the key concerns for the united states. and one of the main points in the peace agreement that was initially negotiated was that the taliban would cut ties with or with isis or other groups that are operating there. what we've seen more recently, however, is that there was times i've not been caught in many times. it seems that they've been consolidated. and so there is a concern that in addition to the stabilizing of afghanistan's internal functioning, that other parts of the country could become a sort of haven for terrorist groups to regroup and cause a regional or even international havoc as well. what do you think the policy will be from the bottom administration because they said that they would continue to support africa and not, but not military. so what form will not support

a well, what we've heard from the administration so far is they plan to continue economic humanitarian, diplomatic support for our dentist span. that of course, includes pushing for the piece, talks needed, as well as planning to continue training and funding for security forces. but the u . s. is still planning to withdraw our troops as well as our contractors. by september 11th, the pentagon did indicate today that they might rethink the pacing of that withdrawal. so far that pace had been very quick somewhere, estimating that all a troops might even be withdrawn by mid july. and there might be some rethinking of now, given these escalating attention even beyond what was expected, talk to judy norman from latoya johnson. thank you very much indeed for don't to us . thank you. coming up on the news hour from london, iran. the next president vows to defend his country's interests and dignity. and his 1st feature of the nations. a kinda that drifting across vintages near the

rockies or to pfizer. but who will stop the toxic gas has bought highlights from tuesdays action at the euro's whizzing. and i think look at stages as group when i spain socialist, lead government is approved pardons for 9 casual and independence leaders. they were jailed over, they rose in the failed attempt to secede from the rest of the country in october 2017. so deeply controversial move and a huge risk for the prime minister petro sanchez. tony goes claims, a tentative olive branch, loaded with consequences. the spanish prime minister has been pushing hard to revive talks with catalog separatists and hoping that a pardon for the movement 9 imprison leaders can open the way for dialogue. we are responding to mother to the spanish government has taken this decision because it's

the best for capital lonia. and that's the best for spain and correspondence to the spirit of harmony and co existence in the spanish constitution. yeah, it's not without opposition. sanchez finds himself in the middle of a story outside of colonia. it is deeply unpopular, more than 60 percent of the country against the move and parties from the center to the hard right. have capitalized on that discontent. but the procession is movement . the pardon do not go far enough, the capital and lead a said only an amnesty would be acceptable, as he could call to continue the fight for independence. but 1st water, it's time for an amnesty on the right to self determination. it's time to agree on the referendum. it's time for a solution to achieve more internal consensus. yeah,

the illegal independence referendum in 2017 treated. the biggest political crisis of the country had seen in decades. the 9 session of leaders was sentence in 2019 for their roles in the vote, including catalonia, the vice premier, spain supreme court, which oversaw the trial has also rejected the pardons. as it says, those sentences have shown no remorse. while the ruling is non binding, it could be cited a possible future legal challenges in the constitutional court, which could send the 9 back to prison. the difficulty for the process session is to argument is that while it is very vocal, it is still in the minority in catalonia, being part of pain is still just about the preferred option that mr. sanchez's dilemma is that he is leading a minority government and can ill afford to squander the support in the parliament . he also needs the support of catalan nationalists parties. their leaders know that this piece offering will be extended by the prime ministers,

opponents. it is an enormous gamble, yet those determined to move on say the pardon. i'll be the only way to repair the deep divisions that still linger between the 2 sides. so did i go out there, or at least 11 police officers, a dead and 4 missing in book in a fast. so they were ambushed by gunman on monday in the town of via grew only 7 officers known to survive the ambush. only this month, at least a $132.00 people were killed in an attack on a village in the countries the region residents in. if europe is t gray region, say new fighting has fed up in recent days, north of the regional capital mckelly. these you can ministry has denied report that fighters loyal to the former regional ruling party, had entered several towns in the region. residence 80 grand forces had entered at the grat, leading to celebrations before more in your opinion, a trans soldiers came back into the city. clash has come

