this is bbc news — i'm ben boulos. our top stories: trapped among blasts and street battles — the fight to drive the taliban from afghan cities sparks fears of a humanitarian crisis. washington calls on tehran to resume nuclear talks, after iran's newly—inaugurated president, supports diplomatic efforts to end the deadlock. wildfires threaten large parts of greece, as strengthening winds fuel more than 150 blazes. dozens of towns and villages have been evacuated. one of the world's great footballers, lionel messi, is leaving barcelona after more than 20 years. i am sarah mulkerinns live in tokyo on day m of the games, where we have had the first medal of the day —

poland's dawid tomala has won gold in the men's 50km race walk. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. there has been fierce fighting in the southern afghan city of lashkar gah. dozens of taliban insurgents are reported to have been killed in a battle for control of the city. afghan forces, backed by us air strikes, are fighting on several fronts. this map shows you some of the key areas of the fighting in kandahar, herat, as well as lashkar gah. this is the situation earlier on thursday in herat, with taliban fighters reportedly moving freely in much of the city. here are the thoughts of some of the residents. translation: the situation is tough. | our houses have

all been destroyed. people have all fled. there are eight or nine taliban on the roof of our house. if the security force hit there, everything will be destroyed. then where should we go? translation: we feel very bad. our house is in the in the basin area. right now, the taliban came into the area from another place. we can hear the gunfire, and just now a bullet hit the truck of a tank. we completely evacuated this area. we have nothing left, and we do not know where to go. helmand province was under the control of british forces, after a us led coalition invaded in 2001 in response to the september 11th terror attacks. in march 2012, corporaljake hartley was one of six british servicemen killed in helmand, when a bomb detonated beneath their armoured vehicle. at the time it was the biggest single loss of life suffered by the british military, in the campaign.

in the last weekjake's mother, nathalie, has been watching events unfold in afghanistan, and she's been speaking to our special correspondent, ed thomas. i light my candles and i'd touch that picture. i'd say good morning, good night. i'll talk to him, it's like he's here. holding on. memories of corporal jake hartley. i have jake's old iphone and wallet with money and items and cinema tickets. i've got his best clothes, and i polish his buckle. and i still have his shoes in t�*shoe rack. they're just little comforts. it might seem crazy to some people, but... yeah. it's nearly ten years since jake was killed in afghanistan. losing jake has caused so much pain. so much pain. he was 20 years old. i've not wanted to be here. i have attempted, i have. it's...

it's like i'vejust wanted to go to him. and ijust want the pain and... ..everything to just go away. after two decades of conflict, this is lashkar gar now — with the taliban taking afghanistan to the brink of civil war. gunfire. i don't think we should go back or have any involvement whatsoever. we've done what we can and it's cost a lot of lives — too many. it makes me angry. yeah, it makes me angry. he gave his life for queen and country and for us to be safe. we're all seeing the taliban pushing across the country, across helmand, where jake was. and how difficult is it to see those images? it's just a waste.

it's just... it does feel like a waste. but i think that... ..there's no comeback. there's nothing we can do. corporaljake hartley was one of a57 british military deaths in afghanistan. jake paid the ultimate sacrifice, but so do the families. you know, we have definitely been forgotten about. jake's last letter, the first line states, "hello, family. please don't cry, mum. "i am not here now. "i'm in a better place." if you could say one more thing to him? i love you so much. and i'd have to finish with... my little nut brownie.

the us has urged iran to resume nuclear talks after the newly—inaugurated president, ebrahim raisi, indicated he'd support diplomatic efforts to end the deadlock. at his swearing in ceremony in tehran, mr raisi said he'd back any diplomatic plan to end us sanctions, which were imposed over iran's nuclear activities. he said that the effort to force his country to abandon the research had failed. barbara slavin is director of the future of iran initiative and a non resident senior fellow at the atlantic council. i asked her what the west can expect from this new leader. not very much, i'm afraid. he will continue, i believe the diplomatic efforts that were started under rouhani. this is a decision by the iranian government to try to get sanctions lifted but raisi is not interested in improving relations with the west or with the united states. i think he going to be much more focused on solidifying

