this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. president trump is to cut the number of us troops in afghanistan and iraq while he's still in office. tough new covid restrictions for parts of scotland set to affect more than 2 million people. 30,000 ethiopians have fled to neighbouring sudan. almost half of them are thought to be children. and we take a look at how china is determined to punish those who first reported the outbreak of coronavirus in wuhan.

donald trump had threatened to bring all american troops home by christmas. he's not going quite that far, but he will reduce the us military presence in iraq and afghanistan before he leaves office. so, let's look at that plan in a bit more detail. at the moment, there are 3000 soldiers stationed in iraq. 500 of them will be pulled out. the drawdown looks much more meaningful in afghanistan, where 2000 of the a500 us troops will be withdrawn. they are part of the nato force in place to support what is a fragile government. the acting defense secretary, christopher miller, made the announcement at his first news conference. together we have mourned the loss of more than 6900 american troops who gave their lives in afghanistan and iraq. and we will never forget the more than 52,000 who bear the wounds

of war and all those who still carry its scars, visible and invisible. in light of these tremendous sacrifices and with great humility and gratitude to those who came before us, i am formally announcing that we will implement president trump's orders to continue our repositioning of forces from those two countries. lebo disekojoins me from washington. this has not gone down well internationally and at home. there had been reports that this was going to happen in the media over the past couple of days but as you explained it there, we had confirmation of that today. it does fulfil for donald trump a campaign promise of ending these forever wars but there are many people worried about the

impact that this might have especially on afghanistan. saying that essentially it removes any leverage that anyone might have had oi'i leverage that anyone might have had on the taliban and if particularly in talk with the government. the former secretary of defence apparently wrote a classified memo which he had warned of the conditions for a drawdown of troops in afghanistan had not been met and also saying it was the opinion of the entire chain of command that it was not the right time for this. but there are reports that that may have been the reason or played into his leaving his position. stay with us. that view is echoed by senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell, who rarely criticises the president. a rapid withdrawal of us forces from afghanistan now would hurt our allies and delight, delight the people who wish us harm. violence affecting

afghans is still rampant. the taliban is not abiding by the conditions of the so—called peace deal. the consequences of a premature american exit would likely be even worse than president 0bama's withdrawal from iraq back in 2011. when the president first came to power, he said he would bring all troops back, down to zero. and there isa troops back, down to zero. and there is a suggestion that he might actually try and get legislation through now to put pressure onjoe biden to do that as well. has there been any response? the democrats, tammy duckworth a democratic member of the house of representatives, saying this is a very bad decision. also not the first time that mitch mcconnell has said that this is going to be very dangerous. he briefed journalists yesterday saying this was the wrong decision as well.

there has been international condemnation with the secretary general of nato saying this is really going to or is likely to give isis a chance to rebuild their caliphate there. there has been concern from different quarters. let's put into view that is not the first time in the lame—duck end of a presidency that president has put through controversial or quite impactful measures like those. george bush senior did this when he sent troops into somalia back in 1992. that was around december. but i think because donald trump has yet to recognise that he lost the election or even recognise that there is a transition in place, it does see it rather differently. joe biden's team actually have just released a statement saying that because the drug administration are refusing to acknowledge that there isa

refusing to acknowledge that there is a transition, they cannot get the briefings they need in terms of national security and classified information. joe biden has had briefings or been talking to experts today but they are not people with classified clearance or they can give him the kind of information that he needs in the transition. 0k, thank you very much indeed. ethiopia is claiming that its defence forces have made sweeping military gains in its northern tigray region and are marching on its capital. insurgent regional forces say they're putting up resistance. the united nations is warned that a full—scale humanitarian crisis is unfolding as the conflict escalates, with nearly 30,000 people fleeing the conflict there since the start of november. 0ur senior africa correspondent anne soy reports. the way to safety is fraught with great risk here. these are ethiopians from the northern region of tigray. two weeks of fighting

between the local government there and the national army has forced them to flee. they are arriving in their thousands every day in sudan. translation: we came with the clothes on our backs. i don't know where my husband is. i have been looking for him for five days. translation: i don't know, but there was heavy fighting and many people died. after that, they told us to leave, so we fled. everyone did. they don't mind that the barren lands of eastern sudan have little to offer. they build makeshift shelters in which they can finally sleep in peace. aid is slow to come. the sheer size of the arrivals is really overwhelming the humanitarian response to the ordeal. it's kind of a call on humanity, to whoever is listening,

