for militants who killed at least 95 people in a suicide attack in kabul. it says the bombing on saturday was carried out by a taliban—linked network. islamabad has previously denied supporting afghan militants. water levels are continuing to rise along the river seine in paris, following some of the heaviest rain for a century. the river's expected to reach six metres higher than usual. sections of the louvre museum have been closed, some basements have flooded and tourist boats are no longer operating. at least 1a people have been killed by gunmen at a nightclub in north—east brazil. the attackers arrived at the club in fortaleza in three cars during the early hours of saturday. local media said they were part of a gang involved in drug trafficking. now on bbc news: hundreds of industrial towns across russia face extinction. once the pride of the soviet union, many have been abandoned and millions have lostjobs and homes after the collapse

of their local industry. the government now has a plan to save at least some of russia's dying towns. jenny norton reports for our world from eastern russia. once the pride of the soviet union, hundreds of towns which helped to power russia's industrialisation are under threat of extinction. failing industries, a falling population and the sheer vastness of this country mean many places have been abandoned. often leaving remaining residents in squalid conditions. nearly one in ten russians now live in places whose long—term future

is at risk. the situation is so serious that the government has come up with a plan to try to save at least some of russia's dying towns. to explore kadykchan is to step back in time to the glory days of the ussr. a time when life was good for industrial workers and their families. like many towns in the russian far east, kadykchan was a mono town, a settlement built around a single industry. kadykchan was one of thousands of coal mines that powered the ussr towards its goal of becoming

the greatest nation on earth. in its heyday kadykchan was a good place to live, with its schools, cafes, shops and a cinema. vladimir voskresenskiy moved to kadykchan with his parents and lived in the town for 13 years. tatiana and gennady shchepalkin live and run a business 700 kilometres away.

they left kadykchan 20 years ago but they still think of it as home. soviet leaders came and went at coalminers were always referred to as the heroes of the soviet union. the first turn of coal was mined here in 1937 as part ofjoseph stalin's brutal push to modernise the russian economy. the first miners were labour camp prisoners but as the decade progressed, ordinary workers were attracted to the far east because they could double their salaries and get an apartment for theirfamilies. it's hard to imagine this ghost town

was once a thriving place. the fall of coming is and the economic crisis that engulfed the whole country reduced demand for kadykchan‘s coal and as soon as the mine got into trouble, everyone suffered. in the end, it was an accident which dealt the final blow. on the 15th of november, 1996 a methane explosion ripped through one of the mines just as the morning shift was coming to an end. as their world came crumbling down,

everyone scrambled to sell up and leave. from one end of russia to the other, life in moscow couldn't be any more different. the government has acknowledged the vulnerability of single industry towns. it has identified 319 at risk mono towns and hopes a $450 million development fund can help them. definitely having one industry increases risks, that's why it's a story for each city to develop different incomes. the programme developed by this prestigious moscow academy aims to give local leaders a crash course in the skills needed to get their towns off the critical list. we have during a year and a half to educate all 319 cities and each

city sends us a team of five people. the programme combines governmental public services techniques but it's based on the business school approach. for people living in some of the remotest parts of russia, this is all a pretty big ask. but the message from the top is clear, if you want to turn things round, you have to do it yourselves. this region used to be the centre of the coal industry in the russian far north. but in the last 20 years it's lost half its population. local leaders have been in moscow

to take part in the mono towns programme and are developing a strategy to rescue this place. susanna is one of the last residents still living in one of the districts. most of sovetsky‘s residents left when the coal mine was closed down, leaving those remaining to fend for themselves. for civic leaders involved in the monotown‘s redevelopment programme, the solution to vorkuta's problems is to focus attention on bringing the city centre back to life. there is no infrastructure for the development of new areas and at the moment for keeping

people staying there. that's why they plan to renovate the city a lot. they plan to build their educational and entertaining centre and people will develop there small business enterprises. but outlying districts like sovetsky are not part of the regeneration plan. and for susanna's neighbour, anna, it has become an occasionally dangerous place to live. for anna, susanna and the other last remaining residents of sovetsky, the only thing to do is to wait for the local council to rehouse them. but it's clear they are not on anyone‘s priority list. re—inventing a new future for a city

built on coal will not be easy, all the more so when that city is in a remote and inhospitable part of the country. so why would the russian government even want people to stay in such a far—flung place? there are lots of patriots in the far east or the north who like living there, who are very interested in developing these traditional businesses there, so our idea is to give them possibilities. for the russian government it's important to try to maintain a population on the outer edges of the country, but not every place on the list of monotowns will survive. some that still have a viable local industry could bring workers in and out on short—term

