hello, i'm maryam moshiri, this is outside source. afg hanistan's capital comes under attack. a car bomb exploded near the home of the defence minister in kabul. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet told us armed attackers fought their way inside. there are mortars being fired, and still suicide vests being exploded. so this is a continu... i think you can hear now behind me the sound of explosions. the afghan government says all the attackers have now been killed. we'll get the latest on the situation. the governor of new york, andrew cuomo, defends himself after an official investigation finds he sexually harrassed several women — including employees at his office.

i never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances. that is just not who i am. and as records are broken at the olympics, are "super shoes" giving athletes an unfair advantage on the track? we start in afghanistan, where an attack on the home of the afghan defence minister has ended in the capital kabul, according to officials, with all the attackers killed. the first explosion occurred near the diplomatic quarters and a busy market square, where there are many government buildings. a powerful explosion, which you can see here, was fallowed by bursts of gunfire as armed men fought their way into the home of the defence minister, bismillah khan mohammadi our international correspondent lyse doucet is in the

green zone in kabul. tell us more about what we know about what happened to. you may still here the _ about what happened to. you may still here the constant _ about what happened to. you may still here the constant rat - about what happened to. you may still here the constant rat a - about what happened to. you may still here the constant rat a tat - about what happened to. you may still here the constant rat a tat of| still here the constant rat a tat of gunfire here. you can hear in the green zonejust gunfire here. you can hear in the green zone just streets away from this highly protected enclave right in the heart of kabul. you can see it's still happening, this attack is still going on. it's been hours since we heard the first loud blast of that truck bomb, the car bomb exploding outside the defence minister's house. he had his family were not there at the time that he and his family. that was later followed by the sound of suicide vests exploding. we know the attackers also entered the home of the defence minister, mortars were also fired. special forces were rushed to the area, we could hear

helicopters flying overhead. the government is now saying that they have the situation under control, but you can keep hearing — this certainly isn't completely under control, this is still a very tense situation. the defence minister himself has just put out a video on social media condemning what he described as a terrorist attack, and trying to send a message that all was well, he was alive. but this is really jangled was well, he was alive. but this is reallyjangled nerves at a time when the caliban have been advancing on provincial capitals —— caliban outside kabul. yet tonight it is a city which is come under attack in its most heavily protected area. the us state department says the explosion in the capital bears all the harmonics of dashiell marks of a spate of caliban attacks cancelo i was recently in kultur...

spate of caliban attacks cancelo i was recently in kultur. . .- spate of caliban attacks cancelo i was recently in kultur. .. they made it clear that — was recently in kultur. .. they made it clear that while _ was recently in kultur. .. they made it clear that while they _ was recently in kultur. .. they made it clear that while they were - it clear that while they were committed to negotiations, they were also prepared to escalate the war, and there was talk that there would be attacks in kabul. we've been hearing reports for some time that they've been positioning themselves here in the capital, prepared to launch attacks. this has come much sooner than anyone expected, there were predictions that september, for example, could be a time that kabul would see greater insecurity. now this night has been shattered by this night has been shattered by this explosion, notjust an explosion, but a very complex attack. it was ironically on a night when many afghans, notjust in kabul but other cities across afghanistan took to streets, to rooftops — we could hear it here in kabul, they were shouting to show their support for afghan security forces and their

government at a time when the taliban are escalating their attacks, yet even when they were shouting their support for afghan security forces, the defence minister's home was itself being attacked. . ~ minister's home was itself being attacked. ., ~ , ., , . attacked. thank you very much indeed. outside of kabul, a general in one the country's biggest cities lashkar gar has sent a bleak warning to residents — "get out while you can". taliban fighters are trying to take the southern cityjust weeks after the withdrawal of most foreign troops. general sami sadat commands the afghan forces in lashkar gah. we are hearing that they will put people at risk as we, you know, push back and clear the houses. i have to make a call and ask the people, specifically in some areas that the enemy is taking shelter in their houses, i respectfully ask them to leave their houses and the surrounding area, and i apologise for the action, if they may feel bad for being displaced,

