The streets of sydney as australia ramps up its Covid Lockdown. Live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. Welcome to bbc News Broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. Its six In The Morning here in singapore, and 2. 30 In The Morning across afghanistan, where taliban militants are threatening to seize control of the main city in helmand province. The militants are now on the verge of overrunning The City of Lashkar Gar in the south, and theres fierce fighting in Kandahar And Herat in the west. 0ur chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, reports from the capital kabul. Lashkar gah, helmand, the Peace Roundabout now overrun by taliban. They say this square is theirs. Gunfire the centre of a city once patrolled for years by british troops. Afghan special forces, trained by britain and other nato armies, are rushing in. This videos from the afghan ministry of defence. Explosion the battle intensifies on the ground and on Social Media. 35 year old general Sami Sadat is the Commanding Officer in this southern area. He says the taliban have suffered hundreds and hundreds of losses, but his forces have lost most rural areas. Its much the same across afghanistan. Now the taliban are bent on seizing the cities. This war is being raged Street To street. On one of them, the family ofjamal barak. A former interpreterfor the british army, now in the uk. People are stuck in their homes. They cannot go outside. There is no electricity, there is no food. People will die without food, without water. And the taliban is actually walking the streets and looking for the people who have worked for the afghan government and for the british government, and we havent heard anything positive from the british government at the moment. We are hoping that they will do something very soon. Otherwise there are people that are going to lose their life. All the beds are full at this hospital in helmand, run by the emergency ngo. More beds being brought in. Hundreds of thousands are on the run. Look at the way these children are moving across the fields in the Western Province of herat. The crackle of gunfire all too close. But civilians are also standing their ground. This man is said to be the head of herat� s provincial council. Dont waste your bullets, he says. Take careful aim. And old warlords are back, too, to take on the taliban. White bearded commander Ismail Khan fought Soviet Forces in the � 80s, taliban in the � 90s. Were doing our best to suppress the enemy so they cant enter The City, he says. I call on the people to support us, especially those who are armed, to resist the terrorists. But the taliban are at their strongest since their defeat nearly two decades ago, after the us led invasion. Its a moment of reckoning for afghan forces. A moment of risk for the very future of afghanistan. That was the bbc� s lyse doucet. Im joined now by omar samad, former afghan ambassador to france and canada, and currently a visiting Senior Fellow at the atlantic council. Great to have you on the programme. Devastating scenes in that report. What is the taliban strategy right now . Are they trying to take key cities or focusing on now . Are they trying to take key Cities Orfocusing On Rural Areas . Very good question. Nobody really knows. Untila very good question. Nobody really knows. Until a few days ago, taliban strategy was to capture as much territory as possible or handed over to them fleeing afghan government forces or militias. But in the past few days, since last week, when the president of afghanistan announced that he is mobilising the country against the taliban, i think the taliban gave a proclamation of war. Tell band advances on a at least three major cities. Whether theyre going to stop, whether theyre going to retreat and send a message, we dont know. But it is possible that this Military Strategy may be at some point replaced by a political strategy if the taliban want to finish this at the negotiating table. I finish this at the negotiating table. ~. , , finish this at the negotiating table. ~. ,. , ~. , table. I know impossible to know where theyre table. I know impossible to know where theyre going table. I know impossible to know where theyre going next, table. I know impossible to know where theyre going next, but. Table. I know impossible to know where theyre going next, but is| where theyre going next, but is cobble in their sites, given the fact that the situation has escalated so quickly . Kabul is in their sites because it is surrounded by taliban forces. That is an option that they have which could be devastating for large cities. If they decide not to enter and cut the Supply Lines to the cities, then you would have a shift in scenario and probably a Domino Effect over time. So, in scenario and probably a Domino Effect overtime. So, i in scenario and probably a Domino Effect over time. So, i think theres one theory that the taliban do not want to capture everything. Its too much to swallow at once. They may at some point find a political way out of this or solution. Kabul, we dont know. They are now gearing up to fight. We dont know to what extent they have the appetite for discussions because the appetite for discussions because the taliban