iran's relationship with china, russia and perhaps some of the neighbouring states. we should also remember that he is not in charge of iran's foreign policy. he is taking direction from the supreme leader of the country. indeed, he was hand—picked by the supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei so i think we can hope perhaps for a return to negotiations and a resumption to the 2015 nuclear deal but not much else. it is interesting, you point out where the power really lies. i have heard it described as the supreme leader having power without accountability, the president having accountability without power. is that a fair summation of the position he finds himself in? i am not sure about the accountability. no—one is expecting very much from ebrahim raisi. he has not managerial or executive experience. this is the first office he has been elected to,

and indeed, he was selected for it. he had really no opposition. so i think the decision—making really does rest with the supreme leader and with the security forces, with the arabian revolutionary guard corp. what do you think this means for the people of iran? as you say, if he is that inexperienced, not only is he dealing with the talks over the nuclear deal and the sanctions, iran's economy is battered, it is one of the worst hit countries in the region by the pandemic — can he do anything to try and deal with that multitude of problems? getting sanctions relief would certainly help, but that is not the only solution. there is a great deal of corruption and smuggling and ifind it hard to believe, despite his promises, that he is really going to be able to crack down because they are very powerful people and institutions which are monopolising iran's hard currency. i think people are fed up, i think they are depressed, and are rather cynical about this new president.

let's get some of the day's other news. the greek prime minister, kyriakos mitsotakis, has said many people face a menacing night, as firefighters try to contain wildfires across the country. he warned that the worst was yet to come with strong westerly winds expected to fan flames on friday. in one of the worst blazes firefighters have spent two days battling to save the historic birthplace of the olympic games. 0ur reporter mark lobel has been monitoring the situation. these fires have spread extensively. we do not have any reports of serious injuries or loss of life but livelihoods are at stake with 150 fires at least throughout greece. if you put it into perspective, 6000 hectares of land destroyed in three days. last year 10,000 hectares were destroyed. it really centres on three areas, one around athens, north of athens, where temperatures are over a0 degrees centigrade, where the prime minister,

as you were saying, says there is a menacing time ahead, and that's because fires that were dying out have had a new lease of life breathed into them by westerly winds and they are very concerned about that. if you go to the east, 100 kilometres east of athens, to evia, to the island there, the second biggest island after crete, homes have been destroyed, and also a monastery was surrounded by fire there and because of the rolling hills and low visibility it has been really difficult to put the fires out there. and if you go to the west and peloponnese, you'll see ancient 0lympia, which you mentioned and that has really considered people. firefighters have been working overnight, for two nights now, to save that historic site where the olympic flame is lit every two years before the olympics, of course, and so there is great concern. in terms of the efforts to evacuate people, get them out of the danger areas, how is that going?

the prime minister went on national tv on thursday to urge people, if they are asked to evacuate and to avoid all non—essential travel, he reminded them that when there was a cyclone that hit greece in 2020, there was compensation if your home was destroyed or your crops were destroyed, of 5000—8000 euros per household or business, but people are reluctant to go, monks in evia are reluctant to leave, residents in the west of greece are reluctant to leave, because there is a lack of resources and they want to be on hand to stop the fires spreading throughout their homes. and the prime minister referenced climate change? he says that climate change is a reality in the country now. of course, climate change increases the risk of hot dry weather and by increasing the temperature and frequency of droughts, they can cause more wildfires. some would say he is shifting the blame, local politicians were denouncing him for a lack of resources, but he is insisting that the phenomenon is too great an action is needed on climate change to stop these

wildfires of the future. mark lobel there. the footballer lionel messi will leave barcelona — after the club announced it was unable to offer him a new contract which satisfied both sides. barcelona has been stuggling financially, and has to reduce its budget in line with spanish league rules. it means messi, seen by many as the world's best player, canjoin another club for free — if they can satisfy his wage demands. the bbc�*s south american football correspondent, tim vickery says this may be a warning shot from barca. there may not be finality here. now, i could be wrong, i have been wrong before, but my interpretation here is, this is barcelona negotiating. they're not negotiating with lionel messi. they've made it clear that they have agreed terms with lionel messi. the problem, as you've said earlier on, is the rules governing la liga, the spanish competition, trying to prevent clubs from overspending. what it seems to me that