because a country like sudan who already has nearly a million existing refugees, this is an additional shift in the refugee numbers, and they will also need international support in this. these are some of the few pictures coming out of tigray. the national army says it has taken control of the western side. the state broadcaster showed what they say are celebrations in one newly liberated town. with the communications blackout there, it's difficult to independently verify reports from the region, and the government has rejected calls for mediation. we don't need any mediation until we bring the leaders to court because any mediation would incentivise impunity and unruliness. and so, the onslaught continues. the federal government says it's making the final push for the regional capital mek‘ele

after a three—day deadline to surrender passed, but there's doubt it can quickly subdue the war—hardened former rulers of ethiopia who govern tigray. as with every conflict, the real losers are the civilians whose lives have been disrupted and continue to be threatened with little help coming their way. anne soy, bbc news. police in bangkok have used water cannon and tear gas against protesters trying to get close to parliament, where debates are taking place on amendments to the constitution. thailand has seen months of demonstrations demanding reform and the resignation of the prime minister. jonathan head reports from bangkok. in thailand, a military—backed government is battling young protesters who want a proper democracy.

they've been campaigning for months for a fairer political system, but also for a monarchy that respects the rules. today, that battle got rougher and wetter. well, these protesters are now trying to pull away at this concrete barricade to make a way through, and they are spraying water cannon. it's laced with chemicals, so you can really smell the tear gas in it. these protesters want to get through to parliament cos that's where the reforms they're demanding are supposed to be discussed. they're worried that a parliament dominated by the military—backed monarchy, their reforms are just going to be swept aside. that's why they stayed put. and you can see how determined they are. for a moment, they vanished

in clouds of tear gas. but didn't retreat far. though a few were overcome. they've shattered a taboo against even talking about the monarchy. but they're up against the old men of thailand's parliament, and they've ruled out any discussion of the king. he's at the heart of this conflict. these days, the king is often seen on royal walkabouts, raising his profile. but he's spent most of this year at a luxury hotel in germany and has been accused of accumulating excessive wealth and power. many thais, though, still believe that their king is above criticism.

yellow—shirted loyalists came out to confront the protesters and to insist that thailand must stay as it is. well, it's all over for today, but the protesters are promising to come back again, as they have for the past 11—5 months. in asking for a monarchy that's accountable in the military that stays out of politics, they believe they're making reasonable demands. they're up against a state which does not even believe these things can be discussed. the gap between both sides is a yawning and not getting any closer. jonathan head,bbc news, bangkok. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, for the first time, a fully—operational private spacecraft takes astronauts from earth to the international space station. music. benazir bhutto has claimed victory

in pakistan's general election. and she's asked pakistan's president to name her as prime minister. jackson's been released on bail of $3 million after turning himself into police in santa barbara. it was the biggest demonstration so far of the fast—growing european antinuclear movement. the south african government has announced that it's opening the country's remaining whites—only beaches to people of all races. this will lead to a black majority government in this country and the destruction of the white civilization. part of the centuries—old windsor castle, one of the queen's residences, has been consumed by fire for much of the day. 150 firemen have been battling the blaze, which has caused millions of pounds' worth of damage.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines — president trump is to cut the number of us troops in afghanistan and iraq while he's still in office. 30,000 ethiopians have fled to neighbouring sudan. almost half of them are thought to be children. france has become the first country in europe to register more than 2 million cases of coronavirus. only the us, india and brazil have recorded more. these are pictures from one french hospital. the country's health minister says the spread of the virus has slowed down, but it is still circulating widely. france will remain under a national lockdown until at least the 1st of december. more than 2 million people in scotland are facing the country's toughest restrictions from friday to try to curb some notably high rates of infection.

the new regime will be in place until two weeks before christmas. in several areas, including scotland's largest city, glasgow, nonessential shops and bars, restaurants, hairdressers and visitor attractions will all have to close. 0ur scotland editor sarah smith reports. maryhill road in glasgow, the city where scotland's infection rates are highest, and so tougher rules are to be imposed from friday. under level four restrictions, schools like this will stay open, as will the huge supermarket down the road. but just about every other business in between — the shops, cafes, barbers, beauticians and the bookies — they're all going to have to close for three weeks. existing restrictions preventing any performances mean this dancewear shop is already suffering. so, you're going to have to close? it's just a devastating blow.