have requested this be replaced. There are conditions on Peace Talks that are very important, and in a few days, you have the us, china, Russia And Pakistan meeting again to see if there is momentum on the political side. The political side. Omar, thank you so much for the political side. Omar, thank you so much forjoining the political side. Omar, thank you so much forjoining us. Much more about this on our website including this map, created by our visualjournalism team, showing who is in control of which parts of afghanistan. Just log on to bbc. Com news or download the bbc app. Lets take a look at some of the stories in the headlines in the uk. The uk Hasjoined Israel in accusing iran of being behind what it says was a deliberate attack on an israeli operated tanker off the coast of oman on friday. Two crew members, One British and one romanian, were killed in the attack on the vessel, the mercer street. Iran has said any claims it was involved are baseless. Young people in england are to be offered incentives, including discounts from uber and deliveroo, to get their Covid I9 vaccinations. Further inducements could involve restaurants and cafes. Just over two thirds of 18 to 29 year olds have had a firstjab a far smaller proportion than older generations. A 39 year old man, a 30 year old woman and a 13 year old boy have been arrested, on suspicion of murder, following the death of a five year old boy in Bridge End in wales. His body was found in the Ogmore River in the early hours of saturday morning. Still to come a bit later in the programme well be live in sydney, where members of the Armed Forces are being deployed on the streets to enforce the latest Covid Lockdown. But first. An athlete from belarus has been taken into Police Protection Injapan after claiming that officials from her team were trying to force her to fly home against her will. This is her Krystsina Tsimanouskaya from belarus. She had been due to compete in the womens 200m event on monday. But after posting a Video Complaining about being entered into another race at short notice, she says she was told to pack and taken to the airport. She then contacted police, and uploaded this video on Social Media, appealing for help. The flight took off without her on board. The International Olympic Committee says it has asked the belarus authorities to clarify what happened. It comes of course against a backdrop of ongoing protests against president lukashenka of belarus, who the opposition accuse of stealing the election, and repressing any dissent against his leadership. Heres what pavel latushko, a former belarusian culture minister, now an Opposition Leader based In Warsaw in poland, had to say about the events in tokyo. Translation because the belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya criticised the belarusian national team for their violation of the rules and procedures for athletes participating in the olympic games, president lukashenko made the decision to take her out of tokyo and return her to belarus. She will be accompanied by three heavily built individuals. It is important to help our belarusian citizen, whomerely belarusian citizen, who merely expressed an opinion. So, what next for krystsina . Shadeoosh gicsan is a belarusian journalist In Warsaw. Hes been telling us what her options could be. At first, In The Morning she was not certain whether to return or not. From what we know, she has been consulting with their parents and parents who actually watched stories on the belarusian tv about her. They said, no. No, no way. You just stay there or you ask for asylum, but dont return to the country. And from what we heard, her preliminary plan is to ask for asylum in austria or somewhere in the eu, but we are not yet sure how she will manage it. Whether she will apply for asylum in tokyo, in some of the eu countries consulates or whether she will first fly to the eu and then will apply, we dont know that yet. I am sure she doesnt know it either, herself. Plenty of Sporting Action as well, and much more to come today. Live now to Tokyoand Sarah mulkerrins. Live now to tokyo and sarah mulkerrins. Bright and early for us. Lets start with the story we were just telling audiences about, belarus. What have the ioc said . This has been really interesting. We saw this play out on Social Media around the time of the mens 100 metres around the time of the mens100 metres final Last Night here in tokyo. A couple of hours later, we got an update from the Ioc And Tokyo 2020, the organisers, concerned about what they were hearing. The allegations on Social Media from the athlete. They said they had spoken to the athlete directly Last Night, that she was with the authorities at canada airport, and she was being accompanied by a member of staff with tokyo 2020, the organisers, and they said she feels safe. That was what she had told them. They said they would continue their conversations with Krystsina Tsimanouskaya and the authorities would determine the next step in the upcoming days. The ioc generally have a Media Briefing about midday here in tokyo, so No Doubt there will be a lot of questions asked and potentially an update provided on what the Ioc And Tokyo 2020 are doing in relation to this athlete. Lots