we believe the family are fine, although clearly they have been through a pretty awful experience. if you want to get in touch about that story, indeed any of the stories we are covering to do, you can contact me on twitter. the headlines on bbc news... the taliban announce a "general amnesty" for government officials, urging them to return to work, following their takeover of the capital kabul. us presidentjoe biden defends his decision to withdraw troops from afghanistan, saying the mission was counter—terrorism, not nation—building. new zealand announces a snap lockdown — after the country detected its first case of locally transmitted covid—19 since february. uk job vacancies hit a record 953,000 in the three months tojuly, according to official figures. unemployment fell to 4.7% in the three months tojune, down slightly on the previous