this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm shaun ley. crisis in afghanistan. and fears are mounting that the capital kabul, taliban militants capture the country's second largest city and fears are mounting that the capital kabul, may be under threat. for a majority of the population, they are waiting to see how things will unfold, with a mixture of fear, anger and resignation. the un secretary—general has warned that afghanistan is "spinning out of control", as terrified families flee to camps that are already overcrowded. in the uk — a vigil has been held to remember the victims of thursday's mass shooting — the country's worst since 2010. police have now named the victims.

much of southern europe continues to bake. bone dry, after one of the hottest summers, ever recorded. and in antarctica — a colossal iceberg almost as big as london is being monitored carefully by scientists. hello, wherever you are watching us in the world. thank you for being with us. it is good to have your company. we start in afghanistan where the rapid advance of the taliban is accelerating, the militants now control a third of the country's regional capitals, including afghanistan's second largest city, kandahar. american officials say the taliban is trying to "isolate" the capital, kabul. and they've acknowledged that the insurgents may be back in power much sooner than expected. meanwhile, the united nations has

warned a "humanitarian catastrophe" may be unfolding. our correspondent yogita limaye reports from kabul. gunfire the biggest taliban victory so far in their rapid march across the country. this is the centre of kandahar city, a political and economic powerhouse. the taliban were born in this province. to show off their gains, the group's fighters filmed themselves walking through the provincial governor's office. and released this video, showing a traffic policemen welcoming them. after days of fierce fighting, afghan forces retreated. here, they're seen leaving the city. pashtana durrani worked to educate girls in kandahar. she fled before it was captured. i want to be very honest — i don't see any future.

i don't have any hope. i'm furious, i'm sad, i'm... i'm lost and it'sjust a lot of emotions. how do you feel about the us and uk sending in troops to evacuate their own nationals? i was never against withdrawal. withdrawal was never a problem. it's not that a few thousand of their troops would have defended the whole country. it's them legitimising the deal. it's them legitimising the taliban, that's the problem. hours before kandahar, herat was also captured — a major trade centre close to the border with iran. in the weeks leading up to the fall, influential pro—government leader ismail khan had led the battle against the taliban. now he's been captured by the insurgent group. helmand province, where british troops fought some of their fiercest battles, is also under taliban control. 15 provinces falling in seven days have raised questions about the future

of the afghan capital, kabul. what's happened here injust the span ofjust a week what's happened here in just the span of a week has taken people here, the government and its international partners by surprise. those who have the means are trying to get out of this country, flights from kabul are completely booked. but for a majority of the population, they're waiting to see how things will unfold with a mixture of fear, anger and resignation. many believe the government has let them down. "i have had to flee from my hometown because the taliban captured it." "they killed three of my brothers." "afghan forces are not fighting, they are just handing over control," this man said. the fighting is less than an hourfrom kabul now, in the neighbouring logar province. many of the war wounded from there have been coming to this kabul hospital. this 14—year—old boy was injured

in an explosion, he's lost an eye and had his arm amputated. "one of my brothers was also killed in the fighting one year ago." "if my mother finds out what has happened to me, "she will have a stroke," he says. more than 1000 have been killed in the past month in a country engulfed by suffering. yogita limaye, bbc news, kabul. afghanistan's history has been marked by great power rivalries, military invasions, and disruptive foriegn withdrawals. back in 2001, it was a us—led military coalition that ousted the taliban from power for providing refuge to al-qaeda. with the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaching — there are fears that the taliban may soon be back in charge, thus completing a vicious historical circle. general david petraeus served as commander of us and nato forces in afghanistan and was also

the director of the cia. he told the bbc that there is no good outcome now, unless foreign troops go back into afghanistan. i would say that we should literally reverse the decision. i think that when the decision was announced months ago, i said that i fear that we would come to regret this decision, and we already are. this, again, is a nightmare and there are no good ways forward. taliban rule is not preferable to a civil war which is terrible also. again, none of this is — there is no good outcome unless the united states and its allies recognise that we made a serious mistake, that the planning was overly hasty, that we pulled away from the afghan forces what they come to depend on which is our air power and drones. i don't think people realised how crucial notjust our forces and 8,500 coalition forces that departed, but the 18,000 contractors who maintain the afghan air force.

