Hello and welcome. A humanitarian disaster is fast unfolding in afghanistan. The un says more than 1,000 civilians have been killed in fighting between the Taliban And Government forces. Injuly, the areas controlled by the taliban were these, shown in red. With contested regions in yellow. But now a lot more territory has fallen to the taliban, including nine of the Countrys 3a provincial capitals, as it intensifies its offensive to seize power, following the withdrawal of western troops. 20 years after 9 11 and what has become americas longest war, President Biden has set a symbolic date of 11 September 2021 for full withdrawal of american troops. Peace talks between the afghan government and the taliban have been taking place for a year in doha but no agreement has been reached. The bbc� s Yalda Hakim interviewed two high Profile Figures in the taliban chain of command, she asked them both what do they want from the afghan government and how they would rule the country if they could return to kabul. Afghanistan, 2021 the taliban are back, taking city after city from government forces. The withdrawal of foreign troops has left a Power Vacuum the taliban are rushing to fill. If they take power, many people here fear a return to their brutal regime of the � 90s, characterised by public executions, stonings and girls being banned from school. Despite the historic Peace Deal that was signed between the us and the taliban in february 2020, and the ongoing Peace Talks taking place in doha, qatar, between the afghan government and the taliban, no progress has been made. I travelled to doha to meet with Suhail Shahin, a member of the taliban peace negotiation team. If you were to return to kabul, how would you govern . There was in the past some mistakes that we have learned from, because at that time you were new to the government to stop education of women and girls. That is not our goal. Of course, education is their right and it is much needed. While Suhail Shahin continues to talk about peace, its clearly not a view shared by Taliban Commanders Closing in on afghanistans cities. Back in kabul, taliban Commander Maulana from helmand, agreed to meet me. What do you want . Do you want the Taliban Regime to come back into power or do you think that there should be a Power Sharing Deal with the current government . Like the discussions that are being had in doha . Translation we would be happy to have a joint government under the umbrella of islamic sharia. A sharia based system in afghanistan, like the system the taliban used to have. If we talk about Law And Order and justice, if someone were to steal or commit adultery, what should happen to them . Translation all this is clearly stated in the koran. If someone steals, there is a punishment, for example, for some theft, the punishment is cutting off the hand and foot. And if someone commits adultery, then they should be stoned. And if there isnt a political resolution to this conflict, are you prepared to take kabul by force . Translation im trying | to defeat the government and theyre trying to make me disappear. In The End, we will be compelled to kill one another. Increasingly, it appears there is a disconnect between what is being said by the political office in doha and what the taliban commanders and foot soldiers are doing on the ground in afghanistan. But the Vice President of afghanistan remains defiant. This group in doha. They are a deceptive facade of a very dark reality called the taliban. So in your view, have they changed . No, not only they have not changed, they have become savvier in deceiving. With the government adamant to defy a new era of sharia law, and the taliban making significant gains, afghans now seem to be caught up in a savage war that has taken on a life of its own. Yalda hakim, Bbc News, kabul. The first part of yaldas our World Report from afghanistan will air this weekend. 0ur Viewers in the uk can watch it at half past one on saturday on the Bbc News channel. For our global viewers, return of the taliban is on bbc World News at 23 30 gmt on friday and its shown again at 0a 30 gmt and 11 30 gmt on saturday. The Polish Parliament has approved a law that opponents say will strengthen the right wing Governments Grip on the media, as it restricts non european ownership. One of the Tv Channels most critical of ministers is owned by the american conglomerate discovery. A spokesperson for the us State Department said it was closely watching developments. Ramzan karmali has this report. The applause from the government benches in the Lower House of parliament. Theyre reacting to the vote which saw them narrowly pass a new media bill. The government say this new law will prevent firms from China And Russia from Controlling Polish media outlets, but opponents say it is an attempt to silence a Tv Channel critical of the government. Translation this is | an unconstitutional law that is designed to gag free media, inconsistent with international treaties. Today, it concerns one of the Tv Stations we all know which one it is about. But, in fact, it affects the security of poland, because no normal investor will want to invest in a country where, in one evening, a law can be passed de facto, Ejecting Capital from an allied country. The Tv Station in question is tvn the us Company Discovery owns it through a subsidiary based in the netherlands. Its one of the biggest american investments in poland. Discovery condemned the new bill, calling it an attack on core democratic principles of freedom of speech. The eu has expressed concern over Media Freedom in poland. And the fear now is that this new law could sour relations with the us, a close military ally. We know that a free and independent media, they make our democracies stronger. It makes the transatlantic alliance more resilient, including to those who would seek to divide the alliance and divide us. 0utside Parliament in the capital warsaw, crowds began to gather, and rallies were held across the country. The bill will now pass to the opposition controlled senate, which may make amendments or reject the bill, however the Lower House of parliament can overturn any changes and finally approve the bill. Ramzan karmali, Bbc News. The hottest temperature ever recorded in europe is believed to have been registered in italy. A reading from the island of sicily registered 48. 