china has reacted angrily after president biden ordered afresh inquiry into the origins of the covid outbreak. suggestions that the pandemic began as a result of a leak from a chinese laboratory are persisting — beijing says us intelligence has a dark history of spreading misinformation. belarus�*s diversion of a passenger plane and the arrest of an opposition journalist on board is to be investigated by the un civil aviation agency. the forced landing of the plane and the detention of roman protasevich has caused international outrage. his mother is asking for international help to release him. the united nations human rights council has agreed to open an investigation into this month's conflict between israel and the militant group hamas. hamas has welcomed the decision. but israel is describing it as a moral failure.

now on bbc news — �*0ur world' reports from 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. announcer: khalil, fatima. cheering.

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. artillery. 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 reporter for 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 lashkargah 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. 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 t0 l0news channel. she witnesses violence on a daily basis.

despite losing colleagues to targeted killings, anisa and her fellow journalists 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'sjust a political settlement between the strongmen. a peace process would mean healing, transitionaljustice and listening to the victims, and nothing like that is happening. farahnaz forotan was at the talks, reporting for itv, 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, 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. ...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 her fan 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 thejournalists, human rights workers, and civil activists of tomorrow.

hello there. we saw plenty of sunshine today, and it felt much warmer across the board than what we've been used to this month so far. there are some subtle changes overnight. we've got a weak weather front pushing into western areas. that's going to bring the thicker cloud to many, but also outbreaks of rain across the west, initially for northern ireland, and then that rain will spill its way eastwards through the night across western scotland in towards western england and also western wales. there'll some mistiness and murkiness around, too. but the further east you are, although there will be more cloud around, it should tend to stay dry here. those temperatures no lower than around 8—11 degrees for most, so milder than last night. so, here we go —

here's the pressure chart for friday, then. we've got this weak weather front across western areas pushing into high pressure, so that's always going to weaken it. so, it looks like the rain out west will slowly peter out through the course of the day, but could stay rather grey, damp and misty here. further north and east, we'll see the best of any sunny spells and dry weather, but where the sunshine does appear and pushes temperatures close to the 20 celsius mark, then we could see the odd heavy shower developing, particularly in towards east anglia. and temperatures not as high as what we've seen today. now, for the bank holiday weekend, though, we're going to see lots of sunshine around, particularly for england and wales, as high pressure continues to build in across the country. for saturday, there will be a legacy of cloud left from that weather front, so patchy cloud and sunny spells sums it up nicely. maybe the odd shower mixed into there, but most places will be dry. where you get the sunshine, temperatures reaching the low 20s celsius again. further north, where skies stay cloudy, then the high teens celsius. for sunday, though, i think it looks sunnier across the board. little bit of fairweather

cloud bubbling up through the afternoon, and there will be light winds as well around this area of high pressure, so it's going to feel much warmer than what we've been used to. 22—23 degrees across the south, 20 celsius there across parts of scotland, too. now, for the bank holiday monday, we'll see this weather front push in from the north—west, affecting the north west of scotland, parts of northern ireland. but for the south and east of scotland, much of england and wales, it's pretty similar to sunday. plenty of sunshine, light winds and feeling warm — in fact, even warmer. we could make 2a—25 degrees across the south or the south east. and it stays fine, settled and sunny, particularly for england and wales as we head through the first week ofjune. temperatures holding up at around the mid—20s celsius across the south east.

this is bbc news, i'm ben boulos. our top stories. the growing row over the arrest of a belarusian journalist whose flight was diverted — as a un agency investigates, his mother asks for international help. i beg you, i ask you for help. i call upon you to save roman, save my son. china warns the us as president biden orders a fresh inquiry into the origins of covid, and suggestions of a chinese laboratory leak persist. has the recent fighting between israel and hamas revealed fault lines in america's relationship with its main regional ally? and shedding light on dark matter — scientists map out the most enigmatic substance in the universe.