this is bbc news. i'm ben boulos with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the last major city in northern afghanistan — mazar—e—sharif — falls to the taliban, as president ghani says that remobilising the military is his top priority. translation: our dear country, afghanistan, is in serious - danger of instability. the reintegration of the security and defence forces is our priority and we are taking serious measures to deal with this. at least 227 people have died in haiti after a powerful earthquake measuring 7.2 magnitude. a state of emergency has been declared. in the uk, there are questions for police about why it chose to return a shotgun licence

to the man who killed five people in the country's worst mass shooting since 2010. some clinically vulnerable children in england are struggling to get a covid vaccine, nearly four weeks after they were added to the roll—out. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. in afghanistan, the taliban have continued to seize yet more territory and are now in control of more regional capitals than the government. it's been reported that mazar—e—sharif, the northern city that was the afghan government's last northern stronghold, has also now fallen to taliban fighters. provincial authorities say security forces abandoned weapons and fled to the uzbekistan border. the city of sharan in paktika province and asadabad

in kunar province also fell to the militants on saturday. meanwhile, the afghan president, ashraf ghani, has addressed the nation for the first time since the taliban advance, saying his focus was to prevent further instability. our afghanistan correspondent secunder kermani reports. this is the very centre of kabul. thousands who have fled fighting across the north now live in these miserable conditions. this family escaped the violence, but say they still don't feel safe. translation: we're thirsty, hungry, we have no home. i other makeshift camps are bigger. but this in the heart of the city, shows how quickly the country is unravelling.

we don't go back to the 19th century, just we want to be as far as we have developed here, we want to go further developed. we don't want to go to the back era where our sisters and our education sector and development sector was so shattered that we don't want to go back to that. today, fighting erupteded around mazar—e—sharif. while in kandahar, the insurgents cemented their position, with their own flag hoisting ceremony. finally addressing the nation, president ghani didn't comment on rumours he may resign. instead simply promising to remobilise beleaguered forces. for now, for many people here in kabul, life is continuing more or less as normal. but the taliban are getting closer and closer to the city and there is increasing concern that a fierce and protracted battle for control of kabul could be imminent.

the speed of the taliban's advance has led to the uk and us together sending in 3,500 troops to afghanistan to repatriate their own citizens and many of their embassy staff. many afghan cities are now being handed over to the taliban, following local deals with the security forces. that may be the only way to avoid even more suffering in kabul too, but would mean an end to life here as residents know it. some breaking news on that story reaching us that president biden has said he will increase at the us deployment of troops to afghanistan to 5000. now, he has specified that those were to ensure a safe and orderly drawdown of us and other

personnel and also to ensure the safe evacuation, he said, afghans who have helped us troops during the mission. so that news breaking were in the last few minutes that president biden will increase the us deployment to afghanistan by 5000 troops. we will bring you any more developments on that as we get it here on bbc news. 0ur south asia regional editor anbarasan ethirajan says the fall of mazar—e—sharif signals a major setback for the afghan forces. first and foremost, this was the last major city held by the government in the northern part of afghanistan, so it is the fourth biggest city. it is the trading and commercial hub close to the border with uzbekistan, so it is a huge military prize for the taliban. 0n the other hand, for the government in kabul, now the entire northern region is being dominated by the taliban, so they are now taking territories very close to kabul city itself.

in fact, in the morning they were targeting a town about a0 kilometres south—west of kabul and a few hours earlier, they also targeted kunar province and another is now under attack, which means the government now has only two cities, only the big cities in kabul and another, so there are expectations that that might come under attack in the coming days, which means the government is really in charge of only kabul. so with this northern border province and another from the north, so now the taliban, they are tightening their stranglehold on the city itself and many people think the taliban might start the siege in the coming weeks. and then, when we see the number of key cities that have fallen, mazar—e—sharif, sharan, asadabad, presumably this just makes

the humanitarian situation even more of an acute crisis with people fleeing and having to escape their homes, their towns in their cities to go elsewhere? that is a big concern for the humanitarian agencies and also for the government itself, because the northern part was considered usually an anti—taliban bastion and the people were considered anti—taliban. so those people are worried what the taliban will do once they capture these areas. that is why videos posted on social media show people fleeing in cars, pick—up trucks and lorries towards any safer location and also towards kabul, the population there now increasing day by day with all of these people fleeing and are trying for a safer location. first of all, they want to save their lives, and second they want to escape from what they describe as taliban tyranny, because we have been getting reports of executions and people being dragged out of their houses and they are not hearing anything about these people.

