defenders, this is bbc news — these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. the afghan president says his top priority is boosting the armed forces, in his first national address since the taliban stepped up their offensive. translation: our dear country afghanistan is in serious danger| of instability due to the war imposed upon us. right now, the reintegration of the security and defence forces is our priority. we are taking serious measures to deal with this. taliban insurgents continue their advance in afghanistan, as us troops prepare for a massive airlift of civilians from kabul. the plymouth shootings: devon and cornwall police face an investigation over the decision to return a shotgun licence to the man who killed five people. flash flooding in turkey kills at least 31 people — as southern europe records one

of the hottest summers ever. the nhs warns that tens of thousands of people are risking their lives in england because they're unable to spot the first warning signs of cancer. and — please don't stress the seals, a plea for holiday makers on the north east coast of england to be more kind and respectful to the bathing mammals. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. the afghan president, ashraf ghani, has made a televised address to the nation — his first public comments since the taliban intensified their latest offensive. mr ghani said that the �*remobilization of armed forces�* was his top priority. he also said he was consulting with international partners to prevent

further violence. heavy fighting has broken out in the afghan city of mazar—i—sharif, as taliban militants tighten their stranglehold around kabul. american troops have flown into the afghan capital to help evacuate embassy personnel in kabul. britain and several other western nations are also sending troops as resistance from afghan government forces crumbles. the taliban also claims to have captured territory in two other provinces overnight. let's here more about what the afghan president had to say. translation: our dear country afghanistan is in serious danger| of instability due to the war imposed upon us. i am aware of the situation here. i offer my condolences to the martyrs of the security forces and civilians and wish the injured people a speedy recovery. our effort is to take care of our compatriots who have been displaced due to the situation. i appreciate the courage of the afghan security and defence

forces who have a strong spirit to defend their people and their country. right now, the reintegration of the security and defence forces is our priority. we are taking serious measures to deal with this. our world service south asia editor, anbarasan ethirajan has this report. back in their spiritual home after 20 years. the most important prize so far, since the taliban started their offensive in may. kandahar used to be the capital during the previous rule. they overwhelmed government forces after weeks of brutal battle. the group wants to send out a message to the residents and to the outside world that it has taken charge. traffic police have been ordered to return to duty. those linked to the government have been asked to stay at home and not try to flee. the taliban continue to make

sweeping territorial gains. they have now taken half the country's 3a provincial capitals. fighting is raging in the northern city of mazar—i—sharif and they have stormed a town a0 kilometres south—west of kabul. thousands have been displaced due to the violence, the condition is appalling. people are living in the open. water, food and medicine are in short supply. washington is sending 3,000 troops to help its embassy staff and others leave the country. it says kabul is not under an imminent threat. we have noted and we have noted with great concern the speed with which they have been moving and the lack of resistance that they have faced. and we have been nothing but honest about that. afghanistan has changed for ever in the past ten days, people are looking at the bleak

prospect of living under a harsh islamist rule. many afghans, particularly women, say they are terrified of the future. secunder kermani is in afghanistan and was listening to the president's address. everyone was waiting to hear what the president would say, this was the first time he addressed the nation after this really unprecedented advance by the taliban. everyone has been left pretty much astonished by the pace and the scale of the militants' push across the country, taking now around half of the provincial capitals here. president ghani, in a short pre—recorded message today, said that it was his priority to re—mobilise the security forces and prevent further instability. there had been mention yesterday and even earlier today that he would maybe announce his resignation, but that certainly does not seem to be the case. what is also missing today from the moment, even from the public debate,

is any real indication of what president ghani and his team can do to reverse the situation. the more and more people look at the way things are developing here, the government's position seems to be increasingly untenable. the taliban are taking control of another city, just a short distance away from kabul, earlier today, and many fear it is only a matter of time before they eventually push in on kabul. for the moment, my sources tell me that the taliban want to wait, they want to see if kabul can be handed over peacefully to them, a surrender of sorts. we have seen that happen in a number of other provincial capitals, where security forces have been approached by influential tribal by influential tribal elders, when they have said the game is basically over, to spare the civilian population from becoming caught in the middle of protracted fighting and to retreat. the taliban seems to want that to happen, but president ghani and his team are digging in and so,

