this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. fierce fighting in afghanistan — three cities are battling the taliban. the taliban already control vast swathes of rural territory in afghanistan. now they're really pushing in on a number of cities, advancing right to the heart of lashkar gah, capital of helmand province. more than a dozen aid trucks have reached the capital of ethiopia's war—torn tigray region. medical experts are warning that an oxygen monitoring device called a pulse oximeter works less well for people with darker skin tones. borisjohnson and his wife, carrie, have announced they are expecting a second child. their first child, wilfred, was born in april last year. and as jamaica's elaine thompson—herah takes gold in the olympic hundred—metre final, we'll look ahead to day nine of the tokyo games.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. we begin in afghanistan, where the taliban look close to be capturing their first key city. there's heavy fighting between the afghan military and the taliban in the centre lashkar gah, the capital of helmand province. afghan security forces in two other cities — kandahar in the south, and herat in the west — are also trying to push back the taliban offensive. the taliban already control large parts of the rural areas, but have been pushing to capture cities as foreign forces pull out of the country. meanwhile, hundreds of people have been fleeing their homes amid the fighting. our correspondent secunder kermani is in the capital, kabul.

this is the most serious fighting we've seen since this latest taliban offensive began. the group already had captured vast swathes of rural territory. now, they're trying to take their first city and earlier this evening, they made their way right to the centre of lashkar gah before being pushed back by afghan special forces. in the last few hours, a number of air strikes have been launched against taliban positions there, too. the fighting, as you say, has also been taking place around herat in the west of afghanistan and kandahar in the south. caught in the middle of this, of course, ordinary afghan families. tens of thousands of people have had to flee their homes in recent weeks and the international military mission here will formally come to an end by september with the taliban looking emboldened, peace talks stalled, everyone�*s worried that in the coming weeks, the violence is going to get even worse. professor patricia degennaro is a security and policy expert on afghanistan and the middle east.

shejoins me now. professor, what is the taliban's ultimate gold here —— goal? i professor, what is the taliban's ultimate gold here -- goal? i don't think it's a — ultimate gold here -- goal? i don't think it's a secret. _ ultimate gold here -- goal? i don't think it's a secret. they've - ultimate gold here -- goal? i don't think it's a secret. they've told - ultimate gold here -- goal? i don't think it's a secret. they've told us | think it's a secret. they've told us how great their goal is to mutate control of the country. i think since they have been overthrown or dismissed, basically, by the allied forces, their opinion is that they've been the legitimate rulers and they've been working over the last 20 years to retake what they feel is their place as the rulers of the country. feel is their place as the rulers of the country-— feel is their place as the rulers of the country. afghan security forces find it extremely _ the country. afghan security forces find it extremely difficult _ the country. afghan security forces find it extremely difficult to - the country. afghan security forces find it extremely difficult to fight i find it extremely difficult to fight the taliban without nato or the united states. what is your assessment of those forces? i think that's correct- _ assessment of those forces? i think that's correct. it's _ assessment of those forces? i think that's correct. it's very _ assessment of those forces? i think that's correct. it's very difficult - that's correct. it's very difficult to fight the taliban. they've been

reinforcing their own structures and their people as soldiers over time. they haven't gone away, they've been able to regroup, they've been able to continue to train and they know the country. they've done this war before, so they've been able to take several areas basically because there were shadow governments in place before now. they put a lot of that structure there. lashkar gah does not surprise me. they've been fighting for that back and forth with the current forces for as long as i started going there in 2005. so, i mean, ijust don't think that the forces were really trained properly to be able to fight in the regular warfare like they need to do in the current situation. that's a