and women are complaining about how some taliban fighters are trying to forcibly marry them. these are accusations that the taliban deny but these are the issues confronting the population and they have nowhere else to go. they keep on coming towards kabul but what appears to be like kabul could be the next target of the militants. a powerful 7.2 earthquake has hit haiti and authorities say at least 227 people have been killed. prime minister ariel henry described the situation as dramatic and appealed for the spirit of solidarity of all haitians. he said the quake had caused huge damage across the south of the country and has declared a state of emergency for a month. pictures show collapsed buildings and damaged roads in several cities. it's feared many people may be trapped under the rubble. the earthquake triggered a tsunami warning in the region which has since been lifted. in 2010, a magnitude seven quake near the capital, port au prince, killed an estimated 200,000 people.

0ur north america correspondent david willis has more. 0ne one of the poorest countries in the world has been dealt another devastating blow and the people of haiti are once again dealing with the aftermath of a massive earthquake. this one centred on the country's south—western peninsula, a less populated area than the capital, port—au—prince, which was flattened by an air quake ii capital, port—au—prince, which was flattened by an air quake 11 years ago, but stronger and closer to the surface. —— earthquake. 0therthan 200,000 people died in the 2010 earthquake and haiti �*s prime minister ariel henry says numerous lives have been lost in today's disaster. translation: a, disaster. translation: . , translation: government decided this mornin: to translation: government decided this morning to declare _ translation: government decided this morning to declare a _ translation: government decided this morning to declare a state _ translation: government decided this morning to declare a state of— morning to declare a state of emergency for a month after this disaster. we call on the population

to show solidarity with each other, let's avoid panic in the face of this earthquake.— let's avoid panic in the face of this earthquake. scientists have redicted this earthquake. scientists have predicted the — this earthquake. scientists have predicted the death _ this earthquake. scientists have predicted the death toll - this earthquake. scientists have predicted the death toll could i this earthquake. scientists have. predicted the death toll could run into thousands and president biden has already promised us aid. haiti's chief seismologist predicted a big earthquake but admitted this one took everyone by surprise. translation: for took everyone by surprise. translation:— took everyone by surprise. translation: ., ., , ., , ., translation: for a few years we have been carrying — translation: for a few years we have been carrying out _ translation: for a few years we have been carrying out a _ translation: for a few years we have been carrying out a seismic— been carrying out a seismic monitoring in a few departments and the southern department was the least at risk. to me, it is a surprise and shows that earthquakes are totally unpredictable. fining surprise and shows that earthquakes are totally unpredictable.— are totally unpredictable. only last month, haiti _ are totally unpredictable. only last month, haiti was _ are totally unpredictable. only last month, haiti was plunged - are totally unpredictable. only last month, haiti was plunged into - are totally unpredictable. only last month, haiti was plunged into a i month, haiti was plunged into a political crisis following the murder of its former president. written by proper poverty and gang violence and now suffering the effects of another massive earthquake, it is also in the path of a tropical storm that is due to hit the region early next week.

david willis, bbc news, los angeles. we can now speak to the director—general of a hospital in haiti. thank you very much for joining us. give us a sense of how bad the situation is.— bad the situation is. yes, thank ou. bad the situation is. yes, thank yon this _ bad the situation is. yes, thank you. this morning, _ bad the situation is. yes, thank you. this morning, 7.2 - bad the situation is. yes, thank. you. this morning, 7.2 magnitude bad the situation is. yes, thank- you. this morning, 7.2 magnitude on the richter scale earthquake hit the southern peninsula and caused severe damage to the third city of country and also a little bit further west. at this point, they have already counted almost 200 people who had died from it and many injured, the hospital here is overwhelmed with a

