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. in afghanistan, in a major escalation of the taliban's offensive the militants have captured a provincial capital, zaranj, close to the border with iran, and assassinated a close aide of the president's. they've made sweeping gains since foreign forces started withdrawing from the country. the united nations special envoy has warned the country is facing a possible catastrophe and called on the taliban to halt the violence and take part in meaningful peace talks. our world affairs correspondent richard galpin has more. in the heart of the afghan capital, another assassination — taliban gunmen opening fire on this car, killing the head of the government's media

information centre, dawa khan menapal. they'd warned officials would be targeted in response to air strikes by afghan and us forces. the war now increasingly spilling into the capital. but the taliban are also now targeting other key cities in this, their latest offensive. they claim to have captured the city of zaranj in the south—west of the country. gunfire. officials say, if true, it would be the first provincial capital to fall into their hands in this, the latest upsurge in fighting. and the taliban claim more will follow. at the united nations in new york, there are now calls for action. the council must act and prevent a catastrophic situation. we are alarmed by reports of incidences of gross human rights violations by

the taliban and their foreign terrorist associates in almost half of our country, and we are extremely concerned about the safety and security of people in cities under taliban attacks and what brutality would await them. the question now, though, is what action can be taken, given the taliban advances have been precipitated by the withdrawal of foreign troops from afghanistan. the futures of millions of afghans are at stake. i think the region should very clearly tell the taliban that a taliban coming to power through force and continuing the violence is unacceptable. they need to see that their government will not be accepted and recognised. but for now, at least, it seems unlikely the taliban will stop their offensive. they seem determined to seize as much ground as they can. richard galpin, bbc news. mariam wardak is the founder of her afghanistan, an organisation dedicated to the advancement of young afghan women.

i spoke to her about how the taliban have attempted to change their image on the issue of women's rights. everything in regards to the taliban narrative should be taken with caution. i think that this change of narrative had to do with the influence of tribal elders in provinces asking and demanding for certain continuations. for instance, there are certain provinces that the elders wanted their young daughters to continue their education, so they pressed on that towards the taliban. but then there's also a disconnect. you have a disconnect between the taliban political party that's in doha, and then there's a disconnect between their commanders — military commanders. for instance, in wardak there was a case that there was a constant change in the taliban commander. one taliban commander would be ok with young girls attending school, but the next one would not. so it's a very personalised

approach, and the most important aspect of it is how the tribal community is approaching this. we have seen civilians standing up against the taliban. that has included women in some situations. what role can women play in fighting back? i think the most important role is to inform our young girls, especially on the religion aspect. the narrative that the taliban have continued to use to fight foreign, in their terms, invaders, is religion. now that the foreign troops have left afghanistan, that narrative cannot be held anymore. and the fact that they've allowed the girls to continue or shared their opinions on allowing girls to continue their education — i think the young girls need to be advanced on religious arguments, holding theological arguments on how to advance. religion is the key of opportunities for young

girls, and in the religion of islam there are many opportunities. the confusion in afghanistan is religion versus culture. if you advance within culture then there's religion. if you advance within religion then the culture works against you, and i think women face many problems in that aspect. one thing that i do see across the board now is the resistance for the taliban because of the fear that they're spreading. and it's quite strange because if you see insurgent groups in other countries — indonesia or other places, and historically — they have worked with civilians to gain their trust and to gain their compassion one way or another. but the taliban are wishing — the military commanders are wishing to spread fear. i think that's going to work to their disadvantage because the population of the 1990s, when the taliban first emerged, is not the same population. the young people are educated, have economic autonomy, have seen freedom to a certain

extent in the past 20 years. and i think that there needs to be a proper form of negotiation, and that negotiation is mainly led with the political leaders. but there seems to be a disconnect, in my perspective, between the taliban military leaders and their political leaders. a severe heatwave has caused a series of wildfires in greece, with strong winds fanning the flames. thousands of people have been moved from their homes in the suburbs north of athens. an extreme fire warning has been issued, with the greek prime minister saying the country is in the midst of an unprecedented environmental crisis. this report from bethany bell. around athens, the hillsides are burning. people are desperately trying to put out the flames using whatever they can find. helicopters are bringing water