disappointment from the last 20 years and how much money and time the allied forces in the us spent there. ., , the allied forces in the us spent there. , ., the allied forces in the us spent there. ., ., ~ , there. the way the taliban takes round, there. the way the taliban takes ground. does — there. the way the taliban takes ground, does this _ there. the way the taliban takes ground, does this come - there. the way the taliban takes ground, does this come down i there. the way the taliban takes ground, does this come down to| there. the way the taliban takes - ground, does this come down to that her knowledge of the tele terry, to the weapons —- her knowledge of the tele terry, to the weapons —— of the territory? i think it's all of the above. they have a lot of support, they have their own financial structure so they're able to support themselves financially as well as militarily. yeah, they know the region, they've been training for this and they have a lot of popular support from the young men, especially throughout the areas. that includes a lot of the refugees who still remain in pakistan and are coming back and supporting the fight.— supporting the fight. professor, thank ou supporting the fight. professor, thank you so — supporting the fight. professor, thank you so much _ supporting the fight. professor, thank you so much for- supporting the fight. professor, thank you so much forjoining .

supporting the fight. professor, l thank you so much forjoining us. the united nations food agency says more than a dozen trucks carrying emergency aid to tigray in northern ethiopia have reached the regional capital, mekelle. they were part of a i70—vehicle convoy stuck for weeks in the neighbouring afar region because of insecurity. some of the other trucks are also making their way to tigray. about 5 million people in the region rely on emergency assistance, with 400,000 living in famine conditions. vanessa tsehaye is a human rights activists and a horn of africa campaigner at amnesty international. she told me more about the situation on the ground. the situation's absolutely catastrophic. it's been like this since the conflict started, but as the conflict is entering its ninth month, it's just becoming worse and worse. and it has hundreds of trucks, but right now, they need 100 trucks a day to meet the need on the ground, which is not happening due to the restrictions to the region. we have access to the region and there are problems with bureaucracy, restrictions, security reasons. and then, there's problems within the region of attacks on staff, attacks on bridges that

are making it difficult to reach certain areas, and again, fighting that is making it harder to reach certain areas and refugee camps, for example, where they have not been able to access them for several weeks now. i mean, at this point, it's everyone. today, 90% of tigray's population is in need of food emergency assistance. over 100,000 children are estimated to die of starvation if the situation doesn't change, and of course, the refugees who are living in the area who already have to flee destroyed refugee camps — and some of them are still left — have not been able to receive any assistance as well in the past months and weeks. so, at this point, it's everyone living in tigray who are in desperate need of aid. there needs to be much more pressure of all actors of the conflict to allow full and unhindered access to the region. in the beginning, there was a complete blocked access by the federal government. we had more and more restrictions from the federal government, and right now, there are different factors creating this disaster that's happening. and so, pressure needs to be put on all actors of the conflict from

a security perspective, but also from bureaucracy and other kind of restrictions, to ensure that access is actually allowed. yeah, everybody needs to be putting pressure on all actors. let's look at some of the day's other news. there are protests across france for a third weekend in a row prompted by the introduction of mandatory covid passes. in paris, police have fired tear gas amid clashes with protesters, who claim the passes restrict their freedoms. the protests have also drawn support from the far left and far right. one of china's biggest celebrities, kris wu, has been arrested on suspicion of rape. earlier this month, a woman said he had assaulted her while she was drunk. since then, at least two dozen more women have come forward alleging inappropriate behaviour. mr wu has denied all the allegations. in southern turkey, president erdogan has been inspecting efforts to fight dozens of wildfires that have killed six people. he said security officials were investigating rumours the fires were lit deliberately.

the british prime minister's wife, carriejohnson, has announced she is pregnant. this will be the couple's second child together. announcing the news on instagram, carriejohnson also revealed that she had a miscarriage at the start of the year. she said: "i feel incredibly blessed to be pregnant again, but i've also felt like a bag of nerves." here's our political correspondent, nick eardley. carriejohnson's posted on instagram that she's expecting around christmas. remember, she and borisjohnson were married in may in that fairly small and secret ceremony at westminster cathedral. now they're expecting their second child in downing street around christmas time. it is pretty rare for prime ministers to have children while they're in office — i think there's only been four in the last 150 years or so, so it's quite a rare thing. but in this post that carriejohnson has put up on her instagram page, she's also revealed that she had a miscarriage

