humanitarian crisis unfolding in afghanistan across the country. many of those we have met here have run once, twice, multiple times and now they have come here to afghanistan's capital, kabul. from here, they say, there is nowhere else to go. the taliban's advance is unprecdented. is unprecedented. our correspondent has had rare access to the militants and their commanders. translation: it's fighting, people will die. _ you're the one's who started the fighting. translation: we won't acceptl

anything other than islamic rule. the americans say the capital, kabul, good full within 90 days, too. —— could fall. also tonight. a man who works at the british embassy in berlin appears in court on suspicion of spying and passing documents to russian intelligence. after record high grades, one of the uk's top universities, is offering students £10,000 and free accommodation to defer places on oversubscribed courses. the extreme heatwave moving across the mediterranean — wildfires in greece, and italy experiences what may be the hottest temperature ever recorded in europe — 48.8 degrees celsius. and coming up in the sport on the bbc news channel, doubt and out — stuart broad's season is over, while james anderson is an injury doubt for england's second test against india.

good evening. the taliban's advance across afghanistan is unprecedented. the hardline islamists who once harboured 0sama bin laden are gaining ground fast as they sweep through the country. as ever, it's the civilians who are paying the highest prices. more than a thousand have been killed in recent weeks. many more have been pushed from their homes as they are caught up in the fighting. a us—led military coalition to oust the taliban first began in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks — but now most of the foreign troops have pulled out. a54 british forces personnel or mod civilians lost their lives. nearly 2,300 us troops have been killed. and more than 120,000 afghan military, police and civilians have died in the conflict. as the taliban continue to capture territory, questions are being asked

about what was achieved over the past two decades and the future looks like for afghans. 0ur correspondent yogita limaye reports from the capital, kabul. desperation on a scale not seen in decades. thousands have arrived in kabul in the past few days. people who had homes and jobs, who led dignified lives... ..forced to leave everything behind. angry that they've been left on their own — no government, no humanitarian agencies. this woman's sons are in the army. she says only the poor go to the battlefield, while politicians watch. we have seen this camp

grow by the hour. people have been coming in from different parts of the country, as more and more provincial capitals, more and more cities are being taken over by the taliban. many of those we have met here have run once, twice, multiple times, and now they have come here to afghanistan's capital, kabul. from here, they say, there's nowhere else to go. to get here, they've survived dangerous journeys, past taliban checkpoints and active front lines. this woman says they moved from one place to another for three days before they got to kabul. she has four children — the youngest is two.

the ten—year—old girl was in school taking her exams when the taliban attacked. many had to leave their dead behind to save their own lives. this man's parents died in the violence. many here have fled from kunduz in north afghanistan, which fell to the taliban on sunday.

today in kabul, we bumped into these men, who we'd met four weeks ago in kunduz. then, the city was a refuge for tens of thousands of people who'd fled fighting in villages. now, we've learned that in recent days, mortar shells landed in these camps. we don't know what happened to the people we'd met there. most of the north of the country has been taken over by the taliban now. those who have escaped to kabul are staring at uncertainty. fears that the capital, too, could fall within weeks. yogita limaye, bbc news, kabul. taliban fighters now control almost two thirds of the country after making rapid advances against afghan forces as foreign troops withdraw.

the red afg hanistan�*s the red afghanistan's —— at the red cross has warned that canada has been rocked by fighting between government forces and taliban militants. —— that kandahar has been taken. they've already taken the areas you can see here in red — in those areas marked in yellow — the taliban is pushing — but neither side is currently in overall control — that includes nine of the country's 3a provincial capitals. 0ur afghanistan correspondent sec—under kermani has been given rare access to newly captured taliban territory and has sent us this report, which was filmed by fred scott. it contains disturbing images. new territory. new weapons. all captured in this unprecedented taliban advance. caught in the middle, afghan families right across the country. how can you justify all this fighting when it is causing the deaths of thousands of ordinary afghans, thousands of ordinary muslims?

you are the ones who started the fighting here, though. shortly after the interview ends, the sound of helicopters. the taliban are still vulnerable to government air strikes. this is balkh, a town with ancient roots, thought to be the birthplace of one of islam's best known mystic poets, rumi. now, it is under taliban control. we came through here a little earlier this year. back then, it was still under government control. now it is one of around 200 district centres taken by the taliban.

