after 17 years of war, following the 9/11 attacks, the taliban now control or contest nearly half of the country. but with afghan government forces still backed by the united states, the insurgents have been unable to capture any major city. the conflict is a bloody stalemate. yes, it was good... so the taliban are talking peace with america. and the man who has been leading the negotiations told me they accept there is no military solution to the conflict. occupying the whole country, taking the whole country by power will not help. because it will not bring peace in afghanistan. you do not want to have victory completely militarily. so we wanted to solve this on the table, in a peaceful manner, so that after the withdrawal of the foreign forces, there should be no fighting among afghans. there should be peace forever. parts of afghanistan have changed drastically since the taliban ran the country in the 1990s, when the ultraconservative group banned girls from education,

along with music and television. some fear progress could be sacrificed in a deal. the taliban say they want a more islamic constitution but would respect women's rights. all those rights which are accorded to islamic rule, also the afghan culture, afg hani culture, this will be granted to them. and this is their right. that is they can go to school, they can go to universities, they can work. america is tired of its longest war, still costing billions of dollars. donald trump is promising finally to bring it to an end. the taliban sense an opportunity to become part of the political mainstream. there are still major obstacles, not least the insurgents‘ refusal to meet the afghan government, who they dismiss as illegitimate. as one taliban official put it, peace can be harder than war. secunder kermani, bbc news.

it was a good night for newport county last night as they beat middlesbrough in the fa cup. it was also a doubly good night for newport county's goalkeeper, joe day, who had to dash off the pitch as soon as the game ended. our correspondent karen allen explains why. amazing stuff! it was a night of celebrations for newport county, as they secured their place in the fifth round of the fa cup. but goalkeeperjoe day wasn't hanging around. he was off for a double — or should i say treble? — celebration. off goes the goalkeeper to just check on his phone... about to get news that his wife had just given birth to twins. they came out 13 minutes past eight, sophia was born, wasn't she? yes. and 8:35 emelia was born, so i didn't know that at the time when i ran off the pitch at the end. so until i got in the car and rang lizzie, i didn't know what was going on. after an earlier false alarm, joe had urged his wife to hang on until the final whistle,

but as midwives offered full match commentary with lizzie in labour, there was no question of extra time. "these girls are not going to wait for him," and then they were like, "we're just going to have to get them out," so that was it was kind of like just they are not going to wait, they have to come out! twins sophia and emelia are already being hailed as club mascots for when newport county meets manchester city on february 16th. karen allen, bbc news. newsnight is getting under way on bbc two. here on bbc one, time for the news where you are. hello and welcome to sportsday.

i'm holly hamilton. coming up. manchester city return to the top for the first time this year with victory over everton at goodison park. emiliano sala's former club threatens legal action over his transfer fee while striker remains missing and presumed dead. and johanna konta holds her nerve to secure victory for great britain in theirfirst home fed cup tie for 26 years. hello and welcome to the programme. well they needed a win and they got it — manchester city beating everton

2—0 to return to the top of the premier league for the first time since december. let's for straight to goodison right now and our correspondent katie gornall. katie — what a difference a week makes. it almost felt inevitable this evening? yes, you could say that. this was really a ha rd —foug ht yes, you could say that. this was really a hard—fought game there. to everett and's credit much improved we can. they pushed city on the way. i was watching pep guardiola on the touchline and he looked a bit anxious but at the final whistle a huge smile on his face. in the post—match press conference he said at christmas we could have ten points behind, last month we could have been seven points behind. now we are top of the table. lacey messaging on this, he said, never give up. he is excited certainly didn't give up and this game because they scored virtually the last touch of each half. he their goal came with seconds to go in the first half. —— the first of all came with

seconds to go. it came from silva on the left—hand side. a brilliant hitter. back across and into the back of the neck. the second goal was really a lot of fans had left the ground and gabrieljesus on, 1— with pickford. slac makes it 2—0. the pressure is right back on the report. they go top in goal differnce but liverpool have a game in hand — this isn't overjust yet? it is not. i think it probably underlies what how compelling this title race has been. so far. we are talking about this and it is february. my attention now turns back to liverpool who can regain their place at the top of the table and a plate for on saturday. 2a hours before city play chelsea. they don't really play at the same time, liverpool and city. it will be one end and the other, so you get this

to and front of the main template potentially throughout the season. liverpool don't play that game until the last week in february when they travel to manchester united, who of course are in great form. always a good rivalry there, but when he came back and be with liverpool desperate to maybe put a bit of distance between themselves and city. a compelling title race of fire and safety now would be advantage, for another twitch disgrace. he keeps it interesting. thank you. meanwhile, in tonight's fa cup fourth round replay between west brom and brighton. it felt destined to go to extra time. it remained goaless in the first half and despite brighton looking more threatening after the break, it was kyle bartley who opened the scoring for west brom — under almost bizarre circumstances — casually hooking the ball into the net. but some poor defending allowed brighton to break even to take it to extra time... but it was glenn murray who was the hero for brighton — with two extra times goals to take his side into the fifth round where they'll face derby county next. manchester city women

