this is bbc news, the headlines: afghan officials say the taliban have seized the south—west city of zaranj — the first provincial capital to fall to the militants for five years. during a un emergency meeting to discuss the worsening violence — its envoy to the region demanded the militants end their offensive. the greek government has put almost half of the country's regions on high alert as wildfires continue to spread. huge clouds of smoke are billowing over the outskirts of athens. a man's been killed in a village north of the city after being hit by a falling electricity pole. the penultimate day of action at the olympics is underway in tokyo. kenya's peresjepchirchir has won the women's marathon — claiming the country's second, consecutive gold medal in the event. later, medals will also be up for grabs in basketball, volleyball and golf.

now on bbc news, being intersex in russia.

hello there. the very unsettled august weather continues into this weekend. low pressure nearby will generate further showers, and again, like friday, we could see some thunderstorms which could lead to some localised flooding in places. but there will be some good spells of sunshine in between, particularly across more southern areas. so, here it is, this area of low pressure, which is going to stick around both saturday, sunday and indeed even into monday. lots of isobars on the charts, so it'll be quite breezy again, particularly across southern, south—western areas, and across the northern isles, gusts of 30—a0 mph. we'll have showers pretty much from the word go anywhere, but most of them will be across scotland, northern ireland, western england and wales. they will drift their way further eastwards into the afternoon, and again there'll be some torrential downpours in places. but some good spells of sunshine, particularly across the south—east. another breezy day, these

are the mean wind speeds. temperatures will be a bit disappointing for august, particularly when the showers come along, it'll feel quite cool. but in the sunny spells, we could make 20 degrees or so across the south—east. otherwise, generally the mid to high teens celsius. as we head through saturday night, we continue with the breeze, further showers. again, some of them will be quite heavy, particularly across central, northern and western areas. perhaps turning a little bit quieter across the south east quadrant of the country. and again nowhere particularly cold, with overnight lows 12—14 degrees. so, into sunday, ourarea of low pressure still with us, drifting a little bit further northwards and weakening a little bit. there's fewer isobars on the charts, but there's still enough energy in the low pressure system to generate further showers, which again could be quite heavy in places throughout sunday. mainly across central and northern parts of the country, because i think as we head on into the afternoon, there may be a greater chance of seeing some sunnier, drier weather for wales, central and southern england. so, that mayjust bump up

temperatures to 21 degrees, slightly lighter winds. again, for most, though, the high teens celsius. into next week, then, for monday, our area of low pressure's still with us, so it's going to be another day of sunshine and showers. but the winds will turn light, and the system continues to weaken. and as we head on into tuesday, we've got this bump of high pressure which will build in, and that should settle things down. but low pressure always close by to the north and the west of the uk. so, we'll have most of the showers through the new week across northern and western areas. greater chance of seeing some drier, sunnier and warmer weather in the south and east.

this is bbc world news, i'm rich preston. our top stories: the taliban seizes a provincial capital in southern afghanistan as the un's envoy demands the militants end their offensive. we are extremely concerned about the safety and security of people in cities under taliban attacks, and what brutality would await them. nearly half the regions in greece are on high alert as the worst wildfires in decades rage across the country. i'm sarah mulkerrins live in tokyo on day 15 of the olympic games, where norway's men have won olympic gold for the first time in beach volleyball. and from the charts to the stage, pop star lily allen makes her acting debut in the west end.