this is bbc news: i'm mark lobel. our top stories. as the taliban puts on a show of its new military muscle — speculation a government may soon be announced. but the economy is close to collapse — the value of the afghan currency plummets — while the price of goods soars. the us supreme court ignores appeals against a new law in texas banning almost all abortions. president biden says it violates the constitution. twitter says it's launching a new feature that it hopes will help crack down on trolling and abuse. and — the rain in spain — flooding causes chaos — as roads are closed — and thousands are left without power.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. a new afghan government, composed of senior taliban figures, could be announced as early as friday. a senior leader told the bbc the government would be inclusive. but against this backdrop — the economy of afghanistan is close to collapse — with little immediate prospect of the new islamist rulers gaining access to the country's foreign currency reserves held in the west. prices of essential goods are soaring, the value of the currency is falling, and many public services are barely able to function. here's our afghanistan correspondent secunder kermani. the taliban are in firm control of the country. this, a huge military parade in the southern

city of kandahar, along with a captured helicopter. but the group still hasn't established a new government, leaving many afghans in a state of limbo. now that the final foreign troops have left, an announcement is expected soon. the last time the group was in power in the 1990s, their regime saw public executions and women banned from working. now they say things are different, though they admit women won't be in senior positions. maybe they will be in the government, in the lower things, because in every department of the government ministries, you can say almost half of the workers are women. so they can come back to their work and they can continue. but in this new government which has been announced, in the top posts, i mean to say in the cabinet, there may not be a woman.

the uncertainty about what the future will look like has seen the value of the afghani drop and concerns about the economy rise. the world bank and imf are holding back from continuing support. whilst the us has frozen reserves and most local banks remain closed. translation: no one has any money right now, - all their savings are stuck in the banks. people arejust bringing small amounts of cash here to exchange, to pay for everyday living. translation: i needed money for groceries, . but the exchange rate isn't good, so i'm going home. the currency rate just keeps on fluctuating. i pray that god brings stability to the government and these problems can be solved. the afghan economy has been heavily dependent on international aid. whether or not that continues, at least when it comes to the west, is likely to be dependent on what kind of government the taliban create, what kind of laws it enforces. governing afghanistan is going to prove a bigger challenge for the taliban

than taking control of it. they've been holding meetings with senior political figures, like former president, hamid karzai, but many doubt whether they're willing to really share power. their elusive leader, mullah hibatullah, may well be declared leader of an islamic emirate. these, new pictures of some of the final us troops to be withdrawn from afghanistan, the focus now is on what they've left behind. secunder kermani, bbc news, kabul. for more on how inclusive the new government in afghanistan is likely to be, here's our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet.

well, there is this magical word of inclusive that is being used by afghanistan as neighbours to put pressure on the taliban to try and share some of the powers so they don't have absolute control. a look at it in pure political terms. the taliban of come to power much more quickly than even they expected. they now control more territory in afghanistan than they were in power in the 1990s. so, they feel they have an overwhelming mandate to pursue their overriding objective and that is to use words like government cabinet, their objective is to establish an islamic system. the choice of who is in the cabinet is going to be very much, they said they're going to be discussing individuals on the basis of islamic principles and sharia law, or these people corrupt, did they work for the former government and what about women? women will not be playing a leading role. this new emerging islamic and red, they'll be playing secondary roles to the men. they'll be playing some roles but not at senior levels. this is different from what we heard even two

years ago when the taliban started discussing with representatives of the afghan government and civil society here, that this form of words with the said women can have any roles in our newest islamic government, except the president of the prime minister, but they can be ministers and ceos and now they seem to be rolling back from that because what happened in the past is now history. it is a new day for them and it is a date when the taliban are in charge. a law banning most abortions in texas has come into effect, after the us supreme court declined to act on an emergency request to block it. pregnancy teminations are now illegal after six weeks — even in cases of rape or incest. it's the most dramatic restriction so far to the roe versus wade judgement of 1973, which legalised abortion across the united states. i asked our correspondent in washington, nomia iqbal, if this will be a test of the supreme court's attitude to abortion.