i said months ago that i fear that there would come a time, because the maintenance would degrade and the air force would basically become inoperable, that if there are simultaneous requests for reinforcements, re—supplies, and close air support, that all of a sudden that wouldn't be possible, afghan troops would recognise that and after fighting for a couple of days, they would come to see that their only alternative was to surrender, to die, or to flee. and that is what happened, and i feared also that there would be a psychological effect of that that would spread throughout the country. and again, tragically, all of that has come to pass. that was general david patriots talking to the bbc a little earlier. the bbc�*s david willis is in la. david there was some suggestion when this announcement was made of an american withdrawal of the american public opinion was largely indifferent towards what was

happening in afghanistan and few politicians even talked publicly any more about the us military presence. is that changing now?— is that changing now? president biden has said _ is that changing now? president biden has said that _ is that changing now? president biden has said that he _ is that changing now? president biden has said that he does - is that changing now? president biden has said that he does not| biden has said that he does not regret the decision to move us troops out of the country to withdraw in just two weeks' time. he makes the point that more than $1 trillion has been spent on america's longest war and he makes the point as well that thousands of american lives have been caused by this conflict but it is turning into a crisis for him. there is no question about that. humanitarian crisis potentially as what we are in with this frantic scramble to try and get us staff out of the embassy in kabul which is one of the largest us embassies in the world with about 4000 staff in place there, and some

are calling this biden�*s saigon moment, sean, a throwback to 1975 and the chaotic scenes involving the evacuation of staff from the us embassy in saigon. so, a lot of heat as far as the president is concerned surrounding this. he is on his way to the presidential retreat camp david and white house officials are saying he will be kept fully briefed as the weekend goes on, pertinently perhaps given that events are moving very rapidly it would seem on the ground there. very rapidly it would seem on the ground there-— ground there. david willis in los anueles, ground there. david willis in los angeles, thank _ ground there. david willis in los angeles, thank you. _ colonel chris kolenda is the author of zero—sum victory: what we're getting wrong about war. he's the first american to have fought the taliban as a commander in combat and engaged them in peace talks. colonel thank you for being with us on bbc news, we are most grateful to hear about your knowledge and

experience. let me ask you first of all about that experience. what has gone wrong in the military side of this operation insofar as the afghan government, the troops that the americans and the british and other nations helped to build up? thank ou ve nations helped to build up? thank you very much _ nations helped to build up? thank you very much for _ nations helped to build up? thank you very much for having - nations helped to build up? thank you very much for having me. - nations helped to build up? thank you very much for having me. it . nations helped to build up? thank you very much for having me. it is very difficult to watch, it is very difficult to talk with my afghan friends and counterparts who are living through another humanitarian crisis right now. i mean, look, the afghan military and government have beenin afghan military and government have been in a state ofjairfor afghan military and government have been in a state ofjair for over afghan military and government have been in a state ofjairfor over a decade. in the united states and united kingdom and our allies have spent 20 years and over $2 trillion trying to build the government andi zeqiri force that the afghans themselves and that very security