of questions. Moving away from that story. We also saw the first protests at the podium by an Athlete Raven saunders what was that about, and are you expecting more . This was a really interesting Talking Point in the build up to these olympic games. We have seen protested so significantly over the last year and a half, particularly since the black lives matter movement. We have the first one Last Night, raven saunders, who won a silver medal. She received her medal and stepped off. She was getting her metal photos taken place. She raised both arms above her head and made them into a cross. When she was asked afterwards what that meant, she said it was a signal to say support for those who feel oppressed. She is black, gay, and has struggled with Mental Health issues. She said it is a jester she wanted to make. It has all the at odds with what the ioc said a gesture. We will see in that update whether there is an update on any sort of ramifications for her. We dont quite know, the ioc have never stipulated what would happen if an incident like this, whether they would give a verbal Warning Or Something more dramatic may happen like medals being taken away. Its interesting that the us olympic committee do not have the same rules that the ioc have. They support any Athlete Protest as long as theyre not promoting any sort of hate. Both of those organisations were almost keen to that it between the two to see who has responsibility in this place, but its certainly a very interesting moment for this. Lats place, but its certainly a very interesting moment for this. Lots to talk about. Interesting moment for this. Lots to talk about im interesting moment for this. Lots to talk about. Im so interesting moment for this. Lots to talk about. Im so sorry interesting moment for this. Lots to talk about. Im so sorry we interesting moment for this. Lots to talk about. Im so sorry we have interesting moment for this. Lots to talk about. Im so sorry we have to L Talk about. Im so sorry we have to leave it there. If you want to get in touch with me, im on twitter bbckarishma. Do send me your thoughts. Youre watching newsday on the bbc. Still to come on the programme. Australia is deploying unarmed troops to ensure its Covid Lockdown in sydney is being observed. Well be live in The City for the latest. The Air Space Agency nasa has ordered an investigation after Confirmation Today that astronauts were cleared to fly while drunk. The last foot were cleared to fly while drunk. Tue last Foot Patrol were cleared to fly while drunk. Tte last Foot Patrol in sci fi mark, once in every day part, drudgery and danger. 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Six rare White Lion cubs have already been rare White Lion cubs have already been met rare White Lion cubs have already been met with rare White Lion cubs have already been met with a rare White Lion cubs have already been met with a roar rare White Lion cubs have already been met with a Roar Of rare White Lion cubs have already been met with a Roar Of improvement from visitors been met with a Roar Of improvement from visitors from visitors. Very sweet, yeah, they were from visitors. Very sweet, yeah, they were cute. This is newsday on the bbc. Im karishma vaswani. Our headlines. In afghanistan, civilians are fleeing their homes as a taliban offensive on three major cities continues. An olympic athlete from belarus has accused her countrys officials of trying to fly her home from tokyo against her will after she criticised the teams managers on Social Media. The australian military has deployed 300 unarmed soldiers to enforce sydneys strict lockdown as The City tries to suppress a surge in covid cases caused by the delta variant. Among their duties, conducting door to door checks to ensure residents are complying with the stay at Home Order. They are due to hit the streets on monday after training. The state reported 239 new locally acquired cases on sunday despite having been under a stay at Home Order for over five weeks. Im joined now by shaimaa khalil, who is in sydney. This is such an unusual move, bringing the military to patrol the streets. Whats been the reaction from australians . Tts streets. Whats been the reaction from australians . Streets. Whats been the reaction from australians . Its a reminder of the lockdown from australians . Its a reminder of the lockdown that from australians . Its a reminder of the lockdown that happened from australians . Its a reminder of the lockdown that happened in the lockdown that happened in melbourne when it had its own outbreak last year, so its a reminder of really dark days for australia. Yes, there is a great deal of apprehension, especially in those areas where the police and the president is going to be concentrated. Eight areas in the West And Southwest of sydney considered to be the epicentre of this outbreak. At home to about 2 Million people, mainly from ethnic diverse, migrant backgrounds, but also home to many people who work in the construction industry, the manufacturing industry, also owners of small businesses. Theyve been struggling. These areas have already been under stricter rules and then the rest of sydney, and they feel that with this military coming in, going door to door, they