at the start of this year. ijust want to read you a particular point of it which she's put up, saying, "i feel incredibly blessed to be pregnant again, "but i've also felt like a bag of nerves. "fertility issues can be really hard for many people, "particularly when on platforms like instagram it can look like "everything is only ever going well." she goes on to say, "i found it a real comfort to hearfrom people "who'd also experienced loss, so i hope that in some very small way "sharing this might help others, too." so, happy news for the prime minister and his wife, but also some sadness in that post as well. and mrsjohnson saying that she hopes that by sharing her own experience, it might be able to help others. nhs england and the body that regulates health care products are issuing new guidance on pulse oxygen metres — also known as 0ximeters — after it was found that the devices can overestimate oxygen levels

in people with darker skin. with more, here's our health correspondent, amara sophia elahi. ranjit senghera marwaha caught coronavirus in december last year and eventually ended up in hospital with seriously low oxygen levels. so, basically, flip the lid, put yourfinger in... she had been monitoring her levels at home with a pulse oximeter, but the meter consistently told her she was in safe levels even as she increasingly struggled to breathe. when i went into hospital, the first thing they said was, "you really did leave it too late." had you left it any longer, i would have been straight into icu. there is growing evidence that such monitors can overestimate oxygen levels in people with darker skin tones by 2%. that's led to nhs england and the body that regulates the use of medical devices, the mhra, issuing new advice. they say people shouldn't use the devices at home without speaking to a medical professional and to monitor oxygen levels over time. low oxygen levels are a primary

indicator of a serious covid it was very easy to order an oximeter— it was very easy to order an oximeter online. it's not to say all devices _ oximeter online. it's not to say all devices will — oximeter online. it's not to say all devices will be affected by skin tone _ devices will be affected by skin tone or— devices will be affected by skin tone or that these devices aren't useful, _ tone or that these devices aren't useful, because they very much are, but it's_ useful, because they very much are, but it's making it culturally sensitive to diverse groups. low oxygen levels are a primary indicator of a serious covid infection and those treating patients in hospital say they've expressed concerns about the use of the technology on minority ethnic individuals. it's something i would pick up on at least once a day, - with maybe two or three | patients on a daily basis. it's quite possible that someone's oxygen levels were measured - and they seemed normal when, actually, they were truly low, . and because they seemed normal| they might have been sent home, and denied the steroids and oxygen which we would normally have - | been giving to patients, and it's| possible that that therefore may have led to them becoming morel unwell and potentially even dying.

oxygen is one of the most common treatments given in medical emergencies, and doctors stress accurate readings are vital when assessing patients. nhs england say they are keeping the situation under review and have commissioned further research into the issue. amara sophia elahi, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: heavy fighting is taking place in the centre of the strategically important southern afghan city of lashkar gah. a convoy of more than a dozen aid trucks has managed to reach mekelle, the capital of tigray in northern ethiopia. and borisjohnson and his wife, carrie, have announced they're expecting a second child. their son, wilfred, was born in april last year. millions of americans who rent their homes face possible eviction because a federal moratorium banning the practice ends today. the us house of representatives failed to renew the eviction ban on friday. it was introduced last year to prevent homelessness increasing

during the pandemic, as huge job losses left people unable to pay their rent. the census bureau says that many millions of renters are behind with payments, and about half fear eviction in the coming weeks. millions of americans who rent their homes face possible eviction because a federal moratorium banning the practice ends today. we will continue to talk about this. rachel siegel is the economics reporter at washington post and joins me live. hi, rachel. what practical impact will this have on people who are behind with the rent?— behind with the rent? there are so many peeple _ behind with the rent? there are so many people who _ behind with the rent? there are so many people who have _ behind with the rent? there are so many people who have not - behind with the rent? there are so many people who have not been i behind with the rent? there are so i many people who have not been able to compare it —— catch up on their rental payment, and they fear it's starting on monday, the moratorium on monday, there are so many people who are fearing eviction notices that will basically force them from their homes. this was a protection that had been in place since last

