on the world s oceans in our weekly series climate critical. thank you very much forjoining us. we begin in kabul in afghanistan, where taliban leaders have stepped into the public limelight to outline their intentions after sweeping through the country and taking control within a matter of days. they are leaders who have in fact never been seen in public before. and they were quick to send out messages of assurance to both aghan nationals and the international community. they said afghans who assisted international forces would come to no harm, that media freedoms would be protected, and that women would be allowed to study and work, albeit adding within islamic principles . with the story of how the taliban claims it will rule, here s our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet. the republic has fallen. its leaders fled. taliban rule is returning, day by day its fighters more visible on the streets of kabul. patrolling with us military vehicles left behind or lost b
but labour did win a number of the mayoral contests, including sadiq khan installed for a second term as london s mayor. iam i am deeply humbled by the trust londoners have placed in me to continue leading the greatest city on earth. disruption continues on some of britain s busiest rail lines, after small cracks are found in some high speed trains. hello and welcome to bbc news. the uk prime minister borisjohnson has invited the leaders of the devolved nations to a summit on how to recoverfrom the pandemic. it follows the snp s fourth scottish parliament election win in a row and labour s win in the welsh parliament. nicola sturgeon said there could be no democraticjustification for blocking an independence vote and vowed to push ahead with her plans for a second referendum after the covid crisis is over. our scotland editor sarah smith reports. across scotland, victorious snp candidates are celebrating increasing their vote and winning a remarkable fourth term in governme
once the world s largest iceberg, but now it s broken apart. satellite images show the mega berg has virtually gone. hello and welcome to bbc news. police in the czech republic say they want to question the two russian men suspected of carrying out the salisbury nerve agent attack, after linking them to a fatal explosion four years earlier. 18 russian diplomats have been expelled from prague, after the czech government said there was strong evidence moscow was involved in the blast. gareth barlow reports. the czech republic, 2014. an explosion at an arms depot leaves two people dead. an explosion at an arms depot leaves two people dead, damages nearby homes and send smoke rising from the ruins. following years of investigations, the czech authorities allege these two men were behind the blast. alexander mishkin and anatoliy chepiga, also known as alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov, the two russian intelligence officers the uk says in 2018 carried out the poisoning of a form
bat out of hell album is one of the best selling of all time the us and russia remain at a diplomatic standoff with their military assets standing by. after months of escalating tensions the two superpowers have been holding talks about ukraine which nato fears is the next sovereign territory moscow wants to seize, through force. remember, it s less than a decade since russia annexed crimea. russia says it s concerned nato is sending weapons and military expertise to ukraine, and wants guarantees that the organisation will pull back from its borders. speaking after the talks in geneva, russia s foreign minister sergey lavrov said the dialogue would continue and his country had no plans to attack ukraine. russia is understood to have more than 100,000 troops currently near its border with ukraine. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale sent this report. more russian forces on the move, surface to air missiles in the country s far east due to join what moscow says are m
us, welcome to bbc news. downing street has apologised to buckingham palace, after it emerged two parties were held at number 10 the night before the duke of edinburgh s funeral last april. a spokesman for borisjohnson said it was deeply regrettable the events took place at a time of national mourning. covid rules had meant indoor mixing was banned, but reports suggest there was drinking and dancing at the parties until the early hours. the prime minister didn t attend either party, but the latest disclosures have amplified calls for him to resign. with the very latest, here s our political correspondent ben wright. it was a moment of national mourning, flags flying at half mast in honour of prince philip, the duke of edinburgh. but inside number 10, on the evening of the 16th of april last year, two parties took place. there was drink and music at a time covid restrictions on indoor mixing in england were in place. ..restrictions the queen followed at the funeral of her husb