there is real uncertainty here in the capital about what the future will bring. here in the uk, hundreds of people gathered at a candlelit vigil in plymouth last night, to remember the five people killed in thursday's mass shooting. the youngest victim, sophie martyn, was just three years old. it comes as an investigation is launched by the police watchdog to understand why the gunman, jake davison, was allowed to take back his confiscated firearm and permit, weeks before the attack. aru na iyengar reports. the youngest face of plymouth�*s tragedy, sophie martin just three years old out for a walk with her dad lee when they were both shot dead byjake davison. a sad time for this part of the world, but our community will show the rest of it how good we are. last night, people came together from keyham and surrounding areas to try to make sense of what happened. it could have been any of us. we regularly walk our dogs

in the area, we go for runs in the area and it is tough to know what has happened has happened. it has now emerged that the killer, jake davison, had his shotgun and permit taken off him by police in december following an allegation of assault. these were returned to him last month. then, on thursday evening, six minutes of violence, the worst mass shooting in more than a decade. the sequence of events started at a house in biddick drive where davison shot and killed his mother. he then went onto the road, fired again, killing three—year—old sophie martyn and her father lee. the gunman then headed into 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 shepherd who later died in hospital. it was here the gunman then shot himself and was declared dead at the scene.

police are looking at motives for the shooting. 0nline, jake davison was involved in the incel or involuntary celibates subculture of people who resent their lack of a sexual partner. his youtube content mostly showed him lifting weights in his home gym. in one message, he posted he spoke of feeling beaten down and defeated by life. we are the lucky ones. what those families and friends are going through for those lost ones, terrible. the candles here mark this community's hope for the future. iruna iyengar, bbc news. to turkey now, and just as crews battled to bring wildfires under control, devastating floods have swept through northern parts of the country. reports say a0 people have died, and president erdogan has declared a disaster zone in flood—hit regions. tanya dendrinos reports. car alarms sound. vehicles tossing in the torrent.

this terrifying eyewitness footage captured the scene in northern turkey just days ago. roads turned to rivers and buildings simply crumbled. and this is the aftermath, a mangled heap of mud, debris and belongings. translation: i went out and all of a sudden - floodwaters gushed behind me. i couldn't look back, it swallowed homes, people, everything. president erdogan visited here on friday declaring flood—hit regions along the black sea coast as disaster areas. translation: we cannot bring back people who lost their lives _ but our state has the power, opportunity and determination to compensate for any loss other than that. a mammoth search and rescue operation is now under way,

more than 1,700 people have been evacuated and hundreds of villagers have been left without power. turkey's interior minister labelled the situation as the worst flood disaster he has ever seen. this, on the back of wildfires in the south of country, and across the mediterranean in the week a landmark un climate report sounded a code red for humanity. ozge ozdenmirfrom the bbc turkish service has been following the story closely and gave us this update. according to the authorities, 41 people died and there are so many people missing. the heavy rain started on tuesday night and there were heavy floods on the streets and mudslides, even sometimes the water was exceeding four metres in some streets so that people try to save themselves

and their houses but the houses, shops and cars have been destroyed and some people have been rescued from rooftops. there are still search and rescue operations going on in the black sea region. we're looking at pictures and the devastation is unbelievable. particularly shocking coming so quickly after those wildfires. how are people reacting to this onslaught and how are the authorities coping? yes, there were thousands of wildfires in the southern coast of turkey, now they're under control, but this week we have been dealing with this flooding in turkey and the problem, experts have been saying, yes, there is climate change, for wildfires and floods, so experts have been warning about it but when it comes to repercussions, if you talk about this flood, the construction sites are also problematic.

