the latest headlines: this is bbc news, the headlines: emmanuel macron has called for a de—escalation of trade tensions at an informal dinner ahead of sunday's g7 talks. leaders will also try to resolve differences over climate change and brexit. the european council president donald tusk says it may be the last chance to restore harmony among leading industrial nations.

hundreds of new fires are raging across the amazon, according to official figures. more than 78,000 forest fires have been recorded in brazil so far this year — most in the amazon region. presidentjair bolsonaro has ordered the army in after mounting international pressure. police have used tear gas and rubber bullets to try and disperse anti—government protesters in hong kong. officers are also said to have charged at demonstrators with batons outside a police station. it's the 12th consecutive weekend of protests. now on bbc news — our world. for centuries, a significant sikh minority has grown in relative safety in afg ha nista n. but in the last decade, persecution has seen the population drop. sikhs have lived in afghanistan for centuries, but they are an embattled minority living in ghettos

and trapped in poverty. in a muslim country that is unstable and insecure, sikhs are targeted and discriminated against for their religion. and the violence is getting worse. i have returned to my homeland, afghanistan, to meet one of the nation's oldest communities. once a quarter of a million strong, now reduced to just 100 families. this is a community facing a dilemma over its very existence.

this is a district in the capital of kabul, it is home to one of afg hanistan‘s last remaining sikh communities. today is vaisakhi, the biggest day on the sikh calendar. it celebrates the birth of the religion, and commemorates the fight against persecution. i'm with narender singh, a teacher who has prepared the children for the big day.

the sikh community has never taken sides in the four decades of war and violence that have plagued afghanistan. but with ongoing troubles, this ethnic and religious minority has become ever more vulnerable.

we have arrived at the main temple, which is also called a gurdwara. sikhs have converged from all around the city and beyond. five children have the honour of representing the warriors baptised by the guru who led the sikhs‘ fight against indian persecution centuries ago. sikhs have lived here for centuries and have gathered and celebrated vaisakhi every year. through the soviet invasion, civil war and taliban rule. but this year, the big day is overshadowed by a deep sense of loss.

in the 1990s, the sikh community in afghanistan numbered around a quarter of a million. much of the country's trade and commerce was run by sikhs, and the community flourished. thousands would gather in the streets for religious events and whole districts were populated by sikhs. but today's community is estimated to be as few as 100 families. properties are empty,

and it is a risk to step outside. arinder singh is the sikh community's only member of the afghan parliament. he has an armed guard around the clock. inside the temple compound, or gurdwara, is a shrine to sikhs who were killed in a devastating suicide attack last year. the tragedy brought together the entire community.

suicide bombers had targeted an entire delegation of sikhs in the city of jalalabad as they prepared to meet the afghan president. the so—called islamic state claimed responsibility. arinder was among the lucky ones who reach hospital. 19 people were killed. the entire community leadership effectively wiped out. among the dead was avtar singh, who was the sikhs‘ representative through decades of war and champion of sikh rights. he was arinder‘s father.

but despite what happened to his father, arinder is in no doubt about his own future. but not all of the community share his outlook. most sikhs who have remained live

in compounds, barely venturing out. families of ten sharing two rooms. for many, staying means living in fear and poverty. but leaving may spell the end of their centuries—old community in afghanistan.

this man is desperate to leave, but his family has been plunged into a crisis that can only be resolved if he stays. he runs a store in a busy neighbourhood that used to be considered a safe part of kabul. it is a short drive from his brother ajit‘s business. two months ago, his brother was closing his shop at the end of the working day. but he never made it home.

all that was found was his parked car, empty. so, the shop is now closed and behind these little stalls you can see the sign, named rajinder... it means, "rajinder, lover of the country". he didn't want us to get out of the car. worried we would draw unwanted attention.

the family have reported the disappearance to the police, but there has been little progress in the investigation. back at the compound, his grieving mother waits. nobody knows if ajeet was abducted for his religion or his money. he wasn't a rich man but he had a life ahead of him.

afghans who have fought for human rights here see the intolerance and abuse aimed at the sikhs as a part of a wider, deeply worrying development.

but tomorrow's generation of sikhs have lives to build and today is another school day. the sikh community has one state

school in all of afghanistan. as non—muslims, the parents do not want the children attending schools where islam is the only religion taught. arinder singh is the school's deputy head. over the last two years, he has seen the number of students drop by half to just 30, the result of the worsening security situation.