we have already been locked down before, and now we're going back into it again. the florist shop closed in the spring, but hopes to keep some orders going this time. so, you've heard about the new restrictions? if we have to close, it will be online orders, telephone orders and basically we'll be delivering those orders without customers coming in store. the lowest tier of the restrictions is closer to normal, allowing for larger indoor meetings. in level one, the rule of six from two household kicks in. but meeting in homes is only allowed in some level one areas. in others, it's the same as level two, where people are banned from socialising in each other‘s homes. in this level, pubs and restaurants can only serve alcohol indoors with a main meal. in level three, cafes must shut at 6pm and can't serve alcohol. in level four, it's closer to a full lockdown. nonessential shops are closed, as well as all hospitality settings and entertainment venues, but schools remain open. our objective in taking this action now is to protect the nhs,

create the prospect of seeing some loved ones at christmas and completing the journey to next spring with as few restrictions as possible. the scottish labour leader asked why some areas with falling transmission rates were being put into level four. what assurance can she give them and millions of others moving to level four this friday that this time three weeks really does mean just three weeks? the level four restrictions will end on the 11th of december, and then we will decide what levels these areas go into then. until then, more than 2 million people in scotland are basically being told to stay inside. rubbish. total rubbish. i mean, i'll be honest, i might have to put the key in the door. my business might be finished. it needs to be done, so i think too many people have gotten too used to just getting a bit more relaxed. these tough restrictions are due to end on december the 11th.

one year ago, what may have been the first case of coronavirus was diagnosed in china. the article from the south china morning post, citing chinese government data, says the first case of covid—19 can be traced back to the 17th of november 2019. the person is said to be a 55—year—old living in hubei province. the official position of the chinese authorities, we should add, is that the first case wasn't confirmed until december last year, one month later. fast forward to today, more than 1.3 million people have died from covid—19, with more than 55 million confirmed cases globally. chinese leaders were seen as slow to react to the outbreak that began in the city of wuhan, suppressing information and even punishing those who raised the alarm. and it seems it is still intent of pursuing citizen journalists who covered the initial stages

of the pandemic. the first to be publicly charged is zhang zhan, a former lawyer who reported from wuhan in february. she faces up to five years in jail. joining me to talk about zhang zhan‘s case is yaqiu wang. she is a writer and researcher on human rights in china, especially regarding dissidents, with human rights watch based in new york. tell us more about zhang zhan, who she was and what she did in those initial stages of the outbreak there. zhang zhan is a former lawyer and she has been outspoken and critical of the chinese government before. so she has channels on her social media, channels where she

made platforms to voice criticism. so in february when the virus was raging in wuhan, she went there and it sought what she saw through social media channels. then later the government got upset and attained her and now she is in detention. and she was detained and held by the authorities in february i think as well. but where is she now and what has she been charged with? she was detained in wuhan by the police hundreds of miles away in the police hundreds of miles away in the police hundreds of miles away in the police took her back to where she is from and now she is in detention in shanghai. she has been charged with provoking trouble and quarrel and that is a crime that is often leveled at activists and dissidents who will speak critically of the government. and what sort of presence and it's could she be

facing? right now, the prosecutor has recommended to the judge five yea rs. has recommended to the judge five years. so the crime can result in 5-10 years. so the crime can result in 5—10 years of a prison sentence and zhang zhan has been saying that she has not committed any crimes that could result in a heavy sentence. 0ne recalls the death of the doctor who i think was detained as well when he reported the outbreak in the early days as well. but a year later, life in wuhan certainly appears to have returned to normality. people are moving around and there appears to be public support for what the chinese authorities did at the time. does that mean that there is little support for zhang zhan?|j that mean that there is little support for zhang zhan? i don't think so. first of all, i think people are still very angry with the government and what they did in the

early stages, hiding information and under reporting cases. chinese society is still repressed and if you speak against the government can be can be punished heavily. that is what happened to zhang zhan. i think there are a lot of people who are still upset. what you see on the surface does not necessarily reflect what people actually think. 0k, thank you very much indeed for speaking to us this evening. thank you for having me. britain's main opposition labour party has reinstated its former leader, jeremy corbyn. he was suspended last month over his reaction to a report on anti—semitism within the party, when he said the scale of the problem had been "overstated". 0ur political correspondent iain watson says the controversy is not over. in order to gain readmission to the labour party, jeremy corbyn had to clarify the comments that got him suspended in the first place. he said that concerns about anti—semitism weren't

exaggerated, he'd simply meant that the vast majority of labour members were deeply opposed to anti—semitism. but while he clarified those comments, he resisted pressure to apologise and that has reopened some of the old divisions. so, while long—standing supporters of his leadership of the labour party, including important trade union figures, have welcomed the decision to readmit him, jewish groups, in particular the jewish labour movement, for example, have denounced his swift return to the fold. and i think what is interesting about this is although he has now been brought back as a rank and file labour party member, he hasn't yet been readmitted to the parliamentary labour party here at westminster. so, some mps opposed to him, along with the board of deputies of british jews, are putting pressure on labour leader keir starmer tonight not to readmit jeremy corbyn as a labour mp. i'm told that no decision is going to be taken tonight at least, but i think it's very, very clear that though sir keir starmer says he's