to drop on the fires, but the scorching winds don't help. it's so dry here you can actually hear the parched branches crackle as they burn. emergency crews are struggling to stop the wildfires from spreading. vassiliki is trying to save her home. her husband is a firefighter, but she has no idea where he is. translation: i'm not leaving here, at least for as long - as i can. my house is behind here. you can see the roof. i'm not leaving, whatever happens. the effects of the fires are devastating. villages have been burnt out and dead animals litter the roads. and it's continuing. tonight we watched as another blaze raged in the outskirts of athens. all day long a fire has been

burning on the other side of this mountain, and now it is coming over the hill. people have been told to leave this area as soon as possible, and we've seen people pack up their cars and go. the air is full of smoke and ash. people here are desperately worried about what is going to happen to their homes. this man's house is up on that hillside. he managed to bring his family to safety. as the flames head towards his house, all he can do is watch. i cannot sleep. i have my mind there. i don't think that someone can sleep if he knows that maybe his only house will be destroyed. it was too dangerous to stay here. the police arrived to move people away. it's going to be a long night, people hoping against hope that their homes will be spared. bethany bell, bbc news, athens.

families of the victims of the 11 september attacks in america are among those calling on president biden not to attend this year's memorial events unless he declassifies files that they contend will show saudi leaders supported the atrocity. this year marks the 20th anniversary of the attacks in new york, virginia and pennsylvania which killed nearly 3,000 people. our north america correspondent barbara plett usher explained exactly what the group are asking of the president. there's around 1,700 people who've signed this letter. it includes survivors and first responders, and they have long been asking for access to classified government documents on whether the saudi arabian government was implicated in the al-qaeda plot — so whether saudi officials assisted or aided orfunded these hijackers in any way. the saudi government has always said it was not involved

and previous us administrations have refused to declassify the documents, saying that it's a national security issue. now, this letter is saying, look, it's 20 years since this happened. there's just no reason why this information has to be kept secret. and furthermore, joe biden made a campaign pledge to try to resolve this issue, and if he doesn't do so then the people who signed this letter say �*we will feel obliged to publicly stand against him participating in any of the memorial services come september'. so they're basically drawing a line in the sand, and the white house has responded. the white house spokesperson jen psaki said that mr biden was indeed still committed to that pledge. she also said that white house officials had met family members a number of times. but the issue is not — it's not clear how this is going to play out. it's 20 years since the attacks. is there a sense as to whether most americans feel sympathetic to those

behind this letter, and that they have a legitimate argument that these papers should be released 7 well, i'm not sure what polling there has been done about that. i don't think it's a widely discussed issue in terms of how these family members and people who have been affected by the attack have pursued the saudi government over these past years, but they have been very dedicated. now, the us government commission that investigated the 9/11 attacks found no evidence that the saudi government had directly funded al-qaeda, but it left open the matter of whether individual officials might have done so. and so these families have long maintained that the saudi government was aware of the attack in advance and did nothing to stop it, and specifically they want to prove that some saudi nationals helped two of the hijackers in the months leading up to the attack and that a diplomat in the saudi embassy in washington co—ordinated that. so that's their argument. and then separately,

they are also suing the saudi government, the families of around 2,500 victims. but then around 20,000 others who were either injured or otherwise affected by 9/11 are suing the saudi government for billions. that lawsuit is ongoing. this is bbc news. the headlines: the taliban have seized a provincial capital in southern afghanistan as the un's envoy demands the militants end their offensive. nearly half the regions in greece are on high alert as the worst wildfires in decades rage across the country. the united nations emergency relief coordinator says a humanitarian ceasefire in ethiopia is needed urgently, in order to allow massive aid deliveries into the warring ti—gray region. the un estimates that more than five million people are in need of assistance. the ethiopian government in addis ababa says it is in favour of the un ceasefire plan, but tigrayan fighters are extending

the conflict. in recent weeks, the have been moving from the northern tigray region into amhara state, which lies along its southern border, as well as the afar state to tigray�*s east. the united states and the united nations have called on the tigrayan forces to leave the region. the bbc�*s kalkidan yibeltal gave us the latest from the ethiopian capital, addis ababa. the region is now one of the hotspots of this conflict, which is in its ninth month now. we travelled to the region's capital, which is more than 100 miles away from the front lines, but the war is evident. the war is very visible. it is in the foreground. we have seen quite a number of mobilisations of malicious and youths joining the army or the regional forces, the armed forces. preparing and supporting the war effort. so now, as i said, nine months on we are seeing

