this is bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: fierce fighting in afghanistan, three cities are battling the taliban. with the taliban emboldened, peace talks stalled, everyone�*s worried that in the coming weeks, the violence is going to get even worse. emma mckeon wins the women's 50 metre freestyle, her four golds and seven medals in total make her the most successful australian female swimmer ever. clashes in paris, and protests across france for a third weekend — against mandatory covid passes. and as the uk's latest satellite goes into orbit — can it maintain its position as a world leader in space—tech?

hello and welcome to bbc news. afghanistan is seeing the heaviest fighting yet between government forces and the taliban. the militants are trying to seize three major cities in the south and west of the country. they've made rapid gains in less populated parts since it was announced almost all foreign troops withdraw by september. taliban fighters have now entered parts of herat, kandahar, and lashkar gah, the capital of helmand province, once the home to british troops in the country. the fate of these key cities could be crucial amid fears of a humanitarian crisis, and there are concerns about how long government forces will be able to hold out. this analysis from our correspondent in kabul,

secunder kermani. well, this is now the most serious fighting we've seen since this latest taliban offensive began. the militants had already captured vast swathes of rural territory, now they're trying to take their first city and earlier this evening, they made their way to the very centre of lashkar gah before being pushed back by afghan special forces. in the past few hours, a number of air strikes have been launched against taliban positions there, too. but fighting has been taking place elsewhere as well, around the western city of herat 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 over the last few weeks. and the international military mission here is going to formally come to an end by september. with the taliban emboldened, peace talks stalled, everyone�*s worried that in the coming weeks, the violence is going to get even worse. husain haqqani is former ambassador of pakistan to the united states, now with the hudson institute. i asked him how he assesses

the gain made by the taliban. well, they prove three things. first, that there was no peace process, it was an illusion, and the taliban are not amenable to peace. they basically thought that an american withdrawal meant that they had won and theyjust wanted to establish their emirate all over again. second, that the taliban are notjust a small insurgent force. they are a force that is capable of fighting like a conventional army, which basically means somebody is behind them and is supporting them and showing them the way to behave like a conventional army. and thirdly, that the afghan military has been left without air power by the sudden withdrawal of the western forces. all through the 20 years that the americans and the brits and everybody else were there, they all did not build a strong enough afghan air force and made the afghan air force totally dependent on contractors who have now been withdrawn. the taliban have also killed

afghan pilots while off duty in a very methodical manner to make sure there is no air power on the side of the government. so if anybody wants the taliban to not take over afghanistan by force, they have to abandon the so—called peace process and actually get round to supporting the afghan military. a couple of points you made there — the taliban are not a small fighting force and that they struggle to cope without international — the afghan government forces struggle to cope without international support. can they hold back the taliban? i think that the afghan people will not accept the taliban easily. there will be resistance. we are headed towards is civil war. the assumption that the taliban, just by being invited to the ritz—carlton in doha, will agree to ending war has proven wrong.

if i was one of the negotiators of that agreement, i would by now have resigned out of shame. but i think that the afghan people will eventually resist. the taliban are not going to have it as easy as they seem to be having right now. even if they establish control in parts of the country, the people will definitely resist them over the long—term. so what we will have is a prolonged ceasefire — a prolonged civil war instead of a ceasefire. there were always concerns about what would happen when international forces withdrew from the country. lashkar gah is almost a case in point — once home to british troops, they left and the taliban made advances on the area. does the international community bear some responsibility for almost enabling this? absolutely. the two governments in washington, dc and london both actually are responsible for this. they withdrew very suddenly. they did not give the afghan government the respect that should be given to an ally.

the withdrawal should have been negotiated with the ally, not with the attacker or with the insurgent. instead, a deal was signed with the insurgents on the assumption that they will, quote, unquote, reduce peace, which was an absurd term invented by diplomats who have no respect for human life in afghanistan, obviously, because what does reduction in peace — reduction in war mean, or reduction in conflict mean? reduction in violence would be, what? we will kill 20 people instead of 40? that was a very absurd notion. so the peace deal that was signed, the very — a peace deal in which the taliban had virtually no obligations and the americans made a commitment to withdraw, the signers of that deal definitely bear the responsibility for the terrorism that awaits the afghan people as the taliban march on. and how does this affect the future of potential peace talks between the taliban and afghan government?

