hello this is bbc news. the headlines. two doses of the main covid vaccines used in the uk are found to be highly effective against the indian variant of the virus. belarus forces a ryanair plane with an opposition activist onboard to land in minsk, sparking condemnation from the eu there are reports tonight that the leading black lives matter activist sasha johnson is in a critical condition in hospital, after being shot in the head. officers attended an incident in the early hours of the morning in southwark, south london. police say at this stage there is no evidence it was a targeted attack. government ministers deny claims by the former downing street adviser dominic cummings that they pursued a policy of herd immunity in dealing with coronavirus last year.

a mountain cable car has plunged to the ground in northern italy, killing at least 1a people. the eurovision winner's lead singer agrees to a drugs test after speculation over this competition footage. now on bbc news, afghanistan is in the grip of a new and sinister campaign of violence, in which young professionals — often women — are being deliberately singled out, targeted and murdered. all the victims were working to build a country based on democratic values. the government blames the violence on insurgent groups like the taliban, who have their own agenda ahead of the withdrawal of us troops later this year. speaking to families who have lost loved ones, those who have chosen to leave and those living in fear, our world asks what impact this tactic will have on the future of afghanistan. this programme contains scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.

afghanistan is in the grip of a new and sinister campaign of violence. young professionals are being deliberately targeted and murdered. it is suspected that the killings are the work of insurgent groups like the taliban and is, who are targeting people, often women, trying to build their country based on democratic values. this year, the united states will withdraw its troops. peace talks have so far failed to reach an agreement and the government accuses

the taliban of using violence as leverage, but the taliban deny involvement. the fear is that if these targeted killings continue, the democratic gains of the last 20 years could all be lost. this school, for children with learning difficulties, was born out of tragedy. it was opened in the name of fatima �*natasha' khalil, a human rights activist. aged 2a, she was targeted and killed.

natasha was born in pakistan. one of seven children. the family were refugees, fleeing taliban violence during afg hanistan�*s civil war. natasha spoke six languages, and after graduating with a double degree from university in kyrgyzstan, she returned to afghanistan to decide on a career.

all the time, her ambitions was that she wants to work somewhere in a war zone. and then i would always tell her, well come home, you don't have to go somewhere else. her big goal, of course, were that she wanted to be the secretary general of the un. natasha gotjob with the afghanistan human rights commission. she was the youngest so we were the least worried about her. this was herfirstjob. she was just there to start her life. she was so excited. she would always say,

lima, this is the real thing, this is real life. at 7:30, on the morning she was killed, natasha was picked up by a government car to go to work. within minutes of leaving the house, a bomb attached to the car exploded. both she and her driver, ahmad jawid folad, were killed.

natasha's killing is part of a chilling new tactic by insurgents who identify and target individuals for murder. the victims are all people working to rebuild the country after decades of violence. they are often young and women. they are the generation of social media, they are the generation of internet. they are educated. they don't know how to not be connected to the world. this new generation whose life is like going outside, wearing whatever they want to wear and saying what they have on their mind.

but the targeted killings have shocked and frightened many of them. just months before natasha was killed, in the gulf state of qatar, the united states had been talking to the taliban. as we speak, the united states is also working to end the war in afghanistan and we are bringing our troops home. after 20 years of fighting the taliban in afghanistan,

by now america's longest war, both the us and the taliban wanted american troops out. with the afghan government excluded, the us and the taliban struck a deal with each other on the terms of withdrawal. the taliban promised to reduce violence, not to attack us troops and to start talking to the afghan government. mike pompeo: first, keep your promises. | in exchange, the americans promised to get taliban prisoners released and crucially committed to pulling out all their soldiers 14 months later, on may the 1st 2021. that deadline would define the year ahead. helmand is the largest province in afghanistan. it was the site of the most amount of fighting between the taliban, and american and british troops. it remains a taliban stronghold.

elias daei was an award—winning reporterfor radio free europe, well known for his bravery. aged 14 when american troops arrived, he was 33 when he was killed. on the morning of his death, elias was travelling in the capital lashkar gah when a bomb attached to his car exploded.

elias lived with three generations of his family. the youngest, his two—year—old daughter. her name meant kindness. as part of the us—taliban deal, the taliban had committed to reducing violence. in the weeks leading up to his death, elias reported on a new taliban offensive in helmand. soon after, his house was searched and the day before he was killed, he sent a text to a colleague believing his life was in danger.

elias is one of 12 journalists individually identified, targeted and killed since the us taliban deal of february 2020. journalists are the eyes and ears of people. they are the voice of people. ruling powers are always very uneasy and uncomfortable with this, particularly despotic regimes. like the taliban, for example, who didn't even allow tvs back in the days when they were ruling. so, silencing journalism is silencing the whole population.

but elias would not be silenced. no—one has claimed responsibility for elias�*s killing. the taliban deny involvement. most targeted killings go unclaimed by any group. unknown armament is the phrase being used but my understanding is that there is a lot of indication that the taliban are party to these assassinations. there is also an indication that there are additional groups that are also a part of it.