this conflict going into a protracted phase and expanding to other regions across northern ethiopian. humanitarian aid and the difficulty to provide much—needed emergency support for hundreds of thousands of people in tigray have been very much what the international community are trying to highlight in the past nine months, and particularly since june this seems to have worsened and now we are understanding that very little aid is getting into tigray. lastjuly the ground forces controlled much of tigray, and following that all the roads leading to tigray are practically blocked by the fighting. the fighting has spread, as i said, to amhara and towards afar. so all the roads are closed due to the fighting, which means that much—needed aid is not getting

there easily. so very little is getting in right now but the us and the united nations and the european union are calling for more access, more unrestricted access, for hundreds of thousands of people there. the communications blackout has been one of the major marks of this conflict, since november last year. for nine months now, internet services have been cut off across tigray and telephone lines are not working for the past almost two months now. so that means it is very difficult to get reliable information due to get reliable information due to the conflict is very hard to get into the area. there were times they were relaxing and it was easier to travel. in march and may we tried to travel there, but generally there is this sense of communications blackout and lots of things happening there. we cannot independently and reliably verify claims and counterclaims by rebel forces or by the government, so it has been difficult to report on this

conflict. now let's get an update from the olympics. day 15 of the games is well under way in tokyo. here's how the medals table stands at the moment, china is on top with 37 gold medals with usa in second place and the host nation japan in third. for more on this, we can now cross live to tokyo and sarah mulkerrins. a nailbiting finish in the men's basketball. we a nailbiting finish in the men's basketball. ~ ., ., men's basketball. we are down to the final _ men's basketball. we are down to the final seconds, _ men's basketball. we are down to the final seconds, i - men's basketball. we are down to the final seconds, i can - men's basketball. we are down to the final seconds, i can see l to the final seconds, i can see it on the screen below me, ten seconds to go and it looks like the usa are going to take the gold medal in that match against france. just when you think about all the talking points with the dream team coming into this olympic tournament, they lost their two warmup games to australia and nigeria, lost their opener to this side of france, there were so much talk and conjecture over what was happening, they

have so many players from the nba in the team, they were going for the fourth consecutive gold medal, everyone was wondering where their form was but they have ground their way through this olympic competition, so far getting all the way to the final, play is still ongoing, but getting all the way to the final, play is still ongoing, but it getting all the way to the final, play is still ongoing, but it looks getting all the way to the final, play is still ongoing, but it looks as getting all the way to the final, play is still ongoing, but it looks as if getting all the way to the final, play is still ongoing, but it looks as if they getting all the way to the final, play is still ongoing, but it looks as if they are going to get the gold medal and it looks as if france may well have to settle for the silver medal, and you look at some of the performers today in the final, the likes of cabbage durant from brooklyn nets, he has scored aplenty for them, he has scored aplenty for them, he has really been on fire, drew holliday has really pushed the us on in the third quarter of the match but it looks as if the match but it looks as if the usa are on the verge of the fourth consecutive gold medal in the men's basketball. fine fourth consecutive gold medal in the men's basketball. one of the other events _ in the men's basketball. one of the other events on _ in the men's basketball. one of the other events on today - in the men's basketball. one of the other events on today was i the other events on today was the other events on today was the golf but there has been a delay? the golf but there has been a dela ? ~ . , ., delay? we have seen the rain here in the — delay? we have seen the rain here in the past _ delay? we have seen the rain here in the past couple - delay? we have seen the rain here in the past couple of- here in the past couple of hours and the gulf is taking

place about a0 minutes north and play was suspended with two holes remaining, because of the inclement weather on the way in and the fact that they were worried about the risk of lightning and as soon as that potential comes in a golf course, they take them off. they will mark their balls wherever the last shot was landed and then they remove themselves from the tournament, from the course to take shelter. we have had an update that they don't expect it to last long and that we expect play to get back under way to finish those final two holes within the next ten or 15 minutes. it should take about half—an—hour in total for it all to pass through and it is the american nelly korda who has the lead, no doubt she will be wanting to get back out on the cause and wrap up that when with two holes remaining, she is one chart clear, 17 under, but there has been a brilliant round from the japanese player, she has had a great back nine, four birdies in a row, and has two left to play so she is

