this is bbc news. i'm ben boulos with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the taliban make 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 in to help evacuate american and uk nationals. police in south west england say six people have died in a shooting incident in the city of plymouth. the father of britney spears agrees to step down as longtime conservator of her estate, in what's seen a major victory for the singer.

hello and welcome. britain and the united states are sending troops back into afghanistan to help their nationals leave. the taliban are rapidly advancing across the country. it now appears that the militants have captured the country's second biggest city, kandahar — giving them control of about a third of afghanistan's main cities, as well as much of the countryside. ramzan karmali reports. another day of taliban advances sawthe militants move into the third largest city. and another city less than 100 kilometres

from the capital. the taliban have taken control of 11 provincial capitals. they also claim to have taken kandahar. the us and other foreign troops withdrew after 20 years of military operations, but now the us is sending 3000 soldiers back to help evacuate a significant amount of embassy staff. this is a temporary mission with a narrow focus. as with all deployments of our troops into harms way, our commanders have the inherent right of self—defence and any attack on them can and will be met with a forceful and appropriate response. the uk is deploying 600 troops to help relocate nationals, staff and interpreters. at one british politician and former soldier is clear as to who is to blame for the current turmoil. these are decisions we made to ten, 15 years ago. of not talking to the taliban. not training of afghan forces. at most critically, imposing western solutions on a country that was not ready for it, by any means. now we are departing, as i say, and leaving the country to what we will see as a massive humanitarian disaster.

peace talks are still ongoing, but they seem far—removed from what is going on on the ground. the rapid takeover of territory by the insurgents has been startling. according to the un, more than 1000 afghan civilians have been killed in the past month, with thousands more travelling to kabul to seek refuge. 0ne estimate says that more than 70,000 children arrived in recent days, with most sleeping rough. with the fall of a significantly strategic city, the fear is that kabul could fall sooner rather than later. we can now speak to amin saikal who's an author on afghanistan and adjunct professor of social sciences at the university of western australia. it is very good to have you with us. it is very good to have you with m— it is very good to have you with ve— it is very good to have you with us. ~ ., , with us. when we look at these ra - id with us. when we look at these rapid advances _ with us. when we look at these rapid advances of _ with us. when we look at these rapid advances of the _ with us. when we look at these rapid advances of the taliban, i rapid advances of the taliban, what does this mean you for the

people the ground in those areas? how does life change? think life has changed dramatically because we know from the operations in the provinces that they have captured that they are very strict with islamic rules and impositions and it is according to their understanding of islam. so they basically want to recreate the previous afghanistan.— afghanistan. that is the difference _ afghanistan. that is the difference it _ afghanistan. that is the difference it makes - afghanistan. that is the - difference it makes internally borders, what difference do the taliban gains make to the region more broadly in terms of the balance of power? who gained from the taliban getting all this territory?— all this territory? well, i think it _ all this territory? well, i think it is _ all this territory? well, i think it is the _ all this territory? well, i. think it is the neighbouring state of pakistan which will make most of the gains. the

supplies of human resources in pakistan enabling the taliban to make such rapid gains. i think without pakistani support that element would not have been able to achieve what they have achieved. find been able to achieve what they have achieved.— have achieved. and in terms of the amount — have achieved. and in terms of the amount of— have achieved. and in terms of the amount of time, _ have achieved. and in terms of the amount of time, the - have achieved. and in terms of. the amount of time, the amount of life that has been expended by the us led forces there, i mean, this is a dreadful situation for them to see developing so soon after pulling back from afghanistan, isn't it? element absolutely. and, the united states has made massive investments over the past two decades and now it must be very shattering for

them to see that everything is falling apart so they must also ask themselves the fundamental question, where have they gone wrong? if they had pursued strategy in afghanistan have they really backed about horses in afghanistan because i think successive leadership said they had in the country have proved to be very ineffective. the united states and its allies did not have a reliable and dependable and effective partners on the ground and this was something the united states experience in vietnam. thank you very much. mi; experience in vietnam. thank you very much-— my pleasure. here in the uk a gunman has killed five people in a shooting in a residential area of plymouth. devon and cornwall police say the suspect was also found dead when they arrived at the scene, in the keyham area. john kay reports.