schools are open here, though in other taliban areas, girls are reportedly prevented from attending. the market is still busy. women have apparently been allowed to come here without male companions if they need to. but elsewhere, taliban commanders have reportedly banned them. this is a local taliban leader. despite what i have been told, he insists they have not made the burqa compulsory. you have said that women have to wear the burqa, the chadar. that is right, isn't it? what happens if someone doesn't want to wear it?

i heard that members of the taliban here caught one man listening to music and to punish him, made him walk for two kilometres without any shoes on until he fainted as punishment. the next day, a young woman was killed close by, allegedly for wearing immodest clothing. the taliban denied involvement. they seem to want to play down their more hardline views internationally, but at times are in tune with some conservative afghans. many here praise improved security. accompanied by taliban fighters at all times, it is hard to know what residents really think. having already captured many rural areas and some border crossings, the taliban are now pushing in on afghan cities. half an hour's drive away, in mazar—i—sharif, the government

are still in control. there is a greater sense of personal freedom here it is hard to imagine the taliban accepting. many fear the taliban want to resurrect their practice of brutal punishments. they insist they were not responsible for this flogging, supposedly filmed last year, but they did recently hang two child kidnappers in public. 0n the steps of the government's old court house in balkh, the taliban's legal system was in force. for many, the taliban's brutal form ofjustice is what scares them the most about the group, but for others, they at least offer a swifter resolution than the notoriously corrupt government courts. thejudge here says he has never ordered serious corporal punishment and that there is a system of appeal courts, but he defends stoning adulterers and cutting the hands of thieves.

many people here in afghanistan and around the world would be horrified. the taliban are capturing new territory on an almost daily basis. they are still facing fierce resistance but they vow to install what they term an islamic government. if that does not come through the stalled peace process, they say, it will come through more violence. secunder kermani, bbc news, balkh. let's go to the afghan capital now and our correspondent yogita limaye. so many people now fleeing to the relative safety of kabul, but can the capital hold out?

well it is a very unpredictable and volatile situation and all around, it is not looking good, the us press is reporting today that intelligence officials in washington, dc are telling them kabul could fall within 30-90 telling them kabul could fall within 30—90 days. that is unexpected but so is what has happened here over the past week. the taliban have so quickly gained control of provincial capital after provincial capital. in some areas, we know they walked in and took over without a fight from the afghan forces. afghan soldiers in some areas were not paid or given ammunition, sometimes even something as basic as food was not supplied to them. and the morale is low among them. and the morale is low among the forces here and the government recognises they need to change that. today, the president went to

mazar—i—sharif, an important city for afghanistan and afghan forces say they are fighting furiously to defend other major cities in this country. defend other ma'or cities in this count . . ~ defend other ma'or cities in this count . ., ~ ,, defend other ma'or cities in this count . ., ~ ., ., , a 57—year—old british man has been arrested in germany on suspicion of spying for russia. the man — named only as david s — worked at the british embassy in berlin and is accused of passing documents to russian intelligence in exchange for cash. 0ur security correspondent gordon corera has this report. a berlin spy case involving british secrets and russian spies. german prosecutors allege that the man, who worked here at the british embassy in berlin, passed on official documents in exchange for money. he is alleged to have been working for the russian intelligence service. their embassy is located not far away in berlin. the man, who worked as a security guard, was arrested yesterday in potsdam, south—west of berlin, and his apartment and office were searched today. translation: we take extremely

seriously the indications _ that the detainee's secret service activity was done on behalf of a russian intelligence service. because spying on a close ally on german soil is absolutely unacceptable and we stand in full solidarity with our british friends. so what do we know about the suspect? he's been named simply as david 5, his second name withheld under german privacy laws. he's a 57—year—old briton. he was employed locally by the embassy as a contractor, so not as a diplomat. and it's alleged he was working with the russians since at least november of last year. the arrest came after what i understand was an intelligence—led operation, run jointly by german and british authorities, including the security service, m15 here, and metropolitan police. once they felt they had enough evidence a germanjudge issued an arrest warrant. cold war berlin was the spy capital of the world. the glienicke bridge there was known as the bridge of spies because of the exchanges that took

place between east and west. spying has changed since then. secrets can be stolen remotely over cyberspace, but that does not mean that old—fashioned human spying, as seemingly witnessed in today's case, has gone away. it's unusual but it's not surprising. it would be more surprising if russia were not doing this. it's no surprise that they are conducting espionage against a country that they consider to be their adversary, the uk, and it's also not surprising that they get caught in the process, which is quite reassuring. so far this potential security breach at the embassy does not look to be too serious. but it does serve as a reminder that beneath the surface of a city like berlin spies are still plying their trade. gordon corera, bbc news. 0ur europe correspondent mark lowen is outside the german federal court ofjustice in karlsruhe. what happened in court and what now?