currently in the silver medal position and battling it out for that bronze medal position is new zealand's lydia coe, so hopefully within the next 15 minutes, play can resume, and we will get a result in the women's golf competition. closing ceremony on sunday, the penultimate day of the games, talk us through some of the other medals.— other medals. the women's marathon — other medals. the women's marathon started _ other medals. the women's marathon started off, - other medals. the women'sj marathon started off, that's always the closing weekend of the olympics and tomorrow morning we will have the men's marathon. that was taking place up north in order to counteract the extreme heat you can have in tokyo but it did not quite work out, there were very high temperatures up there so they started the marathon an hour earlier, and it was a kenyan first and second place, the

winnerfinished in first and second place, the winner finished in two first and second place, the winnerfinished in two hours and 20 minutes, ahead of her competitor, the world record holder, who has been posting some really fast times over the past couple of years and a great bronze medal for the past couple of years and a great bronze medalfor the usa, not many people would have tipped herfor that, she tipped her for that, she qualified tipped herfor that, she qualified to represent the us team in the marathon in her first ever marathon run and here she is at the olympics walking away with a gold medal. just finally, the men's ten metres diving final. we will have the — metres diving final. we will have the final _ metres diving final. we will have the final coming - metres diving final. we will have the final coming up i have the final coming up shortly, i think ijust said molly siegel got a gold medal but i did mean a bronze medal. we will have a gold medal awarded in the men's ten metre platform in the diving, that the final event taking place in the final event taking place in the diving competition here at the diving competition here at the olympics, i know a lot of people will be looking up great britain's daley, he has been there since he appeared back in

2008, he got bronze in london, and then in rio and eventually here in tokyo in the synchronised event he was able to win his first ever olympic gold, he qualified fourth in the semi—final, and he told the bbc he made a dog's dinner out of his qualification. there are a couple of chinese divers that are really good, who finished as the top qualifying divers in that, so if he wants to get a medal and potentially challenge for a gold medal he will have to do better than making a dog's dinner out of his diving but i'm sure lots people will be watching on to how he gets on. the singer—songwriter lily allen is stepping out onto london's west end. she's revealed she finds theatrical performances scarier than concerts and has to stop herself engaging with the audience when they laugh. she's starring in danny robins' new play called �*2:22, a ghost story�* which officially opens next week after just five weeks of rehearsals. mark lobel reports.

the multi—award winner has performed in front of tens of thousands on glastonbury�*s famous pyramid stage. # when do you think it will all become clear? # because i'm being taken over by the fear. now in her new incarnation as an actress, following five weeks of rehearsals, she says she really is being taken over by the fear. i know people say you've been on a stage before, but it is a completely different experience, it's kind of like, much scarierfor me. on stage, lilly's character examines the supernatural late into the night. as the witching hour approaches, she argues ghosts are like random memories.

you mostly ignore them, but every so often one sticks out because it sets off some emotional response, so you share it again. the choice of london's noel coward theatre for lily allen's west end debut comes with a hint of irony, with her character convinced her home is haunted. apparently the theatre is haunted as well. the guy that built the theatre, charles windham, he walks across the stage and goes into the dressing room by the stage, which is lily allen's dressing room. as long as he stays in there, that's fine. it's lily allen's problem. haunted or not, the outspoken number one selling singer's fully aware that the surprising move to the dressing room after being approached by a casting director out of the blue comes with the risk of, well, a premature exit stage left. the fact that i do live in new york kind of meant there is a very clear exit strategy if it all goes terribly wrong. if i was living in london, i probably wouldn't have taken thejob because i would have to live with the consequences,

but yeah, everything is great, it's all working out fine. indeed, after rave reviews from fans and previews before next week's official opening, it looks like the 36—year—old can believe in herself once more, as well as the ghosts they're all staying up to see. mark lobel, bbc news. mark's report on the play called 2:22 is exactly 2:22 long. she has acquired more than 60,000 tea canisters, keeping them in four different houses, although she has never travelled, the boxes are from all over the world and the first engraved tin box dates back to 1868.

you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ rich preston. there is more on all of our top stories on the website and at the. thanks for watching, goodbye. 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—1a 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 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 has 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 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 diving, volleyball and golf.

now on bbc news, the travel show.