the supreme court is planning to broadly reconsider the right to broadly reconsider the right to have an abortion so they will be looking at a case from mississippi and this case actually goes a bit further and wants to ban abortion after 15 weeks and that is actually a direct challenge to roe v. wade itself. that ruling is expected to come in 2022. it may be that the court does not uphold this mississippi ruling or it may throw out mississippi and it throws out texas never goes back to normal but the fear by a lot of civil rights groups and women's rights groups and doctors that believe in pro—choicers that the supreme court has a conservative majority of 6—3 and those

conservative judges have indicated that they are pro—life and so, if they do go ahead with the mississippi ruling, as i said we are expecting that to read by january 22, and uphold this texas ruling, the fear is that thatis texas ruling, the fear is that that is the start, the beginning of the end to the right to have an abortion in america. there are fears, you do? that the least wealthy will suffer the most because they can travel out of the state for this emergency procedure. however the backers of the bill responding to this type of claims? . �* , responding to this type of claims? ., �* , ., ., claims? that's right and we are already hearing _ claims? that's right and we are already hearing that _ claims? that's right and we are already hearing that lots - claims? that's right and we are already hearing that lots of - already hearing that lots of clinics nearby so in states like colorado, oklahoma, kent, kansas, they are already getting an influx of texas—based patients who want to have the right to have an abortion and, as you said, patients will travel hundreds of miles to try and get an abortion and people across state lines to make that

happen. i think the other concern here is the broad language of the law in texas which basically says that anyone involved in an abortion helps to make it happen, could be sued. and the person who sues if they are successful could get £10,000. we're talking about, you know, doctors who perform abortions or a taxi driver to drive into the clinic or even frenzy up to cover the cost, so of concerns people have and abortion is very divisive in this country. this is a real red meat issue for them already. we have got midterms coming up next year and there is an indication that many republicans, particularly running for governor in various parts of america, will be using this as an issue.

an intense rain storm in spain has led to severe flooding. thousands of homes are without electricity, and roads and rail links have been forced to close. (map) coastal towns in the northeastern region of catalonia bore the brunt of the storm, as well as parts of central spain — near madrid. courtney bembridge has this report. streets were turned to torrents with a powerful stream of water swallowing up cars furniture and trees. this video was captured by emergency services in catalonia where coastal towns were hit particularly hard. dozens of people had to be rescued and it is feared that some people are still trapped. thousands of homes remain without power. further inland, just outside madrid, people were in the middle of a meal at this restaurant when the storm hit. translation: we had some i customers who had just finished eating.

we tried to get out across the patio, but it was terrible. you could not get out anywhere. the water came up to your knees. out on the street, dozens of cars were picked up by the force of the water. translation: when it stopped for a while, i i went down to see my car was ok and i saw that my brother's i was gonna man was being carried away by the flood. this storm gained strength from recent high temperatures and humidity. it is the latest in a series of major floods across europe this summer and scientists warn weather events will continue to become more extreme unless the world dramatically cuts greenhouse gas emissions. and we have one more bit of extreme weather we're keeping an eye on: fifty thousand people have been forced to leave the lake tahoe area of california, as firefighters battle a huge wildfire in the area. the caldor fire has already destroyed more than 700 structures — most of them family homes. and there are fears that as many as 35 thousand buildings are at risk from the flames .

the blaze started more than two weeks ago. it's one of 15 large fires currently burning in california. stay with us on bbc news — still to come. mysteries of the underworld — more secrets are revealed from beneath the ancient mexican city of teotihuacan. she received the nobel peace prize for her work with the poor and the dying in india slums. the head of the catholic church had said mother teresa was a wonderful example of how to help people in need. we have to identify the bodies, then round the coffins and take them back home. parents are waiting and wives are waiting. hostages appeared, some carried, some running, trying to escape the nightmare behind them.

britain lost a princess today, | described by all to whom she reached out as irreplaceable. an early—morning car crash in a paris underpass ended | a life with more than its share of pain and courage, - warmth and compassion. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines. as the taliban puts on a show of its new military muscle — speculation a government may soon be announced. the us supreme court ignores appeals against a new law in texas banning almost all abortions.