a day off to people in the region were not able to participate in national elections. no date has been set for the polls. the ministry has been fighting local forces since november last year. when one of his prime minister branded monday's election, a success despite many virtues in the country's comfort zones being left out of the process. i'll be a man, said the po was in his 1st attempt at free and fair elections. but as roaches await provisional results, some opposition groups, a court crying foul. they say ballot boxes were tampered with and their staff attacked well, having to do has no from i just have a on men's chances he seems to be on his way to winning his foster popular monday t a in a few up in 2018 when he came to power, he was selected by he's party that had to be of coalition, but in that country then, and i'll be desperate to get

a profit monday because this country is riddled with so many problems from the conflict integral to ethnic troubles in several hope for the course that can treat many of the supporters and people in these, but the believe that with a popular mandate, he will have the legitimacy he need to little decisively with if you use a problem. of course, in most calling sessions across the country for 35 minutes be he's leaving for the position. i'm making headway in albany areas like the capital. i'm about part of town and other parts of the country and they seem to be happy with that. but there have been problems with the pulses and position, but in the rural areas, how find hundreds of complaints including some about company with electro material that actual commission say it is investigation, goes allegations around the next president says,

you put the needs of his people 1st abraham races 1st big speech was light on detail, but sets the tone for the next 4 years, including how he plans to interact with foreign powers dosage. barry has more from terror on a warm welcome for iran's 8 president elect. in his hometown of measured at the embers of shrine. crowds had gathered to hear what their newly elected leader abraham, right. you see, have to say on the issues that affect them hard about all. not a racy spoke for a little more than 30 minutes. and most of it was religious in nature. but he did have a message for the people of her on that cottage. he have a job shuttle him at domestic politics, domestic policy, and foreign policy. the focus should be on the dignity of this nation. and the focus should be on the fact that in any negotiations, the dignity of this nation should not be hurt in our domestic policies. in foreign policies, in the kinds of interactions that we're going to have with any countries in the world, the focus is the protection of the dignity and prestige of the iranian nation can

all map. this was races 1st address to the nation. although it was short on specifics he had made promises to address the problems facing iran. he said his administration will focus on justice, respect, and dignity to improve life for a rainy. and he also promised to insure a mass vaccination against covert 19. as soon as he takes off earlier on tuesday, the current government of president has sandrani responded to comments made by us officials who called fridays presidential election manufactured and neither free no fair. man is that a c. c minus on a miss from a political point of view, we consider the statement as an example of interference in iran's internal affairs . and that can be international law. we can dimmitt the u. s. government is not enough to comment on the electro process in iran or any other country, but 48 percent of eligible voters participated in the presidential election. which

officials consider a respectable turn out. despite that figure being the lowest ever for presidential vote, abraham racy managed to get nearly 18000000 votes. while presidents, a life will take office in early august, it's clear the challenges the faces will be many. he's already made large sweeping promises including fighting corruption, improving the country's economy and maintaining your own best interests in negotiations with wes. but it's not clear yet if you will be able to deliver on his promises. dorsen safari, al jazeera to her on her own, says a number of state linked news. websites have been seized by the u. s. government. this is the message preaching anyone trying to look at the english language press tv site or the arabic alarm channel. the yemeni who rebels, satellite news channels also targeted. the message says, the f b i and department of commerce have taken control. neither has acknowledged it,

but to us government source has told the wishes you use agency, that there is a statement you nature on this. but in meantime, we're joined by former us assistant secretary state p. j. crowley. thank you very much for joining us. why would the us do this at this point? do you think the time is a significant i don't think the timing is significant. the united states has been fighting disinformation for a number of years. you know, russia, china and iran are all countries of concern. we have got a new president in iran and he's made some quite sort of if you're not cod line statements in relation to the us already, could there be an element of positioning to i doubt it. i think we've got, you know, multiple things happening simultaneously. you know, going back here to, you know, 2016 where russian interference and the presidential election really brought this