force are not dismantling themselves almost overnight. —— built in afghan military force. the taliban have most likely been negotiating these surrenders now for the last several months, they have been using their time wisely and it doesn't appear that the afghan government has been using it's time wisely to shore up its defences. is it in a sense do you think with political class in kabul that they believe that kind of the west would carry on in its involvement? at the west would carry on in its involvement?— the west would carry on in its involvement? �* . , ., involvement? at least until earlier this ear involvement? at least until earlier this year they _ involvement? at least until earlier this year they believed _ involvement? at least until earlier this year they believed that? - involvement? at least until earlier this year they believed that? and | this year they believed that? and then there was no real incentive to behave in the kind of way that an independent government, an independent government, an independent political system would do? at independent political system would do? �* ., independent political system would do? ., ., ., ., ., do? a lot of national capitals kabul do? a lot of national capitals kabul, washington, - do? a lot of national capitals kabul, washington, dc- do? a lot of national capitals i kabul, washington, dc included do? a lot of national capitals - kabul, washington, dc included have been breathing their own exhaust. when it comes to the capability of the afghan government and security

forces and the importance of afghanistan to western geostrategic interests, the afghans have convinced themselves that we will never go, that the international community, the americans, in particular would never leave, take their ground troops away, take their combat capability away. they convince themselves of that and they have had over 18 months since the trump administration signed the agreement with the taliban in february of 2020 saying that we will leave in may 2021, they have had over 18 months to stockpile food, to stockpile weapons and ammunition and to prepare themselves with the strategy and defensive positions for this fight and they squandered that entire opportunity. and now what you are seeing is the taliban who have negotiated all of these surrenders deals with the various army and police commanders and governors, now

coming to collect on those and that's why you are seeing these provincial capitals of fall so rapidly. provincial capitals of fall so raidl . ., . ., provincial capitals of fall so raidl. ., . ., ., ., , ., rapidly. how much of a fear is that what happens _ rapidly. how much of a fear is that what happens isn't _ rapidly. how much of a fear is that what happens isn't a _ rapidly. how much of a fear is that what happens isn't a simple - rapidly. how much of a fear is that what happens isn't a simple clean | what happens isn't a simple clean transfer of power however violent between the president's government in afghanistan and the taliban government but something a bit more complicated than that, something which revives the memories of the war lords and the power man struggles of the whole period after the collapse of the soviet invasion at the end of the nineteen eighties? i think it is a real concern. you have three possible scenarios, three most likely scenarios that are going to unfold in afghanistan. the first one which is the most optimistic one is that the afghan government can rally around kabul and other places that they control, fight the taliban

to a stalemate and then everybody decides they want to negotiate some sort of agreement because they want to avoid another catastrophe in kabul which will be of staggering dimensions. that is the most optimistic scenario is you get a negotiated, you get serious negotiations to begin fairly quickly. the second scenario is a taliban military takeover. i think that one is less likely we there is urban fighting in kabul and ultimately the taliban overthrow the government and sees the government and control it. i think that is less likely. the third scenario which is the most troubling is that you get the most troubling is that you get the afghan government continuing to collapse. you get the taliban begin to implode from what i call catastrophic growth, so i see this with businesses often where they grow faster than their ability to

manage it and then they begin to implode because of cracks on the inside and some of the reports that we are seeing of and discipline suggests that the taliban may be approaching that point, in discipline is always a leading indicator of catastrophic growth. and if they go beyond that point, then you might see this scenario where the government has collapse and the taliban is collapsing and afghanistan devolves into these warring fife dems which is then your most likely scenario where terrorist groups come back to afghanistan for special fiefdoms. groups come back to afghanistan for specialfiefdoms. colonel groups come back to afghanistan for special fiefdoms. colonel chris kolenda, thank you so much for being with us on bbc news. to the united kingdom now and the southwest city of plymouth in devon. a vigil has been held in memory

of the five people killed by a gunman in plymouth on thursday, in the uk's worst mass shooting in over ten years. the dead include the mother of the gunman, who was the first to die, and a three—year—old girl, sophie martyn, who'd been out for a walk with her father who was also shot dead. two other people are recovering in hospital. 0ur correspondent, jon kay, has the latest, from keyham. plymouth is hurting tonight. in this neighbourhood, everyone knows one another. so, finding out who the victims were has only made things more painful. the youngest to be killed was just three years old. sophie martyn was out for a walk with her dad lee when they were both shot dead. i feel devastated for the family. paris and billy heard the news this evening. heartbroken. you were in tears, weren't you? it wasn't nice. it was devastating. itjust makes everything that worse,