are through to the final of the league cup after beating chelsea 2—0 in a thrilling semi final showdown tonight that takes them a step closer to their first piece of silverware this season. jo currie was there. tonight manchester city women's reach theirfinal in tonight manchester city women's reach their final in six years. it proved to be a tight affair. at the break, nikita put city ahead early on. paris dusted herself off, stepped up and scored a penalty and put city head. city dominated the second half. paris again, late on to double the need with this individual effort. city through to the final. it was unbelievable performance from each and every one of the 11. and he

steps on the the team, had so much passion to win this game and we wanted to go to the final. our game plan worked perfectly. wanted to go to the final. our game plan worked perfectlylj wanted to go to the final. our game plan worked perfectly. i think frustrated that we didn't convert when we thought we were dominant. we had enough chances in the first half, we didn't take them. make it one comment, concede a penalty. in these games we know the first goal is crucial. a missed opportunity for chelsea. yet another final for manchester city. tomorrow night we'll find out who they will be playing, as arsenal host manchester united for a place in that final on the 23rd of february. 10 currie reporting there. in the scottish premiership, rangers move five points ahead of aberdeen following a 11—2 victory at pittodrie this evening. it was a rather heated game that saw two players sent off... including alfredo morelos for the third time against aberdeen this season — not before scornig twice for the ibrox side though... sam cosgrove also scored twice for the dons — his second from the penalty spot just before the break. and with rangers still ahead — aberdeen searched for a leveller

but it wasjermain defoe who secured the win and move within six points of leaders celtic. elsewhere tonight celtic remain unbeaten in 2019 after a 2—0 win over hibbs 2—0 this evening. dundee fall three points behind 10th—placed hamilton who got their first win under brian rice. livingston though have ended their run of four defeats... and a fifth successive league game win for motherwell. the tragic story of emiliano sala, the argentine striker whose body is yet to be found following a plane crash over two weeks ago. he was en—route from nantes to cardiff after his £15 million transfer, today the bbc has learned that the french club has threatened legal action because they haven't received any of the fee yet. the bbc‘s wales correspodent is sian lloyd. attem pts

atte m pts to attempts to recover the wreckage of the plane and the body that has been identified as being still on board have beat been continuing out at sea today. but there is this development between the two football clubs who we re between the two football clubs who were involved with emiliano sala. you may remember that he left cardiff city's * striking. he was on his way from nantes in france to cardiff when the plane lost the radar contact. we have learned that na ntes radar contact. we have learned that nantes have made a demand of repayment of the transfer fee, to cardiff city, and that cardiff city have not yet made the first scheduled payment because they say they are unhappy with the documentation and that they need further clarification. it is also understood that nantes have threatened legal action against cardiff city unless payment is made within ten days. the bbc have approached nantes for comments. that

yet has not been forthcoming. i mixed this legal wrangle, this wrangle over money, you have to remember tonight that there are two families, that of emiliano sala and the pilot who are still desperately waiting for news. west ham are investigating after a video emerged of a fan racially abusing mo salah during monday's draw at the london stadium. he was filmed on a mobile as he took a corner with insults directed at his muslim religion. in a statement the club said anyone identified commiting an offence will face a lifetime ban. tennis now and great britain were victorious in their first home fed cup tie since 1993 after katie boulter and johanna konta helped them see off slovenia. britain's number one saved three set points in a tense first—set tie—break, before eventually beating dalila jakupovic 7—6, 6—2. earlier, boulter gave gb a winning start by overcoming kaja juvan 6—4 6—2. geraint thomas finished 20 seconds off the leader in today's individual

time trial at a race in southern spain, his first of the year. his last competition was at the tour of britain in september. he said on twitter after. not bad, not good, but as expected. but nice to be back racing. speaking before the start of this five stage race he said the year ahead is all about getting in the best shape possible to defend his tour de france title. i'm a decent enough. i've done a lot of work down in la. just build on that now all the way through some bigger, at least my initial goal in april. obviously going tojuly. maybe if i had won the tour last year it will be different, but being defending champion i thought i have to go back and if i'm going back i wa nt to to go back and if i'm going back i want to be in the best shape possible, so it is also at that. obviously the world in yorkshire as well at the end of september. july,

september, sort of like mind being goals. first week of february is not so goals. first week of february is not so much goals. first week of february is not so much pressure, goals. first week of february is not so much pressure, just sort of enjoying it. that's all from sportsday. coming up in a moment, the papers. did buy from me. thank you goodbye from me. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are grace blakeley, the economic commentator for the new statesmen and caroline wheeler, the deputy political editor of the sunday times. welcome to you both. many of tomorrow's front pages are already in. we can have a rifle through them before we start. the telegraph leads on european council president donald tusk, who said there was a "special place in hell... for those who promoted brexit, without even a sketch of a plan how to carry it out safely". the metro says his comments "stoke the flames" and use the headline "50 days until brexit.

and all hell breaks loose". mr tusk‘s comments also make the front page of the guardian, who call the row a "vicious war of words". the government's failure to secure "most" of britain's post—brexit trade deals — even if parliament approves theresa may's deal — infuriates business leaders, according to the financial times. "britain's shame" — the mirror dedicates its whole front page to homelessness, telling the story of a mum whose unborn baby died of the cold. the express asks... "how can a row over money deny them a longer life?", picturing children who they say have been denied drugs because of cost. and a man who spent four hours crossing the country to reach his injured mother arrived before her ambulance did, says the mail. mark clements caught a bus, two tubes and two trains to get