feel targeted and they feel afraid. Ive been speaking to members, and one of them told me people are afraid to leave their homes, but also, it almost feels like there is an invisible wall thats been drawn around the community. Also, these are areas with rest and any interaction with Law Enforcement and the military could be a traumatic experience. Mil the military could be a traumatic exnerience the military could be a traumatic exerience. �. ,. ,~ , experience. All of this taking place a. Ainst experience. All of this taking place against low experience. All of this taking place against low vaccination experience. All of this taking place against low Vaccination Rates experience. All of this taking place against low Vaccination Rates in against low Vaccination Rates in australia, anti lockdown sentiment is growing. What the government saying about Vaccination Targets . Thats really the message theyre trying to push. A Real Change in tone for a few months ago when the prime ministerfamily tone for a few months ago when the prime Minister Family they said its not a race. Today, hes written an Op Edin not a race. Today, hes written an Op Ed in one newspaper, basically pumping up the spirit of the olympics, saying we should go for gold. The australians should rent these numbers up, should go for vaccination because until it gets to 70 , were nowhere near that number, lockdowns are going to be the way to deal with those outbreaks. Compared to any other country in the world, these numbers are quite low, but the projector he remains hi, and thats really whats making Health Authorities nervous here. Troubling news there authorities nervous here. Troubling news there. All authorities nervous here. Troubling news there. All of authorities nervous here. Troubling news there. All of us authorities nervous here. Troubling news there. All of us are authorities nervous here. Troubling news there. All of us are having authorities nervous here. Troubling news there. All of us are having to | news there. All of us are having to face. Lets take a look at some other stories in the headlines. The us senate has reconvened to start moving towards a vote on a trillion Dollar Infrastructure Bill which its hoped both republicans and democrats will support. The measure could be voted on this week, but there are still sticking points on how it will be funded, with many republicans opposed to tax increases on big corporations and wealthy individuals. Despite bumps in the road, always expected, we remade firmly on track. The idea here is to produce an outcome, a real bipartisan agreement that provides a significant Down Payment towards the level of Infrastructure Investment our country needs. The Video Conferencing Firm zoom has agreed to pay 86m to settle a Class Action Privacy lawsuit in the us. The lawsuit alleged that zoom had invaded the privacy of millions of users by sharing Personal Data with facebook, google and linkedin. The firm denied any wrongdoing, but has agreed to boost its security practices. Mexico is holding a national referendum on whether former president s can be investigated and prosecuted for alleged corruption. President Lopez Obrador put the measures forward as part of his anti corruption drive. But critics say theyre unnecessary, and there are concerns not enough people will turn out to vote to make the proposals binding. Tourists have been evacuated from beaches in South Western turkey, where raging wildfires are now threatening hotels and homes. At least six people are reported to have been killed but officials say they have now brought almost all of the fires under control. The Tokyo Olympics is entering its last week or should we say � lap so lets check in with mariko oi, who is there for us. Great to have you on the programme. We were talking about the Sporting Action with sarah earlier, but it looks like some of these athletes after competing are reportedly choosing to go out and about in The City, even though thats not allowed. , � , city, even though thats not allowed. � ,. , ~ allowed. Indeed. Thats been Making Uuite a bit allowed. Indeed. Thats been making quite a bit of allowed. Indeed. Thats been making quite a bit of headlines allowed. Indeed. Thats been making quite a bit of headlines over allowed. Indeed. Thats been making quite a bit of headlines over the quite a bit of headlines over the weekend. We saw two athletes from georgia who won silver medals in judo. They have since flown home. There was also an outside Drinking Party apparently inside the Olympic Village that is now being investigated. I dont think many people injapan are exactly blaming those foreign athletes or officials for spreading the virus any more, as we can send you to see these Chords Surge in co vacations. It was just above 3000, but what concerning is that usually over the weekend, we expect these numbers to be lower because of the number of tests carried out at hospitals. We could see a further spike in those numbers this week. Even more alarming was the proportion of those tests coming back positive, hitting almost 20 , according to the tokyo government, which was listening to the radio on the way here. According to them, over 60 are saying now the government needs to impose something more strict