welcome to bbc news — i'm ben boulos. our top stories: the un issues a stark warning about the safety of thousands of civilians, in the afghan city of lashkar gar, as fierce fighting continues between the taliban and government forces. the sprinter from belarus, who refused to return home from the olympics, fearing for her own safety, has arrived in poland. the mexican government sues 15 large us gun firms — accusing them of failing to stop the illegal flow of weapons across the border. protests across delhi, over the alleged gang rape, murder, and subsequent cremation of a nine year old girl from a dalit family, after claims her case was ignored by the the legal system.

and, i'm sarah mulkerrins in tokyo, on day 13 of the olympics where more medals will be up for grabs, and i've been talking to a five time gold medallist former australian swimmer ian thorpe. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. the un says it's deeply concerned about the safety of tens of thousands of civilians in the afghan city of lashkar gah, the capital of helmand province. taliban militants and government forces are waging an intense battle for control of the city. a un spokesman said there were reports of increased civilian casualties, and of homes and hospitals being destroyed.

afghan and us airstrikes on taliban positions continued throughout wednesday. mark lobel reports. several provincial capitals under taliban attacks. at least two reportedly breached, and security is forcing many afghan residents from their homes. we see a lot of schools are being destroyed, a lot of water plants, hospitals which are essential. we see that access to care and healthcare is extremely difficult. displaced in kandahar, these families were separated from loved ones and at the chaos. couple came under attack on tuesday night, first a car bomb targeting the defence minister, then deadly attackers roamed then deadly attackers roamed the streets. but these protesters say the taliban aren't welcome in the capital. our message was more to our troops to stand in solidarity

with our soldiers who are fighting the war, notjust for afghanistan but for the entire world against terrorism. in step with the protesters, the afghan president branded the afghan president branded the taliban hypocrites for attacking what he called real muslims. he pledged to rapidly expand the number of afghan special forces fighting them. translation:— special forces fighting them. translation: , ., , translation: there is no better opportunity _ translation: there is no better opportunity to — translation: there is no better opportunity to and _ translation: there is no better opportunity to and the _ translation: there is no better opportunity to and the war - translation: there is no better opportunity to and the war and i opportunity to and the war and bloodshed as foreigners have left the country. after all, it is only the efforts of the afghans that keep this country together. despite the army's efforts, the taliban has already taken swathes of the country in the past few weeks. the question is, how easily they may be able to capture urban areas. there is a much wider middle—class established cities are much bigger and stronger than —— within the political

economy of the country and women have really come into their own, but how much of these social and economic bulwarks will stop our traditional islamist taliban takeover and reversion to the kind of maoist policies that they adopted last time round is hard to tell. this is a bad time. it will take more _ this is a bad time. it will take more than - this is a bad time. it will take more than people l this is a bad time. it will - take more than people power to keep the taliban off the main streets, with many weeks of the country's seasonal fighting season yet to come. mark lobel, bbc news. we can now speak to we can now speak to michael o'hanlon who's a senior fellow and director of research at the brookings institution's foreign policy program. it is good to have you with others. in terms of what we are seeing, and this, even before the full us withdrawal, what hope is there of the afghan

government retaining control of these key cities and provinces? greetings, and i wish we were speaking about more happier topic, because i respect the negative tone of your reporting. british friends as well as us marines know the difficulty of holding onto helmand province, even when we had the maximum effort there. ten or 12 years ago. again, so many britons and us marines gave their lives in trying to clear this area and keep the opium trade lines, trying to keep the other movement lines of the taliban — that they would exploit — out of enemy hands. there is no surprise that at this juncture, with the britons gone, with virtually all the marines gone, that indeed these cities are under serious siege. i think what you will see an afghanistan, as clearly we are already witnessing, some parts of the countryjust witnessing, some parts of the country just cannot witnessing, some parts of the countryjust cannot be helped ijy countryjust cannot be helped by the government, even if it gets american backup, even if we continue to provide as an