despite dwindling numbers, afg hanistan‘s education ministry still provides teachers. this school is tiny, but the government has promised that even if there is just one sikh or hindu student left, they will still keep the school and the teachers. the school principal, who is muslim, used to teach afghan war refugees in iran.

now he teaches afghan sikhs in their own country. but in a country that is officially islamic, many sikhs say they are treated like second—class citizens. i have come to the powerful ministry of religious affairs. part of its remit is to help ensure that all of the country's minorities can practice their religion in safety. but officials here don't blame the problems faced by the sikhs on religious intolerance.

sikhs are not the only community to leave afghanistan after hundreds of years of shared experience.

i have come to herat in the far west of the country. there was once prosperous sikh and hindu communities here but they are now almost entirely abandoned. the city was also the centre of a large jewish community in afghanistan that had once flourished in the country for 1500 years. the last jew left here during the unrest of the 1980s in search of a better life in israel. the synagogue has been preserved as a monument to the generations who worshipped here. mohammad remembers the community from when he was a young man 60 years ago. back in kabulfor now there is a reason to celebrate.

a family is coming in from jalalabad for a wedding party. and the bride is the niece of empena. i'm very lucky here to be in the middle of a party, seeing afghan boys and girls, men and women, dancing under the same roof here in kabul.

the teacher, arinder singh, is conducting the ceremony. for the guests today, the wedding is about the joining together of two families. it is a sign of hope for the future of this community here in afghanistan. but arinder singh is not so upbeat.

days later, there is bad news. the body of caran singh‘s missing brother has been found. he has been murdered and badly tortured. two people have been detained by police but that is little consolation. the sikh community yearns for peace and stability. but in the face of tragedy, it becomes harder to stay and easier to decide to leave afghanistan forever.

hello there. the weather we had on saturday really sets the tone for the rest of the weekend. so good news if you like sunshine and you like heat. it was a beautiful day for the beach on cornwall on saturday. i think there will be more beach weather in places. and the temperatures on saturday afternoon got very close to 31 degrees just to the west of london. 29 there for aberystwyth, making it the warmest august bank weekend on record for wales.

but notice, northern scotland, it was a little bit cooler because of some extra cloud. you can see that rope of cloud on the satellite picture. it brought some rain across the far north west of the uk. that now clearing away northwards. but you can see some of this cloud also has been filtering in over recent hours into wales and the south—west. so these western areas will generally see some patches of cloud as we go through the day on sunday. further east, one or two mist patches early on. they should tend to clear and then we are going to see a lot of sunshine. more sunshine then we had during saturday across the north of scotland. although shetland could see some extra cloud rolling its way through the afternoon. as far as the temperatures go, well, 28 in glasgow, 32, possibly 32 and parts of the south—east. and it's going to feel increasingly humid as well. ans, actually, as we go

through sunday night into the early hours of monday, that humidity could well cause some areas of mist and low cloud and fog to form in western areas. could be some quite poor visibility, actually, in parts of the west as we go into the first part of monday. further east, some clear spells and just the odd mist patch. and those temperatures 111—15 as we start the day. so through monday there will again be plenty of dry weather and some spells of sunshine. but remember, that early mist in the west, some of which could take a little while to clear. we'll see this frontal system getting quite close to northern ireland and western scotland. maybe some rain into the western isles and some of the western fringes could see the odd showers. turning cooler in the west by this stage. but still the high 20s or low 30s across parts of eastern england. things though will be changing as we head into the coming week. through monday night into tuesday, could see some showers on this little weather front here pushing eastwards, then a more meaningful front starts to make some progress into the west. that'll start to thicken up the cloud into parts of northern ireland, western scotland, could see some splashes of rain here. the chance for the odd shower to break out elsewhere. if you do see a showers during tuesday could be heavy, could be thundery. but still the potential for some really warm weather,

especially across eastern areas. however, wherever you are across the uk things will cool off as we head deeper into the week. there will be some outbreaks of rain around at times as well, particularly across the north and west.

this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: the french president calls for a de—escalation of trade tensions — at an informal dinner ahead of sunday's g7 talks. brazil's armed forces begin a major operation to fight fires in the amazon. more than 40,000 troops are to be deployed across six states. it's a huge task for the troops who are supposedly reaching this region. this is a global crisis. because these are considered the lungs of these are considered the lungs of the world. prince andrew defends his former friendship with the disgraced sex offenderjeffrey epstein. the prince says he saw epstein once or twice