this is germany's highest criminal court here in karlsruhe. it's where david s appeared this afternoon facing the german legal charge of engaging in intelligence agent activity. we know thejudge engaging in intelligence agent activity. we know the judge accepted the arrest warrant and remanded him in custody. he will not be granted bail. beyond that, perhaps predictably, this intelligence story is shrouded in mystery. german authorities are not telling us what happened inside the courtroom today. we don't know whether david s issued a plea or responded to the charge. similarly we are not being told where he is now being held and for how long. german law does not have a maximum pre—trial detention period but this is of course a high profile case and presumably legal authorities will be keen to move the process swiftly along. they will now make further enquiries. david s will have access to a lawyer as german authorities seek to understand just how far this alleged case of british spying for russia in the heart of

berlin really went.— spying for russia in the heart of berlin really went. mark lowen, thank yom _ the latest government coronavirus figures show there were 29,612 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period, which means on average there were just over 28,000 new cases per day in the last week. nearly 6,000 people are in hospital with coronavirus. 104 deaths were recorded in the last 2a hours, which means an average of 87 deaths a day, in the last week. 89% of adults in the uk have now had theirfirstjab. and just short of a0 million people have had both jabs — 76% of adults. one of the uk's top universities — leeds — is offering students on oversubscribed courses £10,000 and a year of free universtiy accomodation if they are willing to defer their place. it comes after a record number of students were awarded top grades this year after their exams were cancelled because of the pandemic. here's our education editor branwen jeffreys.

at leeds, students were getting their first look around campus — tours for those starting this autumn. leeds isn't offering places in clearing and, with lots of students with good grades, they're asking some in business and law to wait a year. we're going to make them an offer to defer to next year, with an incentive of a cash payment of about £10,000 and our fee for their halls of residence in the first year being paid by the university if they choose to make the choice to defer. we're not putting pressure on anybody to make that choice — it's an entirely free choice. leeds is also offering to take extra medical students, after other universities were overfull. universities are working to make sure that students land in the right place this year. but the a—level results have thrown up a wider debate about what will happen when we go back to exams, how grades can be managed to make sure that students

from every kind of background have a decent chance. labour says children in the north missed on average an extra week in class last year. in the north—east, more families needed help from free school meals. a—level results rose least in this part of england. there are worries about the long—term impact of the pandemic. the lack of access to it, space to work, the impact of covid in terms of their attendance rates throughout the year, which has been horrendous. i think going forward, we very much need a proper education recovery plan. isabella was looking round leeds with herfamily. she's starting here this autumn. her younger sister francesca will face gcse exams next summer. it matters to me that everyone gets the grades that they really achieve and i feel like, with teacher—assessed grades, people have got the true grades they deserve. how do you feel about doing exams next year? i think, like, the content should be reduced.

like, i think the government should consider reducing the content because we have missed a lot of year 9 and year 10. there will always be that... not cloud but thatl label, won't there? that actually those i were the children of the pandemic years or whatever. but they shouldn't be i viewed any differently. most students do get their first choice and there's still a chance to find places across the uk in clearing. branwenjeffreys, bbc news, leeds. italy may today have registered the hottest temperature ever recorded in europe. a reading from near syracuse on the island of sicily registered 48.8 degrees celsius, but this still needs to be verified. it comes as firefighters continued to battle wildfires on the island amid the ongoing heatwave. for more than a week now thousands of greek firefighters have been battling to contain wildfires that

have destroyed huge swathes of land. the flames have been fanned by the country's most severe heatwave in decades. in the southern peloponnese region fires overnight forced many villages to evacuate. crews from britain, france and the czech republic, have joined the efforts to help. 0ur europe correspondent bethany bell reports. cutting away anything that can burn. these british firefighters have come to greece to help stop the catastrophic wildfires. as you can see behind us, trying to open this road and help with the fallen tree, just to get access to the community and the houses up here. olive groves have gone up in flames. what matters now is to stop new blazes from spreading, so the team is making fire breaks between the burnt areas and the trees which survived. the fire swept through here last night and some of the trees are still smouldering.