than the State Of Emergency which has been expanded. Despite this, its not exactly that strict because theres no penalty and a lot of people think its no longer effective in controlling the pandemic, but of course the japanese constitution does not give the right to the japanese government to impose anything stricter. Critics would argue the government should have started have prepared to changing the law, but we dont know what they can do to control these numbers. Just briefly, has sentiment changed against the olympics from local people . Against the olympics from local eole . � , against the olympics from local Eo Le . � ,. , against the olympics from local eole . � ,. , against the olympics from local eole . V ,. ,. , people . Its been a bit of schizophrenic people . Its been a bit of schizophrenic reaction,. People . Its been a bit of schizophrenic reaction, if| people . Its been a bit of schizophrenic reaction, if you like. Theres a lot of excitement of how welljapanese athletes have been doing, and still a lot of excitement about Mens Football getting to the quarterfinals. Their next match is on tuesday. At the same time, there are a lot of concerns about this surge were seeing because we could actually see further spikes this weekend. We dont exactly know what else the government can do. With all the latest on both the covid cases injapan and what people there are feeling about it. Well have much more on bbc news. See you in the next hour. Hello there. For most parts of the uk, Sunday Got August off to a relatively quiet Start Weather wise. I say most parts of the uk. For some, there were some vicious downpours and thunderstorms during the afternoon. And its a similar story into monday, a relatively dry, but not completely dry start to the new week. Quite a cool start as well and then some wetter, windier weather is set to develop later in the week. High pressure trying to control things at the moment, but its quite a weak ridge of high pressure, not strong enough to fend off all the showers. Most places having a largely dry day on monday with some sunshine, but quite a lot of cloud clinging on across north east scotland, certainly across the northern isles. This area of cloud bringing rain to much of Northern Ireland and then some showers breaking out across parts of england and wales as we head into the afternoon, some turning quite heavy and thundery for the South West of england, wales and the midlands. The winds very light, so get yourself into some sunshine and it wont feel too bad, despite these temperatures being quite disappointing for the time of year, 14 20. Some of those showers across england and wales will continue on through monday night, even into the early hours of tuesday. Most places will be dry with some clear spells, but you can see this area of rain approaching the far South West. Quite a fresh, cool start to Tuesday Morning as well, but that area of rain in the far South West looks set to dive away southwards towards parts of france, so that rain not making a lot of progress across our shores, just really into cornwall and the isles of scilly. We will see some rain across the channel islands, but most places on tuesday seeing some spells of sunshine and one or two showers popping up again into the afternoon. A few of those could be heavy, possibly thundery, and temperatures again up to 20, possibly 21 degrees. Now, into wednesday, i think we could see a few more showers breaking out at this stage, a line of showers likely to push in across north west scotland, some breaking out elsewhere through the afternoon and again some heavy, thundery ones, those temperatures around 20 or 21 degrees. As we head towards the end of the week, things are set to turn more unsettled. One area of low Pressure Rolling in for thursday, another one behind it and that is our Weather Maker for next weekend, so generally speaking as we head towards the end of the week it is going to turn more unsettled with showers or longer spells of rain and potentially some fairly brisk winds as well. Hello. This is bbc news. Well be taking a look at tomorrow mornings papers in a moment. First the headlines. More gold for Team Gb in Tokyo Max Whitlock retains his Olympic Pommel Horse title. And Charlotte Worthington claims another Gold Medal for britain in a dramatic Bmx Park Freestyle final. An olympic athlete from belarus says officials from her team tried to force her to fly home against her will after she criticised them on Social Media. Young people in england will be offered incentives to have their first Covid Jab like discounts for Takeaway Food and taxi journeys. Taliban fighters continue to advance in afghanistan attacking cities, and threatening to over run the capital of helmand province. The uk has accused iran of being behind an attack on an Oil Tanker off the coast of oman in which a british national was killed. Hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. With me are the editor of yorkshire womens life, Dawn Maria france, and the former pensions minister, ros altmann. Lets start with the metro and another golden day for Team Gb at the olympics. It features Gold Medalists Max Whitlock and Charlotte Worthington, but also Duncan Scott after he became the first british