husain haqqani. turning to the olympics now, and we've now reached day nine of the games. here's the medal table as it stands at the moment, china is on top with 21 gold medals followed in second place by the united states with 19 golds and host nation —— china is on top with 22 gold medals followed in second place by the united states with 19 golds and host nation japan in third. we'll talk about the sport itself in a moment and what we can expect in the coming hours, but first mariko oi is in tokyo for us. thank you, rich. well, the number of new covid—i9 cases here in tokyo surpassed 4000 for the very first time yesterday, which is quite concerning because usually, we expect these numbers to be quite low over the weekend because of the number of tests that can be carried out. but even more alarming is the proportion of those tests coming back positive, hitting almost 20%, according to the tokyo government. across japan as well,

we saw yet another record — way above 12,000. though i have to say that is not the top news headline on this newspaper. this is the article about those numbers, while the silver medal won by the team judo is getting a lot more prominence. meanwhile, all the sport newspapers are very excited about japan's men's football team getting closer to winning a medal. but as we heard those new infection numbers, we also learned that two athletes from georgia have been stripped of their 0lympic accreditation because they broke the rules and went out sightseeing. now they have gone home. i guess the organising committee have to take a very tough approach because they're aware that the public sentiment has been quite negative towards the games. i don't think anyone here blame those foreign athletes or officials for this surge that we are seeing in the city but at the same time, the very fact that these games are taking place in this city, it's sending the wrong message — you know, there's no sense of urgency for people to stay at home, even though the state of emergency has been declared for the japanese capital

for the past few weeks. but aside from the pandemic, another issue has been this intense heat. we heard from novak djokovic of tennis, complaining about it, so earlier i spoke to professor 0lliejay who has worked with various sporting organisations, including the australian open. what is the impact of this heat on elite athletes? so the human body is always striving to maintain am internal body temperature of around about 37 degrees celsius, and we have around about a three celsius buffer away from getting levels of heat stress that can be quite dangerous to the average person. but these athletes are very well prepared for these types of conditions so their conditioning will really help them be quite resilient to these particular conditions. with that said, we might see heat—related reductions in performance — for particularly for long endurance activities — and we also might see instances of heat illness occurring in some athletes.

you talked about those athletes training to get used to this kind of heat. what kind of things do they do in preparation? well, most athletes will expose themselves to the conditions that they're going to be playing in in advance of a particular tournament, so i would imagine that most of the competitors in tokyo, for example, would have sought places to train for at least a couple of weeks in advance of coming to the games in an area that is hot and humid and then that would induce the physiological adaptations that will help them better cope with extreme heat. sojust to give you a quick idea of what those adaptations are, you'd have a lower resting body core temperature so you have a bit more of a buffer before you get to those really dangerous levels of core temperature, there's an increase in the blood volume, so that lowers the amount of strain on the heart for a given exercise intensity, and also it increases the maximum amount that an athlete can sweat as well, so those types of adaptations

will really put them in pretty good shape in advance of these particular conditions, which are quite harsh. that was professor 0llie jay from the sydney school of health sciences speaking to me a little earlier. and i can tell you, this heat is really brutal. just standing here, it's really hot, so i can't imagine what kind of conditions those athletes are having to play in. it must be really difficult for them. let's difficult for them. take a look at the sport itself. with me is our reporter, tanya dendrinos. tanya, we've reached the end of the action in the pool. it has just wrapped up and it hasjust wrapped up and in absolutely emphatic fashion stopping the final race of the day was the men's four x 100 metre medley relay and team usa claimed it with a world record. team gb claiming silver in that race. and that us men's team was superstar caeleb dressel, he just brings such phenomenal