and i'm with them — but this is good for them, that they are safe, and they can come back to their houses when the outskirts of lashkar gah is cleared from the terrorists. the taliban has made significant gains since the vast majority of us troops withdrew. these maps give you the context. the red on this map here are the areas that the taliban controlled in 2017. then this is five days ago. the red is the area the taliban now control, and the orange is contested areas. the taliban is now trying to capture three provincial capitals herat, kandahar, and lashkar gah. the taliban haven't captured a provincial capital in five years. lashkar gah is the provincial capital of helmand province, which was once at the centre of the us and uk's military campaign. the taliban now control large parts of the province, and has taken the government's tv and radio building. you can see here how close that is to the provincial governors

office, just 400 metres away. taliban fighters replaced normal broadcasts with religious songs. these pictures are of taliban fighters in the centre of lashkar gah just a few days ago, at a roundabout called "peace roundabout". and here are afghan special forces on the ground. the us and afghan forces have been carrying out air strikes in the city. there are a large number of reports of foreign fighters in the country. here's general sadat again. so most of the foreign fighters in the battle of helmand of helmand in lashkar gah, belong to the al-qaeda group, specifically al-qaeda in indian continents. the punjabi members mostly from a punjab of pakistan, some bangladeshis, but also a main branch al-qaeda was seen in the last three months since the pull—out of the americans from helmand in may, we have recorded so many cases of al-qaeda and arabs being involved in the attacks organisation, mobilisation, information—sharing and things

like that in the taliban ranks and file. as i recall correctly in the past 90 days, there were 78 killed from syria, —— main al-qaeda members killed from syria, iraq, yemen, saudi arabia, one qatari from saddam. in one instance, an al-qaeda expert was killed who was making bunkers for bin laden. he was from sue don, but he was... i was caught by surprise, it seems like al-qaeda is research during dust researching, strengthening their position in afghanistan. let's turn to the us. the governor of new york has been accused of sexually harassing multiple women in a report released by the city's attorney general earlier today. the five—month investigation found that governor cuomo has violated

federal and state laws while creating what was described as a "climate of fear" in the workplace. here's the new york state attorney. specifically the investigation found that governor andrew cuomo sexually harassed current and former new york state employees by engaging in unwelcome and nonconsensual touching and making numerous offensive comments of a suggestive and sexual nature that created a hostile work environment for women. this is what mr cuomo had to say in response to the report. i want you to know directly from me that i_ i want you to know directly from me that i never— i want you to know directly from me that i never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances. i am 63 years— inappropriate sexual advances. i am 63 years old. i have lived my entire adult _ 63 years old. i have lived my entire adult life _ 63 years old. i have lived my entire adult life in— 63 years old. i have lived my entire adult life in public view. that is

'ust adult life in public view. that is just not— adult life in public view. that is just not who i am. and that is not who i_ just not who i am. and that is not who i have — just not who i am. and that is not who i have ever been. fellow new york democrats, senate majority leader chuck schumer and senator kirsten gillibrand, have issued a statement calling on mr cuomo to resign. for more on the allegations against andrew cuomo, here's our correspondent in new york samira hussain. it's a 165 page report in which, in painful detail, outlines the kinds of actions that mr cuomo and barked on to create this toxic work environment in which this kind of harassment could continue. it also went on to say that, look, mr cuomo actually violated both state and

federal laws, and that there was retaliation against some of the women when they would come forward and say that they were inappropriately approached by the governor himself. there was a lot of detail in terms of the kinds of things that these women experienced, being forced to sit on the governor's lap, being forced to withstand these sexual comments, these unwanted sexual comments and unwanted sexual groping and touching. it was really — there were some pretty disturbing things that were corroborated through this report in this investigation. find report in this investigation. and how will this _ report in this investigation. and how will this play _ report in this investigation. and how will this play out, do you think? are we looking at criminal charges moving forward or civil action? ,., ., ., , action? right, so now that it is art of action? right, so now that it is part of the _ action? right, so now that it is part of the public _ action? right, so now that it is part of the public domain, - action? right, so now that it is part of the public domain, it i action? right, so now that it is part of the public domain, it is | part of the public domain, it is available to the police if they want to pursue any kinds of actions. now there is report of one person who has made a formal complaint to the

police — whether or not that actually mounts into charges is a bit hard to decipher, you know, some of these political pundits, or rather some pundits within the law theme have said that they aren't sure if it would actually amount to any kind of legal — any kind of legal findings any kind of legal — any kind of legalfindings or any any kind of legal — any kind of legal findings or any sort of legal action, rather. so now it's really whether or not there will be a civil suit, and there's already one woman who that she will be filing for emotional damages. but of course, the bigger question is about mr cuomo's political future — the bigger question is about mr cuomo's politicalfuture — and based on that press conference, it is very clear that he is going to fight any kinds of requests for him to resign or step down. and of course, any impeachment proceedings that may happen against him through the new york legislature, there be a lot of pushback against that, as well.