year, but there are many people who say given the continued amount of need, the lack of rental systems, as well as delta variant cases, the urgency is still so severe even with the moratorium expiring. who; urgency is still so severe even with the moratorium expiring. why would the moratorium expiring. why would the white house _ the moratorium expiring. why would the white house and _ the moratorium expiring. why would the white house and congress - the moratorium expiring. why would the white house and congress want| the white house and congress want people who can't pay their rent to be facing eviction notices? it’s a be facing eviction notices? it's a very complicated _ be facing eviction notices? it's a very complicated question - be facing eviction notices? it�*s —. very complicated question and one that my colleagues have spent a lot of time this week puzzling over. the white house essentially said it's hands were tied. there was a supreme court decision from a month ago that said the centres for degrees control didn't have the authority to extend it further —— centers for disease control. but it was only on thursday that the white house said they were not going to press for further eviction on their own, and kick the can to congress, which was totally unprepared to pass a new bill. what we've really been struggling with is

that this is not news. this need has been going on since the beginning of the pandemic. the need has continued, and yet when the deadline actually arrived, there was no plan to make people —— help people in need. d0 to make people -- help people in need. , ., to make people -- help people in need. i. , . to make people -- help people in need. , . ., ., , need. do you expect landlords en masse to serve _ need. do you expect landlords en masse to serve those _ need. do you expect landlords en masse to serve those notices - need. do you expect landlords en masse to serve those notices or | masse to serve those notices or would there be deals worked out when a landlord see the family has nowhere else to go? irate a landlord see the family has nowhere else to go? we don't know, and i think that's _ nowhere else to go? we don't know, and i think that's one _ nowhere else to go? we don't know, and i think that's one of _ nowhere else to go? we don't know, and i think that's one of the - nowhere else to go? we don't know, and i think that's one of the big - and i think that's one of the big questions that will follow once the moratorium expires. small landlords have not been able to collect rent and who are also supposed to be made whole by the billions of dollars congress approved to help people catch up on their payments. but it's unclear exactly what will happen starting monday in the weeks or months that followed. there has been focused on trying to do work that slow track addiction cases —— eviction cases so that the process of someone being evicted in court is slow down. but it's enormously open

question what follows from here. there's been a lot of attention on trying to meet people before this expires, i know we have to go to the next phase of. bud expires, i know we have to go to the next phase of-_ next phase of. and those peoples will be worried _ next phase of. and those peoples will be worried about _ next phase of. and those peoples will be worried about the - will be worried about the possibility of not having a home. more widely, how serious it of the problem is —— is the problem of homelessness in america? it’s homelessness in america? it's tremendous- _ homelessness in america? it�*s tremendous. it's gotten worse during the pandemic. encampments have grown since the pandemic began. advocates have been fearing an additional wave of homelessness once this protection lifts. there are shelters that have been preparing for the moratorium to lift. just yesterday, i spoke with a mother who is now $5,000 behind on her rent at least and told me she doesn't know if she will have to take her children to a women's shelter, she doesn't have those

answers and it doesn't seem like anyone does. answers and it doesn't seem like anyone does-— answers and it doesn't seem like anyone does. rachel, thank you so much. the us navy has boarded an israeli—operated oil tanker after two crew members from the uk and from romania were killed in a reported drone strike. the us said experts boarded the tanker to "ensure there is no additional danger to the crew, and are prepared to support an investigation into the attack". israel has accused iran of being behind the attack, which took place off the coast of oman in the arabian sea on thursday. iran has not yet responded to the allegations, but it appears to be a serious escalation in tensions in the region. 0ur middle east correspondent, tom bateman, has more from jerusalem. the foreign minister, yair lapid, who has quite firmly put this at the feet of the iranians and said that he had spoken to the uk foreign secretary, dominic raab, about this because one of the two people killed on board was a british security guard on the ship. the other was a senior member of the crew, a romanian national.

