this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm geeta guru—murthy. taliban fighters continue to advance in afghanistan, attacking cities and threatening to overrun the capital of helmand province. an olympic athlete from belarus says officials from her team tried to force her to fly home against her will, after she criticised them on social media. also in tokyo, a shock in the men's 100 metres — a gold medalfor italy's lamont marcelljacobs. we'll get a full update from our sport centre. huge wildfires continue to burn in southern turkey — parts of some tourist towns have had to be evacuated.

translation: the fire started 400 metres from — translation: the fire started 400 metres from me _ translation: the fire started 400 metres from me and _ translation: the fire started 400 metres from me and it _ translation: the fire started 400 metres from me and it took - translation: the fire started 400 metres from me and it took only . translation: the fire started 400| metres from me and it took only five minutes to reach us. everybody here was crying and screaming for help. and it's the stuff of science fiction — cars that can fly. we take a look at a prototype that's been decades in the making. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. in afghanistan, taliban militants are threatening to seize control of the main city in helmand province. almost all of the overseas military presence is due to leave the country by next month after two decades fighting the taliban. the militants are now on the verge of overrunning the city of lashkar gar in the south, and there's fierce fighting in kandahar and herat in the west. our chief international

correspondent, lyse doucet, reports from the capital, kabul. lashkar gar, helmand, the peace roundabout, now overrun by taliban. they say this square is theirs. gunfire the centre of a city once patrolled for years by british troops. afghan special forces, trained by britain and other nato armies, are rushing in. this video's from the afghan ministry of defence. explosion the battle intensifies on the ground and on social media. 35—year—old general sami sadat is the commanding officer in this southern area. he says the taliban have suffered hundreds and hundreds of losses, but his forces have lost most rural areas. it's much the same across afghanistan.

now the taliban are bent on seizing the cities. all the beds are full at this hospital in helmand, run by the emergency ngo. more beds being brought in. hundreds of thousands are on the run. look at the way these children are moving across the fields in the western province of herat. the crackle of gunfire all too close. but civilians are also standing their ground. this man is said to be the head of herat�*s provincial council. "don't waste your bullets", he says. "take careful aim." and old warlords are back too, to take on the taliban. white bearded commander ismail khan fought soviet forces in the �*80s, taliban in the �*90s. "we're doing our best to suppress the enemy, so they can't enter the city", he says.

"i call on the people to support us, especially those who are armed, to resist the terrorists." but the taliban are at their strongest since their defeat nearly two decades ago, after the us—led invasion. it's a moment of reckoning for afghan forces. a moment of risk for the very future of afghanistan. lyse doucet, bbc news, kabul. professor michael semple is an expert on afghanistan from queen's university belfast. he gave me his analysis. the taliban certainly believe that they can topple the government relatively quickly and take over the whole country. my assessment disagrees with that. i think that they will succeed in precipitating another round of civil war, but they will fail in their effort to take over the country. and in terms of how that is going to affect, not only the neighbouring countries, but also the eu, we have seen, of course, 20

years ago afghan refugees come to europe. are we looking at that situation again, in bigger numbers now? far bigger numbers because the world and afghanistan have changed in the intervening period. 20 years ago, when we were looking at the struggle between the northern alliance, as was, and the taliban, afghanistan was a distant place. not so many afghans had made it to europe, they didn't have networks. now that has all changed. and i think the reality is, as afghans watch the unfolding taliban offensive, millions of them — not thousands, millions of them — are worrying about their future and considering using irregular routes to flee across the border to the neighbouring countries and many of them will want to head towards europe and the chance of the secure life which they have been denied in their own country.