strong winds are making it harder to get these fires in turkey under control. high case numbers had persuaded the scottish government to continue with measures, including social distancing and limiting social gatherings for several weeks after they were dropped in england. here's they were dropped in england. here's the first minister earlier. the they were dropped in england. here's the first minister earlier.— the first minister earlier. the move be ond the first minister earlier. the move beyond level— the first minister earlier. the move beyond level zero _ the first minister earlier. the move beyond level zero until _ the first minister earlier. the move beyond level zero until the - the first minister earlier. the move beyond level zero until the lifting i beyond level zero until the lifting of most of the legally enforced restrictions, most notably physical distancing and limits to the size of social gatherings. it also means that from the 9th of august, no venues will be legally required to close. this change is significant and hard earned. the sacrifices everyone has made over the last year and a half can never be overstated.

however, while this move will restore a substantial degree of normality, it is important to be clear that it does not signal the end of the pandemic or a return to life exactly as we knew it before covid struck. this is outside source, live from the bbc newsroom. our lead story is... afg ha n afghan officials say an attack on the home the micro defence master in kabul, involving a suicide car bombing and four gunmen has ended with all attackers killed. wildfires continue to burn out of control in southern turkey, where months of dry weather, a heatwave and strong winds have fuelled the worst fire outbreak in a decade. firefighters are continuing to tackle blazes in the southern coastal cities marmaris, manavgat, and bodrum. more than 130,000 hectares of land

have been ravaged by fire since last wednesday. that's almost three times the area burnt on average in an entire year, according to data from the european forest fire information service. marmaris and bodrum are popular sites for both local and foreign tourists and thousands have had to flee by whatever means necessary. this is the scene today in marmaris. helicopters have been dropping water on the flames ripping through trees and undergrowth but with limited success as one local volunteer explains. translation: we have received reinforcements _ translation: we have received reinforcements from _ translation: we have received reinforcements from firefighters | reinforcements from firefighters from many regions, but because of the height of the mountains, which are steep and with very thick forests, the firefighters cannot intervene. the air reinforcements are too weak. there fires into many places in turkey at the moment, and we cannot respond to them. officials say that while more than 120 fires have been brought under control, nine continue to burn. seven of the eight people who have

been killed so far in the fires have been in the city magnavat — and here you can see the sort of situation both locals and firefighters are facing. strong winds continue to hamper efforts to get the situation under control. translation: the fire came all of a sudden and turned _ translation: the fire came all of a sudden and turned everything - translation: the fire came all of a sudden and turned everything into i sudden and turned everything into ashes _ sudden and turned everything into ashes we — sudden and turned everything into ashes. we barely saved our lives. the children went one way, we went the other~ _ the children went one way, we went the other. everyone tried to escape. it's devastating, it's absurdly devastating. we are finished. the turkish government initially blamed the fires on arsonists — and investigations are ongoing. but even if they were started deliberately, scientists tell us that it doesn't fully explain the staggering number of fires the country has seen recently. according to european union figures, turkey has been hit by 133 wildfires so far in 2021. compare that with the average annual number between 2008 and 2020 — which was only a3. turkey isn't the only part

of the mediterranean dealing with fires and intense heat. officials in greece are blaming two fires — one on the island of rhodes and another near the city of patras, west of athens, on a record heatwave linked to climate change. on monday, the country recorded its highest ever temperature of 46.3 celsius. here's what the minister had to say about the situation. translation: we are in a phase of absolute climate _ translation: we are in a phase of absolute climate deregulation. - translation: we are in a phase of absolute climate deregulation. for. absolute climate deregulation. for years we were concerned about the climate change that is coming. we are no longer talking about climate change, but about a claimant threat. look what's happening all around the world, look what's happening in australia, in the us, and russia, in countries with more advanced systems compared to ours. where a titanic battle is fought against the new conditions. drjacob ainscough is a climate change specialist at lancaster university and has been telling me more about why these extreme weather events are of such concern.

