this is bbc news, the headlines... a us army logistics ship carrying equipment for a temporary floating port is heading to gaza, as part of plans to deliver humanitarian aid by sea. separately, a spanish charity says a vessel carrying two hundred tonnes of food for gaza is preparing to set sail from cyprus. and as hunger stalks gaza, these are the latest pictures of an airdrop of aid over the besieged strip. the princess of wales thanks the public for their support as kensington palace posts the first official image of her since she underwent abdominal surgery. portugal votes for a new parliament, with neither the opposition centre—right democratic alliance nor the governing socialists expected to win a decisive majority. and it's hollywood's big night later with the oscars. barbie and oppenheimer are amongst the blockbusters vying for some of the top prizes.

now on bbc news...the last torch: singing for afghanistan since retaking power in 2021, the taliban have imposed severe restrictions on everyday life in afghanistan... ..limiting freedoms for women and banning non—religious music. and the consequences for those who dare to defy them are dire. but women are fighting back...

..using the power of their voice to resist a regime which the un says could be committing gender apartheid. gunfire. in this amount of darkness, there is a light still burning. still we see individuals fighting this oppression through their own talent. horns blare.

gunfire. after 20 years of a deadly war,

the taliban return to power for the second time... ..rapidly introducing sweeping changes. restricting life for women becomes a top priority. chanting. as the world watches on, two sisters in afghanistan, who we won't identify for their own safety, witness first—hand the new taliban regime tightening its grip on the country. but the sisters have a plan. chanting.

at a huge risk to their lives, the sisters started a movement on social media and called it the last torch.

she sings. a few days after the taliban's takeover, wearing blue burqas, the sisters released a song which quickly went viral, even though no—one knew who they were. she sings. soon after, they posted their next song, performing a famous poem by the late poet nadia anjuman. she protested the taliban when they first took power in 1996, in particular against the restrictions they placed on women. she sings.

when i saw two women in the burqa singing, honestly, i was crying. acoustic guitar plays.

they call me a raptivist. that's a nickname someone gave me! i really like it. it fits me. it fits my career, fits my music. i think it's a good stage name, as well. she raps. so, this is my dreams book. and hopefully one day i can become the president of afghanistan!

so many different dreams here. i wanted to collaborate with eminem one day. my family here. my father. he passed away when i was probably...ten or nine. and this is me. i think i was five or six. not sure. i look angry. so serious as a kid! i had a lot of fear and not thinking of having a smile on my face. sonita alizada was born the same year the taliban first took power, in 1996. when she was just a child, her family escaped the taliban to iran. her mother tried to sell her off to a forced marriage,

but she found her way out through music. when i was in iran, i saw my very close friends — after a short time, they had to leave school. so, this school, now that i imagine it, each day you would see a difference in the class, because girls would be forced into marriage and they would disappear after a while. and that really gave me so much pain, and it turned me into a very angry person. and i heard eminem rapping. obviously, at that time i didn't know who he was. ijust heard him rapping, using the music, getting his anger out, and suddenly i felt like that could be me, i could use this type of music to get my anger out. i published one of my rap songs, daughters for sale.

my mum really likes these pillows, because they remind her of our home in afghanistan and they're very soft. i often want to talk more about my mum, cos some people, when they see my interviews, they are shocked why i still love my mum, because they think my mum wasn't a good person that was trying to sell me into marriage. they don't understand that she was also a survivor. she was also sold into marriage, so she didn't know anything else. # run, boy run, boy, run, boy, run, boy

# run, boy run, i put a lot of work into every song, every music i make. and usually i get messages from people, especially from men. obviously, they don't like what i do, because i'm trying to empower woman. # run, boy # girl you need to stand up for yourself...# taliban obviously use religion as a tool to disable woman, because if they're going to be in power, they would not let the taliban to be in power. so it has to be women or the taliban. in kabul, while women fought for their rights, the taliban continued to implement its own unique vision for afghanistan. it replaced the country's ministry of women's affairs with the ministry for the propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice. one of its mandates is to ban music

and implement mandatory hijab. women came to protest. chanting. shouting.

the sisters�* movement was gaining momentum online — a success on its own, but one which became increasingly dangerous.

