donald trump has blocked the release of a democratic party memo, rebutting claims of alleged anti—trump bias in the fbi's russia probe. the white house says the memo "contains numerous properly classified and especially sensitive passages", and for this reason, the president was unable to declassify it. us officials say they're considering what action to take after two british jihadis were captured in syria. alexanda kotey and el shafee el sheikh were part of a team of four british is members who the americans say killed 27 hostages. the families of their victims say the fighters should face trial. uber has settled its legal battle with the self—driving car company waymo. the dispute was over allegations that the ride—hailing app, stole trade secrets about waymo‘s self—driving technology. as part of the settlement, uber has agreed to give waymo shares in its firm worth about $245 million. now on bbc news, our world. for nearly a0 years, afghanistan has been in a constant state of war. how has this affected the mental health of its people?

afghanistan has been at war for nearly a0 years. a conflict that has claimed over two million civilian lives. they are from 40, 50 years ago, and itjust really shows how long war has been going on in this country. and the cost to the nation's mental health has been enormous. it's estimated that three quarters of afghan women and more than half the men sufferfrom mental health problems. with rare access to the country's only secure psychiatric unit and one of the largest hospitals, i meet the medical staff trying to deal with the mental health emergency. and the patients traumatised

by decades of conflict. herat, in western afghanistan, is the country's third largest city. as war continues in much of the country, the demand for mental healthcare is also skyrocketing. this is the psychiatric unit in the city's main hospital. i've come to meet dr wahid noorzad who, at 33, is the man in charge. azata is m years old and has been brought in by her mother.

like many other young afghans, traumatic events have been a big part of azata's childhood. dr noorzad suspects that azata is suffering from ptsd — post traumatic stress disorder — a type of anxiety disorder triggered by traumatic events, often seen in soldiers. ptsd is increasingly common amongst afg hanistan‘s war ravaged population. social taboos around mental health make it difficult to get patients

through the door and that's why dr noorzad takes every opportunity to reach out to the public. at a local herati tv station, dr noorzad is being interviewed. he's a regular guest and gives mental health advice to people who call in. dr noorzad holds a weekly outreach programme, an opportunity for more people to get help, it's free and has been running forfour years. farhad is a trained counsellor and a volunteer who runs the sessions. farad himself suffers from ptsd

and is also a patient of dr noorzad, but unlike the majority of afghans suffering ptsd, he's seeking professional psychological help. a very recent traumatic event led to farad getting ptsd. 0n the 1st august 2017, two men walked into the jawadia mosque and opened fire on 300 worshippers gathered for evening prayers. they then detonated their suicide vests, killing 38, including farad's teenager brother, hossein. dozens of others were injured.

jawadia is a shia mosque and that's why it was targeted. sunni militants like isis and the taliban regard the shia as heretics. farad comes here every day. for him, the trauma of the attack is still very raw. photographs of the 38 victims, some as young as two years old.

all are given the title ‘shaheed', meaning martyr. crying ghulam haider sobhani has been the imam of this mosque for the last 25 years, he was also here on the day of the attack. speaking to the imam, the challenge faced by dr noorzad and his team becomes clear. the taboo around mental health is rooted deep within the culture. for many afghans, war and violence have been a constant presence. more than 2 million civilians have

been killed since the soviet union invaded the country in 1979. herat even has its own museum dedicated to war. these are really old, mostly russian weapons and ammunitions and they are from 40, 50 years ago, and it just really shows how long war has been going on in this country. i mean, we hearfour decades, but seeing these really makes it more tangible. the soviets‘ withdrawal in 1989 was the start of a ten year—long civil war. this led to the rise of the taliban, who continue their bloody insurgency to this day, funded by a booming opium trade. 2017 saw a bumper opium poppy crop in afghanistan.

perhaps as a form of self medication for the trauma of war, many afghans use opium. an estimated 10% of the population is now addicted to the opium poppy derivative, heroin. some of these addicts end up here, at the country's only secure psychiatric unit. it's home to about 250 men and 50 women, many of whom are suffering from drug induced schizophrenia and psychosis. mohammed essar is a former member of the taliban. mohammed davood is a former member of the mujahideen. both men were drug addicts and suffer from ptsd and were sent here by their families. without a resident psychiatrist, the unit relies on outside help. dr saljoochi is the visiting psychiatrist.