lot of people having fractures everywhere, their limbs and it is really bad, really a very bad situation here right now. find really bad, really a very bad situation here right now. and other hositals situation here right now. and other hosnitais in — situation here right now. and other hosnitais in a _ situation here right now. and other hospitals in a position _ situation here right now. and other hospitals in a position to _ situation here right now. and other hospitals in a position to help - hospitals in a position to help those who have been injured? —— are the hospitals in a position? yes. the hospitals in a position? yes, the hospitals in a position? yes, the hosnitais — the hospitals in a position? yes, the hospitals in _ the hospitals in a position? yes, the hospitals in the _ the hospitals in a position? yes the hospitals in the southern peninsula did not get severely damaged so we are 100% functional and have been receiving patients from the most hit areas and we are looking forward to helping more people as time goes on. stand looking forward to helping more people as time goes on. and this must bring _ people as time goes on. and this must bring back— people as time goes on. and this must bring back really _ people as time goes on. and this must bring back really troubling l must bring back really troubling memories of the 2010 earthquake and the devastation caused by that. had the devastation caused by that. had the country had the infrastructure recorded from then 0n people still rebuilding from that? —— recovered

from that or are people? the rebuilding from that? -- recovered from that or are people?— from that or are people? the only difference now _ from that or are people? the only difference now is _ from that or are people? the only difference now is that _ from that or are people? the only difference now is that it _ from that or are people? the only difference now is that it was - from that or are people? the only difference now is that it was a - difference now is that it was a different area. in 2010, it was mainly big capital port—au—prince, but now it is further south. but it is basically the same conditions that were there before the earthquake, so people are still trying to find their way and two days ago, actually, they had a tropical storm that affected the whole southern peninsula and many lost what they own and now that major 7.2 earthquake just hit. find major 7.2 earthquake 'ust hit. and then in termsh major 7.2 earthquake 'ust hit. and then in terms ofh major 7.2 earthquake just hit. and then in terms of the fears about people being trapped under rubble, art medics able to start beginning to reach areas affected to pull them three? 50 to reach areas affected to pull them

three? ., ., ., ., to reach areas affected to pull them three? ., ., .,., a ., , three? so far, not ma'or. actually, effort has been h three? so far, not major. actually, effort has been deployed, - three? so far, not major. actually, effort has been deployed, the - effort has been deployed, the infrastructure is basic and i think probably people are right now trying to get help to get people under the rubble. but at this point, some who have been under the rubble had not been severely injured, had been able to make their way out, but for those with major injuries or under very heavy rubble, they can't make it through yet. heavy rubble, they can't make it through yet-— heavy rubble, they can't make it throuuh et. ., ., ,, through yet. ok, doctor, thank you for sneaking _ through yet. ok, doctor, thank you for speaking to _ through yet. ok, doctor, thank you for speaking to us _ through yet. ok, doctor, thank you for speaking to us on _ through yet. ok, doctor, thank you for speaking to us on bbc- through yet. ok, doctor, thank you for speaking to us on bbc news. i here in the uk, the decision to return a shotgun and a licence to the man who killed five people in plymouth on thursday is being examined by the independent police watchdog. jake davison's victims included his mother maxine, a three—year—old girl, sophie martyn, and herfather lee. davison also injured two other people before

turning the gun on himself. jon kay has more. 200 miles from westminster, the home secretary came to plymouth, to pay her respects to the victims. maxine davison, the mother of the gunman. three—year—old sophie martyn and her dad lee, stephen washington, who was 59, and 66—year—old kate shepherd. it's tragic beyond words, really, really tragic. priti patel promised to support the community, with specialist help for anyone left traumatised. she wouldn't comment on news that the gunman, jake davison, had his firearms license returned last month, despite posting hate filled rants online. home secretary, should davison have had a gun? you say you want to reassure people, a lot of people have questions about gun control.

my brain can't process it. physically can't process that information i was given. chris says his family is reeling. not only was his auntie maxine shot dead, but it was her son that killed her. chris never met his cousin jake davison, and doesn't understand what has gone so catastrophically wrong. it is impossible, you can't plan for this, you can't see the next day or the day after or the day after, you literally take each day as it comes. but i know, as a family they will come together, be there for each other and try to understand this horrendous thing that has happen. and also the other four innocent people that had no part in this. i'm sorry to everyone that is going through this. it must be the worst thing in the world. i can't imagine to understand. among these grieving, the family of three—year—old sophie martyn and her dad lee. apparently shot at random as they walked home together. they were definitely a pair.