president biden says it violates the constitution. au.s. judge says he'll approve oxycontin maker purdue pharma's bankruptcy reorganisation plan. the move clears a path to resolve thousands of opioid lawsuits but protects the company's wealthy sacklerfamily owners from future opioid litigation. i spoke to someone who just gave me his thoughts on the outcome. gave me his thoughts on the outcome-— gave me his thoughts on the outcome. , ., , outcome. this ruling has given the tremendous _ outcome. this ruling has given the tremendous amounts - outcome. this ruling has given the tremendous amounts of. the tremendous amounts of grief. i believe this ruling has left many victims behind who were harmed by oxycontin. the suckers are essentially walking away scot free. contributing 4.4 billion dollars but essentially it will

allow them from ever facing, never facing any litigation in the future for opioid claims ever again. the future for opioid claims ever again-— the future for opioid claims ever aain. ,. , ever again. the 'udge described it as a better _ ever again. the judge described it as a better result _ ever again. the judge described it as a better result that - ever again. the judge described it as a better result that gave i it as a better result that gave practical reasons why he thought he was happy that it had come to the stage in the family say that they acted ethically and lawfully butjust describe where there is the sense of injustice against them? sure. the sacco family is really the root of the overdose crisis we are experiencing in the united states right now and the united states right now and the judge is absolutely right. i mean, this is a better decision. sadly, without than participating in this bankruptcy there would be $0 for victims who have been harmed. there is a $750 million fund that will compensate victims and without these

releases, is the way the plan was built and it is a great injustice, there is no money for those who are directly harmed. the circularfamily for those who are directly harmed. the circular family was involved in the marketing, the developing of the marketing, the miss marketing, the miss branding and the lobbying efforts that really lead to oxycontin weapon icing its way into the american medicine cabinet and for many others who have been left behind this is just a very sad day and it is just a very sad day and it is just a very sad day and it is just a great injustice because this is the end of the road for the cyclones. there is not much more that we are able to do but we will continue to bear the brunt of the overdose crisis. i have fans, have people i love who are serving to time in jail for crimes where less than what the sacco family have committed but here in the united states this is what we call billionaire justice and people are able to write a very large cheque to get out of trouble.

up to half a million people across the uk with severely weakened immune systems are being advised to have a third dose of a covid vaccine. research suggests that they tend to have lower levels of antibodies after two jabs than other people — and are more likely to become very sick if they get infected with the virus. separately, the government hasn't decided yet if 12 to 15 year olds will be vaccinated. our medical editor, fergus walsh, reports: this daily cocktail of immunosuppressant medication is vital to prevent howell cohen's body from rejecting the kidney donated by his father. the transplant medication also blocked his immune system from developing protection from two doses of covid vaccine. the 40—year—old from north london is now eligible for a third dose. it's going to be really great for me to have a booster and hopefully give me some vaccine protection, and the ability to return to normal life, do things other people are doing without thinking about it. but at the same time, it's not clear if the booster

is going to work for myself and people like me, so we really do need to carry on looking at other treatments. see if there's any on here. as well as transplant patients, those with blood cancers or advanced hiv will also be eligible. they will all receive pfizer or moderna jabs. we hope it will top up their immunity levels. some of these people will not have mounted a good antibody or t cell memory response to two doses of the vaccine, and we are hoping it may help those individuals. there are two more big decisions due on vaccines, firstly whether the over 80s should get a booster dose to help with waning immunity, and secondly, what aboutjabs for younger teens? with the new school year getting under way, there is mounting urgency for a decision on whether all 12—to—15—year—olds should be offered a covid vaccine. currently, only those with specific health conditions are eligible, but the scientists making the recommendation say they want to see new data on the benefits and risks.