it has long been, you know, assumed by many nations that pakistan created the taliban, has supported it. pakistan in turn is supported by saudi arabia. these are all allies of the us. what is the longer game plan here? well, really the trouble with politics of this kind in the world is it works on two levels. for many years, pakistan was opposed as being in support of a peaceful resolution of the afghan crisis. repeatedly, the leaders in pakistan asserted that they always lost out from instability in afghanistan. but when you look at the reality of what is happening, pakistan has been supporting the taliban military effort and now clearly is urging them on to achieve this military victory as quickly as possible, of course while their diplomats deny it. i don't think that saudi arabia has signed off on this. au contraire, i think that

saudi arabia will be worried about the prospect of a taliban victory. but this has not stopped either the taliban leadership or the regionaljihadi movements in pakistan, which support the taliban, or indeed those parts of the pakistan security services, which support the taliban. they are pushing ahead, regardless of the fact that many of their own countries' allies are deeply worried about the prospect of taliban gains. an athlete from belarus has asked the international olympic committee to intervene, after claiming that officials from her team were trying to force her to fly home, without her permission. this is her — christina simanovskaya from belarus. she had been due to compete in the women's 200 metre event on monday. but after posting a video complaining about being entered into another race at short notice, she says she was told to pack and taken to the airport. she then contacted police, and uploaded this video on social

media, appealing for help. the flight took off without her on board. famil ismailov from the bbc russian service has been following developments from london. in an he one thing that is important to know is that for the belarusian regime, this is nothing to do with public scrutiny abroad, this is something very much to do with their reputation and the standing of the regime inside. it is about discipline within the sort of ranks of everyone who supports the resume. if you don't support the regime and criticise it or... as christina simanovskaya did, even officials within the committee, even managers of the team, who are due to have a public... of the team, who are due to have a ublic. .. ., . , ., of the team, who are due to have a ublic... ., . , ., , ., , public... how much should be at play as lum at public... how much should be at play asylum at sertraline _ public... how much should be at play asylum at sertraline country - public... how much should be at play asylum at sertraline country now? . asylum at sertraline country now? well, if she claims asylum outside

the country, with the exception of russia, because russia has an extradition treaty with belarus and she will be returned to minsk if the russian authorities would request a return, any place would be just fine for her. i think she will be secure and safe, but if she returns back to minsk that is a completely different matter. she would definitely have to forget about her sport career and will become one of those many victims of the repressions that happened that we have seen inside belarus, last year and this year. you say she would be safe if she is not within her own country, but we saw that extraordinary hijacking of the plane and kidnapping in recent months, and also of course her family is still in the country. that's correct, herfamily family is still in the country. that's correct, her family might become an object of pressure from the belarusian authorities. her friends would become... could become, you know, under the scrutiny

from the russian authorities. we have seen that happen before with a journalist and with sportsmen. we have seen the mma fighter who was extradited from russia to belarus because he had to leave and any sportsman, any athletes in belarus who supported the protests against the elections that everyone considers wrecked last year, the presidential elections, which lukashenko insists that he has one, but many believe these had been... that the victory was for the opposition, the activist and a opposition, the activist and a opposition candidate had to leave the country. every single opponent of the regime either has to leave the country and live abroad, go into self exile, or those who stayed had to become a member of part of the criminal investigations and many of them are now detained or imprisoned.

famil ismailov from the bbc russian service. the us senate is meeting for a rare session on sunday to move towards voting on a $1 trillion infrastructure bill. it's a landmark package of reforms proposed by the biden administration that would pave the way to the greatest investment in us roads, rail networks, ports and bridges in decades. joining us now to explain more is our north america correspondent, david willis. this is a huge package. they are hoping it will go through by the end of the week, if there's enough republican support? absolutely, it is a hue republican support? absolutely, it is a huge bill— republican support? absolutely, it is a huge bill that _ republican support? absolutely, it is a huge bill that would _ republican support? absolutely, it is a huge bill that would massively| is a huge bill that would massively improve america's creaking infrastructure network, including roads and railways, everything from electric vehicle charging stations to broadband, internet access for everyone in this country. drafts of this legislation have exceeded 2.5 thousand pages, but it does seem now that after months of negotiation

involving a bipartisan group of lawmakers at the white house, that agreement has been reached, some sort of agreement, at least, that will provide the way for a draft of this bill to be made available as early as tonight. with negotiations possibly concluding, as you mentioned, by the end of this week. that is before the senate is due to go off on its summer recess. this bill, of course, is crucial to president biden�*s legislative agenda. it is something that he has put a lot of store in and does seem as though there is the votes in the senate, at least, 60 votes needed to pass this legislation. if that happens, it will then go to the house of representatives. find happens, it will then go to the house of representatives. and the cuestion, house of representatives. and the question. of— house of representatives. and the question, of course, _ house of representatives. and the question, of course, is _ house of representatives. and the question, of course, is in - house of representatives. and the question, of course, is in part - house of representatives. and the question, of course, is in part how| question, of course, is in part how is it going to be paid for? is this going to mean tax rises for corporations and wealthy americansthe plan is to offset money that has been put aside for such