issue to the 4. and the night states has been aggressively pursuing these sites that, you know, that hide their connection to foreign governments. you know, ever since and, you know, working the government, working in cooperation with your social media, whether it's facebook, google, you know, twitter, etc. so i think this is happening on, on one element. and obviously you've got, you know, the foreign relations between the united states and iran, the are the vienna talks, and that's going on in a separate orbit and the own, the how effective a musician like you to be does shutting down websites in the past. it's been a useful way of dealing with, with things well, you know, for example, president biden recently talked with president tutoring. and the issue of disinformation certainly came up as part of that. you know, the states and ron, do not have diplomatic relations. so it's very hard to have a similar kind of conversation, but obviously this is also something that you're going back to the obama

administration. president obama had expressed concerns to president easing pain about china's activity. so again, this is something that, you know, the ice age government has been pursuing aggressively for a number of years where the source of the disinformation is china, russia, iran, or another government. how difficult or balancing at to is it for the button and instruction to be on the one hand saying, you know, we want to get back into the need to deal with the wrong. but on the other hand, you know, these here or problems in dealing with them. is there a sort of how difficult is it to square that circle? well, i, i think, you know, one starts with the assumption that countries will pursue, you know, their own self interest. you know, for example, you know, we have concerns about china and yet china is a major trading part of the state. so we have the ability to do more of more than one thing at the same time. and with countries like china, russia, or iran,

you know, you'll have areas of competition, areas of conflict and areas of potential cooperation. you pursue each independently, pay rally. thank you very much indeed for your thoughts. thank you. you're quite welcome. now, if you're in a small town in southern iraq, say pollution from oil production is killing them. they're blaming the process of gas flaring when oil is extracted and excess natural gas is burned off. releasing c o 2 and methane iraq government is investing billions in attempt to use the gas for electricity. but not sure go name reports from the bathroom region. when you say it's already too late, people living in the village of butler take visitors here. they say gas flaring from oil production decimated their generations old palm trees leaving behind nothing but trunks. when we met the village elders, they said every one,

know someone who is diagnosed with or who has died from cancer. so i know i already have cancer and only god helps me. we continue to be worried about families and loved one off the bus for health department in southern iraq says the pollution from oil production is making people and animals in the area sick. the rocky high commission for human rights says, due to the high rate of cancer in basra, it's demanding the government work with oil companies to combat pollution. that is, faculty for 6 or 7 years every 2 years. there is some charlene political, german security, german gas. it's long term investment. it can you some stuff on the t and it needs some cash come, which meant the world bank ranks. iraq, number 2 behind russia when it comes to gas flaring, instead of polluting the air, the gas could be recovered and sold or used to generate electricity for millions of people. the bus or gas company is investing $3000000000.00 to do just

that. at the romanella oil field, iraq's largest dana think that the iraqi government can do or it's neighbors can do to create in a stable environment is good for capturing more gas and for creating a better environment for the iraqi people. the people of butler say the land, their families have been tied to for 200 years is toxic, and they wonder how many more of them will get sick before the government can help them. natasha game l. jazeera bus from iraq. israel has allowed to some exports from gather to resume a month after the truce that ended its 11 day offensive on the territory. these already, governments, as the measure is conditional on. but the situation that remains stable, agricultural products and clothing were the 1st goods to be met through is really forces are expelling supporters of palestinian families in the occupied east

jerusalem neighbourhood of shake gera. it's part of an ongoing crackdown on people protesting against the threatened force displacement of dozens of palestinian families from the homes to make way for israeli settlers, stephanie deckers, that this tiny street in the neighbourhood of shakes in occupied jerusalem really is a microcosm of what is happening on the ground here when it comes to the expansion of settlements of israeli settlers. jewish settlers taking over areas of policy and want for example, this, this is occupied easters and nationally recognize as occupied. this is a place that policy is want, isn't as a capital of any future state. now, this is a house. it's already been taken taken over by its radio couplers. and then just on the other side of the street, you have a house that is a palestinian home, but that is already being shared. so you have a one part time listing, and one part where it is ready, sacramento, often you have is ready, police guarding that. there is one of the main complaints here. the policy is that