police worked through the night securing the scene one mile from the centre of plymouth. it was here in the keyham area of the city that the incident started at about 6p yesterday evening. neighbours told the bbc they heard shouting at one property, a door slamming, then gunshots. 0ther property, a door slamming, then gunshots. other residents said the gunman continued shooting in the surrounding streets. we were in the surrounding streets. - were having a cup of coffee and had more gunshots. then we seen, obviously, the ambulance and helicopters trying to land in the park. and helicopters trying to land in the park-— in the park. had a shorter mulch around _ in the park. had a shorter mulch around the - in the park. had a shorter mulch around the corner. in the park. had a shorter. mulch around the corner and humped _ mulch around the corner and bumped into a bloke with a shot gun _ bumped into a bloke with a shot gun. solomon sitting on the doorstep, walked over and helped _ doorstep, walked over and helped her. doorstep, walked over and helped her-— doorstep, walked over and helped her. doorstep, walked over and heled her. �* ., ., helped her. another female died in hosital helped her. another female died in hospital a _ helped her. another female died in hospital a short _ helped her. another female died in hospital a short time - helped her. another female died in hospital a short time later. . in hospital a short time later. it is not clear how old they were but they all died from gunshot wounds. police said the sixth person killed was

believed to be the offender. he also died at the scene. 0fficers said the shootings were not thought to be terror —related. after speaking to the chief constable the home secretary said on twitter that she was shocked by the incident. she urged the community to remain calm. devon and cornwall police have told people in this area not to speculate on social media about what might�*ve happened here or why and is not to share any distressing images on social media. a local school and church will open today for the community to come together as they try to understand why a summers evening in durban turned into a mass shooting. —— in devon. —— in devon. algeria has observed the first of three days of national mourning as wildfires continue to burn across the north of the country. fanned by strong winds and searing heat, the fires have killed 69 people since monday. tanya dendrinos has the story.

flames licking at the trree tops. a wall of fire quickly swells. it is a devastating scene. villagers on the front line, armed only with branches and shovels. translation: we have been fighting this fire for five days. there is no electricity, no water, no gas, no network. there is nothing here. we are tired. 0n the tarmac at the airport, a lifeline. two water bombing planes chartered by the government from the eu. with another two arriving from france. but for those already firmly in the grip of this battle, government support seems nonexistent. the people of algeria are alone. we have received nothing from the government except threats. people are acting together as one, and we have received aid from everywhere. across algeria, volunteers and aid organisations are gathering supplies.

in each village there - are partner associations with whom we work directly. we give them - the donations and they distribute them to the families. appeals are under way in paris, too. translation: we came to possibly lend a hand and do some voluntary work to help with all the sorting. and maybe to see what is missing in terms of medicine, clothes and other things. these fires are some of the worst in the country's history and officials believe, in many instances, arson is to blame. with the president confirming more than 20 suspects had been arrested so far. britney spears' father will step down from his legal role of overseeing the popstar�*s finances — but not immediately. last month miss spears launched a bid to remove jamie spears as conservator claiming the agreement controlling her life and career was abusive. mr spears has been in control of his daughter's estate since 2008.

entertainmentjournalist kj matthews says the move isn't as straightforward as it seems. it is like anything else. you have to read the fine print. you know, a lot of the people in the free britney movement were elated when they heard today that her father was going to step down from his role as co—conservator, particularly over her finances. but what they did not realise is that he said he would only step down when there is a smooth transition, in other words, yes, eventually he will step down but not right now. well, the next hearing in september 29. her attorney had filed paperwork to try to rush the hearing and speed it up, so to speak. avid earlier. however, thejudge said no. the next hearing, what they will have to do is come together and decide what the next step is. immediately, she wants

to have her father taken off of being her co—conservator but ultimately, remember, britney spears wants this conservatorship, after 13 years, to end. that is her ultimate goal. it has been unearthed that the attorney, not the attorney. the judge in the case is now receiving death threats on twitter, so now we have the local sheriff's department looking into that. there is so much weirdness in this case and so many different angles. we willjust have to see what happens and take it step—by—step but, you know, these things take time. you don'tjust enter conservatorship especially when you have not had a psychiatric evaluation. there are so many things a play that even if the conservatorship would end it would not be immediately and it might not even be this year. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the giant iceberg disrupting research in the antarctic.