now, mr lapid said that he expected the need for what he described as a "severe response" following that attack. that was in a phone call to that uk official, to mr raab on friday night, and in terms of the details we have now about this attack, as you say, us navy fifth fleet explosive experts have been on board and the maritime security industry is saying that they understand this to be a drone attack by a so—called attack drone. now, these are explosive—laden drones that are flown by remote control into objects, and it's believed this was flown directly into the bridge of this ship and that's when the fatalities occurred. so, there is an investigation going on. the ship is continuing north past muscat at the moment under its own power, officials say, but it is under us naval escort, but what this does is to really ramp up tensions into what is often seen

as a shadow war between the iranians and the israelis across parts of the middle east. but this, in terms of what happens at sea, as far as those confrontations are concerned, marks a serious escalation. tom bateman in jerusalem. the uk telecommunications industry hopes a satellite that has gone into orbit will help maintain its global leadership in the sector. a quarter of the world's big telecoms spacecraft are manufactured in britain, and the new quantum platform is billed as the market's next—generation product. quantum was launched on an ariane rocket from french guiana last night. here's our science correspondent, jonathan amos. another rocket climbs skyward to bolster a sector that europe, and the uk in particular, has come to dominate — the business of telecommunications satellites. there are hundreds of these spacecraft overhead, bouncing tv, phone calls, broadband and other data services around the planet. but the new satellite going into orbit, called quantum,

represents a big step forward in technology. while traditional telecom spacecraft are configured before launch to do very specific tasks, quantum has been built forflexibility. it is the sector's first fully reprogrammable spacecraft. it's able to rapidly change the coverage, bandwidth, power and frequency of its signals. one of its uses will be for disaster response, providing emergency communications to the teams that are sent in to help people in places hit by catastrophic floods or earthquakes. quantum's manufacturers in the uk — that's airbus and surrey satellite technology ltd — will incorporate the prototype's technology into their future spacecraft, hoping to maintain their world—leading status in what has become a highly competitive field. jonathan amos, bbc news. more than a hundred motorists have had to be rescued from a mountain canyon in colorado after a landslide swept across an interstate highway.

around 75 people had to spend the night in their vehicles as emergency crews cut a path through the mud and debris to reach them. remarkably, there were no injuries. officials say heavy rain sent a torrent of mud and rocks cascading down slopes stripped bare by a wildfire last year. to the olympics now, where day eight has wrapped up. among the highlights was the women's100 metres final. elaine thompson—herah of team jamaica won in an olympic record of 10.61 seconds, just the second fastest time ever run by a woman. and a big win for switzerland, as belinda bencic became the first swiss woman to win 0lympic tennis gold. sunday will be day nine of the olympics. here's our sports reporter, chetan pathak, on what we can expect. 0n on sunday, attention returning to the men's100 metres final, the first since 200a. christian coleman,

the reigning champion, is banned for missing a drug test. the us desperate to regain the title after years of bolt domination. their hopes may rest on trayvon to win the race. he the fastest in the world this year. we will await and see canada's andre to finish third in rio. his best chance for gold might come in the 200 metres. i want to also talk about the gymnastics could be because the athletics understandably takes our attention on sunday. we're going to see the women's vault and uneven bars. no simone vials for either, who would drool from tuesday's final —— simone vials. —— who withdrew. she's yet to

decide if she will compete in the finals next week. she will continue to be evaluated daily. still uncertainty about whether we will see simone biles competing. in swimming, a sprint for us superstar kayla dressel with his fourth gold medal of these games. he set a world record on saturday as he gained his third medal gold of the game. it is a second individual goal so far and one of the 100 metres freestyle relay. away from that, adam peaty hoping to win his third gold medal. in golf, it's the final round of the men's tournament. firstjapanese

