welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines. the taliban have made their most dramatic gains yet against afghan government forces, and claim to have taken the country's second largest city, kandahar. as the security situation deteriorates, thousands of us and british troops are being sent back to help evacuate american and uk nationals. police in south west england say five people have been killed in a mass shooting in the city of plymouth. the surging covid cases in parts of the united states — how religion, politics and science have clashed resulting in an epidemic of the unvaccinated.

and — the father of britney spears agrees to step down as longtime conservator of her estate, seen a major victory for the singer. it's 8:00am in singapore, and 4.30 in the morning in afghanistan, where the taliban are sweeping through the country at an extraordinary pace. they've captured a third of the nation's provincial capitals. several of those cities, including afghanistan's third biggest city, herat, fell to the insurgent fighters in the last few hours. and we're now getting reports that the taliban say they've captured the second largest city, kandahar. the speed of their advance means britain and the united states are sending more than 3 and a half thousand troops to help their civilians leave.

here's the latest from yogita limaye in kabul. we woke up talking about the fall of ghazni which is about 100 miles south of kabul, and we are ending the day with multiple provincial capitals falling to the taliban. many of them significant cities for the afghan government. herat, fiercely contested between the two sides but the afghan government was not able to hold onto it. staring at defeat in kandahar, the second largest city in this country, lashkar gah the capital of the helmand province falling as well. and there are real worries among citizens here about what is next. what is the future of their capital, kabul? i see messages and social media from afghans talking about the last moments of freedom. but i think what happens here in the coming days will depend heavily on how the afghan government reacts to what's happened in this one day. so far, we have heard

nothing from the top brass of the government, nothing from the president, nothing from the vice president or any of the big ministers. how they respond tomorrow to this situation will determine, you know, what happens next in the capital, kabul. as we mentioned, kandahar may have fallen to the taliban and the afghan freelance journalist bilal sarwary gave us more. in the last few minutes we have gotten confirmation that the city of kandahar has fallen into the hands of the taliban. all of the officials have gone now to the 205. it's the regional army base tasked with protecting kandahar and the neighbouring provinces. we also have confirmation from tribal elders in the neighbouring province where tribal elders sent by the taliban are negotiating with the governor representing the afghan government, so this has been about fighting, yes, on the battlefield but this has been more about the taliban strategy of offering people insurance, you know.

britain and the united states are sending more than 3,500 troops to help their civilians leave. they'll arrive in the coming days for what the uk ministry of defence is calling a short—term mission. 0ur defence correspondent jonathan beale has more. shouting. the taliban advance appears unstoppable, ruthless as ever to those who stand in their way. regional capitals are falling like dominoes. today, it was ghazni, just 85 miles from the capital kabul. in the face of this rapidly deteriorating security situation, today, britain announced it was temporarily sending 600 troops to kabul to facilitate the withdrawal of embassy staff and british citizens still in the country. america announced its preparing to do the same, deploying 3000 marines and soldiers.

this is a temporary mission with a narrow focus. as with all deployments of our troops into harm's way, our commanders have the inherent right of self—defence and any attack on them, and will be met with a forceful and an appropriate response. us initiated so—called peace talks with the taliban were still taking place in doha today, but they now look more like a sideshow with little relevance to what's happening on the ground. in the past month the insurgents have moved at speed, seizing more territory. in the last day alone, three major cities have fallen including herat, ghazni and lashkar gah in helmand, once patrolled by british troops. nearby kandahar is believed to be on the brink. we are now departing, as i say, and leaving the country to what we are going to see

is a massive humanitarian disaster, a civil war. we are going to see huge migration problems and on top of that we are going to see terrorism raise its ugly head again no doubt in this country and other countries because it's now become a safe haven for them to regroup, rearm, and retrain. most british troops had already left kabul as part of the us led withdrawal. this temporary surge is purely to facilitate the departure of those who remain securely, but once again it raises more questions as to what was achieved by the sacrifice of a57 british lives over the past 20 years. jonathan beale, bbc news. it's been a week of extreme weather conditions and weather related disasters around the world. algeria has observed a day of mourning after wildfires took the lives of 69