barcelona are doing is issuing a warning to spanish football. remember, there is an offer on the table from a private equity fund who want a 10% stake in la liga. think two or three years ago, real madrid, and barcelona. real madrid had christiano ronaldo, barcelona lionel messi. la liga has already lost christiano ronaldo. he now plays in italy, with juventus. can la liga afford to lose lionel messi as well? from my point of view, i think barcelona can make a pretty convincing case that it is in the interest of not only of barcelona but of spanish football as a whole to bend the rules a little bit and retain the services of the man who could well be the greatest player, some would argue the greatest player in the history of the world, he's been there for 21 years now. is it time to give him the key to the door? surely it is not time

to show him the door. coming up — more in the olympics, the 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 world news, the latest headlines: there's been fierce fighting in the afghan cities of lashkar gah and herat — as the struggle to drive back the taliban, sparks fears of a humanitarian crisis. washington calls on tehran to resume nuclear talks, after iran's newly—inaugurated president supports diplomatic efforts to end the deadlock.

now let's get an update from the olympics in tokyo and it's day 1a, which means there's only a few days of competition left before the big closing ceremony. the first gold of the day was won earlier with poland's dawid tomala in the men's 50 kilometres race walk on friday. tomala powered through the 33 degree celsius heat in sapporo, finishing 36 seconds ahead of germany'sjonathan hilbert. for more on this, we can now cross live to tokyo and sarah mulkerrins. thank you. welcome to tokyo where it is pretty hot. they had a race walk in the north of japan in order to try and counteract the heat but it was as hot up there. you saw the picture and the images of those race walkers as they were competing in that 50 kilometre race. they had to take on a lot of waterfor race. they had to take on a lot of water for hydration and energy drinks. they had ice scarves around their neck as the athletes battle the extreme heat here at the moment. but it

was gold for poland, as you say. and just another great start from that race walk because we had the spanish race walkerjesus garcia, 51 years old and his eighth 0lympics. he competed at every 0lympics since 1992 in barcelona and thatis since 1992 in barcelona and that is another record in athletics. well done to him. i can also tell in the last few moments we have had two more medals handled out. the beach volleyball final just finished between the women and the usa have clinched that two sets— love against the australians. gold for the us they that make usa there and silver for australia. the bronze medal match women's hockey is ongoing and that is great britain who have won that, 4—3, defeated india. you can see some indian players on their knees and crying there. it had been such an historic run for india in this tournament. the further as they have ever gotten so a huge success for them butjust

success for them but just missing success for them butjust missing out on a medal by the narrowest of margins there. we saw their men's team yesterday winning the bronze medal, the first medal in men's hockey since 1980. i mentioned the heat and it is something that many athletes have been battling and earlier i spoke to the new zealand rugby star ruby tui about some of the issues that people have been dealing with and the pressure on the athletes in these games. experience of extended quarantine that they all had to go through and compete in this heat especially in the last few days. to heat especially in the last few da s. ., , ., , heat especially in the last few das. ., , ,, days. to be honest especially in a contact — days. to be honest especially in a contact sport _ days. to be honest especially in a contact sport it _ days. to be honest especially in a contact sport it is - days. to be honest especially in a contact sport it is hard. l in a contact sport it is hard. i have played in snow and freezing condition and it is so hard to warm up so would ease hot and it is sweet and you do not have to muck around for long to warm up but i watched the walking and that looked intense. i have never walk that fast for that long.—

fast for that long. that was about four _ fast for that long. that was about four hours. - fast for that long. that was about four hours. a - fast for that long. that was about four hours. a little . about four hours. a little different than rugby sevens. but you do have the short sharp bursts that you need to deal with. so, ruby, you won gold and i know you spoke about winning silver in rio five years ago and using that as motivation. tell us how you feel now that you have managed to win a gold medal and have had some time to reflect on it. i feel a had some time to reflect on it. ifeel a bit like i need to be humble. i love it and i want to keep talking about it, to be honest. i can still taste that silver medal. i look at it every single day and i took it with me to the olympics to remind me of why we were sacrificing what we have while we are here because it gets harder. ten years chasing the stream but now we have it and now i can sleep with a gold medal every night. it has its own side of the bed and i am just over the moon. so grateful. just over the moon. so grateful-—