little �*un running round and eating all the ice—creams. 0nly last month the dad and daughter were watching the euros with friends here at the anchorage pub. amazing together, always mucking about and playing, he doted on her. she was an amazing little girl. so — and he was a great dad. she hasn't even started her life. she's so little, and it's just, yeah, it's terrible. this afternoon, plymouth argyll�*s match fell silent. concerts have also been cancelled. 48 hours on, this city has so many questions, and things are still so raw. jon kay, bbc news, plymouth. uo u0 watching bbc news. —— you are watching bbc news. —— you are watching bbc news. sport and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre,

here's 0lly foster. manchester united have opened up their premier league season in front of 72,000 fans at old trafford with a big win against leeds united. 5-1. manager 0le gunnar solskjaer descibed it as a very, very good day, as they sent out an early title warning to their rivals. bruno fernandes got to keep the matchball after scoring his first united hat trick. he gave them a 1—0 half—time lead and though leeds pulled one back, the portuguese scored two more, with mason greenwood and fred also finding the net. paul pogba provided four assists. it creates a mood and sets the mood of course when you see the fans when we drive into the stadium today. you have got the butterflies again because suddenly there is a game that matters in front of your fans. we felt our course not obliged, but you know there is extra responsibility because it has been so long about them. and when the players perform like this, produce, i think everyone can go home happy. before kick—off at old trafford,

united showed off their new signing raphael varane. the 28—year—old french defender has signed a four—year contract, completing his move from real madrid for an initial fee of £47 million. another team expected to push for the title in england this season is chelsea. the european champions had a comfortable 3—0 win over crystal palace at stamford bridge. marcos alonso and christian pulisic scored before the break and trevoh chalobah made sure of the win with a goal on his premier league debut. it was a difficult start for patrick vieira, the new palace boss, but the blues manager was a happy man, with this win coming just three days after their victory in the uefa super cup. given the fact how we arrived with a match on wednesday, a lot of travel, lack of sleep, and today were suddenly very, very hot to play, and he pushed some players over the limit in terms of minutes and physical preparation. —— we pushed. if we acknowledge that, then it was a very good game from start until the end and we were well deserved winners, i think,

the end and we were well deserved winners, ithink, and big congratulations to the team. they did good and pushed hard and they overcome tiredness. here's another happy blues manager. rafa benitez hasn't yet won over all the the everton fans with his former liverpool connections, but they came from behind to beat southampton at goodison park. all the more impressive because a number of players were having to self—isolate. adam armstrong had scored on his saints debut but second half goals from richarlison, abdoulaye doucoure and dominic calvert—lewin gave everton the 3—1win. i think the performance is the key, to see the players care and tried mean we are together and the fans will appreciate that. 0bviously do all of these things and you lose and it will be more difficult, but i think the fans will give us time to settle down and organise everything and play the way they want to play to win games. and play the way they want to play to win games. here are the other premier league results... brighton came from

behind to beat burnley. jamie vardy scored the leicestser winner against wolves. watford held on to beat aston villa 3—2. liverpool beat norwich 3—0. to the second test at lords, where england have a first innings lead against india thanks to captain joe root. england started day three on 119—3, with root on 48. at the close, he was unbeaten on 180, although england were bowled out for 391 with the final ball of the day — that's a lead of 27. new zealand have made a really stong start to the rugby championship, with a record win against australia at eden park. the all blacks ran in eight tries to win 57—22. that also means that they retain the bledisloe cup for the 19th consecutive year. this game also part of a three—test series between the two. new zealand won the first test last week. also in the rugby championship, south africa beat argentina. that's all the sport for now. some clinically vulnerable children in england are struggling to access a covid vaccine, nearly four weeks after they were added to the roll—out. 0ur health correspondent katharine da costa reports. where do they grow chicken?

that is right, you clever girl. lovely, and what - a lovely smile as well. well done. 15—year—old veronica enjoying an online therapy session at home in south—west london during lockdown in february. veronica has severe neuro disabilities. last month, 12 to 15—year—old children who are at high risk from covid, like her, were advised to have a vaccine as well as those living with someone with a weakened immune system. but nearly four weeks on, and with the start of a new school term in sight, dozens of families like hers are still desperate for information about when they will get one. i think the urgency of the vaccine roll—out for our children has been completely forgotten. it is not good enough. if something is announced on the 19th ofjuly, having to wait until the end of august for a vaccination, i mean, it is too late. immunity isn't going to have time to have kicked in in a meaningful way.