8 degrees celsius yesterday. It comes as countries across the mediterrean continue to battle high temperatures and wildfires. Aruna iyengar has this report. The Pine Forests in sicily searing heat as temperatures topped 48 degrees. Hot winds are stoking the flames. Residents of this Old Town can only watch and wonder. 0ur Small Town was invaded by fire, it is a catastrophe. The entire park and surrounding area went up park and surrounding area went up in flames. Fuelled by the hot weather, fires have erupted across Southern Europe in recent weeks. So that italy, greece, Turkey And Algeria have been particularly hard hit. Italy is baking in the so called lucifer heatwave. Tv bulletins reports that 15 cities will be on Red Alert this friday. That means that he is so intense a danger to health for people of all ages. Here, in greeces second biggest island, fires have left livestock heads decimate. Nearly 100,000 hectares of forests and farmland have burned in less than two weeks. The worst wildfire since 2007. But the fire still there. How has arrived from overseas in evia. These Fire Crews are from slovakia. In the west, this is the aftermath of the fire. Turkey has also been hit by its most intense fires on record. 248 places have been brought under control in the last two weeks. In algeria, three days of national mourning have been declared after firefighters, soldiers and civilians died whilst battling blazes. The high temperatures have helped the spread of the fires put authorities here suspect arson after so many fires erupted in after so many fires erupted in a short space of time. Scientists say Human Induced Climate Change is making heatwaves more likely and more severe. Aruna iyengar, Bbc News. Lets get some of the days other news. Chile has become the first country in South America to begin vaccinating its population with a Booster Shot of the Covid 19 jab. The extra dose has been offered to those above the age of 86, who have already been vaccinated with the chinas sinovac. Australia capital canberra will go into a Snap Seven Day Lockdown later today. The decision came after the first recorded Covid 19 case in the community for more than a year. Huge parts of neighbouring New South Wales are already under restrictions and melbourne is also in lockdown for at least another week. Scientists on Italys Side of the Mont Blanc Massif are constantly monitoring a glacier believed to be at risk of collapse due to rising temperatures. The Planpincieux Glacier is already at a Melting Point making it more unpredictable and dangerous for the valley below. Polling stations have just opened in zambia where more than Seven Million people are expected to vote in the general elections. Thousands of Law Enforcement agents have been deployed to monitor Voting Sites and to ensure peace and stability. Results are expected to be announced 72 hours after Polling Stations have closed. The spokesperson for Tigrayan Forces has told the bbc that the ethiopian rebels will continue to pursue the national army and its allies even if it leads to the capital addis ababa. Getachew reda says their aim is to force the central government to end the siege on tigray, which has cut Communication Lines and blocked aid distribution. The bbc� s africa correspondent, catherine byaruhanga, reports. Have you seen the recent statements from the Office Of The Prime Minister where hes calling for all ethiopians to join in the fight against the Tigrayan Forces . Yes, idid. He wants more and more people, probably hundreds of thousands of people to get killed in a senseless war in which the fate of ethiopia is being put on the line. We have regained most of our territory and dislodged both expansionists and to a certain extent, the eritreans as well. And the armys regular forces from out of tigray. He. When he tried to continue his fight against the people of tigray through a blockade and a siege. How does expanding this conflict to amhara and afar, youve gone as far as lalibela. Theres also fighting in wadiya. So how does expanding Conflict End the blockade . Well, we are doing is we are trying to degrade Enemy Fighting capabilities. It is our armed forces, Amhara Expansionists Forces who have been altering the pain of untold miseries on our people. And we have to make sure that they are silenced, their guns are silenced. And the only way we can silence their guns is by following them wherever they go and doing whatever it takes to make sure that the guns are silent. 