voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. in august 2021, the taliban shocked the world as they swept to power in afghanistan. chanting it wasn't long before they began to crack down on the rights of women.

last year, i met with activist tamana paryani, who'd been involved in a protest in kabul. after daring to raise her voice, the taliban came in the middle of the night to arrest her. although she was later released, she went into hiding. at the time, it was too dangerous for us to broadcast her testimony. now, she has escaped and she's ready to tell her extraordinary story.

kabul, june 2022. afghanistan is now the only country in the world where female education is forbidden. reports have been emerging of women standing up for their rights being forcibly disappeared. i wanted to meet tamana, who'd been arrested earlier in the year forjoining a protest against the new taliban leaders. tamana managed to film a video and upload it to facebook just before being taken away. i wanted to see the apartment she'd been taken from and see if i could speak

to any of the neighbours about what happened that night. shortly after they were arrested, a family member managed to get into the apartment and film the aftermath. months on, the signs of forced entry were still visible on the door. tamana was taken, along with her four sisters, but the videos she had uploaded had started to go viral. there are growing concerns for women in afghanistan protesting against the curbing of their rights under the taliban. tamana paryani was taken from her apartment by armed men. world leaders were outraged.

human rights organisations immediately condemned and demanded their release. i quizzed the taliban directly on my show about the case. i managed to get a message through to tamana and she agreed to meet me in a safe house the next day. after she'd been released from prison, she went into hiding with herfamily, fearing the taliban would be back again. there was a suspicion that the house was being watched. 25—year—old tamana

had come to the attention of the authorities for organising a string of protests demanding women's rights in kabul. in january 2022, she had organised a march to raise questions about the disappearance of a female prison officer, alia azizi.

tamana and her four sisters covered a traditional afghan burqa in streaks of fake blood. three days later, the taliban came to their apartment.

during their time in prison, 18—year—old karishma told of repeated abuse by the taliban guards. during the three weeks they were being held, their mother tried to track them down.

eventually, the taliban released the four women in february 2022, but not without a final warning. they were banned from leaving the country and had their passports taken away. they were also threatened that if they spoke with the media, theirfather and brother would be arrested. in total, there were 32 women arrested in a series of raids on female activists in january across the country. since then, tamana has moved from house to house, relying on the good will of others to keep her hidden.

tamana wore a full niqab to stay hidden when changing location.

the car in front is what tamana is using to get to the next location. we're going through multiple taliban checkpoints and i can imagine it's quite nerve—racking for her. the safe house was on the other side of town. the owner did not want to be identified for his safety, but agreed to speak with me. we've just arrived here with tamana. she's crossed kabul

to get here to safety. just tell me why you've allowed her to come here. when the taliban came to power, and knowing what you know about her steeliness, her determination, were you worried? tamana's experience is like so many other female activists in the country. so many of them have been driven out, pushed out of the public eye. they now feel trapped

inside their homes in this very suffocating environment. and it's unclear what their future will be. there seems to be like a pattern emerging — women coming out, demanding their rights, the taliban intimidating and detaining some of them, and then the women being too afraid to come out and speak up again. and this is exactly what's happened to tamana. it was time for me to leave kabul. tamana and herfamily were starting to see there was no future for them in afghanistan. months later, i received a message from her. she and her sisters were on the move to the eastern border with pakistan. they filmed themselves dressing

in local clothes to blend in. tamana had paid a network of smugglers to get her family out of the country. they split into two groups, with her parents and younger siblings going on their own, and tamana with three of her sisters.

the four women were detained by the taliban when trying to cross the border in eastern afghanistan, the guards telling them that if they were to try this again, worse things would happen. they were sent back to kabul.

tamana and her entire family made it across the border to pakistan. but just as i was finalising my plans to meet them there... they're on a plane to germany. i travelled to meet them in germany, where they were living

in temporary accommodation just outside of cologne. i arrived just in time for lunch. they're just complaining about the food. when they first arrived, there were a lot of sausages. they wanted hot afghan food. tamana's friend nadia joined us. she'd been instrumental in getting the family to europe.

the foreign office agreed to transfer tamana's family to germany. they're now waiting for their asylum application to be processed. tamana and zarmina

took me for a walk around their new village.

the family had been in germany forjust over a week and were starting to process the challenges they now faced.

nadia wanted to take the sisters into cologne to visit the city centre.

like her sister, tamana has no plans to step back from her activism.

since we filmed with tamana, she and her sisters have staged protests in amsterdam against the taliban rule. they have vowed to continue. hello. well, it's a very damp picture

out there at the moment, a lot of cloud shrouding the uk. but if we have a look at the satellite picture, you can see some big gaps in the clouds to the west and southwest of us. that is heading our way, so there will be some sunshine on friday. let's have a look at the outlook, though, for the next few days. so, yes, sunny spells to come on friday, particularly by the time we get to the afternoon. but overall, the bank holiday weekend is actually going to be quite warmer compared to what we've been used to in the last few days. having said that, showers are also expected. so the forecast then for early friday — a lot of cloud. you can see where it's still raining across parts of scotland, the north of england, but by this stage, it's already starting to dry out, particularly across wales and the southwest. and as we go through the morning, into the afternoon, we'll see sunny spells developing widely. first, across the southern half of the uk and then eventually a little bit further north too. but one or two showers certainly on the cards for friday. temperatures at best around 19 or even 20 celsius in the southeast, about iii celsius expected in glasgow

and not far off that in belfast. now, as we go through the weekend, we'll continue to see relatively mild air coming in from the south, not as hot, anywhere near as hot, as it has been in spain, the south of spain and portugal. now, our air is actually coming all the way from the azores, so, yes, the mild direction, but we're not going to be getting the heat you may have heard about across iberia. so saturday then, a scattering of showers on the cards but sunny spells too, and here are the temperatures — around 19 celsius again in london, but quite chilly across parts of scotland. aberdeen, for example, no higher than around 8 celsius. and here's a look at sunday again — a real mixed bag on the way. some of the showers could turn out to be really heavy on sunday, perhaps even with some cracks of thunder on the way. now, the temperatures around the mid teens across the northern part of england and into the lowlands. warmest spots again in the south. and then as we go into monday, bank holiday monday, high pressure is expected to build across the uk, but it's not going to be completely dry, because, again, in the north,

especially in scotland, we are anticipating some showers. so here's the outlook from saturday onwards — it is a bit of a mixed bag, especially through the weekend, and actually into next week, you can see those temperatures easing once again. bye— bye.

live from washington, this is bbc news. welcome to viewers on pbs in america. both sides in the conflict in sudan agree to extend a ceasefire for another three days, despite reports of heavy fighting in the capital khartoum. former vice president of the united states mike pence appears before a grand jury examining attempts by donald trump to hang onto power after losing the 2020 election. and the biden administration announces new plans to curb illegal migration at the border. welcome to the show. 0ur welcome to the show. our top stories in a moment. we start with some breaking news from ukraine.