doesn't it, being a child? it's going to be different here forever now, i think. nothing is ever going to be the same, especially when it's up the road. injust six minutes last night, six lives were lost on these streets. the first victim was maxine davison, the mother of the gunmen. the mother of the gunman. she was 51 and was at home in the keyham area of the city when he killed her. just lucky, really, that's what i'm thinking. it could've been me. bert was on his way to the shops as the shooting started. and he walked right past his neighbour, jake davison, who was carrying a gun. i heard a bang and walked around the corner and the bloke was walking towards me with a black rifle and i could smell the gunfire. i swerved around him and i noticed a woman in the corner layed in the doorstep that was shot,

and i went to her and put pressure on the wound and i comforted her until the police came. when you bumped into him, what did he look like? how did he seem? just vacant. just a vacant stare, like. the sequence of events started at a house on biddick drive last night where davison shot and killed his mother. he then went onto the road and fired again, killing three—year—old sophie martyn and father lee. the gunmen then headed to a nearby park shooting and injuring another man and woman. they are both being treated in hospital. in the park, he killed 59—year—old stephen washington before heading to henderson place where he shot his fifth victim, 66—year—old kate sheppard, who later died in hospital. it was here that the gunmen then shot himself and was declared dead at the scene. we believe we have an incident

that is domestically related that has spilled into the street and seen several people within plymouth losing their lives in an extraordinarily tragic circumstance. bad, mate. bad. this neighbour who does not want to be named will never forget the sound of the gunfire. it was like... and was there about a couple of seconds and again and again and again. how long was there between each of the shots that you heard? about five seconds and another and another. so young person, you know? it's a sad time for this part of the world. tonight, a vigil close to the scene. the police don't know yet if the gunman knew any of his victims apart from his mother, or if they were shot at random.

this community is trying to understand how a quiet area of devon has become the scene of britain's worst mass shooting in a decade. jon kay, bbc news, plymouth. the bbc has condemned russia's expulsion of one of its moscow correspondents, sarah rainsford, describing it as a direct assault on media freedom. the russian authorities say they will not extend her visa, which expires at the end of the month. the bbc�*s director—general, tim davie, said ms rainsford was an exceptional and fearless journalist, whose independent and in—depth reporting of russia informed hundreds of millions of people around the world. the spokeswoman for russia's foreign ministry implied on social media that it was a response to the treatment of russian correspondents in britain. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: in antarctica — the colossal iceberg almost as big as london — being monitored from space, by scientists.

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 brutalformer dictator has died at the age of 80. he's been buried in saudi arabia where he lived in exile since being overthrown in 1979. 2 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 bangor.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines. fears for kabul as taliban militants now control a third of all regional capitals in afghanistan after capturing the country's second city, kandahar. they are 45 miles from kabul. in the uk, a three—year—old girl and her father are among the victims named by police in the country's worst mass shooting since 2010. 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. jonathan amos reports. it was the briefest and gentlest of icy kisses. a colossal iceberg, a74,

weighing billions of tonnes, scrapes past a region of the antarctic, known as the brunt ice shelf. it was the moment the british antarctic survey had been anticipating for months. the expectation was the berg would knock into and dislodge another vast and unstable piece of ice that's sitting in front of the survey�*s halley research station. the bit that's still attached is slightly larger than the a74, so it will be a significant iceberg carving event. it's quite long—awaited. and we've been tracking the progress of the cracks that will eventually cause it to carve for a long time. when it does eventually go, the fact that it's not attached by a very large section of ice means it's quite unlikely to influence the remaining section of the ice shelf where halley is. but we'll be interested in its drift patterns and the eventual triggers for this carving event.