people since monday. high winds and 50 degree celsius heat fueled the rapid spread of the blazes. algerian authorites say they suspect arson in sparking the fires, but the fires were aggravated by the hot temperatures. north of the mediterranean, the italian island of sicily may have registered the highest temperature ever recorded in europe — 48.8 degrees celsius. the average maximum temperatures for this time of year are normally around 35 degrees there. over 500 blazes were reported over wednesday night. the head of a siberian region has declared friday a non working day and urged residents to stay home due to the threat of forest fire smoke to public health. according to the russian forestry commission, this seasons wildfires have burned away 9.2 million hectares of forest, an area the size of portugal. and — emergency teams in northern india have now rescued thousands of people stranded by floods in

the state of uttar pradesh. india's most populous state is suffering some of its worst flooding in decades, following days of torrential downpours. monsoon rains in india have led to hundreds of deaths since june. police in south west england say that 5 people have been killed in a shooting incident in the city of plymouth. witnesses described hearing gunshots, with one saying she saw a man "randomly" start shooting at people in an area of the city. the suspect also died in the incident. i'm joined now by our reporter aruna iyengar. i know this is a developing story — but what more can you tell us about what's happened 7 devon and cornwall police have just confirmed that six people have died in this incident in a serious firearms incident. it

was around ten past six an evening last night. they said that two females and two males were deceased at the scene, another male believed to be the offender was also deceased at the scene and all appeared to have shot and died by gunshot wounds. anotherfemale have shot and died by gunshot wounds. another female was treated at the scene for gunshot wounds and died a short time later in hospital. all of the next of kin have been located and informed by police officers and they also want to stress that this is not a terrorism —related incident and they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident. the significant disruption to road networks in the area. they are also keen to stress that they don't want people to post footage of the incident on social media platforms and they want people to respect the families of those who have lost loved ones this evening because there is a lot of social media out at the moment and they're keen to stress, as our local politicians, that would be to

the families and this is still an ongoing incident. the families and this is still an ongoing incident. emergency services if you wanyt to get in touch with me i'm on twitter — @bbckarishma you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme. the american hospitals in crisis — with large proportions of the population unwilling to get vaccinated the big crowds became bigger as the time of the funeral approached. as the lines of fans became longer, the police prepared for a huge job of crowd control. idi amin, uganda's brutal former dictator, has died at the age of 80.

he's being buried in saudi arabia, where he lived in exile since being overthrown in 1979. two billion people around the world have seen the last total eclipse of the sun to take place in this millennium. it began itsjourney off the coast of canada, ending three hours later when the sun set over the bay of bengal. this is newsday on the bbc. in singapore. 0ur headlines: the taliban capture afghanistan's third biggest city herat, with reports they've taken kandahar too. let's get more on our top

story now — i've been speaking to laurel miller — program directorfor asia at the think tank, crisis group. i asked her if she thought kabul would fall next. what is unclear is whether the taliban are planning to or even needs to attack hubble or if the government will simply collapse before they have to make that move. what we are seeing so far is that the taliban has had a very well laid strategy for surrounding the city is that they have now been able to move on and for essentially, encircling the city. so it looks extremely fragile at the moment. it is just uncertain whether the government collapse before the taliban has to fight for the city or whether they will

surrender.— city or whether they will surrender. , ., . ., surrender. given that context, what you _ surrender. given that context, what you think _ surrender. given that context, what you think the _ surrender. given that context, what you think the prospects l what you think the prospects are, then, for a peace deal? h0 are, then, for a peace deal? no prospects _ are, then, fora peace deal? in? prospects any time soon. the taliban are fighting for power, they are not fighting for power sharing through a peace deal. and if they were not particularly interested in negotiating with any speed six months ago, they are less interested now that they are achieving military victory after victory. what they might do is engage in a kind of endgame negotiation with a handful of power brokers and warlords, not with the elected government as i understand. they claim that they have

achieved a political settlement that gives them legitimacy and they did not take the country entirely by force. fill" entirely by force. our correspondence - entirely by force. our correspondence have| entirely by force. our- correspondence have been speaking to different factions of the taliban. we spoke to too distinct ideologies there. do continue to see the divide? is the taliban different or consistently who they were 20 years ago? i consistently who they were 20 years ago?— years ago? i think that is unclear— years ago? i think that is unclear at _ years ago? i think that is unclear at the _ years ago? i think that is unclear at the leadership level. they have claimed that they have learned some lessons from mistakes us mistakes is not certain. but i think of it less i divide than a politically minded element that sees that to have a somewhat palatable narrative

to present the international community and you have the fighters on the ground that have no interest in that message so that is less of a divide than it is that there are some distinctions between the kinds of individuals and viewpoints within the movement. we they taliban has remained cohesive over time, overall, that has been the comparative advantage. they have been the more cohesive side. the father of britney spears has agreed to step down as longtime conservator of her estate, in a move described as a major victory for the singer, by her lawyer. injune, the singer, described the conservatorship — which has controlled her life and finances since 2008 — as "abusive" — and told a judge she wanted it to end.