international community economic assistance. i think helmand province will be one of those that is hardest to hold, so the fact that you have honed an honour lashkar gah is the right way to report this. that is the kind of city that will be very difficult to hold. i certainly support president gani's efforts to try. i don't want to in any way disparage the army and special forces undertakings. but realistically speaking, this is probably not where they can maximise efforts productively. the question to me will be whether parts of kabul can be held, when the parts of the north and west can be held. what i expect to be unfortunately and tragically an ongoing civil war that ultimately petitions the company, but we will have to see. obviously this is a desperate situation for the tens of thousands told to leave their homes, for those caught up in the fighting who have lost loved ones or indeed lost the last, but i wonder for people

watching in america and elsewhere around the world, why does what happen that happens and afghanistan matter to them? it is a fair question. i will not shy away from the humanitarian argument. we can't stop all suffering around the world, but when we have invested so much as an international community, as nato, as a donor community in a country like afghanistan, to quickly depart without trying to hold onto what gains have been realised — i think that is a mistake at the humanitarian level. i am not going to tell anyone tonight that they should somehow fear for the last somehow fear for the last somehow al-qaeda somehow fearfor the last somehow al-qaeda or isis is going to have a bigger new century and afghanistan. i hope we can prevent that. it will be harder, it will be more difficult. we will do it from over the horizon. it would be perfect and there may be greater risks to targets in the west, but i'm not going to suggest that somehow we are all vulnerable to a catastrophic terrorist strike. i don't expect that, however, the effort we will have to make

now, speaking now as american, using bases and qatar, kuwait, and the british territory from where we fly a lot of operations, the indian ocean, it is actually going to be harder and more expensive, and less sure of results than what we were doing before, so as imperfect as the previous afghanistan mission was, i think to give al-qaeda and isis under wraps now, we can probably do it but not with 100% guarantee of success and probably with a lot more inefficiency, a lot more cost, and certainly a lot more cost to the afghans. many thanks for your measured analysis from the brookings institute. the sprinterfrom belarus — krystina timanovskaya — who refused orders to fly home from the olympics early because she feared for her safety has arrived in poland. she landed there on wednesday after being granted a humanitarian visa by the polish government. earlier the most prominent opposition leader left in belarus, maria kolesnikova, made a defiant appearance as she stood trial for trying to overthrow president

lukashenko. from minsk, sarah rainsford reports. krystina timanovskaya left japan with her olympic dreams shattered, but her route to safety secured. the belarusian athlete says she just wants to run. her life was sports, not politics until a row with her coaches left her too scared to go home. but here inside belarus, state television has slammed her claims as cheap hype. "the only thing timanovskaya won in tokyo," this presenter says, "is a polish visa." on the streets of minsk, though, we did find sympathy for the sprinter who's fled because there is zero tolerance of dissent here now. "we're all afraid," dmitri says. "me, too, sometimes, because the situation is unstable. "

the danger is real. we pass the prison where opposition activists have been locked up since mass protests last year. but somehow maria kolesnikova is still smiling. the protest leader appeared in court today charged with plotting to seize power. she and a fellow activist are facing 12 years behind bars. maria's father brought her flowers. but had to pass them on via her lawyer. alexander hasn't been allowed to see his daughter for ten months, an extra punishment. and the woman who wanted to change belarus did this dance of defiance. for her dad, it was a chance to smile. "it just shows how free she still is inside," he told me, "despite everything." sarah rainsford,

bbc news, minsk. the mexican government is suing major us gun companies, accusing them of failing to stop the illegal flow of weapons across the border. thousands of murders in mexico have been linked to the trafficking of arms. mexican foreign minister, marcelo ebrard, says his country is seeking billions of dollars in compensation. translation: what is the goal of this lawsuit? _ translation: what is the goal of this lawsuit? what _ translation: what is the goal of this lawsuit? what is - translation: what is the goal of this lawsuit? what is mexico| of this lawsuit? what is mexico trying to achieve? what is the objective? first, the company compensated the mexican government for the damages caused by the negligent practices. we can now speak to the author and journalist ioan grillo. he recently covered this subject in his book blood gun money: how america arms gangs and cartels. it is good to have you with us. is this lawsuit anything more than symbolic? i think it is, i than symbolic? ithink it is, ithink it