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 bbc news, the latest headlines. the taliban capture afghanistan's third biggest city herat, with reports they've taken kandahar too. police in south west england say six people have died in a shooting incident in the city of plymouth. thousands of migrants have illegally crossed into lithuania, over the belarusian border, this year. that's compared to just 81 during all of last year. lithuania blames belarus for encouraging the migrants to cross as retaliation against eu sanctions. the eu has summoned belarus' representative in brussels to demand an end to what it called the "instrumentalisation" of migrants crossing into lithuania. the bbc�*s 0ksana antonenko went to meet people at hastily erected camps on the lithuanian

side of the border. 0n the eastern frontier lithuania spending a0 million euros to strengthen its board about a000 people have still arrived. 50 times more than one year ago and they are being held in centres. some are economic migrants, others say they fled ours. translation: i escaped from afghanistan and ended up here. i was shot at, i lost a leg. people shot and killed my father and uncle, arrested families in pakistan. but i am here. some come overland and others on the flights but all via belarus. leading lithuania of accusing its neighbour of deliberately avenging the influx. ~ , , influx. we sometimes use the term hybrid — influx. we sometimes use the term hybrid aggression - influx. we sometimes use the l term hybrid aggression towards lithuania, using a regular migrants as a weapon. i'd make

a weapon used to, they say, as retaliation for their opposition to the regime. and the accused belarus of arranging extra flights from iraq, allowing even more people to arrive. something belarus denies. translation: it is as if he carries migrants to lithuania on his shoulders but if anyone thinks that we will now close the border with poland, lithuania, latvia and ukraine and turn into a detention centre for those running from afghanistan, iran, iraq, syria, tunisia, they are mistaken. unmistakable are the conditions at this migrant centre. there are so bad migrants started to write recently. guides responded with rubber bullets but these are only the immediate difficulties faced.

parliament injuly will that parliament in july will that the parliament injuly will that the government could immediately deport migrants after they refused asylum. even if an appeal is made. so there's helping migrants worried for their safety. there are concerns _ worried for their safety. there are concerns of _ worried for their safety. there are concerns of those - are concerns of those amendments of the law in correspondence with human rights documents and eu law. procedures should be applied in such a way that we are not sending back people who are actually coming in asking for asylum because of the persecution. asylum because of the ersecution. , . ., ., persecution. persecuted or not, the are persecution. persecuted or not, they are now — persecution. persecuted or not, they are now in _ persecution. persecuted or not, they are now in a _ persecution. persecuted or not, they are now in a limbo. - persecution. persecuted or not, they are now in a limbo. and i persecution. persecuted or not, they are now in a limbo. and no one wants to claim responsibility. and no one wants to claim responsibility. let's get some of the day's other news. the heir of samsung, lee jae—yong has been released from prison and is now on parole. the 53—year—old de—facto leader of south korea's largest conglomerate was convicted of bribery and other charges. he has served 207 days in prison — just over half of his sentence.

outside the prison he apologized for causing "concern to the people". the united nations says it is alarmed by the plight of civilians caught up in fighting in southern syria, where the government is confronting armed opposition forces. the un envoy for syria said the hostilities in the daraa al—balad area had included heavy shelling. us border agents say they detained more than 212 thousand migrants trying to enter the country from mexico last month. it's the highest monthly figure in 20 years. almost half of those stopped at the border have been expelled from the united states under special regulations introduced to curb the spread of the coronavirus. the british antarctic survey says it doesn't know when scientists can return to one of its research stations. it's because of the danger posed by a giant iceberg that's almost the size of greater london. experts are tracking the mass from space as it circles the antarctic coastline — as our science correspondent

jonathan amos reports. it was the bravest and gentlest of icy cases. a colossal iceberg, a 7a, weighing billions of tonnes, scrapes past a region of the antarctic. mehmet the british antarctic survey had been expected for months. the expectation was it would knock into and dislodge another vast and unstable piece of ice sitting in front of the survey�*s research station. we survey's research station. we had been _ survey's research station. - had been tracking the progress of cracks that will eventually cause it to carve for a long time and when it does eventually go the fact that it is not attached by a very large section means it is unlikely to influence the remaining section of the ice shelf. the influence the remaining section of the ice shelf.— of the ice shelf. the fact that nothin: of the ice shelf. the fact that

