week. climate envoy john kerry will help us understand the prognosis of it. but first here s my take. as we watch the tragedy that is unfolding in afghanistan, let s first dispense with the fantasy that the united states was maintaining the peace there with just a few thousand troops and that the situation could ve been managed with this small commitment. for the last couple of years, it sure looked that way to americans because washington had made a deal with the taliban, and as a result the taliban was deliberately not attacking u.s. and coalition forces. for the afghans, the war had been intensifying. in the summer of 2019 the afghan army and police force suffered their worst casualties in the two decades of fighting. it was also the worst spirit for afghan civilian casualties in a decade. in 2018 when the u.s. had four times as many troops as this year, 282 civilian afghans fled their homes in the countryside. a government survey done that year showed that afghan suppor
crows b of 5.45 million people. the economy grows by nearly of 5.45 million people. the economy grows by nearly 596. new zealand says it will keep its border closed until at least the end of the year to keep covid out more wildfires in italy, as sicily records what could be europe s hottest ever temperature. hello, and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world. the international red cross has warned of a catastrophe for civilians in afghanistan as the taliban continues to advance across the country. the insurgents have taken control of ten of the country s 34 provincial capitals. let s take a look at the latest developments. intense street by street fighting is taking place in the city of kandahar, where the taliban have also taken control of the jail and released hundreds of prisoners. the taliban say they have taken control of the strategically important city of ghazni, which is on the road to the capital, kabul. president ashraf ghani earlier flew to the
around the world. and dissent and danger on the streets of hong kong, an artist reflects on the potential risks of pursuing artistic freedom. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it s newsday. it s 6am in singapore, and 2.30 in the morning in afghanistan, where the taliban are sweeping through the country at an extraordinary pace. they ve captured a third of the nation s provincial capitals. several of those cities, including afghanistan s third biggest city, herat, fell to the insurgent fighters in the last few hours. and we re now getting reports that the taliban say they ve captured the second largest city, kandahar. the speed of their advance means britain and the united states are sending more than three and a half thousand troops to help their civilians leave. here s the latest from yogita limaye in kabul. we woke up talking about the fall of ghazni which is about 100 miles south of kabul, and we are ending the day with multiple provincial capitals falli