things as that has been put aside for such thin - ., , ., that has been put aside for such things as covid relief measures in order to pay _ things as covid relief measures in orderto pay for— things as covid relief measures in order to pay for this, _ things as covid relief measures in order to pay for this, but - things as covid relief measures in order to pay for this, but the - order to pay for this, but the democrats are trying to tie this massive infrastructure programme to a measure that would also provide trillions of dollars, $3.5 trillion, full social matters such as childcare, climate change and that sort of thing. that is what they want to see paid for out of taxes from the wealthy and top corporations and that is something that will, of course, arouse a lot of consternation amongst the republicans, a lot of pushback from them, but meanwhile there are progressive democrats who are conditioning their support for the infrastructure package on the second social services deal, if you like. so there is a lot of wrangling still to come in the months ahead. yes. to come in the months ahead. yes, and in the — to come in the months ahead. yes, and in the house _ to come in the months ahead. yes, and in the house of _ to come in the months ahead. yes, and in the house of representatives of course that will all come up, won't it? thank you very much indeed, david willis, thank you. thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes

in southern turkey, as huge wildfires continue to burn. at least six people have died and hundreds have been injured. parts of the tourist city of bodrum have had to be evacuated. with more, here's angus crawford. clouds of smoke and flame behind them... ..the sea their only escape. locals and holiday—makers queued for boats to take them away from parts of the holiday resort of bodrum, in the south—west of turkey. wildfires, which started five days ago, burned their way through hillsides towards the city. in less than a week, more than 100 forest fires have broken out across the country. local teams but also those from iran, russia and ukraine deployed to tackle them, fighting on the ground and from the air. this man said his home was almost overwhelmed. translation: the fire started 400 | metres from here and it took onlyl five minutes to reach us.

everybody here was crying and screaming for help. we haven't slept the past three days. the country's been hit by record high temperatures and numbers of wildfires this summer. president erdogan, here visiting one affected area, criticised for not doing enough. and the hot weather is set to continue, tomorrow in the south hitting 40 celsius. with bone dry forests and no prospect of rain, this summer of fire may not yet to be over. angus crawford, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news... in afghanistan, civilians are fleeing their homes as a taliban offensive continues. an athlete is under police protection in tokyo, after belarussian sports officials tried to put her on a plane home — against her will.

sport and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's our reporter. hello and thanks forjoining us. there was a surprise winner in the men's 100 metres final in tokyo, where italy's lamont marcelljacobs took over usain bolt�*s olympic title. all the more remarkable, considering jacobs only switched from long jump in 2018, he streaked clear to win in 9.80 seconds, four hundreths of a second clear of america's fred kerley, who took silver and canada's andre de grasse, winning bronze — just as he did in rio. translation: i was expecting to come here and have _ translation: i was expecting to come here and have a — translation: i was expecting to come here and have a good _ translation: i was expecting to come here and have a good olympics - here and have a good olympics because i was in great shape. my real goal was to get to the final and after that run as fast as possible. we were able to run faster than anyone else and this is a childhood dream come true. i will try to celebrate in the best way possible and for as long as possible. sunday also saw one of the moments of the games so far,

as an incredible highjump final ended with the gold medal shared between two athletes. after an exhausting two—hour competition qatar's mutaz essa barshim and italy's gianmarco tamberi couldn't be split as they both cleared 2.37 metres. both were offered an opportunity to take part in a jump off, but in a moment of sportsmanship decided to share the title, sparking huge celebrations. it's the firstjoint olympic podium in athletics since 1912. and venezuela's yulimar rojas set a new world record — the first time that's happened at these games in athletics — as she won olympic gold in the triplejump. a silver medallist in rio five years ago, rojasjumped 15.67 metres, smashing the previous record of 15 and a half metres. the four—time olympic champion simone biles has withdrawn from monday's floor final at the olympics, but is yet to make a decision on whether she'll compete in the beam final on tuesday. she's withrdrawn from all previous events to focus