than symbolic? i think it is, i think it is significant for two reasons. one is that if you see a lot of changes in the us industries over the years, a lot of it has a lot of tobacco industry, the pharmaceutical industry with opioids being described — a lot of the big chains have come from lawsuits. this lawsuit by the mexican government coincides with other suits in at united states for things like the massacre at sandy hook and pursuing gun companies over that. so it could have an impact there. the second thing is that it really gets into the media and was pressed on the us government to take the issue seriously of guns being dragged through the united states to mexico, which is mind—boggling and the scale. we're talking about over the last decades estimates of more than 2 million firearms being trafficked the united states to one of the most violent conflicted bases in one. won't those who are doing the smuggling find a way around it?

shouldn't the focus be on targeting the flow of arms and stopping that? if you see the way guns are trafficked in the united states you see the biggest firearms retail market in the world by far. the us has more guns in civilian hands in the next 25 countries combined. from there, it moves onto a parallel blackmarket of guns flowing to gangsters and criminals inside the united states, to mexico and to 100 more other countries. it is hard to actually stop the guns at the border because of the amount of commerce over the border. over half $1 trillion of legal commerce between the united states and mexico every year. actually huge amount of people. so it is very hard to stop that and it could be more effective to stop actually how guns are going to the cartels, and right now, basic law enforcement is not done. you have people doing things like buying 85 firearms and a single purchase, they are going for gangsters. trucks

with 135 firearms moving through the united states. so some quite extraordinary things happening and it the way that these guns are being sold to these guns are being sold to the united states. if the us doesn't toughen its laws on this front, what do you see the scenario coming from this being for mexico? it is a continuation of what mexico has been living for the past 15 years, what i have been covering, which is basically like a low intensity armed conflict. quite extraordinary violence, 35,000 murders a year. you have cartels moving, like major paramilitary groups, mass graves with more than 250 bodies, gunfights with 700 conmen against 50 soldiers. you have this really high level of violence. alongside, people are trying to make it, many people are living a normal nice. i think we will see a continuation of disruption unless there is real effort on both sides of the border to

stop this destruction. thank you indeed forjoining us. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the latest on day 13 of the tokyo olympics where medals are up tokyo olympics where medals are up for grabs tokyo olympics where medals are upfor grabs in tokyo olympics where medals are up for grabs in men's hockey and women's football. the question was whether we wanted to save our people — and japanese as well — and win the war or whether we wanted to take a chance on being able to win the war by killing all our young men. the invasion began at two o'clock this morning. mr bush, like most other people, was clearly- caught by surprise. we call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all iraqi forces. 100 years old and still full of vigour, vitality and enjoyment of life — no other king or queen in british history has lived so long, and the queen mother

is said to be quietly very pleased indeed that she has achieved this landmark anniversary. this is a pivotal moment for the church as an international movement. the question now is whether the american vote will lead to a split in the anglican community. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the un has issued a stark warning about the safety of thousands of civilians, in the afghan city of lashkar gar as fierce fighting continues between the taliban and government forces. the sprinter from belarus who refused to return home from the olympics, fearing for her own safety has arrived in poland. there's been a fourth day of protests in delhi, over the alleged gang rape, murder, and forced cremation of a 9—year—old girl. another factor is angering the protestors — the fact