nothing was _ of the ice shelf. the fact that nothing was dislodge - of the ice shelf. the fact that nothing was dislodge this - of the ice shelf. the fact that i nothing was dislodge this time will be a frustration for the british antarctic survey. until the unstable lies in front of it comes away, the base must close every winter on safety grounds. and this impacts the world leading science that can be done at this important location. it is here they discovered and continue to monitor the hole in the ozone layer. icebergs the size of a 7a are impressive but they're not necessarily an indicator of climate change. the antarctic balances the amount of snow falling on the interior of the continent by routinely discharging blocks of ice at its margins.— discharging blocks of ice at its margins. giving the verity of these calving _ its margins. giving the verity of these calving events - its margins. giving the verity of these calving events it - its margins. giving the verity of these calving events it is i of these calving events it is quite hard to know whether we are seeing more at the moment when we arejust are seeing more at the moment when we are just getting better and better satellite data. the survey will continue to track it and the behaviour of the ice shelf. it is entirely possible that big burgers, gentle

embrace, delivered unseen damage and if that is the case the expected breakaway of unstable ice could yet happen in the days ahead. time now for the latest sport. we start with the english premier league where chelsea have completed the signing of a player from have completed the signing of a playerfrom inter milan have completed the signing of a player from inter milan on a five year contract. the european champions have played the italian champions $135 million for the belgian striker who rejoined the club he left seven years ago. his latest move makes him one of the most expensive players in the world, having cost various clubs a total of $386 million. the english premier league season gets under way on friday with newly promoted brentford hosting arsenal. they will be playing in the top—flight of english football for the first

time since 19a7 but the arsenal boss will not be underestimating them. you and you know historically and for the last four years it is a very clear direction. i think from top to bottom at the club they know what they want to do. the executed really well. i think it will be a tough opponent for every team in the premier league. in cricket, a superb unbeaten century gives india the advantage over england, heading to those who with the second test at lord's. the 126 for the first wicket. at the close of play india were 276 - at the close of play india were 276 — three. at the close of play india were 276 - three-— 276 - three. from the teams oint of 276 - three. from the teams point of view. _ 276 - three. from the teams point of view. we _ 276 - three. from the teams point of view. we always - 276 - three. from the teams i point of view. we always know when you put into bat, you know, you need to get off to a

good start and then it is something that would take a lot of pride in. we played really well to start with and finished off the day really well except that we came over towards the end. in that we came over towards the end. , , end. in tennis the number three is to the quarterfinals _ end. in tennis the number three is to the quarterfinals of - end. in tennis the number three is to the quarterfinals of the - is to the quarterfinals of the toronto masters. he cruised into the last eight with a straight sets victory over a russian player. he is looking for a second masters series after victory in monte carlo. he placed the number six seed from norway on friday. the women's event is taking place in montreal where the top seed is through to the quarterfinals. the world number three from belarus beat a canadian wild card player in straight sets and faces her fellow countrywoman next. in golf russell henley of the united states leads after rain affected the opening day of the championship in north carolina.

it is the first event on the pga tour the play—offs which gets under way next week. an eight under par 62. he leads by two shots of the night but the third in the field still have to complete their first round. just four days after the tokyo olympics closing ceremony, a member ofjapan's olympics closing ceremony, a member of japan's softball team is going to get a replacement gold medal. the reason? it is because the male of her hometown bet the original. he put a gold medal between his teeth, leaving bite marks. the mayor has since been criticised on social media for disregarding coronavirus protocols and has been accused of showing a lack of respect for her success. you can get all the latest sports news on our website. the actress una stubbs has died at the age of 8a. she starred most recently

as mrs hudson in the bbc�*s sherlock drama series and was known to a generation of children as aunt sally in worzel gummidge. una stubbs played alf garnett�*s exasperated daughter rita in the 1960's and 70's sitcom til death us do part. her big screen debut was starring alongside sir cliff richard in the hit british film summer holiday. una stubbs, who's died at the age of 8a. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i'm @ benmboulos

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 a7 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. one 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.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. cash streaming in! disney's profits soar as subscriptions to disney+ keep rising — and theme parks get back to business a hat—trick for wall street — as the dow and s&p hit new record highs for the third day in a row out on parole. samsung boss jay y lee released after 200 days injail plus — kick off. after a gruelling season for football finances, the premier league restarts this weekend. has the business turned a corner?