precautions. the houses which have been demolished are built on the river bank and on the streams of rivers so the rivers are flooded and the houses are destroyed in these areas so people have been talking about the construction and every kind of housing programme should be reconsidered in this area. the people from these areas have been also complaining about how the government is dealing with this. they have been saying the local authorities did not warn enough to save themselves and their families and also the government has been accused how it was dealing with the wildfires in the southern coast of turkey. the us federal weather agency says july was the hottest month globally ever recorded. the national oceanic and atmospheric administration calculates the combined land and ocean surface temperature was 0.93 celsius above the 20th century average of 15.8 celsius. in italy, which is starting

its peak holiday weekend, 17 cities have been placed on red alert because of a heatwave being experienced across southern europe. the headlines on bbc news... the afghan president says his top priority is boosting the armed forces, in his first national address since the taliban stepped up their offensive. the plymouth shootings — devon and cornwall police face an investigation over the decision to return a shotgun licence to the man who killed five people. reports say flash flooding in turkey has killed a0 people, as southern europe records one of the hottest summers ever. more now on our top story — and the taliban in afghanistan is edging closer to capturing its key target, kabul. earlier, i spoke to fawzia koofi in kabul. she is an afghan politican and was one of the few women who took part in talks with the taliban. i asked her whether she felt

for her life at the moment. i was already a target. i think a lot of these military extremist groups are not afraid of the superpowers, but they are not afraid of the women and the women's increased power. —— they are afraid. so i was already the target of many attempts, like thousands of afghan women, i will certainly be at risk. there are a lot of women who are at risk. my heart actually bleeds when i see a woman, human rights activists, women rights activists, with whom i worked for promoting advancement of gender equity. i can see the now in the parks, in campbell, with no houses, with nothing to survive. this actually exhausts me, it exhaust meet for the fact that after 20 years, the

country's shattering again. we have experienced the same experiences as a teenager and that experience them, not over mike security, but the security of millions of people who will be in afghanistan. but women who have actually stood, they will even be more at risk. there are signs that we already see that, how they behave with women in different provinces and how women were forced to leave their villages and communities.— to leave their villages and communities. ~ ., ., ., communities. what do you say to the international — communities. what do you say to the international community _ communities. what do you say to the international community right - communities. what do you say to the international community right now? i international community right now? international communities must act. when i say this, a lot of my friends, diplomats, tell me that what does that mean? we have acted militarily, they tell me, they have been present in the country for 20 years. but let's member the international community is did act, we are gratefulfor that, international community is did act, we are grateful for that, but they

always acted on what they thought was best, not what the afghans and the people of this country think is best for security and stability. i think we need an emergency meeting of the us security council to pressurise the taliban for a ceasefire because the communities, the local areas, the villagers, the provinces, they need humanitarian assistance, people need to get out of the war zone and then hopefully, that emergency ceasefire, will pave the way for a physical summit because we still have people in the negotiation. —— political summit. because we still have people in the negotiation. —— politicalsummit. i hope we have the chance to resume the talks and have this political settlement, my experience living in afghanistan, i do not think even if?! come to campbell, thousands of other people will be killed. —— even if people come to kabul. i think the only thing is political settlement, the world can use this for their

political settlement and for a fire. —— ceasefire. figs political settlement and for a fire. -- ceasefire-— political settlement and for a fire. -- ceasefire. as we've been hearing here in the — -- ceasefire. as we've been hearing here in the uk. _ -- ceasefire. as we've been hearing here in the uk, the _ -- ceasefire. as we've been hearing here in the uk, the police _ -- ceasefire. as we've been hearing here in the uk, the police watchdog j here in the uk, the police watchdog says it will examine whether political —— proper procedures or as we've been hearing — here in the uk, the police watchdog says it will examine whether proper procedures were followed when the devon and cornwall force returned a shotgun to a man who killed five people in plymouth on thursday. rod jarman is a former deputy asisstant commissioner at the metropolitan police — who now leads police education at the university of west london. hejoins us now. thank you he joins us now. thank you for joining us. what would the process have been in terms of deciding to return the licence and the weapon back to him?— return the licence and the weapon back to him? ,., ., ., ., ., , , back to him? good afternoon. this is absolutely devastating _ back to him? good afternoon. this is absolutely devastating and _ absolutely devastating and horrendous incident. my heart goes out to the families of all those people who have been massively affected. i think it is very difficult at this stage, until we know the details, to understand exactly what has happened. we do not even know if the fire which was used