on her mental health. max whitlock has won gold again on the pommel horse for great britain, retaining one of the titles he won in rio. he was first to go in the eight—man pommel horse final and he produced a stunning routine which proved unbeatable. this was the most nervous i have been for any competition that i have ever done in my whole life. the standard of the pommel final was very high. i think the scores were... i knew the schools were going to be very big. as the first man up, ifelt going to be very big. as the first man up, i felt the going to be very big. as the first man up, ifelt the pressure, but happy to deliver a good job coming off the back of rio. i think the experience helped me, so i am hugely gratefulfor experience helped me, so i am hugely grateful for the support i received. so this is how the medal table looks at the end of day nine. china are top with 24 gold medals.

five of those were one in the pool. britain are up to sixth, with charlotte worthington winning a thrilling bmx freestyle final earlier as well. italy are up to ninth after their success in the men's one hundred metres and highjump doubling their number of golds to four. britain's lewis hamilton is back at the top of the formula 1 driver standings heading into the sport's summer break. he finished third at the hungarian grand prix after a pile up at the start of the race in wet conditions. it cost max verstappen too, who finished well off the podium places. in the last few minuts sebastian vettel disqualified, losing second place. esteban ocon claimed a totally out—of—the—blue first f1 victory. feel so good. it's the first victory, and we had some difficult moments that we overcame together

with the team this season. came back to a fantastic place. today, what can i say? it is fantastic. went back more reaction to that over on the bbc sport website, but that is all your sport for now. large cruise ships have been banned from the centre of venice, after years of environmental protests. vessels of more than 25,000 tonnes will no longer be allowed to dock in the lagoon. campaigners and residents say the ships pollute the air and water — and cause erosion. mark lowen reports. it's been venice's david versus goliath. for years, protests by locals in their small boats against the mammoth cruise liners clogging its waterways. critics say they pollute, damage venice's ecosystem and erode foundations with their large waves. finally, victory. from today, any ship over 25,000 tonnes is now banned from the city's central canal.

they brought significant amount of fear and hopelessness because every time we saw one of these ships, you know, coming towards us in piazza san marco, it just brought to the front of our minds just how little everybody cares about venice as world heritage and, you know, about environmental and socialjustice in general. the cruise ships have been seen as symptoms of venice's over—tourism. hordes of day—trippers, not the model of sustainable tourism many here want. and they've contributed to the flooding that's long plagued venice. the high tide in 2019, the worst in 50 years, inundating st mark's square and devastating homes and businesses. a new port in the nearby city

of marghera will be fast—tracked for the cruise liners, but those depending on the industry are worried. translation: such a decision taken so quickly without - planning is absurd. in our opinion it is evil and a crime against the workers. �*la serenissima', venice was called — the most serene. but its beauty is fragile. the battle over who can drift through the city of water might now help preserve this jewel of civilisation. mark lowen, bbc news, rome. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news... the us and britain say they believe that iran was responsible for an attack on an israeli—operated tanker off the omani coast in which two people were killed on friday. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, said the us was working with its partners to consider the next steps. police in the german capital, berlin, have

clashed with anti—lockdown demonstrators after they defied a court ban and gathered illegally. police used batons and tear gas, saying some of its officers had been harassed and attacked in the western charlottenburg district. the man leading america's anti—covid effort says he does not expect any return to lockdowns, despite the surge of covid—19 infections caused by the delta variant. dr anthony fauci said a sufficient proportion of the population was now vaccinated. it's been the dream of many for decades, but is it finally becoming reality? a fully convertible flying car recently made its first voyage between two international airports, and has now notched up more than 40 hours in the air. the aircar is the work of a slovak inventor and designer who's been working on the project for three decades. he took our correspondent rob cameron for a spin. it sounds like a sports car. it looks like a sports car. and you can even fill it up

with regular petrol at the pump. this supercar is equipped with a super feature like no other. at the touch of a button, and a process that takes two minutes and 50 seconds, it does this. the first prototype has a 160 horsepower engine and easily reaches regular motorway speeds on the ground. man speaks in slovak. in the air, it flies at an altitude of 2,500 metres at speeds of up to 170 kph, but the next step is a preproduction model with a range of 1,000 km. translation: for me, what's - important is the feeling of freedom. every generation that knows what it is to lose one's freedom, the car gave us great freedom, but now we just sit in traffic. the flying car could reinstate this freedom and take it to a whole new level.