the team is trying to draw a line in the sand between the green and the black, to prevent any more flare—ups. it's hard work and it's punishingly hot. we lend the team our drone to give them an idea of the lay of the land. the extent of the destruction is huge. 27 years in the fire service, i've never seen scale like this. i've seen flooding on this scale in europe but not... not wild land fires. so it's immense, the land is burned right across. another fire sparks in the undergrowth. the team's greek liaison officer rushes to put it out. a firefighting helicopter carrying water flies past the house where yorgos and stella live. their family has lost 700 olive trees. translation: others | have lost more than us. my main worry is about the environment.

the trees that have been burned are more than 50 years old. the situation is volatile. when we drove down this road this morning, there was no smoke. now there's fire. with the wind rising, there are fears this will be a long and difficult night. bethany bell, bbc news, in the peloponnese. lionel messi — one of the greatest footballers of this generation — has said he's extremely happy to have joined the french club paris saint—germain and hopes to continue winning titles. the argentine striker signed a two—year deal after his dramatic departure from barcelona at the weekend — a club he'd been at for 21 years. 0ur sports correspondent laura scott reports. their life was in barcelona. now it's in paris. it's a move no—one, including the messi family, saw coming this time a week ago. behind the smiles, how's it been for the man at the centre of one of the biggest football

transfers in history? translation: it was hard to sleep. it was hard to rest. these past days, i was anxious about the uncertainty, and the change for the family was complicated until we could get things going and make progress on the agreement with paris. from there, it was about thinking ahead — a new chapter, a new experience that will be really nice for my family — so now i'm looking forward for it to start. psg already boasted a formidable squad, including messi's former barcelona team—mate neymar and world cup winner kylian mbappe. the addition of messi on around half a million pounds a week, means there will be fewer excuses if they don't achieve their main goal of winning the champions league. it's also prompted questions about how the club can balance the books given football's financial fair play, or ffp, rules. there's a lot of people wondering how you can afford to have such an amazing squad and stick within ffp.

can you tell us, please? we follow the financial fair play regulation from day one that we started. if you see that we're signing leo, that means that we could, we have the capacity to sign him. messi has the world's attention on him today. what the fans want to know is when he'll make his first appearance for his new club and, when he does, the focus will be on whether he can translate the success and the trophies he achieved with barcelona to his new home here at the parc des princes. already, the fans are treating him like a club legend, many rushing to the shop to have his name on their backs. translation: it's a crazy moment. it's incredible. it's a childhood dream. he's the best player in the whole world. the best, messi! what a difference a few days and a lucrative new contract makes. enjoying a kickabout with his children on this, his new lawn, messi already looks to be making himself at home. laura scott, bbc news, paris.

for the first time in 182 years — women are allowed to wear trousers at this week's henley regatta. the dress code has been updated for the steward's enclosure to state that women can wear "jackets or blazers with trousers, or trouser suits" or dresses or skirts "with a hemline below the knee". the change was made after a petition launched by a 23—year—old student. that's it. now on bbc one, time for the news where you are. have a very good night. hello there. not that much in the way of settled summer sunshine for many as we go through thursday, as another area of low pressure really starts to dominate the story. and to the south of that low, we'll see plenty of isobars, the winds picking up, gusts in excess of a0 mph, showery outbreaks of rain to come as well. weak weather front will be sitting across the south to begin with. it drifts its way steadily northwards, allowing for some sunshine into south east england.

clouding over, though, from the west as we go through the day as that front brings some showers into northern ireland, western scotland as well. here, temperatures subdued, 16—19 degrees, but in the sunnier spots in the south east, we might see highs of 2a degrees. that low pressure is still sitting there, slowly drifting its way steadily eastwards. that's going to continue to enhance some blustery showers into the far north and west. further south is where we're likely to see the best of the sunshine as we head towards the weekend.

this is bbc news, the headlines... the head of the afghan army has been sacked following a rapid offensive by the taliban, who've taken over nine provincial capitals. tens of thousands of civilians have fleed their homes, and hundreds have died in recent weeks. president ashraf ghani has been rallying beleaguered troops in mazar—i—sharif, a crucial northern city under pressure from the offensive. it's long been a bastion of anti—taliban militias. italy may have registered the hottest temperature ever recorded in europe. a reading on the island of sicily registered 48.8 celsius, but this still needs to be verified. the current record is 48 celsius. new charges have been filed against the prominent kremlin critic alexei navalny, who is already serving time in prison. the authorities claim his anti—corruption foundation infringes on people's rights.