well, they are incredibly worrying, and the reason for that is that they confirm what scientists have been telling us now for decades. if you look at the reports from the intergovernmental panel on climate change, one of the consistent findings for decades now has been that we can expect more frequent, more intense extreme weather events like these heat waves, like flooding events we've seen here in the uk. so these are all concerning in their own right, but what's really concerning is that this is notjust the new normal, these are becoming increasingly frequent over the years. increasingly frequent over the ears. �* �* , . ~' increasingly frequent over the ears. h n years. and there's talk, isn't there, years. and there's talk, isn't there. of _ years. and there's talk, isn't there, of average _ years. and there's talk, isn't i there, of average temperatures years. and there's talk, isn't - there, of average temperatures in areas like southern europe rising over the next decade or so to match those temperatures we currently see in the middle eastern deserts? that's right, and something that climate scientists have talked about for a long time that's coming true now, if you like, is temperatures being pushed to a point where the

human body body quite literally can't survive without air conditioning outside, the human body literally cannot survive. we are seeing those two pictures start to appear now, it's notjust an epidemic, it's appear now, it's notjust an epidemic, its population centres, places where people live and build their lives. this is the scene now in turkey, the local time is 10:20pm. this is a blaze you can see in the background nearing a power station in the ag and coastal town of bostrom, so clearly the blazes we've been seeing across his various areas in turkey are still going strong, and authorities are still trying to get them under control. let's turn to the olympics now — and some true stars of the track have emerged in this the second week of the games as the athletics takes centre stage. tuesday saw a women's

sprint double forjamaica, we'll get to that in a moment. but the big story of the day was an incredible world record for norway in the a00m hurdles. karston warholm won gold with a time of 45.94 seconds. the race has been described as one of the greatest finals ever, with the runners in first and second place both beating the previous world record. karston warholm tweeted this picture, saying... back home in norway his family and friends gathered to watch him, including his mum, this was the reaction there. cheering. translation: yes, what can i say? a totally indescribable experience. it was one thing to hope that it would go well, but i never expected that it would be with such margin. karsten warholm's achievement puts him up there, among the greatest of track athletes.

here's another former record holder, the us sprinter michaeljohnson. karston�*s been on fire all season. he broke the world record which had stood since 1992, at the barcelona olympics. he broke that at his first race of the season which was pretty unprecedented. we knew then that would be in for great things in tokyo because benjamin came very close to that world record also at the us olympic trials. and karston actually said after he broke the world record in may it's gonna take another world record to win the tokyo gold. and of course, it did. to put it in perspective, he broke that world record by seven tenths of a second, seven tenths. that's unheard of. world records are typically broken by hundreds of a second. so it was an impressive, impressive performance. in the womens�* competition, jamaican

sprinter elaine thompson—herah also sealed her place among the immortals, winning the 200m. it's her second gold, she also won the 100m. she peformed the same feat five year ago in rio which makes it a double—double. elaine thompson—herah is the first woman ever to do that, in two successive games. the bbc spoke earlier to veronica campbell brown — a jamaican sprinter who is herself an three—time olympic gold medallist. elaine had actually struggled with these injuries for a while. hercules is not better, her confidence is boosted as a result of doing so well in the 100 metres. and shejust boosted as a result of doing so well in the 100 metres. and she just took that momentum over to 200 metres. but it all comes back to preparation and mentalfocus but it all comes back to preparation and mental focus that really leads her to believe in herself and go out there with a lot of pressure, and we are able to just deliver. elaine executed that race so smoothly, i'm

very happy for her that she was able to not only defend her title, but also to run a very fast time. and now, the second—fastest time in history. one of the talking points in the run—up to these games was whether new shoes worn by track athletes would lead to faster times. elaine thompson—herah was among those wearing nike's so—called "super spikes", which have layers of stiff carbon and foam which together act as a spring. the american rai benjamin wore them too for his silver medal in those 400m hurdles. the winner of that event karsten warholm said of his competitor... here's michaeljohnson again. if we ever get to a point where the shoes are now allowing the athletes to be superhuman, they are allowing the athletes to do something they are not naturally capable of, than that would be a problem. i don't think we're there yet, i think that