0k . We understand that your forces are even close to dessie, which is about 400 Kilometres North of addis ababa. How far are you willing to take this conflict . Are you willing to go all the way to the capital . Well go as far as it takes to make sure that we accept the fact that abiy accepts there is nothing he could do about reversing the gains that we have made. Its all about ensuring the Safety And Security of our people. Well do whatever it takes. Would that include removing prime Minister Abiy ahmed from office, changing the government . Honestly, this is not part of our our plan, but i would i would tell people again and again, if abiy is removed from office in the process of our forces advancing to wherever they are to advance to to achieve our objectives, that would be the icing on the cake. Ethiopia would be better off without abiy. As this conflict has expanded, according to the un, there are about 250,000 people whove been displaced in amhara and afar regions. The united states, for example, has called for the Tigrayan Forces to pull back from these regions because of the humanitarian impact. Why wont you act in the interest of civilians in these regions . The international community could be the us would be anything to call on our forces to withdraw, but with tigray we will not relent on our struggle until the siege on tigray is lifted, and lifted forever. Catherine Byaru Hanga reporting there. Stay with us on Bbc News, still to come. We speak to some of the uyghur Population Whove had to flee North West China. The big crowds became bigger as the time of the funeral approached. As the lines of fans became longer, the police prepared for a huge job of crowd control. Idi amin, ugandas brutal former dictator, has died at the age of 80. Hes being buried in saudi arabia, where he lived in exile since being overthrown in 1979. Two billion people Around The World have seen the last Total Eclipse Of The Sun to take place in this millennium. It began itsjourney off the coast of canada, ending three hours later when the Sun Set over the bay of bengal. This is Bbc News, the latest headlines. The taliban fight for afghanistans second city kandahar, as the bbc speaks to the Militants Leaders exclusively. Polands parliament votes to tighten control of the media the us says its deeply troubled, warning its a threat to freedoms. The british government says its seriously concerned about the human Rights Situation in North West China after allegations of abuse against uyghur muslims. The Foreign Office has called it a truly harrowing picture and has imposed sanctions including Asset Freezes and Travel Bans on senior chinese officials. The chinese authorities have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. An open letter written by a teenage campaigner in london, working with the Campaign Group burst the bubble, has now been sent to the foreign secretary dominic raab. Our community Affairs Correspondent Adina Campbell has been to meet her and her father who fled china after he was imprisoned. Ive seen them personally and them saying that they dont exist is wrong because ive met them. They say that my family living a happy life. But on the other hand, we hear that they have been sentenced for ten years, 12 years for practising religion. Thousands of miles away from their Loved Ones in china, 18 year old dilnaz and her father, karim, are campaigning for justice. Justice from the chinese authorities who sent karim to prison in the 1990s. They kept beating him up, burning his hand with cigarettes, hanging him with hands, like that. And he said that at The End of his imprisonment, which was six months long, he was not able to stand up. Karim fled china after serving his time injailfor national hatred and holding a protest, crimes he denies. He and his family say the Uighur Community in North West China is still at risk and continue to face brutal abuse by the authorities because of their cultural background. How do you feel about the chinese authorities . Theyre killing people, theyre torturing people in concentration camps, forcibly sterilising and raping women. We asked the chinese embassy for a response. They have previously denied all allegations of Human Rights abuses. Dilnaz and her family now live in london, but fear for the lives of their other relatives who they havent seen in six years. They are committing Human Rights offences on a massive scale. They and other Human Rights campaigners have been holding monthly protests outside the chinese embassy. It makes me feel angry that the world is not acting up for this. I mean, Chinas Government is committing crimes. They should stop this. Karim still bears the physical scars from his time in prison. And theres emotional trauma for dilnaz, who has regular nightmares. Do you feel like an ordinary 18 year old . No, because if i was an ordinary 18 year old, i would be now living my best life. But thats not what im doing. Im trying to explore new ways to free my people sooner. Adina campbell, Bbc News. Time now for the latest sport. Hello, im Mark Edwards with your sports news. We start with football, where chelsea have won the first European Trophy of the year after beating villareal on penalties in the European Super Cup on wednesday. The Champions League winners dominated the early stages of the game in belfast and took the lead in the first half through hakim ziyech. He was later taken off with a shoulder injury. Villareal equalised through gerard moreno, taking the game to penalties. But kepa saved the Spot Kick from villareal Captain Raul Albiol to give the Blues Victory for the second time in their history. Physically, this was the worst thing that could happen to us, playing overtime. Mentally and psychologically, this was the best thing, to start with a trophy because there was no way to delay the game or play it in four weeks. This was the moment where we needed to start. Are we 100 of our capacity . No, absolutely not. But we are ready to play Football Matches on a certain level. Lionel messi says he dreams of winning the Champions League once more after being officially unveiled as a Paris Saint Germain Player on wednesday. The argentina captain, who is 34 now, won four Champions League titles with barcelona, the last of which came in 2015. Now he says, hes moved to paris to keep growing and keep winning trophies. Translation im very happy to be here. Im eager to get going. I still want to play and still want to win just as much as when i started my career. With these players and the staff i think the club is ready to fight for all of the trophies. I