fixed contracts. others will shut down altogether. some cities will be closed, but not closed as the government decides to close, but because people will leave them for better. up in the arctic circle, near the border with finland, is the town of kirovsk. from above it looks like a prosperous place, but the government says it's one of russia's most vulnerable monotowns. founded in 1929, its main business is mining, but kirovsk has also established itself as a popularfilm location. its dramatic landscape makes it a perfect stand—in for everywhere, from the american midwest to the russian far east. it's also ideal for people who like the outdoors. alyona danilova is a botanist

and keen cyclist. she's lived in kirovsk for most of her life. kirovsk was also hit hard by the chaos of the 1990s. it survived the economic crisis because it has another incredibly valuable asset — massive deposits of apatite, an ore used in agricultural fertilisers. phosagro, the company that now owns the mining business here, dominates kirovsk. it employs one third of the local workforce and has funded much of the infrastructure. it's also trying to diversify the local economy. to encourage the tourists to come, they've even reopened the local airport. but again, it's dependent on phosagro. if this plan is to work there will be challenges. the last two decades have been a struggle and it's still not easy

to make ends meet. the 19905 also spelled the demise of the once grand kirovsk railway station. its ruined facade looms over the town. a reminder notjust of the past, but of how precarious the future could still be. could kirovsk go the way of kadykchan? it's tempting to see the parallels. if kadykchan relied on coal and the state, then kirovsk is no less dependent on apatite and phosagro. its reserves of apatite are expected to last for another 80 years. that's longer than the soviet union existed. but markets can be fickle and in russia politics has spelled the downfall of many a successful company. so could kirovsk survive without phosagro? on the other side of russia, vladimir has already had to come to terms with the unimaginable. all around him, every day, he's seen the ruins of the old soviet world he and his family worked

forfor decades to build. hello again, good morning. yesterday, we had some rain for a time, then we saw the cloud thinning, but we're going to see the cloud thickening up again, and more rain returning across northern parts of the uk on that weather front. that area of low pressure to the north, though, for a while has been bringing some very windy weather across northern scotland, the winds easing by the morning, and we'll have mild air all the way from southern parts of the mid—atlantic heading our way. this is tropical, maritime air, and it means a lot of cloud. across scotland, some rain. it won't be as windy by the morning across northern scotland. there will be some showers here, but rain across central southern scotland, and quite a soggy start probably across northern ireland. and some rain and drizzle over the hills of northern england, where it will be quite gusty in the wind. generally dry elsewhere across england and wales, mild and cloudy, but still very misty and murky over the hills

of wales and perhaps in the south—west, just for a while. for most of us, it will be a cloudy day, that rain still there for central southern scotland, improving conditions, though, for northern ireland. still a bit dreary over the hills of england and wales. on the whole, it will be cloudy and breezy, some gusty winds around. widely, temperatures about 12 degrees, even in the cloud. get some sunshine to the east of high ground and they could be even higher. a bit chillier across the far north of scotland north of that weather front there, which is bringing the rain actually across scotland. and the weather front takes the rain southwards overnight, and starts to arrive into england and wales on monday. and behind it, we start draw down some colder air. the really mild air getting squeezed away into the near continent. so some changes on the way. by monday, the rain could be heavier at times, moving southwards across england and wales. in the afternoon, it is more across southern england, and that's where we'll have the highest temperatures. eventually, we'll get some sunshine in wales and the midlands. sunnier skies further north, in that slightly colder air. the showers in scotland could be wintry over the higher ground,

but there's colder air to come later on in the week. chilly start, though, for tuesday, and maybe some frost around here and there. but some sunshine early, before things tend to cloud over, and it's going downhill right at the end of the day as we start to see some rain coming into the south—west. at the same time, some rain heading into the north—west. and so temperatures are little lower, 6—8 degrees fairly typically. those two weather systems bringing the rain sweep through overnight, then we draw our air all the way from the north and north—west, and that means it will be turning colder. it is also turning very showery, i think, on wednesday. there'll be some strong winds around, as well, and particularly for the northern half of the uk, those showers will be of a wintry flavour. it feels colder with the stronger winds. goodbye. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. our top stories:

the afghan government blames a taliban—linked group, said to be backed by pakistan, for a suicide attack in kabul that's left more than 90 people dead. paris remains on high alert as water levels continue to rise. the river seine is expected to reach six metres above its usual level. gunmen attack a nightclub in north—east brazil, killing at least 1a people. local media says rival drugs gangs were involved. and coming up: it's child's play. a portrait of the danish family that's inspired generations of builders.