this is emma, just before she got covid. more than a year later, the 14—year—old often struggles to walk because of persistent nausea and dizziness. a new study has found a significant minority of children do get long covid. yeah, so i had to be in a wheelchair, because basically the dizziness is triggered or it gets worse by me walking around. if i start walking around ijust feel like i'm going to pass out, so it was very hard for me to get around school. vaccinating all over—12s would help suppress covid outbreaks in schools. the us, france, spain and italy have all taken this approach. a final decision in the uk may come next week. fergus walsh, bbc news. streets were turned to torrents with a powerful stream of water swallowing up cars

furniture and trees. this video was captured by emergency services in catalonia where coastal towns were hit particularly hard. dozens of people had to be rescued and it is feared that some people are still trapped. thousands of homes remain without power. further inland, just outside madrid, people twitter is launching a new feature that it hopes will help crack down on abuse and trolling, both of which have become huge issues for the platform. safety mode will flag accounts using hateful remarks and block them for seven days. the feature will work automatically once enabled, in an attempt to stop users from dealing with unwelcome tweets. the new feature will initially be trialled on a small group of users. alongside dealing with abuse on the platform,twitter says it has become more determined to stamp out misinformation. i've been speaking with australian social media expert, andrew hutchinson.

he's head of content at industry publication social media today. i asked him why now? the big thing they're trying to tackle as council culture which is when someone tweets something that is offensive whether deliberately or not, someone says that is wrong, someone says that is wrong, someone else pales onto that and then it gets bigger and bigger until you have got hundreds of thousands of people responding to this one person and they become the subject of hate for however long that might be which can take a significant mental toll on people so this gives them the capacity to shut that off and avoid that from happening and unwittingly becoming the sort of focus of hate for that day. how does that actually work? at the moment if you send a harmful message it almost asks you to think again, doesn't it? give you time before it actually broadcast about how this actually work and how will

users be able to use it?- users be able to use it? there are several— users be able to use it? there are several prompts _ users be able to use it? there are several prompts twitter i users be able to use it? there i are several prompts twitter has put in place to try to bring in better protections to give people an option to be able to avoid that so this final work by automatically detecting a sudden influx in lots of mentions of your handle and lots of applies to a tweet and when i get lots of those coming through and they're not people you regularly interact with you can automatically switch them off so if you turn on safety mode you can switch them off for seven days and you don't have to worry about it. we can review the people it is automatically blocked but it keeps you safe from those responses for a period of seven days, so far. d0 responses for a period of seven days. so far-— days, so far. do think it is a aood days, so far. do think it is a good move? _ days, so far. do think it is a good move? will— days, so far. do think it is a good move? will it - days, so far. do think it is a good move? will it be - days, so far. do think it is a - good move? will it be welcomed by users? it good move? will it be welcomed b users? , ., ., by users? it is important for twitter to — by users? it is important for twitter to be _ by users? it is important for twitter to be able _ by users? it is important for twitter to be able to - by users? it is important for twitter to be able to give i twitter to be able to give people options to be able to protect themselves. there are circumstances where you can inadvertently say the wrong thing and suddenly become subject to that criticism and it is not so much the person that they are attacking, it is the topic. you are

inadvertently the person in the middle and you are getting this abuse and the people are taking you don't know you trying to make a statement about that topic in the public nature of twitter makes a significant impact and it can really affect your psychology and it can affect your reputation so i can see why twitter would want to give people more options to avoid that and i did think it is important they give people the capacity to avoid that sort of mental stress. the other side as it can give people an option to avoid criticism like if you are deliberately provoking people but it can also give brands an option to shut down discussion. they also had to answer to that and there will be some level of reckoning, i guess, will be some level of reckoning, iguess, if will be some level of reckoning, i guess, if you're not responding to those questions you just sort of block people but it does give individual users an option to be able to lessen some of that stress and remove themselves from the situation.— from the situation. potentially an end to _ from the situation. potentially an end to those _ from the situation. potentially an end to those twitter - from the situation. potentially| an end to those twitter pylons. potentially an end to those twitter pylons. in mexico — more secrets have been revealed about the ancient city of teotihuacan. researchers have spent years digging beneath the

remains of a settlement that's believed to date back more than 2000 years. and the latest discoveries seem to highlight the religious devotion of some of the people who lived there. the bbc�*s tim allman has more. its majesty is always apparent on round level but the real mystery is of teotihuacan are found below the surface. this tunnel, directly beneath the pyramid of the sun, has proved to be a treasure trove for researchers. at least 100,000 different objects have been catalogued including finely carved statues, jewelry and ceramics. translation: ., , , ., .,, translation: it has been almost 12 ears of translation: it has been almost 12 years of continuous _ translation: it has been almost 12 years of continuous research i 12 years of continuous research and exploration. during that time we have discovered many materials in an excellent state of preservation which was