on thursday night is the same one that the certification is all about at this stage, what type of weapon it was, but we have a lot of information to gain before we can really talk about that. the processes around the certification of firearms licences is an unusual one because it is a... you apply for a certificate, but it is really more like a license. the expectation is that it like a license. the expectation is thatitis like a license. the expectation is that it is a relationship between the referees who put their names forward for the person who is applying, the gp who is the person who would give medical information about the person applying, and as the person applying, to show they are fit and capable of holding it and the police have got to make a judgment based upon the information they are given, they can withhold a licence from somebody, they must withhold a licence from somebody if they have committed a camilla will —— if they have committed a criminal offence, so it is not commission set

is more of having committed not as a conviction, but is more selective as to what has happened. my thought processes on this is that there is some sort of discussion that has gone on about an incident and as a result of that, the person has suspended their licence or handed in, and then they already have it back, but we do not know at this stage what actually happened. from our stage what actually happened. from your description _ stage what actually happened. from your description there _ stage what actually happened. from your description there of _ stage what actually happened. from your description there of how referees have to be given, the gp has to basically states that it is ok for someone to have a licence, it is not that easy to get one. but once someone has got one, as you say, taking out the part of the speculation around what happens when the licence was taken away, and how it was given back, but how much monitoring is that of someone who has a license? what is clear about him is that he was on social media, clearly indicating that he was troubled, we also understand now that his mother had sought to get

mental health support for him. are these licenses reviewed and how much depth is gone into when we are looking at them? i do depth is gone into when we are looking at them?— depth is gone into when we are looking at them? i do not know the scale of the — looking at them? i do not know the scale of the number _ looking at them? i do not know the scale of the number of _ looking at them? i do not know the scale of the number of licences - looking at them? i do not know the | scale of the number of licences that are held in devon and cornwall. i am not exactly of the amount of resource that is put into monitoring these things. from my perspective, any firearm is a firearm to many, to be in society, and i think we have a strange position where we allow people for sports and for work to have firearms in their homes, shotguns and other firearms, have firearms in their homes, shotguns and otherfirearms, but have firearms in their homes, shotguns and other firearms, but why have we got that position? that is from starting point. 0n have we got that position? that is from starting point. on this particular incident, this person who was clearly intent on committing serious injury and death to other people, he has access to a weapon, if you had not had access to that weapon would he have you something else? we do not know if you would have had access to this weapon

normally or if it was a different one to one is being discussed. fin one to one is being discussed. on the one to one is being discussed. 0n the social media stuff and him being part of the incel group, lots of discussion around that now and if thatis discussion around that now and if that is a group that should be designated as a terror group. how much monitoring is there of that group by police? how much awareness of the potential risks is the? i think we are going into an area of looking at we mean by terrorism and what is happening in society. there is a well thought through model that terrorism is part of a continuum from anti—social behaviour up to genocide. and that is linked with hate crime and hate beliefs. we have seen this in ethnic and religious crime in the past and what i think we are seeing at the moment is a move into a more misogynistic set of crimes, we have seen, in the past

two years, notjust in the uk, but internationally, a massive rise in domestic abuse. the majority of domestic abuse. the majority of domestic abuse. the majority of domestic abuse offences, the woman is the victim in there. we have seen, if you just think about the incidents in wembley earlier on this year, nicole smallman for example, we have seen people physically killing women for some other reason. it may not be for a political reason, but believe that that is something that is ok to do. and what we are seeing, i think, in the world generally, we havejust had all these conversations around the taliban, is a movement towards a society, as some peoplebelieve, a move towards come in society, where one where women are subjugated and kept down by men. i think we ought to be looking at this in a much more holistic view. and saying, are the issues that say are being raised