the fact that nothing was dislodged this time will be a frustration for the british antarctic survey. until the unstable ice in front of halley 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's at halley, for example, that they discovered and continue to monitor the hole in the ozone layer. icebergs the size of a74 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. we don't have that long of a record of carving from satellite imagery in antarctica, so it's quite hard to tell if the frequency of carving events is increasing. we do know that ice fronts in parts

of the antarctic peninsula are further back than some of their historical locations. but given the rarity of these carving events, it's quite hard to know whether we are seeing more at the moment, or whether we are just getting better and better satellite data. the survey will continue to track a74 and the behaviour of the brunt ice shelf. it is entirely possible the big berg's gentle embrace delivered some unseen damage. if that's the case, the expected breakaway of unstable ice could yet happen in the days ahead. jonathan amos, bbc news. the american folk singer and songwriter nancy griffith has died aged 68. no cause of death has been disclosed. the texan musician was known for songs such as "love at the five and dime", which celebrated the south of the usa. nancy griffith worked closely with other singers, helping the early careers of artists

like lyle lovett and emmylou harris. thanks for being with us here on bbc news. hello there. it'll be one of those weekends where we get a bit of sunshine and a bit of rain, as well. it looks like saturday will be a much drier day in scotland, where we've had a lot of shower clouds on friday. we'll see more cloud coming in from the southwest, as well — and that is due to this area of low pressure that'lljust hang around, really, through the weekend. it means as we start the weekend, we've got quite muggy air across the south of england, south wales, 15 celsius here. it's cooler air that we've got in scotland with those showers in the north, 10—11 celsius. the showers in scotland do to become fewer, mind you. a bit of a dull, misty, damp start across parts of wales and the southwest of england. and this cloud gradually working its way northwards. more in the way of sunshine across scotland as those stars become fewer, but the cloud will be

increasing in northern ireland and northern england, bringing a bit of rain and drizzle especially later on in the day. could be a bit damp still across the north of wales, even across to the north midlands into east anglia. but to the south of here, we should get some sunshine through, especially in the southeast of england. temperatures reaching a pleasant 23 celsius, and we could make 19 or 20 in the sunshine in the central belt of scotland. now, that area of low pressure moves slowly into the uk. a few weather fronts on the scene — all pretty weak, mind you. this one here will bring more in the way of showers, wetter weather into the north and northeast of scotland. could be some rain first thing on sunday in southern scotland and northern ireland, moving its way southwards into northern england. find it brightening up, as well, across southern scotland and northern ireland. but a few more showers and more cloud coming into wales and the southwest. head further east towards the east anglia and the east, again, the best of the sunshine. for many, temperatures aren't changing much, but it's getting colder in northern scotland. southern europe, though, sees extreme heat through this weekend, could see temperates hitting.

could see temperates hitting 48 celsius. by contrast, it's a cooler northeasterly breeze heading our way for the start of the new week. probably won't be much rain — overnight rain clears away from southern parts of england, we're left with a few showers. probably quite a bit of cloud streaming our way, as well, and that colder air that we're seeing in scotland is pushing its way southwards across the uk. so top temperature 20—21 celsius in hampshire. as we head further into next week, it's fairly quiet, settled a few showers. a lot of cloud, mind you, and it's not looking particularly warm for this time of year.

this is bbc news,

i'm shaun ley, the headlines... there are fears for kabul, after taliban fighters captured afghanistan's second city, kandahar, in a crushing blow for the afghan government. it follows the fall of several key cities on thursday. international aid agencies are warning of a humanitarian catastrophe, with a quarter of a million people already displaced. the un estimates 80% of those forced to flee are women and children. in the uk, a vigil has been held to remember the victims of thursday's mass shooting — the country's worst since 2010. police have now named the victims, including a three—year—old girl and herfather. emergency services in italy are continuing to fight wildfires that are burning in parts of the south and centre of the country, amid an enduring heatwave that's set an unofficial european temperature record.