doctors say they are still waiting for search guidelines to help them identify from patient records which children are eligible. i can understand parents and children are anxious about this because they want to be sure they get at least one vaccine before the school year starts in a few weeks' time in england. however, we have not yet received guidance on how it will be implemented, so doctors, and that includes gps like myself, but also paediatric doctors, are still waiting for guidance from the nhs on how this plan will be implemented. but nhs england say they have provided guidance on how to proceed. in a statement, they said... eligible children in the other uk nations are also being invited in for a jab.

the nhs in scotland said nearly a quarter of 12 to 15—year—olds there had received a first dose. katharine da costa, bbc news. people have been flocking to suffolk and norfolk in the east of england to see original works by the grafitti artist banksy. on friday night, banksy posted a video on instagram of him working on the creations. one of the pictures has become such hot property that the new owner has moved it to a secret location. jenny kirk has more. is it or isn't it? the question on everyone's lips for the last week has now been answered. i absolutely love it. i think it's wonderful it's come this way to lowestoft. i think it's the best thing that's happened to this town for years, to be honest. for some this is vandalism, to others it is art. and instead of removing it, the local council says they are beyond excited, and it is a real boost for great yarmouth and lowestoft. everyone that's seen these piece has smiled. everyone has had pleasure from what he has put out there,

and that is a wonderful thing to be able to do. hundreds of thousands of people can go and see the artwork and it will make them smile. this is how the elusive artist whose work sells for millions ended the speculation, by posting online his spraycation. but there is less good news for king's lynn. banksy�*s reimagining of a prominent statue with an ice—cream cone has already been removed. at merrivale model village they have had substantial offers for their banksy, but they are not selling. the public unfortunately weren't respecting it. they were trying to climb over, get up close with it, and we were fearful it was going to get damaged so we had to move it off site, and with the news last night the insurance company have insisted we put it in a secure facility. how now to protect and capitalise on his work? a nice problem to have. special to know that

banksy actually was here. jenny kirk, bbc news. you're watching bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. the weather is best described as mixed but not especially dramatic for the weekend. there has been sunshine today, but not huge amounts. there has been sunshine today, but not huge amounts. the satellite shows where we had those areas of cloud. these are tied in with a couple of different frontal systems that will have an influence on the rest of the weekend. but always with some brighter spells in between. some clear spells through tonight for a time across scotland and southern england and then this area of cloud in between bringing

some outbreaks of rain to northern ireland, northern engand and parts of scotland. temperatures through the central belt down to eight or nine degrees. heading into tomorrow, the weather systems are still working through. cloud and rain at times across central and southern parts of the uk and another providing showers across north east scotland and some of those could be heavy. we could see patchy rain across the south east first thing. some brightness at least for a time. cloud and rain at times for wales and south—west england, the rain clearing from england and northern ireland in the afternoon. all the while, some showers pushing in across north—east scotland. feeling cool in the far north. 23 towards the east of england. and then through sunday evening, some further showers drifting into north—eastern areas. starting the new week we have a north—westerly wind, quite a cool wind and quite a cool

week ahead with a fair amount of cloud, especially across the western half of the uk on monday. some brighter skies developing further east where we have the best of the sunshine. but not great for mid august, 15, maybe 21 degrees in the south of england. high—pressure stills of the west and low pressure to the north—east through the week. quite a lot of cloud coming in across many parts of uk through the week ahead. there will be some sunshine but it will tend to feel fairly cool.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: the last major city in northern afghanistan, mazar—i—sharif, reportedly falls to the taliban. us presidentjoe biden authorises

deployment of about 5,000 us troops. at least 227 people have died in haiti after a powerful earthquake, measuring 7.2 magnitude. a state of emergency has been declared. in the uk, there are questions for police about why it chose to return a shotgun licence to the man who killed five people in the country's worst mass shooting since 2010. some clinically vulnerable children in england are struggling to get a covid vaccine, nearly four weeks after they were added to the roll—out. now on bbc news, our world. yalda hakim reports from afghanistan. 20 years since 911 and the invasion of afghanistan american troops are finally leaving.