around women ring hassled daily on their walks on the streets throughout high streets, are they linked to the rise in domestic abuse? are the sorts of things that allow this type of group to grow and survive? if you put all that together, is there therefore something that we ought to be thinking about in terms of a terrorist type response in order to get a grip of them and to deal with it and to prevent it as escalating? thank you very much. the new head of the nhs in england says she fears tens of thousands of people are are risking their lives because they're unable to spot the first warning signs of cancer. research also suggests three in five people would delay seeking medical advice because they don't want to be a burden during the pandemic. 0ur health correspondent anna collinson reports. cancer services are back to pre—pandemic levels and are busy, but nhs england says, over the past year,

there has been a 10% drop in cancer patients receiving treatment. we know that people are out there and we are worried they may have symptoms and not be coming forward, so the purpose of this campaign is to highlight those symptoms, to make sure people are aware of what is normal and what's not normal for them, and to come forward if they need help. just, you've said it too. health officials are particularly concerned about abdominal, neurological and lung cancers, as this new advert shows, symptoms can include discomfort in the stomach, blood in urine, persistent diarrhoea or a cough that lasts longer than three weeks. it was a gp who first detected declan's kidney cancer eight years ago. he is now a patient at this urology clinic at guy's hospital in london, and is mostly able to live a normal life. if there is something bothering you, it may not be something serious but it is absolutely worth getting it checked out, you know? and i know that you can go to your gp. i think some people think that these things aren't happening now, but they are. the earlier cancers are detected,

the more likely it is that we can treat them effectively. if a patient spots a possible symptom, the nhs says it is ready to help. anna collinson, bbc news. every year, thousands of tourists visit the coastline of yorkshire to see the colonies of seals that live there, but a surge in visitor numbers could be putting them under threat. conservationists say people are getting too close to the animals and causing distress. here's our environment correspondent, paul murphy. yorkshire's seal population is one of the wonders of the east coast — but it is under threat. the biggest impact is coming from human disturbance. selfies on the shoreline or perhaps just dogs that are brought to close. predominantly, what is happening to the seals as they will have a fight or flight response, they will perceive the human is a threat

and try to escape that threat. we have seen an massive prevalence of humans try to seek out those encounters so rather than be anecdotal, there actively out ——they�*re. this is what can happen, it is known as a seals stampede, they injure themselves as they flee across the rocky shore line. even from a distance, they can find humans intimidating. you don't realise you're quite far from them for them to be like that, yeah. i didn't think they would be that sensitive to us being 200 metres from them. the surge of visitors to this coast has meant extra policing has been put in place to safeguard birds, whales and dolphins from irresponsible water users. but conservationists have now launched an online petition to get specific legal protection for the seal colonies. so where you have whales, dolphins and porpoises, seals are separate from that.

so whilst the former species are protected from harassment and reckless disturbance, seals are not, so we are trying to change the law here in the uk or particularly england and wales. government—funded campaigns are trying to get the message across but the stark reality is that if the disturbances continue, experts believe the seal population could actually start to decline. paul murphy, bbc news on the east yorkshire coast. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah. hello, the extreme heat is on going across southern europe, especially spain. in the uk, it is cooler than average. it will be a mix of sunshine, quite dry weather this weekend, but some rain in the forecast. this area of low pressure moves on from the west bringing increasing amounts of cloud across england and wales. a few spots of light rain at times for parts of wales in the midlands.

——and the midlands. rain arriving across northern england and northern island. scotland seeing a mixture of sunshine and showers but showers confined to the north part of scotland. through this evening and overnight, quite cloudy, rainy round here and there particularly in the north and west. largely dry and humid in england. a fairly cloudy day, outbreaks of rain for some of us on sunday. cooler in the south—east, 22 degrees in the south—east. 22 degrees.

hello, this is bbc news withjoanna gosling, the headlines. the afghan president says his top priority is boosting the armed forces, in his first national address since the taliban stepped up their offensive. translation: our dear country afghanistan is in serious danger| of instability due to the war imposed upon us. the reintegration of the security and defence forces is our priority.