the authorities say they are working hard to capture those responsible. every saturday, government officials update the press on investigations. anisa shaheed is a famous tv journalist working for the popular to lonews channel. she witnesses violence on a daily basis.

despite losing colleagues to targeted killings, anisa and her fellowjournalists continue to work. they are uncertain exactly

who is behind the attacks.

back in doha, the taliban and afghan government had started direct talks — one of the commitments in the us taliban deal. there is one priority for me as an afghan and that is really to see any effort through non—violent means that can end this current bloodshed and this current armed conflict. my personal view, not representing even my family because ijust don't want their life to be in danger. ijust have this problem even calling this process a peace process because it's not a peace process, it's just a political settlement between the strongmen. it's just a political settlement a peace process would mean healing,

transitionaljustice and listening to the victims, and nothing like that is happening. a news channel in kabul. she is well known as an activist in helmand and has a social media campaign called myredline. she travelled the country asking people what they could and could not accept in a peace deal — their red lines. at the talks in doha, farahnaz interviewed a member of the taliban. attracted a lot of media attention.

she was not wearing a veil and this attracted a lot of media attention. two months later, she got a call saying she was on a hit—list, her life was in danger. she's now living in the united states. like dozens of young professionals fearing they could be targeted, she left afghanistan but it was not an easy decision.

at the start of the year, a new american president took office. preserve, protect and defend... ...the constitution of the united states. so help you god. so help me god.

congratulations, mr president. the question on everyone's mind was with no political solution in sight, would the new president stick to the may one deadline to withdraw troops? meanwhile, in afghanistan, three television interpreters were killed in the capital jalalabad, the capital of nangarhar, which suffered the worst of the surge in targeted killings. within days of each other, three health workers, a doctor and a police officer were also killed. they were all women. nangarhar had already suffered the loss of malala maiwand, a well—known presenter at enikas tv. she was a role model for young women who wrote herfan mail.

the attack on malala was claimed by the so—called islamic state. in her murder, afghanistan lost another person standing up for women's rights, and a family lost a loved one.

the white house has now announced the withdrawal of troops will be delayed by six months to the symbolic date of september 11. the future of afghanistan now rests on the talks between the afghan government and the taliban. but with no settlement in sight and if targeted killings continue, the fear is that the next generation may be just too intimidated to aspire to become the journalists, human rights workers, and civil activists of tomorrow.

hello. if you're out and about this evening, be aware, we've still got some heavy rain and lively wind. by tomorrow that will be stuck across the north of scotland and instead, plenty of heavy showers and gusty wind, even hail and thunder, will follow on. this is the low pressure that's brought in the rain and strong wind. as it sits across the uk tomorrow it will throw further showers our way. some pretty heavy rain for a few hours for many of us. some lively wind and showers following. through the evening and overnight, the low pressure and the weather front becomes confined to northern and central scotland. we'll have a scattering of showers elsewhere. fairly cool overnight, particularly i think in central areas like northern ireland,

with the light wind and clear skies here with a touch of grass frost. showers packing into the west on monday, soon extending further east. the weather front sitting in the north will give a rather wet day to northern and central scotland, after the early sunshine in shetland goes north. after the bright and chilly start in northern ireland it will extend its influence here, too. perhaps some of the driest weather, southern scotland and northern england. for much of england and wales, slow—moving, heavy downpours, hail and thunder. the wind will pick up in the south and west later, as it will end the north and west. it is cool for the time of year butjust a notch up on those today. tuesday, the low pressure still influencing the uk. a lot of showers across central and eastern areas, perhaps an area of rain pushing close to the south, tuesday and wednesday, with another weather system pushing south. so we're going to be plagued by weather fronts again this week. still some heavy showers, heavy downpours, hail and thunder on tuesday. perhaps less frequent further south and west because we got the approach of this little area of rain. temperatures, a bit more brightness and sunshine, therefore a little higher. higher again as we go

through tuesday into wednesday. we've got the northerly wind across scotland again. fairly cloudy conditions near the north sea coast. disappointingly cool here. with more sunshine elsewhere, fewer showers. we may see the mid, high teens. still some heavy showers to come through the week ahead with hail and thunder but it looks like as we approach the end of the week it will be drier and therefore with a bit more may sunshine to offer, temperatures will start to creep up. we'll keep you updated. bye, bye.

a push for people to get both covid vaccine doses — as a study shows high protection against the indian variant. as lockdown eases, the rise of the variant has been a worry. it is already the dominant strain of the virus in some areas. at the same time, ministers reject claims from a former downing street advisor of a "herd immunity" plan at the start of the pandemic. at the time of a crisis, when government is making very, very tough decisions, difficult decisions, we put public life and protecting the public at the forefront of all those decisions. we'll look at the latest data and what it suggests for the weeks ahead. also tonight: a ryanair plane is forced to land in belarus amid claims of a bomb on board, but was it just a ploy to detain a dissidentjournalist?