want to keep growing and winning titles, and thats why ive come to this club. To tennis, then, where the Canadian Open continues in toronto for the men and montrealfor the womens tournament. Top Seed Daniel Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas are in third round action on thursday, but theyll be joined by fourth seed andrey rublev, the russian Beating Fabio Fognini in straight sets on wednesday to set up a match with the Big Serving American john isner. In the womens draw top Seed Aryna Sabalenka had to come through three sets to advance to the third round, the Belarusian Edging out former grand Slam Winner Sloane stephens. Sabalenka faces the canadian wild Card Rebecca Marino next. The second test between England And India starts on thursday at lords. The Home Side is struggling with injuries Stuart Broad will miss the rest of the series after tearing a calf muscle, while James Anderson is also dealing with a thigh strain. Compared to englands build up, indias preparations have been relatively straightforward they dominated most of the first test and probably would have won if the final days play hadnt been a wash out. The captain says they have what it takes to get plenty of runs on the board again. Last game, kl, jadeja, bumra, rishabh with the bat, a little cameo, they were outstanding. Rohit gave us a very solid start as well. So, look, people are going to contribute every now and then and you have to understand as a side what is your best and the strongest Batting Unit you can take on the park, and the Batting Unit that played in the last game is definitely our strongest. And you can get all the latest Sport News on our website bbc. Com sport. But from me, Mark Edwards, and the rest of the sport team, bye bye. More than 50 olympic athletes from australia face a lengthy period of quarantine after returning home from japan. They will have to isolate for 14 days when they get back from tokyo. And those who Cannot Fly directly to South Australia will have to quarantine for an extra two weeks when they enter the state. Skateboarding has become very popular injapan after its teenage athletes achieved a sweeping victory at tokyo 2020. Our Reporter Mariko oi caught up with one of the gold medallists and tried the sport for herself for the first time. Bye bye i will be back shortly with all the top business stories. Stay tuned. Hello. We provisionally saw a new Temperature Record in europe on wednesday 48. 8 celsius recorded in sicily. The exceptional heat shown by the red colours here in this Chart Transfer a Bit Westwards across the med into the weekend, with record breaking heat for spain and portugal. Cast your eyes further north, though, across the uk, The Blues appearing back on the charts. Temperatures dropping below normal once again so a Cooler End to the week across the uk, and it will be blustery at times, mainly because of this area of low pressure out to the west at the moment, but it will track across the north. Through the night and into the morning, though, this Weather Front will bring some cloud and patchy rain into southern areas, keeping temperatures up in the Mid Teens for some. But a much fresher start across many parts in the uk, but a sunny start for the vast majority. And for many, well see some good, sunny spells throughout the day, but cloud amounts will increase at times in the south, spreading into wales, the midlands, and through the day, northern ireland, Western Scotland seeing batches of showers pushing in, some of those becoming heavy and thundery. Only the Odd One Reaching Eastern Scotland and northern parts of england, as well as the isle of man. Temperatures here in the teens into maybe the low mid 20s again across the south and east. But it will be a windy end to the day across parts of scotland, northern ireland, winds close to Gale Force across these coastal districts. Further heavy, thundery showers rattling in notjust through the evening, but overnight, as well. Head further south, most places will be dry, some clear skies around, and a slightly fresher night across some southern areas compared to what well have to start thursday morning. So, into friday we go, temperatures widely still in double figures, so not desperately cold. But its another story of sunshine and blustery showers across scotland and northern ireland. A bit windierfor england and wales on friday, too, and we will still see the chance of some lingering cloud, especially towards southern counties of england, bringing the Odd Spot of light rain. But temperatures dropping relative to what weve seen on thursday even in the south, low 20s, but still pleasant enough where youve got the sunshine out. Then, as we go into the weekend, our area of low pressure pushes eastwards, allowing the cold air in, and just a chance we could see some other Weather Systems working their way in from the west, bringing outbreaks of rain at times. This is how we see saturday at the moment just be aware, though, it is liable to change, maybe a brighter day for scotland and northern ireland, less breezy but rather cool with sunny spells. But a bit more cloud across england and wales, and its the North And West where we could see some rain at Times Brightening Up again towards the south and the east. Bye for now. This is Bbc News with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and Around The World. Are soaring prices finally easing . Wall Street Shares hit a new record after the biggest drop in us inflation in more than a year simply not enough. The White House urges opec to get pumping to take the pressure off Oil Prices less clicking, more collecting. Ebay disappoints as more of us return to the shops plus were notjust � throw away fashion�. The boss of boohoo takes on the environmental critics with a pledge to be more sustainable