professor klein says the real advantage of the aircar is its convertibility. when the wings are retracted, it's only slightly longer than a regular estate car, meaning it will fit in your garage. and all you'll need to take off is a strip of grass or concrete. all this is still at the prototype stage. the big concern, of course, remains in safety. we can make an aircraft fly fairly easily — i say "easily" — but humanity's been doing that for 120 years now. the trick now, here in 21st century, is doing it safely. now, by safely, i mean getting on fori million hours of flight time before we have an accident induced by the aircraft failing for some reason. so, hats off to professor klein, but his work is onlyjust beginning! the aircar is not the only flying car in development. consultants morgan stanley say the sector could be worth $1.5 trillion within two decades.

big manufacturers are clearly interested. so, could we really be spending more time in the air and in traffic? time in the air than in traffic? rob cameron, bbc news, slovakia. it looks phenomenal, doesn't it? i would love one of those at some point! i don't know if i could ever afford it! buti point! i don't know if i could ever afford it! but i will leave you with afford it! but i will leave you with a picture of some tigers. two sumatran tigers are recovering at a zoo in the indonesian capitaljakarta after being infected with coronavirus. 9—year—old tino and 12—year—old hari tested positive in mid—july after they experienced flu—like symptoms, trouble breathing and appetite loss. officials at the zoo say the tigers are healthy now. they are recovering and happy. now it's time for a look at the weather with louise. good evening. i suspect most of you want some settled summer sunshine for the beginning of august — why not? unfortunately, today, it was a slightly disappointing story. there was more cloud around than there was sunshine,

as you can see by this weather watcher picture. there were also some nuisance showers yet again, drifting their way steadily south by a cold front. it may well enhance some thundery showers over the next few hours. the best of the breaks in the cloud, well, that was further west and we keep those clear skies as we go into tonight. the cold front will ease away, this ridge of high pressure will build. that's going to quieten things down for monday and tuesday, but with that ridge of high pressure and the clearing skies, it does mean a chillier start into the far north with single figures first thing in the morning. there'll be some early morning sunshine — very nice, indeed, for those up early enough — but unfortunately, we are expecting the cloud to thicken up quite quickly, and into the afternoon, it could be another largely grey day with a few sharp showers, maybe, into south wales and southwest england becoming more predominant as well. temperatures disappointing, really, for early august. 20 is the maximum, but along those exposed northeast coasts, maybe sitting in the mid—teens as well. a fine, dry day on tuesday, maybe a degree or so warmer,

but as i say, largely dry with some more in the way of sunshine coming through. and then, we start to see a change developing through the middle part of the week — a slow one on wednesday with this weather front and low pressure bringing most of its heavy rain into northern france. but there is a possibility that the position of that low may just be that little bit further north, and that could mean more outbreaks of rain to southern england, so we need to keep an eye on that. further showers out to the west as well. little more sunshine generally, though, on wednesday potentially, and with a lighter southerly wind, temperatures a degree or so up — 21 degrees, 70 fahrenheit. the jet stream will then start to intensify, and, as we all know by now, it's the jet stream that drives in areas of low pressure. we see quite a defined dip taking place from wednesday night into thursday. that's going to drive an area of low pressure right across us, and that means as we head towards the end of the week, it's going to turn even more unsettled. sharper showers, some of them heavy and thundery,

and the winds picking up as well, so no settled summer sunshine over the next few days.

hello this is bbc news with geeta guru—murthy. the headlines. taliban fighters continue to advance in afghanistan — attacking cities, and threatening to over—run the capital of helmand province. an olympic athlete from belarus says officials from her team tried to force her to fly home against her will — after she criticised them on social media. more gold for team gb in tokyo — max whitlock retains his olympic pommel horse title. i can't even describe the feeling. i feel completely overwhelmed and it feels very, very surreal. and charlotte worthington claims another gold medal

for britain in a dramatic bmx park freestyle final.