speed and we might have thought he might have been tired after taking out the 50 metre freestyle final just a few minutes earlier but of course not, he came back and firing with his teammates to claim that will record. and that 50 metre freestyle final he was just outside of world record pace but he did claim a 0lympic record with a time of 21 07 and finished with a remarkable five gold medals. similar celebrations with the aussie team and that's not me just bringing in my bias there but i have to admit it does exist, very proud of australia's emma mckeon, she claimed the women's 50 metres freestyle final, that was also an olympic record and that when made in of the most successful australian 0lympian in history, a phenomenal effort. again, if that wasn't enough she claimed yet another gold after that in the women's four x 100 metre medley relay,

that team breaking the olympic record as well so some incredible times in the pool today. emma finishing with seven medals in tokyo, four gold, three bronze. congratulations. really quite an incredible achievement. also another important gold for team gb in the bmx. phenomenal right there. charlotte worthington, there were plenty of thrills and spills in the bmx freestyle, that second run for her, 97.5, a remarkable run and if anyone can catch the end of the men's final action there, there will be plenty of highlights. that is currently under way. find be plenty of highlights. that is currently under way. and of course one — is currently under way. and of course one of— is currently under way. and of course one of the _ is currently under way. and of course one of the main - is currently under way. and of| course one of the main events of any allen pitts is the men's 100 metres sprint up yellow it is but who do we watch out for? no usain bolt. it's the first time since 2004 he is not lining up in the final. clean slate for new athletes to come through and make their mark. who should we look out for? we

have canada's andre de grasse. he finished third in rio, he will be searching for the win and team usa's trayvon bromell who has been tapped by usain bolt himself is the favourite. i don't know if they would like to go and with that, they are certainly big shoes to fill but we will be certainly watching that with interest. and there has been more news on the last few moments about us gymnast simone biles. mil few moments about us gymnast simone biles.— simone biles. all eyes on her and it really _ simone biles. all eyes on her and it really has _ simone biles. all eyes on her and it really has been - and it really has been throughout the game, she has pulled out because of this phenomenon called the twisties, where a gymnast uses her sense of space when in the air, absolutely terrifying when you look at the things they pull off. we have just look at the things they pull off. we havejust had confirmation from you with a gymnastics, they have just tweeted that simone has withdrawn from the event final from the floor but she will be making a decision on the beam later this week, so here's

hoping she can get back in actionjust for one final hoping she can get back in action just for one final event before the end of the games. tania, thanks for the update. let's get some of the day's other news. clothing factories in bangladesh are due to re—open on sunday following a government decision to allow export factories to operate despite a surge in the pandemic. the country is under a strict lockdown until thursday, but the new order has sparked fears of another wave of the virus. bangladesh has so far reported 1.2 million cases with more than 20,000 deaths. here in the uk, the equality and human rights commission has warned employers that rules requiring workers to be fully vaccinated must not be disproportionate or discriminatory. in the us, walt disney has become the latest company, after facebook and google, to tell employees they'll have to have been vaccinated before returning to work. some businesses in the uk are following suit. 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. this is bbc news, the headlines. afghan security forces are engaged in fierce fighting with the taliban for control of three cities in the south and west of the country. at the olympics, the american caeleb dressel wins the men's 50 metres freestyle and 4—by—100 relay with a new world record time. there have been 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 at protesters, who claim the passes restrict their freedoms. the news comes as france battles its fourth wave of coronavirus infections. celestina 0lulode reports.

violet flashes on the streets of paris, as police attempted to control a palpable sense of angen to control a palpable sense of anger. protesters with a wide range of political views are marched side—by—side on saturday. they had a simple message of. freedom. it is the 3rd weekend in a row of protest. similar seeds played out in other cities, i gazed president emmanuel macron a so—called health path. the measures mean you will need to prove you have been vaccinated, or are covid free, to enter most museums and cinemas. an undue a new law introduced this week, vaccinations are mandatory for all healthcare workers are. it has been described by some as health dictatorship.