the girl was from a dalit family, a low status caste in india, which some claim is often ignored by the legal system. danjohnson sent this report. we feel shame, they are chanting. there are hundreds of people protesting, calling for justice for this family and protection for dalits across india. it's four days since the nine—year—old went missing after going to get water from a crematorium. we can't identify herfamily crematorium. we can't identify her family but crematorium. we can't identify herfamily but her crematorium. we can't identify her family but her father told us when the hindu priest was confronted, he confessed to killing the girl. this neighbour explained what happened on sunday. translation: parents came here crying. after they told us their daughter had died, we asked what happened. they said the priest told him she was electrocuted. then we asked him, did you take to the

hospital or the police? they said no, the priest burned the body. said no, the priest burned the bod . ., said no, the priest burned the bod . . . , , , body. hang the culprits, this sin body. hang the culprits, this sign says- — body. hang the culprits, this sign says. police _ body. hang the culprits, this sign says. police are - sign says. police are questioning the priest and three workers on suspicion of rape, child abuse and murder. it's a complicated sensitive investigation and they've then accused of not taking it seriously to start with. the family belongs to the lowest group in india's social class struck and these protests follow other violent attacks and decades of aggression. the message is dalit lives matter. opposition congress party leader rahul gandhi has been to see the family and he described the girl is the daughter of the nation. delhi's chief minister has also paid a visit and promised swiftjustice, saying the death penalty would be in order if the allegations are proven. this case has touched a nerve right across the country and the protests look likely to grow. danjohnson, bbc news,

delhi. day 13 of the tokyo olympics is getting under way. in the first medal of the day, florian wellbrock of germany powered to gold in the men's10km marathon swimming competition. wellbrock maintained the lead throughout the race, with competetors facing incredibly warm waters of 29 degrees celsius. the gold is germany's 9th at the 2020 olympiad. for more on this, we can now cross live to tokyo and sarah mulkerrins tell us more about that first medal of the day, and what we can expect a bit later. i'm not sure i would quite fancy swimming in 29 degrees heated waters down below us in tokyo bay, where that marathon swim took place. that gold for florian wellbrock, such a dominant comfortable performance to him, he is the world champion and also added that open water marathon gold medal to his bronze in the

1500m in the pool but the temperatures and the heat are becoming a big talking point. we know there are issues as well with the women's golf potentially. they may have to shorten that. we've had certain events removed and requests for that to be moved because it's about 35 degrees here, temperatures very high in the water this morning, about 85% humidity, and that is something the athletes will have to be battling with over the next couple of days. however, there are still going to be 27 medals up are still going to be 27 medals up for grabs, are still going to be 27 medals upfor grabs, gold medals today, let's take a quick look at what else date 13 has in store for us, canada's damien warner will be on the track to cf warner will be on the track to cp can maintain his lead in the men's decathlon. they will have some event in the morning, five in total. the women's heptathlon is also going to be ongoing, the overnight leader

is from the evidence. caterino thompsonjohnson who was the world champion had to pull out late last night after she got injured in the 200m. elsewhere, the hockey final four men will be played between australia and belgium. australia in the final, therefore the first time since they wanted in 200a. they've never quite won an olympic medals they will be going to gold later. karate is backin going to gold later. karate is back in the games because it is native to japan. so it is that this edition of these olympics and that will begin later. also skateboarding ongoing right now as well. we had the women's final yesterday and in a couple of hours time, the men's final in the park event. and one of the big talking points aside from the heat in these games has been how athletes have been very vocal and honest and upfront in their post race

interviews, postevent interviews, postevent interviews, about how they are dealing with the pressures of these games, different because a lot of them have spent the last 1.5 years and locked down, trying to train in different ways, and they've been very honest about the struggles they have dealt in the lead—up to this. a little earlier i caught up this. a little earlier i caught up with the australian olympic swimming legend ian thorpe who won five gold medals at the olympics, and he spoke to me about seeing a lot of athletes opening up about those emotions and their mental well—being. i think what it is, and what the powerful message that does come from some of these very high—profile athletes around the world that have definitely struggled with mental illness or mental challenges — that they have faced in their careers — and how they overcome them. i guess it removes that false set of perception — orfalse perception — that all athletes are just superheroes and they don't have invulnerability. they seem invincible but we all have our weaknesses as well, and for people to know that this can affect anyone