men's tournament. first japanese players to win the masters by one shot. what a story it could be if he could win that one. in tennis, the men's singles. alexander zverev takes on karen khachanov. djokovic earlier lost the bronze medal in three sets. pablo carreno busta pulled out with those shoulder trouble, but it was he did display from joss he smashed one racket. —— djokovic. he wanted that golden slam, and not to be for him. let's see what you can do at the us open, but plenty to look forward to. i'll be watching all day. let's take a look at some new pictures from mexico, where guadalajara zoo is celebrating the safe arrival of its latest family member. the baby hippopotamus — whose sex is still unknown —

is in good health, and currently weighs around 50 kilograms. hippos are nocturnal animals, usually preferring to rest during the day — but while their offspring are young to rest during the day, but while their offspring are young — just like the human experience — sleep patterns are a lot more patchy so the doting mother and father, tamy and tartufo, have been seen up and about and much more active than normal. you're watching bbc news. and we'll find out how team gb�*s medal success and many other stories are covered in tomorrow's front pages in the papers in a few minute's time. my guests are the journalist james lewer and sunday times education editor sian griffiths. now, the weather with helen. hello. between the showers on saturday, we reached 23 celsius in suffolk. we had nine hours of sunshine in parts of cornwall. that is often the case when we have sunny spells and showers. the north york moors saw about 17 mm of rain from the showers during saturday as well and they haven't altogether died out through the night because we've got the complication of a weather front. what it is is cooler in the north. temperatures into a single figures in rural parts of scotland and northern ireland. that's because we're behind

this cold weather front. as i say, that's complicating our sunny spells and scattered showers scenario because we've actually got rather more cloud to start across parts of northern england, showers following on that brisk wind into the north and east of scotland but fewer showers further west across scotland, very few showers for northern ireland generally speaking and further west, but they will break out both on our weather front and further south. it looks like the most potent showers during the day on sunday are likely across southern and eastern parts of the uk, slow—moving with hail and thunder and lightning. once again torrential downpours, we need to keep an eye on those. and temperatures generally will be a degree or so down on those of saturday because of that northerly breeze although a fairly light breeze in southern areas, as i say. and those showers will rumble on and through this evening and for a start tonight, but then they do fade away. we lose that weather front away from southern and eastern areas and it'll be a fresher night for all, i think. we'll notice that difference by the time we get to monday morning. but some brightness and sunshine and a relatively quiet start to the week. 0ur weather front�*s not too far away in the south,

so that's going to provide the focal point again for a few showers and perhaps developing over the cumbrian mountains and up into snowdonia in wales, one or two not far away from northern ireland, and western scotland should be fine and dry but still cool in the north and east with that gentle northerly drift which gets cut off by our slight ridge of high pressure for a time late monday into tuesday. but then, we're looking at the atlantic influence coming in from midweek on which is going to be difficult to pinpoint the detail at this stage. so, don't take this as read but it does look more unsettled again as we go through the midweek and beyond period. that, as you can see, illustrated here on our weather charts with more showers and longer spells of rain appearing, and even some showers to start the week as i say in southern areas and across wales in particular. so, yes, fewer showers, a little bit quieter to start the week, still quite cool and it stays cool with more wind and rain later.

hello. this is bbc news. i'm james reynolds. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment — first the headlines. super saturday indeed with another swimming gold for team gb and a world record in the axioo metres mixed medley final. teamwork makes dream work. another gold, in the triathlon mixed relay event with jonny brownlee finally getting his first olympic gold medal at his third and final games. but disappointment for sprinter dina asher—smith as she misses the 100 metre final and pulls out of he 200. afghan security forces have been battling to defend three key cities from advances by the taliban. medical experts are warning that an oxygen monitoring device, called a pulse oximeter, works less well for people with darker skin tones. and borisjohnson and his wife carrie have announced they're expecting a second child. their son wilfred was born in april last year.