translation: ~ ., dictatorship. translation: ., . ., ., translation: we are creating a secureated translation: we are creating a segregated society, _ translation: we are creating a segregated society, and - translation: we are creating a segregated society, and i - translation: we are creating a segregated society, and i think. segregated society, and i think it is unbelievable to be doing this in the country of human rights. so i am taking to the streets of. i have never protested before in my life, but i think our freedom is endanger. translation: i endanger. translation: ., �* endanger. translation: ., ., translation: i don't go to restaurants, _ translation: i don't go to restaurants, i— translation: i don't go to restaurants, i don't - translation: i don't go to restaurants, i don't give - translation: i don't go to restaurants, i don't give a l restaurants, i don't give a damn, _ restaurants, i don't give a damn, i_ restaurants, i don't give a damn, i will not sell my soul to go— damn, i will not sell my soul to go to _ damn, i will not sell my soul to go to the cinema or other nonsense. _ to go to the cinema or other nonsense, there is more at stake _ nonsense, there is more at stake. freedom. we have started losing _ stake. freedom. we have started losing all— stake. freedom. we have started losing all of our liberties, so it must_ losing all of our liberties, so it must stop. we need an end to their_ it must stop. we need an end to their nonsense. but it must stop. we need an end to their nonsense.— their nonsense. but not everyone _ their nonsense. but not everyone agrees - their nonsense. but not everyone agrees a. - their nonsense. but not everyone agrees a. if. their nonsense. but not i everyone agrees a. if you their nonsense. but not - everyone agrees a. if you want to avoid a — everyone agrees a. if you want to avoid a forced _ everyone agrees a. if you want to avoid a forced confinementl to avoid a forced confinement and all of that painful effect, and all of that painful effect, and keep the economy going, your choice. figs and keep the economy going, your choice-— your choice. as 1 poll suggests. _ your choice. as 1 poll suggests, more - your choice. as 1 poll suggests, more thanj your choice. as 1 poll - suggests, more than 6096 of suggests, more than 60% of people in france in support of the measures, with many believing it is the only way to avoid yet another lot down the. in a short moment,

new zealand's prime minister jacinda ardern will make a formal apology for police raids which disproportionately targeted pacific communities in the 1970s. the so—called �*dawn raids�* were carried out to find, convict and deport people from the pacific islands suspected of overstaying their visas, but never those from the uk or the us. i'm joined now by dylan asafo, who is lecturer at the university of auckland law school specialising in human rights in the pacific and issues of racialjustice. thank you so much for making the time, the ceremony started about half an hour ago, what has happened so far 20 expecting as much within the 1st expecting as much within the ist 5 expecting as much within the 1st 5 minutes of the apology we could see that prime minister i don't has undertaken a cultural apology, a culturally appropriate apology, which involves the person who has

done wrong sitting beneath a cultural mat, to show humility and respect, and to acknowledge the 1 that has been a donor. so we the 1 that has been a donor. sr we know from the early moments of the apology that they have taken of the apology that they have ta ken culturally of the apology that they have taken culturally appropriate ta ken culturally appropriate steps. taken culturally appropriate stes. , , taken culturally appropriate stes. , .,, steps. does this apology feel like enough? _ steps. does this apology feel like enough? well, _ steps. does this apology feel like enough? well, the - steps. does this apology feel i like enough? well, the apology is dee -l like enough? well, the apology is deeply significant _ like enough? well, the apology is deeply significant itself, - is deeply significant itself, on a superficial level, by actually having the government recognised that wrong was done by the government in the 1970s, however because we have had multiple generational impacts under the legacy of the dawn raids exist, pacific peoples are going to need more than just a verbal presentation. it is to be significant reform in our immigration system, if we're going to see remorse by the government. [30