just over the moon. so grateful. just over the moon. so crateful. �* ., ., ., grateful. amazing. you have it on the pillow _ grateful. amazing. you have it on the pillow behind _ grateful. amazing. you have it on the pillow behind you. - grateful. amazing. you have it on the pillow behind you. canl on the pillow behind you. can you bring it closer to the camera? let's see what one looks like up close. i camera? let's see what one looks like up close.- looks like up close. i don't want to — looks like up close. i don't want to hurt _ looks like up close. i don't want to hurt your - looks like up close. i don't want to hurt your eyes, i looks like up close. i don't - want to hurt your eyes, though. it is very bright. here we go. oh, it is very bright. here we go. oh, that it is very bright. here we go. oh, that is very bright! look oh, that is very bright! look at that! amazing. i still can't believe it but it is very real. and, ruby, for you to represent new zealand in rugby it is the most dominant sport in new zealand and means so much to the country and for you, your journey to get here, does it kind of sink in, the magnitude of what you have achieved and your team for new zealand? probably not. it is quite heavy, notjust the gold but everything around it.

emotionally and mentally. but to be honest in new zealand we have won the world cup and the commonwealth games but this gold medal was a big... that we needed to get this across the line. i am trying not to swear because i am excited about it but it takes you win and i have grown and so has my team. we are grateful to be a part of an event like the olympics which after such a difficult few years with covid and everything it is something so beautiful and sweet and amazing and i am putting my arms around russia and france, we are all getting on and it is so good. 50. on and it is so good. so, finally. _ on and it is so good. so, finally, how— on and it is so good. so, finally, how is _ on and it is so good. so, | finally, how is quarantine going? how long do you have left in one of the plans for when you can break free? left in one of the plans for when you can breakfree? film. when you can break free? oh, man. when you can break free? oh, man- you _ when you can break free? oh, man. you just _ when you can break free? oh, man. you just want _ when you can break free? oh, man. you just want to - when you can break free? (1)! man. you just want to run when you can break free? 011, man. you just want to run out and see yourfamily man. you just want to run out and see your family and man. you just want to run out and see yourfamily and give them a hug but we're just

sitting here and i cannot say no to interviews because they know i am not doing anything. it is a bit funny but, hey, i am grateful to be home, grateful we have gotten through to the olympics. so when we get out it is going to be a little bit of fun. but, yeah, so grateful. she is brilliant, isn't she? new zealand �*s gold medal winner in rugby sevens, ruby tui. medal winner in rugby sevens, rub tui. ~ , medal winner in rugby sevens, rub tui. , , medal winner in rugby sevens, rub tui. ~ ., ., ruby tui. what a character, ben. thank _ ruby tui. what a character, ben. thank you, _ ruby tui. what a character, ben. thank you, sarah. - ruby tui. what a character, | ben. thank you, sarah. and ruby tui. what a character, - ben. thank you, sarah. and this is the last time we will be speaking on abbott great stuff, thank you very much indeed. two weeks ago, japan opened the tokyo 0lympics with a ceremony which featured two mixed race japanese athletes in very high—profile roles — nba basketball star rui hachimura, and tennis champion naomi 0saka. in the days since there has been intense debate over whether this could be a watershed moment in the way japan views its growing multi—ethnic population. from tokyo rupert

wingfield—hayes reports. it was the crowning moment of the opening ceremony and a big surprise — two of japan's most famous mixed—race athletes given the honour of leading the team and lighting the cauldron. but in the two weeks since, naomi 0saka in particular has been targeted with online abuse, with some questioning whether she is really japanese. it's something ariana miyamoto knows as well. back in 2016, she also caused shock here, becoming the first mixed—race women to be crowned miss universe japan. watching the olympic opening ceremony, ariana says she was pretty sceptical. translation: i don't know why they were chosen. - it seems like it was to get good publicity. japan has a lot of mixed—race celebrities and sports stars. biracial people are often held up as being more beautiful, even more intelligent. but ariana says within that, there is still a hierarchy.