in our communities, and that's why we need to get it right in the sport but in the broader community as well. the reaction to most people speaking out has been overwhelmingly supportive across social media, with people acknowledging it and supporting these athletes. do something has changed in terms of people realising this? i think we're starting to realise what level of expectation we place on our to perform well, and it varies from country to country, but there is an expectation of gold, and the question must be — at what cost? not only physically but now we are acknowledging it mentally as well. i look at naomi osaka, for example, or simone biles, who felt they had the weight of the nation stop thought originally, naomi osaka, when she refused to do interviews, we thought

it was her not being ready for it but now she has shared how significant her struggle has been since the us open and even leading to tokyo, and the olympic games, we saw that she actually beat her childhood hero who then had to consult her on the diocese because an official was being booed and then gave her the pep talk she needed, all within a few minutes playing out throughout the world, and that is tough for anyone who is unprepared for it, really making a conscious effort to improve where we are at with what we're doing and mental health for our athletes. do you think it would be different, i think back to sydney 2000, and you were one of those faces of the games, getting things are different now for people coming in under that intense spotlight? do you think it would be different, i think back to sydney 2000, and you were one of those faces of the games, getting things are different now for people coming in under that intense spotlight? i think what we do now is instead of talking a really good game in sport and mental health and what we do to prepare athletes for it,

we do the hard work. each individual athlete is going to have a different requirement and different needs going into an event like the olympic games. no doubt at least well—being and mental health will be one of the legacy conversations we are having about these games in the future. thank you very much. plenty more coverage about the olympics throughout the day. you can reach me on the day. you can reach me on the team on social media. you will find me on their at

@benmboulos. thank you for watching. hello. our temperatures so far this week have topped out in the comfortable low 20s. in greece, a severe extreme heatwave is continuing. there are wildfires. temperatures by day have topped out at 47 degrees, and overnight — this is an overnight temperature on the island of crete — into the mid—30s. now, there is a bit of relief on the way towards the south—east of europe in the coming days as temperatures will come down a bit. ours are about to go down a bit, too. low pressure is coming into the uk. the heavy downpours, there have been a few so far this week, are about to become more widespread again. this is how we start off on thursday morning, already some showers affecting northern ireland and western scotland.

it will turn much wetter through northern ireland in the morning, but across the western side of the uk, even though you may start dry, rain will move in through the day. that's going to extend eastwards to those areas still having some sunny spells even into the first part now, behind this main band of rain, brightening up in northern ireland, but here some slow—moving thundery downpours bring a risk of flooding and disruption into the afternoon and evening. and temperatures still across eastern parts rising into the low 20s.

all areas, though, seeing freshening winds gusting 30—110 mph. windiest around irish sea coasts, blowing in plenty of showers as we go on through thursday night into friday morning. some longer spells of rain in scotland, and temperatures as friday starts around the mid—teens. well, that low pressure right across us on friday, and there will be further heavy showers around through the central belt, southern scotland, northern ireland, northern england, north wales, parts of the midlands. this is where there is a risk of some slow—moving, prolonged, even torrential downpours. thundery, too, they'll bring a risk of flooding and disruption. showery picture continuing on sunday and monday. by tuesday, that low pressure system is out of the way. it will turn drier for a time, though another low moves in later next week.

this is bbc news, the headlines: fierce fighting continues and lashkar gah between the taliban and government forces. eight people have been killed in kabul at the home of the acting defence minister. the sprinter from belarus who defied her country's attempt to send her home from the olympics, because she feared for her safety, has arrived in warsaw. krystsina tsimanouskaya has been given a humanitarian visa by the polish governmment the mexican government is suing major 15 us gun companies, accusing them of failing to stop the illegal flow of weapons across the border. mexican officials are believed to be seeking in the region of $10 billion in compensation.

the companies named in the lawsuit haven't responded.