they are allowing the athletes to be as good as they are and taking off any limitations that the footwear for the tracks may be putting on the athletes. this is a fast track, its athletes. this is a fast track, its a smooth surface by mondo which is designed specifically to reduce the friction when the athlete stepped on the track. that's making a lot of the times faster, as well. drjonathan taylor is a sports science expert from teesside university here in the uk. here's his assessment on whether the shoes can help athletes run faster. so essentially, the technology that's being used in the spikes have been translated from the rolling shoes, which has been a lot of research carried out on. it's all to do with the importance of the shoes and, as you correctly stated early on, it's the format of the shoe and an addition of a carbon plate. all these things combined to essentially limit energy losses — so endurance

races... so the fuel the athlete needs to keep the same speed. in the sprint, it's more to do with the athlete's foot on the ground and the direction of the forces. 50 in athlete's foot on the ground and the direction of the forces.— direction of the forces. so in terms ofthe direction of the forces. so in terms of the reaction _ direction of the forces. so in terms of the reaction to _ direction of the forces. so in terms of the reaction to the _ direction of the forces. so in terms of the reaction to the foot - direction of the forces. so in terms of the reaction to the foot on - direction of the forces. so in terms of the reaction to the foot on the l of the reaction to the foot on the ground and the limiting of energy losses, do any of those things make athletes run faster than those who don't wear those shoes? flit athletes run faster than those who don't wear those shoes? of course, eah, if don't wear those shoes? of course, yeah. if you — don't wear those shoes? of course, yeah. if you can _ don't wear those shoes? of course, yeah, if you can use _ don't wear those shoes? of course, yeah, if you can use energy - don't wear those shoes? of course, yeah, if you can use energy more i yeah, if you can use energy more effectively and direct energy in the right direction through the force to the ground, it'll improve performance. and the research on the shoes, to do with marathon racing, it found about 2% improvement in performance wearing the shoes. that's it from me and the team on outside source. if you want any more information on the stories you've been watching here, you can get them on our website. you can also reach me at twitter. thank you so much for your company, by buy from us.

hello. there's no heat wave, temperatures are a degree or so either side of average for this time of year, but it undeniably feels warm when you get to see some sunshine. and most places did at some stage of today. here's the view from powys this afternoon. there weren't that many showers, but in kent, one of our weather watchers caught a view of the rain bouncing off the ground for a time. and there were more showers in scotland today compared with recent days. and there will be a few continuing overnight to effect the far north, northwest and into the western isles. whereas elsewhere, most places will lose the showers, becoming dry with clear spells, some patchy mist and fog around, and temperatures will be lower than this in the countryside where we could be down into single figures. find whether to start the day tomorrow, but these showers still around northeast scotland from the word go, a few more will pop up in scotland, northern ireland, and more

so in northern england tomorrow compared with recent days. again, the chance of catching a heavy downpour that may be thundery. elsewhere in england and wales, the showers will be very well scattered, most places will avoid them and stay dry, and again, again, the chance of catching a heavy downpour get to see some pleasantly warm, sunny spells with temperatures just creeping into the low 20s. most of the downpours will die away through wednesday evening, a few showers overnight and into thursday will continue in northern ireland and western scotland. then from thursday onwards, our weather is dominated by low pressure moving in — which will take a full four days to come in and clear away from the uk, as our weather terms. windier, more widely better again across the uk. and it will come in, this area of low pressure, with bands of rain and showers, initially across western areas on thursday, many eastern areas will stay largely dry, but there will be a few showers pushing in here, as well, as we get deeper on in the day. the winds picking up initially in the west, gusts of around 40 mph or so,

and it will be turning windier across the uk, temperatures heading down slightly, as well. so that area of low pressure will be very much with us friday into the weekend. it's moving its way slowly northeast words, but it won't be till the start of next week when it clears away — though there will still be a few showers around, our weather will be rather more settled again for a time. so a selection of places with the longer forecast taking us through the weekend — many locations will look like this, and that means there'll be some heavy, even thundery downpours. could be disruptive on friday, showers easing later on sunday.

this is bbc world news, the headlines. a car bomb has gone off near the home of the defence minister in kabul. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet told us armed attackers are inside his residence, as the fighting continues.|n the last hour — there are reports — of a powerful blast — in the centre of the capital. an investigation into new york govenor andrew cuomo has found that he sexually harrassed several women — including employees at his office. he's previously denied any wrongdoing. wildfires are still burning in turkey. strong winds are making it harder to get them under control. police in ukraine have opened a murder investigation after a belarusian opposition activist, vitaly shishov, was found hanged in a park in kiev. the exiles group he worked for blamed the belarus authorities.

you're watching bbc news.