they are not allowed to have anyone visit down the street. that doesn't live here, it's very different for when it comes to those who want to visit these ready settlers. and also they say that the police really protect the couplers when it comes to the really tension we've seen on the ground here on and off for weeks on. and they are prevented from here at all. so you're saying that only the member of the cabinet is to come in, but the others are not allowed to see that we're talking about women of the know nothing here is dangerous or nothing you got anything to do with. if you're this is you're not in general, so i'm going to it's an area which is not occupied. you should be able to pass. but you see when we are dealing with the new community becomes occupied when you should becomes open. if there is anything close parts out, this is the 4th at the heart of the issue also is the fact that is really law

protects and actually allow for these kinds of things to happen. so basically, you look at the legality of why these houses have been taken over. it's because it's been ruled that this land was owned by a jewish trust over a 100 years ago, but couldn't say they don't have the right to the same kind of legal recourse. the people that live here had to leave their homes in 1948 when the state of israel were established and now with them facing eviction. they say that they don't have the same legal recourse to be able to claim what they say is, rightly there are more so to come this hour, including me. and if you thing this video, it means my house is being rated and i've been to the price paid by anyone opposing nicaragua as president a warning this year's election. would it be free or fair? an angry response from australia as a un panel recommends the great barrier reef be added to its endangered years live play with new time wasting technique. that story coming out

a hello. we got the burning heat continuing across eastern parts of europe, clear skies here. so temperature is getting well up into the thirty's for that western side of rush, a very different story from the west. we got cloud and rain coming through, but at least temperature is just nothing up in the right direction. i am pleased to say lossy to ride for the british charles as we go on 3, whether they wet weather will slide across island into western parts of wells, west pulse of scotland. have you right there, continuing through central and southern parts of france joining up with some wet weather that we have across the paradise and pushing a little further east. we'll see some showers just breaking out in napoleon just around the baltic states. still a few showers there just around the black sea a more of the same as we go on through thursday. notice by thursday,

sides of some wet weather coming into the northwest, germany looking pretty unsettled with some sundry downpours further south. it warms up madrid, getting up to 26 celsius as a bit more like it. fine and dry, cross much of southern europe, and dry to cross northern africa. very hot in tripoli. 45 degrees celsius. very wet surround the gulf of guinea. see some very heavy rain that just around cameron pushing across a good part of nigeria, the shower say yes, then very much of west africa popping up for liberia and also sierra leon. the in the next episode of science in a golden age, i'll be exploring the contributions made by scholars during the medieval period in the field of chemistry, they transformed the superstition of alchemy into the science of chemistry. many of his chemical procedures, all those which we use today. oh wow. science and

a golden age with professor jim and and i'll just 0. most people will never know what's beyond these. don't the deafening silence dolls and how it feels to touch danger every day. most people will never know what it's like to work with. every breath is precious, with fear is not an option. but when most people oh a

tough stories, you know to 0, c u. n is sounding the alarm on afghanistan saying the telephone is taken more than 50 districts in the past month. as far as troops withdraw earlier it's fighters captured, i got a song main border crossing with keystone. spain's socialist lead government is approved. controversial pardon for 9 capital and independence leaders. they were jailed over their rows in the failed attempt to secede from the rest of the country in 2017, and residence in syracuse to region say new fighting has flared up in recent days. north of mckelly and ministry has denied reports, particularly enforces and to several towns. it comes a day off to the region was excluded from national election. that can be no free and fair election in nicaragua later this year. if suppression of the opposition continues. as the finding of a new report by human rights watch, it says the rest the pos.