andrew rossow, entertainment lawyer and reporterjoins me now. talk as to how significant a victory this is for britney spears. victory this is for britney sears. . ~ victory this is for britney sears. ., ~ i. victory this is for britney sears. ., ~ . victory this is for britney sears. ., . ., spears. thank you so much for havin: spears. thank you so much for having me- _ spears. thank you so much for having me. as _ spears. thank you so much for having me. as you _ spears. thank you so much for having me. as you said, - spears. thank you so much for having me. as you said, this . spears. thank you so much for having me. as you said, this is a huge victory and i3 having me. as you said, this is a huge victory and 13 long years coming to where we have a very successful woman who has made a name for herself in the industry finally free, finally empowered and able to go back to hopefully a normal semblance of her life. to hopefully a normal semblance of her life-— of her life. when using normal semblance _ of her life. when using normal semblance of _ of her life. when using normal semblance of her— of her life. when using normal semblance of her life, - of her life. when using normal semblance of her life, what i semblance of her life, what does that entail. would she have more ownership over her career? a personality coming out in a way that we have not seen. . , . out in a way that we have not seen. ., , ., ., ., seen. that is a great point. to remove these _

seen. that is a great point. to remove these restrictions - seen. that is a great point. to remove these restrictions that have been in place for so long, that britney can return to her music career if she chooses to and can engage with herfans and can engage with herfans and do everything she has been prohibited from doing so i think this is a major milestone for the britney spears team. from a legal perspective, what does it mean for her father. he is saying he will step away now but it can't be as simple as that, surely? there must be a lot of paperwork to go through and the bureaucracy of all of this. �* , ,., , ., this. absolutely. right now coin: this. absolutely. right now auoin to this. absolutely. right now going to court _ this. absolutely. right now going to court and - this. absolutely. right now going to court and sitting i this. absolutely. right now- going to court and sitting down with attorneys and the parties and signing on that these documents, re—reading these documents, re—reading these documents and making sure that, look, he really does intend to step down there are things that need to be done to comply so i think it will be a lengthy process but certainly a step in the right direction. there was

a hashtag, free britney movement and the social media campaign that has been in support of her, how much has that helped her case? immensely. how can it not. you've seen a community of fans just pulled themselves together and they have been able to do what she's been unable to do. so a huge impact. thank you so much forjoining us on newsday and perhaps with this victory we will be able to listen to more of britney much faster now than ever. covid cases are surging in the united states as the delta variant spreads in what health professionals there are calling an epidemic of the unvaccinated. but the sharp increase in hospitalisations and deaths

is nearly all concentrated in southern states where vaccine take—up has been virtually half the national average. 0ur north america editor, jon sopel is in louisiana to find out why. the life tabernacle church in louisiana. congregation — thousands. influence in the state — considerable. a message — don't get vaccinated. what percentage would you think have been vaccinated? 0h, probably less than i% at any given time. and you don't think you have a social responsibility to encourage them to go and get vaccinated? we do not. 0urjob is to preach the gospel ofjesus christ and preach faith. but won't vaccinations keep them alive? they will not, that has not been proven. and those we spoke to before the service began were of like mind. have you been vaccinated? no, sir, i have not. and will you get vaccinated?

no, sir, iwon't. why? because i don't trust it, and i don't know what's in them. are you going to get vaccinated? no, i'm not. why? i don't think there's a need for a vaccination. like, ifeel... i feel like i'm 0k without it. though our time was cut short when we were ordered off the premises. don't ask any questions of our congregation, it's not your business. someone else who bought into this viewpoint was 22—year—old josh bradstreet—contreras. he was a fit, healthy college kid and last friday, after contracting covid a week earlier, died. he was unvaccinated. his mother tarsha is now on a mission to persuade other young people that, actually, they're not invincible. if i could sell all my worldly possessions, and it's not much that i have, to bring josh back — i would. everything, even the shirt on my back. so in other words, get the vaccine? take the vaccine... take the vaccine.