beyond what we initially thought. in beyond what we initially thought-— beyond what we initially thou:ht. , , ., thought. in its heyday, a eriod thought. in its heyday, a period from _ thought. in its heyday, a period from 100 - thought. in its heyday, a period from 100 bc- thought. in its heyday, a period from 100 bc - - thought. in its heyday, a - period from 100 bc - 50050a.d, period from 100 bc — 50050a.d, teotihuacan was one of the biggest cities on earth. a contemporary of ancient rome with as many of 200,000 people may have lived and died here. priests, perhaps under the influence of hallucinogenic plants offered gifts to the gods of the underworld. translation: gods of the underworld. tuna/mom- gods of the underworld. translation: ., , , , , translation: what surprised us most was for _ translation: what surprised us most was for bouquets _ translation: what surprised us most was for bouquets of - most was for bouquets of flowers. we were able to see some leaves which will allow us to identify what type of flowers were used for this ritual and then we will know what time of year it happened. the digging goes on. the research continues. perhaps the city of teotihuacan has more secrets to give up. a reminder of our top story.

a new afghan government, composed of senior taliban figures, could be announced as early as friday. a senior leader told the bbc the government would be inclusive. hello there. on wednesday, it was a lovely day across scotland and northern ireland. widespread sunshine and pretty warm with 25 celsius recorded in stirlingshire. further south for england and wales it was rather cloudy. the next few days it's similar setup — probably the best of the sunshine across the north, more cloud in the south. it's this area of high pressure which we've had for nearly two weeks now, pretty much in the same position, bringing that east or northeast airflow. so a lot of cloud generally to start the day thursday. eventually we start to see the cloud breaking up across scotland and northern ireland and into northern england, so increasing sunshine here — it will turn quite warm into the afternoon. but again, for much of england and wales, a lot of cloud around. some sunny breaks here and there, more of a breeze again across the south and through the channel. lighter winds further north —

could see temperatures reach the low to mid—20s in the sunny spots across scotland. otherwise, for most, where you have the cloud, around 17—19 or 20 degrees. our area of high pressure still with us on friday. moving a little bit towards the east but still bringing an easterly wind. there will be quite a lot of cloud still wrapped up in this system, so, again, friday pretty similar — most of the cloud i think across central, southern and eastern areas, the best of the sunshine towards the west where it will feel a little bit warmer. now as we head on into the weekend we start to see our area of high pressure drift in towards the near continent, and with low pressure approaching from the west, that's going to allow a run of southerly winds to develop across the country. and we'll start to tap into some warmth across france, there. so i think a gradual process but, during the weekend, temperatures will be climbing up gradually, and we should start to see increasing amount of sunshine as we draw up some

drier airfrom the south. saturday, though, pretty similar to how thursday and friday are shaping up, with quite a bit of cloud around. but i think later in the day there are signs of increasing sunshine across southern england, south wales — that will push the temperatures up to 23 degrees or so. but for most, again, the mid to high teens or up to around 20. i think on sunday there's a greater chance of seeing more widespread sunshine — certainly a brighter day for much of england and wales than we've had over the past week. those winds coming in from the south, from france there, pushing up into around the mid—20s across the south, or high teens further north. and then it's warmer still into the start of next week — we could be looking at values closer to the mid to upper—20s celsius, particularly across central and southern areas.

this is bbc news,

the headlines... a new government in afghanistan — composed of senior taliban figures — could be announced as early as friday. a senior leader told the bbc the government would be inclusive — but unlikely to have women in topjobs. against this backdrop, the economy is close to collapse. a law severely restricting access to abortion has come into effect in texas. it's been condemned by president biden as a violation of women's constitutional rights. it bans almost all terminations from the moment a foetal heartbeat can be detected — usually around six weeks into a pregnancy. an intense rain storm in spain has led to severe flooding. thousands of homes are without electricity — and roads and rail links have been forced to close. coastal towns in the northeastern region of catalonia bore the brunt of the storm — as well as parts of central spain.

now on bbc news, hardtalk.