translation: half-white people are greatly celebrated _ injapan, but when it comes to half—black people, it's different. when i was working as a model, i was told that a lot of japanese wouldn't want the clothes that i wear since my skin colour is very different. so they wouldn't allow me to model their outfits. i kind of look at japan as a... baye mcneil is a writer who has lived in japan for 17 years. he says naomi osaka lighting the olympic cauldron will not change the fact that most japanese still think this is a mono—ethnic society. so, first thing japan would need to do is disperse with that rumour, with that fallacy that they're a homogenous country. it's a misconception, and the fact that they haven't been correcting it is feeding this negativity, the response to naomi osaka and rui hachimura and all these people, because most japanese people don't understand this basic fact, that their country is not homogenous.

biracial people are not the only ones who face exclusion and discrimination injapan. in the southern okinawan islands, there are nearly 1.5 million ryukyuan people who are not even recognised as an official minority despite having their own culture and language. in the far north, there are the ainu people, and then injapan�*s big cities, like here, there is the group that perhaps faces the greatest hostility, and those are ethnic koreans. they never mentioned ethnic korean in the opening ceremony, so where we are... where are we, i mean? kiho's korean grandparents were brought here over 80 years ago. he has never known another home. but that fact means little to japan's many right—wing nationalists. that report there by rupert. there is more on our website and all the other stories we have covered as well. just go

to the website or you can download the bbc news app. see you soon. hello. lots of talk about heavy showers in this forecast, but it is important to point out it won't be raining all the time. there will be some drier, sunnier moments, too, but, yes, some areas on friday will be dealing with heavy, even intense thundery downpours, particularly across northern parts of the uk. whereas further south, there'll still be some heavy showers to contend with, but they'll tend to move through more quickly. more in the way of sunshine, more of the day dry compared with to the north, because to the southern flank of this area of low pressure which has come in, the winds are strongest, so the showers move through more quickly. but if you're close to the centre

of this area of low pressure — that's really across scotland, northern ireland, northern england, north wales, too — the showers just hang around for longer, the rain totals mount and these intense downpours could well cause some flooding and some disruption in some spots. parts of eastern scotland will be dealing with more persistent rain here. again, rain totals mounting with a risk of flooding. still some sunny spells in between the heavy showers, but with the stronger winds across south wales and southern england — these are average speeds, maybe gusting 40—115 mph — the showers will tend to move through more quickly. and there may be some places that avoid them altogether, and more in the way of sunshine to end the day here as well. up to around 22 in east anglia. most places not getting that high. you can see the swirl of winds and the circulation of the showers around this area of low pressure continuing, then, on through friday night and into saturday morning. temperatures holding up into the mid to low teens. nothing really changes on saturday. for the bulk of the uk, there'll be some sunshine around at times, but there'll be heavy, thundery showers. looks like, though, there is a greater chance of picking up some heavy and thundery showers across southern areas

compared with friday. and as for temperatures, well, some spots just creeping into the low 20s, though many won't. and then on sunday, well, the area of low pressure's still here. it looks to be centred close to scotland. this is where there could well be the most prolonged thundery downpours, but you can see they're flaring up elsewhere across the uk. but it may well be towards south wales and southern england that we're back to a picture of fewer showers and more in the way of sunny spells. this area of low pressure looks to finally get out of the way by tuesday to allow us a couple of fine days before another area of low pressure comes in later next week.

this is bbc news, the headlines: there's been fierce fighting in the southern afghan city of lashkar gah, as the fight to drive back the taliban sparks fears of a humanitarian crisis. government forces claim to have pushed back a further taliban offensive on the north—west city of herat. washington has called on tehran to resume nuclear talks after iran's newly—inaugurated president, ebrahim raisi, declared his support for diplomatic efforts to end the deadlock. efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear accord, ground to a halt following months of discussions in vienna. wildfires are threatening large parts of greece, as strengthening winds fuel more than 150 blazes. so far dozens of towns and villages have been evacuated. the greek prime minister, has said many people are facing what he called a �*menacing' stage. now on bbc news, it's hardtalk.