we're going to see remorse by the government.— the government. do you think pacific islanders _ the government. do you think pacific islanders in _ the government. do you think pacific islanders in new- pacific islanders in new zealand still face discrimination, or are they impacts of historical inequalities that are still felt today?— inequalities that are still felt toda ? , ., . , felt today? yes, unfortunately the addae _ felt today? yes, unfortunately the addae pacific _ felt today? yes, unfortunately the addae pacific racism - felt today? yes, unfortunately the addae pacific racism that l the addae pacific racism that was fostered by the government in the 1970s process today, there was not any ante based education or work done to undo the racism that the government fostered against pacific peoples in society. we see this in our immigration laws, there was a lack of equal pathways for pacific peoples to gain permanent residency, and also other immigration programs which are openly exploit pacific labour for majority fight again. so pacific labour for ma'ority fight agaimfi pacific labour for ma'ority fiuht aaain. . .. fight again. so what can the government _ fight again. so what can the government to _ fight again. so what can the government to do, - fight again. so what can the government to do, and - fight again. so what can the | government to do, and what would pacific islanders like the government to do to improve things? it the government to do to improve thins? , ., , the government to do to improve thins? , .,, . things? it is hoped that the government _

things? it is hoped that the government will _ things? it is hoped that the i government will acknowledge that the dawn raids were not just a series of police raids, there was a political campaign against the pacific peoples which raised addae pacific sentiments within new zealand, and that was going to need to be a lot of work under 2 are to do that. so1 be a lot of work under 2 are to do that. so 1 of the ways that they can show a genuine remorse is through granting amnesty to all of the pacific migrants, what migrants of colour for that matter, who are seeking amnesty for overstaying their visas, and providing people with solid and accessible pathways to permanent residency. pathways to permanent residency-— pathways to permanent residen . , . ., . ,, residency. dylan asafo thank ou for residency. dylan asafo thank you forjoining _ residency. dylan asafo thank you forjoining us _ residency. dylan asafo thank you forjoining us we - you forjoining us we appreciated. let's take a quick look at some updates on coronavirus around the world now. germany says it'll impose mandatory coronavirus testing for all unvaccinated travellers entering the country, regardless of where they're coming from. the new rule is expected to be

enforced from sunday. until now, mandatory testing has only been imposed on air passengers. dancing will be allowed at music venues and clubs in the czech republic, in a further relaxtion of covid rules by the government. the number of people allowed to attend sporting and cultural events will also increase from sunday. to 7,000 outside and 3,000 indoors. a state of emergency in malaysia is to be lifted on sunday, despite a new daily record of almost 18,000 covid cases. after months of failed lockdowns, protesters have been gathering in kuala lumpur to demand the prime minister's resignation, over the government's mishandling of the pandemic. deliveries of vaccines have arrived in cambodia from the uk and china. to date over 70%, of cambodia's 10 million targeted adult population have received at least one dose, and those aged 12 to 17 are expected to be vaccinated from next week.

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 a new platform — called quantum — is billed as the market's next—generation product. quantum was launched on a rocket from french guiana. here's our science correspondentjonathan 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 for flexibility. it is the sector's first fully reprogrammable spacecraft. it's able to rapidly change the coverage, bandwidth, powerand 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. ido i do that as it from us for now, you can get much more on all of those shows, including the olympics, on the bbc news website and mobile app.

you can reach me on twitter, i'm @ rich preston. from me and the team, thank you very much for watching, goodbye. 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. our 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. some businesses in the uk are following suit.

this is bbc news, the headlines: fighting is raging around three major cities in afghanistan as the taliban try to seize them from government forces. militants have made rapid gains since it was announced almost all foreign troops would leave by september. thousands of people have been fleeing their homes to escape the violence. at the olympics the american caeleb dressel has won the men's 50 metres freestyle and 4—by—100 medley relay with a new world record time. emma mckeon is australia's golden girl at the games as she becomes the most decorated swimmer from her country ever. winning four golds, and seven medals in total. there have been 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 at protesters, who claim the passes restrict their freedoms. the news comes as france battles its fourth wave of coronavirus infections.

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