the most dangerous patient, alli, is kept isolated from everyone else after biting off a staff member's finger and the ear of a fellow patient. many patients‘ families have left for neighbouring countries because of war and cannot be contacted. jaffar is here because of depression and schizophrenia. this led to an out of control drug habit and later to violence. he was sent here by his parents. like so many other patients here, jaffar is well enough to go home,

but he's not sure when he can leave. through a locked metal gate is the female section. about 50 women live here, some with their children. some have been here for years and look likely to stay. a couple of days later, i've come back to the psychiatric unit because i've heard some news about jaffar. after three years at the psychiatric unit, jaffar really is going home. jaffar‘s dad has made the 800km journey from kabul to collect his son. back at herat‘s main hospital,

azata, the 14—year—old we met earlier who was diagnosed with ptsd, is back to see dr noorzad for her first follow—up appointment. for azata, the long journey to recovery is just beginning and she's lucky to have her family's support. for farad, the volunteer counsellor who we met working with dr noorzad,

recovery from his ptsd seems a long way away. the trauma that took his brother away is still too recent and raw. farad's recovery is being aided by the treatment and friendship of dr noorzad. at the local football stadium, we've all come to watch a game together. seeing these players run around today, it's easy to forget this stadium's dark past — an execution ground during the reign of the taliban. seeing the scale of the problem, it's hard to imagine how and when the country will heal, but there is hope. the effects of recent decades of war on people's mental health

is being recognised and some help given, and it's clear that many afghans are determined that they and their country will overcome the trauma of war. hello again. most of us saw some sunshine yesterday, but there were also some wintry showers out and about. the highlands looked splendid, didn't they? after the recent snowfall here and clear blue skies as well. but looking ahead to the weekend's forecast, not so much sunshine to go around on saturday. sunday sees the sunshine return, along with some snow showers. it'll become windy for a time this weekend. here's the satellite picture. it shows an area of low pressure, a curl of cloud racing

towards the british isles, and this cloud is going to be moving in, bringing a band of rain with it. and that rain is going to be quite heavy over the next few hours, turning readily to snow — even low down across parts of eastern scotland. i think we will see things turning rather wintry. the other thing you'll notice if you're out and about first thing is how cold it feels. yes, we're looking at a widespread frost and a risk of some icy stretches first thing. now, looking at the weather in a little bit more detail through saturday morning. the snow across scotland, well, five to ten centimetres possible over the higher ground. it will tend to transition back to rain as milder air works in from the west as we go on through the early morning. further southwards, for wales and south—west england, it's just rain that will fall really. and after that cold and frosty start across east anglia and south—east england, bright with some sunshine, but then the cloud moves over that cold air. it's probably one of those mornings where temperatures will be very slow to rise across parts of eastern england. not really rising significantly until we get into the afternoon, when the winds pick up and we will start to see the threat

of some light rain working into east anglia and the south—east. quite a range of temperatures, turning mild in the south—west. highs up to 11 degrees. we still have the cold air hanging on across northern scotland, where we'll also have some bright weather with some sunshine. now, it's six nations again this weekend and both at dublin and also twickenham, the threat of rain. probably the rain heavier at twickenham as the evening progresses. now, looking at saturday night, a windy spell of weather looks on the cards thanks to this area of low pressure. i've just drawn the fronts in, and it's around the southern flank of this low pressure that we could see the winds being particularly strong. gales seem likely. gusts of wind 50 to 60 miles an hour. it could be a bit stronger than that across parts of the east, it just depends how quickly this area of low pressure develops. either way, as we get into the first part of sunday, that area of low pressure will be working across to cause problems in the continent. we are left with brisk north—westerly winds, that will drag in plenty

of wintry showers, most of them snow inland. towards the coast, there could be a bit more of a mix of rain and sleet. there will be sunshine between those showers, but it will feel chilly, highs generally around three to five degrees. it looks quite likely that we will see another spell of heavy snow for the hills of england, northern ireland and scotland monday night. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is nkem ifejika. our top stories: after the historic 0lympic handshake, south korea's president holds talks in seoul with the sister of north korea's ruler. president trump blocks the release of a document which rebuts claims of anti—trump bias in the fbi's russia probe. us officials consider what action to take after two british jihadis are captured in syria. families of the victims say the fighters should face trial. uber reaches a settlement after a blockbuster trade—secrets trial, with counter—claims of sinister business practices.