in louisiana, just 37% of adults have had the jab. across the state line, that drops to 35% — the lowest in the country. we've just crossed the border from louisiana into mississippi — another state where cases are surging, another state where it's impossible to get an intensive care bed. but the republican governor is refusing to follow government advice that people should wear a mask. once again, issues of politics have become hopelessly intertwined with matters of public health. and the politics is this — the areas with the lowest vaccine rates are in districts where support for donald trump was highest. and in a rewriting of one of america's most famous gun supporting slogans, these people are defending the right not to bare their arms. but that has resulted in the king's daughters hospital in rural mississippi being inundated like never before with covid cases. the senior physician

is wrung out. it's pretty dire. we're running out of beds, we're running out of staff. we're running out of the oxygen means that we give these patients. we're interrupted by him having to deal with an emergency in intensive care. we have a patient that is maxed out on life support in the intensive care unit. despite our best efforts and measures, they're just not getting better. a couple of hours after we'd stopped filming, we were told that the 68—year—old man had died. he hadn't been vaccinated. jon sopel, bbc news, in the deep south. dissent in hong kong has been crushed after beijing imposed the national security law last year. the city's artists and filmmakers have struggled to cope with the law's vaguely—defined boundaries on what constitutes acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers. despite the risks, film director kiwi chow has made a documentary about the 2019 protests, which prompted the crackdown from beijing. he tells the bbc why he's continuing to pursue

artistic freedom at possibly great personal risk. (pres)it was awfully long journey home for one herd

it was awfully long journey home for one herd of wild elephants , but now they've time to enjoy a well deserved break. several of them were spotted foraging for food and resting under trees in china's yunnan province. this signting follows their 1,300 kilomiter migration earlier this year.

hello. there is no real heat in the uk forecast for the next few days. but across southern europe, it's a different story — it's been an exceptionally hot week, with that heat now migrating westwards. the orange colours on this chart show places where temperatures will be well above the average. in parts of southern spain, we could be looking at temperatures as high as 47 celsius because high pressure is trapping the heat in place. but for us, low pressure is close by — that means some brisk winds, some rain at times but not all the time, and temperatures will struggle especially across northwestern parts of the uk. and here through friday, we will see some quite hefty showers working through — some heavy, some thundery, especially widespread across the far northwest of scotland. further south and east, many parts of england and wales

will be dry with just the odd shower here. and while there will be big areas of cloud floating past, there will also be some good spells of sunshine. but it's breezy for all of us, especially windy up towards the northwest, and top temperatures in glasgow ofjust 17 celsius. could get to 22 or 23 across parts of eastern and southeastern england. now as we head through friday night, we will see some further showers especially across the northern half of scotland. further south, it turns predominantly dry, some clear spells at least for a time, and temperatures between 11—15 celsius as we start saturday morning. so as we head into the start of the weekend, we've got one area of low pressure tending to push away north eastwards, but here comes another low drifting in from the west. a bit of uncertainty still at this range about the detail of saturday's forecast, but it's likely we will see cloud and rain spreading in most likely across some central parts of the uk. to the north, it's a mix of sunshine with just a few showers at this stage, and across the south of england, maybe south wales, it's likely to stay pretty much dry with some sunshine. those temperatures, for the most part, between 19 and 22 celsius. now, the messy picture continues on into sunday. this area of low pressure continues to drift in from the west. you will see this frontal system dropping down

from the north, so could well be a few different areas of rain on sunday. 0ne pushing into northern scotland, some rain across northern england and wales. perhaps some further south as well. but in between the areas of the wet weather there will you will see this frontal system dropping down from the north, so could well be a few different areas of rain on sunday. 0ne pushing into northern scotland, some rain across northern england and wales. perhaps some further south as well. but in between the areas of the wet weather there will be some spells of sunshine. but by this stage turning really cool in northern scotland, maybe just 1a degrees.

we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. i have been an opera fan for decades and i want to share my passion with you. so i am on a mission to tell you about some of the names in opera who are making it fit for the future. meet south african soprano masabane cecilia rangwanasha, who loves song contests, and is tipped to become a superstar.