she sings. the risk was too high. the sisters felt compelled to leave their country, holding on to the hope of one day returning.

so, you know i wasn't allowed to rap. my family was always against it, and they thought it was shameful for a girl to pursue music. the last torch singing on monitor. if you're trying to change something that is rooted really deeply in the society, it's not easy. i changed my momma's mind. it took seven or eight years. and that was just one person. i'm hoping that girls, women in afghanistan don't think

that because they wrote five, ten, twenty songs, they still didn't change the situation for them. i want them to know that they won't go without a notice, without making a positive change in the society. back in 2001, when the taliban were removed from power, music flourished in the country. tv channels aired hours of music programmes. afghanistan's national institute of music became a symbol of progress. it gained national and international prestige. but almost three years ago, when the taliban returned to power, it all regressed. hammering continues.

music: hori hori by ustad mahwash. farida mahwash is a prestigious voice from afghanistan, with fans across the region. she spent more than half a century onstage until recently retiring. she is also the only woman in afghanistan who achieved the title of ustad, or maestro. her legacy has inspired thousands of young girls to pursue music.

cheering. living legend! the voice of afghanistan, ustad mahwash! farida: ah!

but even before the taliban, women have always battled against conservative values, especially in cities outside the capital, kabul.

mahwash didn't give up, and she became a star. then, the soviet union invaded afghanistan. the resistance gave birth to jihadi groups, who ignited a civil war. music and other similarforms of entertainment became forbidden. this is what happened to music cassettes when found in people's vehicles. singers like mahwash have had to fight multiple battles since.

in afghanistan, the taliban have intensified their crackdown on activists, banning women from holding rallies on the streets. this will be the third year that

teenage girls are out of school. women are still banned from work and political participation. shouting. the taliban's morality police have been arresting women for not following the mandatory hijab rules. but women continue to find ways to protest and the sisters continue their movement.

song continues on phone. i don't think anything in the world would stay in power forever. i believe that, like the first time, 1996, when the taliban took over, then they were gone, then they came back, they're going to be gone again. and i'm sure i will have

a concert in afghanistan. they sing.

not particularly springlike for many areas so far, through the week it will perhaps start to feel more like spring. temperatures climbing, but still some rain at times. rain for the rest of the day, moving slowly north and west across england and north wales, some rain into southern scotland and northern ireland, patchy rain in the north of scotland. eastern scotland quite

chilly, 5—6, sunshine from the south, wales, up to 12. this evening, we keep extensive cloud cover, but rain easing, some drizzle, more widespread rain for a time in northern ireland. clear spells could fill in with areas of mist and fog. heading into tomorrow, many of us find ourselves between different weather systems, but this one here brings more cloud and some rain towards parts of northern ireland, grazing the west of scotland. and the area of low pressure to the south—east may bring some rain to east anglia and south—eastern england. in—between, large amounts of cloud, some bright sunny spells, the best of those for wales and the south—west, six or seven in the north—east of scotland. and into tuesday, the weather system could bring rain across the southern half of the uk and then we see

the next system from the west feeding rain across northern ireland and western parts of wales and into scotland later. limited sunny spells, but temperatures will start to climb, and that is a sign of things to come. moving through the middle of the week, various weather systems wriggling around. and eventually, as they shift north, they will introduce warmer air which reaches just about all the country by the end of the week, something colder trying to cling on in the far north. but for most of us into the weekend, it will bring higher temperatures, but that doesn't mean blue skies and sunshine all the time, still some outbreaks of rain.

live from london. this is bbc news. a us army logistics ship carrying equipment to build a temporary floating port is heading to gaza, as part of plans to deliver humanitarian aid by sea. separately, a spanish charity says a ship carrying 200 tonnes of food for gaza is ready to set sailfrom cyprus. and as hunger stalks gaza, these are the latest pictures of an airdrop of aid over the besieged strip. the princess of wales thanks the public for their support as kensington palace shares the first official photo of her since she underwent abdominal surgery. and the biggest night on the entertainment calendar is finally upon us with the 2024 oscars. blockbuster oppenheimer is expected to dominate this year's awards.