going to introduce a new complaints procedure to deal with anti—semitism from next year, nonetheless, drawing a line under the anti—semitism row. it's far easier said than done. a private spaceship built and operated by spacex has docked at the international space station. it's the first time that a private craft has carried astronauts from earth to the station. 0ur science correspondent victoria gill reports. let us know when your review is complete and you are ready for docking. dragon, spacex — soft capture confirmed. docking sequence is complete. welcome to the iss, resilience. the end of a 27—hour taxi ride to space. for the first time, four astronauts have arrived for their mission on the internation space station aboard a commercial spacecraft. nasa's michael hopkins, victor glover and shannon walker

and the japanese space agency astronaut soichi noguchi will spend about six months living and working on the space station. i can't tell you how excited we were when that rocket lifted off the pad, and then the last 27 hours has gone really smooth actually. three, two, one, zero. ignition. sunday night's spacex launch marked a new era for nasa, one in which it buys seats for its astronauts from a private aerospace company. it's a move the us space agency says will save it billions of dollars that it can invest in future missions to the moon and mars. why is this flight such a big moment? companies like spacex are reusing so many parts of their rocket. the first—stage boosters, the nose fairings, all being captured. it's really pushing what we can do with technology to the limits. but it's bringing down the cost of access to space. for this crew, when their mission is done in 2021, their private space taxi will be waiting to bring them home. victoria gill, bbc news.

there are said to be a lot more flights like that over the coming yea rs. flights like that over the coming years. for the time being, that is it for me in the scene. see you soon. hello. the very mild air that's been with us for the past few days is going to get swept away, and we're set to see a real change in weather type through the course of wednesday. it's going to be windy, there's some rain moving eastwards and behind that, some colder air moving in, too. it's all down to this area of low pressure with this trailing cold front here, which is moving its way eastwards. lots of isobars on the map indicating the strength of the wind as well. still very mild out there. in fact, first thing wednesday, temperatures well in double figures and the teens for most of us, more typical, really, these temperatures of daytime highs. now, through the day, we've got some additional heavy rain across western parts of britain, northern ireland, western scotland, too. the rain will edge its way slowly eastwards. it's going to be really persistent for northern isles and also for western parts of scotland as well, but it becomes a little bit

more patchy as it has across eastern england through the course of the afternoon. so, cloudy ahead of that, brighter with a return to some showers behind it and a drop in those temperatures. we're back into single figures in the west later on wednesday. now, wednesday evening, that's when the winds are really going to be picking up, particularly for parts of scotland, northern ireland, western fringes of england and wales too. further showers moving south and across scotland, those showers will be wintry, even down to low levels first thing thursday morning. you can see that cold air mass spilling into as we go across thursday. some week when the conditions especially in the east. gales possible for eastern scotland and on the east coast of england as well and some sunshine for most places to the day on thursday and wa nted places to the day on thursday and wanted to shower is around and they will be in witchery across parts of scotland, particularly over the high

ground. certainly much colder than recent days and largely in single figures for most of us women will just get 10—11 to parts of wales in the southwest of england. it is not they call for very long because of they call for very long because of the time we get a friday, we see more clout and outbreaks of ranked working into the west in the breeze coming in from the south—westerly direction at once again. so many of us direction at once again. so many of us back into double figures by the time we get a friday and is looking very unsettled through friday. into the weekend, is a bit up and down a quite breezy to the day on saturday and cooler but brighter for most of us on sunny and cooler but brighter for most of us on sunny spells by sunday. bye— bye.

this is bbc world news. the headlines...

the us pentagon has announced further troops withdrawals from iraq and afghanistan. acting defense secretary christopher miller made the announcement. 2,000 troops will be withdrawn from afghanistan and 500 troops from iraq before president trump leaves office. the un is warning of a full—scale humanitarian crisis unfolding in ethiopia as thousands flee the fighting in the northern region of tigray. renewed clashes have broken out near thailand's parliament in the capital, bangkok, as lawmakers debate possible changes to the constitution. police used water cannon and tear gas against protesters calling for reforms to the monarchy and the military—backed government. the four astronauts who left earth yesterday have arrived at the international space station. they are the first crew to be brought up to the station on a nasa spacex mission.