this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. in england, where coronavirus cases are rising rapidly, the prime minister confirms plans to scrap most remaining restrictions in two weeks. there is only one reason why we can contemplate going had to step four in the circumstances where we would normally be locking down further, and that is because of the continuing effectiveness of the vaccine roll—out. the us is heading for the exit in afghanistan. but the violence is rising as the taliban have afghan troops on the run. more abductions in nigeria, gunmen kidnapping at least 140 schoolchildren in the north—west of the country. it was meant to be a pride march in georgia — instead,

far—right protesters took to the streets forcing its cancellation. in tennis, the wimbledon journey of british teenage wild card emma raducani is over after she was forced to retire through injury. the british prime minister boris johnson has confirmed that he intends to lift all coronavirus restrictions in england in two weeks�* time, with a final decision next week. that would mean workers returning to the office and an end to social distancing. but it comes as cases across the country continue to rise. there's been an average of over 25,000 new cases every day for the past week. but the uk government says this

is manageable because the vaccine has weakened the link between cases and hospitalisations. this is a comparison between the growth of cases in the second and the current third wave of the virus — which includes the new delta variant — with both growing rapidly. but this graph shows that current hospitalisations are lagging far behind the second wave — although they are still rising. and a similar pattern can been seen in the statistics for deaths. as you can see they are far fewer than in the last wave. mrjohnson has warned that covid infections across the uk were predicted to rise to 50,000 a day later this month. 0ur political correspondent vicky young reports. all around us signs of life interrupted by a pandemic. instructions about where we can go, who we can see even in our own home and how far apart we must stand, but in two weeks things could change. covid has not gone but most restrictions in england

are likely to disappear. restaurants and pubs can open normally and theatres and cinemas can fill every seat. the prime minister put the emphasis on personal responsibility instead of government orders. i want to stress from the outset that this pandemic is far from over and we must reconcile ourselves sadly to more deaths from covid. there's only one reason why we can contemplate going ahead to step four in circumstances where we would normally be locking down further and that is because of the continuing effectiveness of the vaccine roll—out. and in bristol people are starting to contemplate life with fewer rules. personally i think better safe than sorry but just like every normal person i welcome the change. it is the wrong decision - because cases are going up. at least give it a go and then if anything gets worse you can always go back.

i think we just have to live with it. you cannot keep living your life being told what to do. people are now afraid even to go out. for some the facemask has become a hated symbol of intrusive government. it will still be recommended in hospitals and closed public spaces but the legal requirement to wear a face covering will go. unions say that could put workers at risk. the days of hundreds of pages of rules and regulations to follow will soon be gone and instead the government is asking us to use a common sense and make personal decisions about how we stay safe. it is a shift in approach but comes at a time when cases are rising. the prime minister has been marking the nhs's birthday, and making sure hospitals can cope has been at the heart of his strategy. can you tell us how bad you expect it to get?

obviously we have to be cautious and we will continue to look at all the data as we progress. if we do not go ahead now when the summer fire break is coming up and the school holidays and all the advantages that should give us in fighting the virus, then the question is when would be go ahead. what the modelling would imply is we will reach that peak before we get to the point where we have the kind of pressures that we saw in january for example this year. labour says some will need more support. to throw off all protections at the same time when the infection rate is still going up is reckless. we need a balanced approach and need to keep key protections in place including masks, ventilation and crucially on something we've asked for during the pandemic, proper payment for those who need to self—isolate. later in the week we will find out

about government plans for foreign travel and when we come into a positive case what will happen. in schools entire class bubbles will not be sent home. we have lived under restrictions that we could not have imagined, and today borisjohnson signalled it is time to get back to normal. vicki young, bbc news. let s get some of the day's other news. germany has lifted its ban on travellers from the uk entering the country. from wednesday, people who've had both vaccine doses won't have to quarantine. the changes also apply to people travelling from portugal, russia, india or nepal. indonesia's government has agreed to boost its coronavirus budget and introduce phone consultations to non—critical patients, in an effort to reduce pressure on its overwhelmed healthcare system. the country is battling one of asia's worst coronavirus epidemics, fuelled by the rapid spread of the highly contagious delta variant.

bangladesh has extended its strictest lockdown to july 14 to combat a surge in coronavirus cases led by the delta variant, with areas bordering india taking the brunt of infections. on monday the country recorded its biggest daily rise of coronavirus—related deaths since the pandemic began. in afghanistan, the violence is getting worse as the taliban take over more areas of the country. since the us military withdrew from bagram air field last week, the taliban have seized more districts. this map — from a us defence research think thank — shows the areas now in taliban control — they are in dark grey, contested areas are in red and areas controlled by the afghan government in light grey. the claims about territory, are for the moment, impossible to verify. the taliban says, it's captured 150 out of 369 districts in the past two months of fighting.

afg hanistan�*s interior ministry neither confirm or deny the claim — saying, that though the taliban claim the districts, it does not mean all of them have completely fallen". as the taliban gains territory though, it is causing fear among afghan troops. tajikistan says, more than a thousand afghan government soldiers have fled across the border after clashes with the insurgents. the bbc�*s security correspondent frank gardner reports. gunfire. on their own now, but still fighting the taliban. afghan security forces are in action this week without the us military support they've relied on for the past 20 years. the strategic air base just north of kabul is an afghan government hands now. the americans pulled out last week, leaving behind a deeply unstable country. the former president

blames the west. the entire mission with regard to the stated objective that the united states and its nato allies in defeating terrorism and defeating terrorism has failed. the military compartment that was intended to fight extremism and terrorism, that, rather than getting the job correctly and where it was needed, began to hurt and harass and bomb and imprison afghans. that's where it failed. that's where our failure today is. 0thers blame endemic corruption, inefficiency and massive waste. the conflict has costed an estimated $1 trillion and over 100,000 lives, and it could be about to get worse. taliban insurgents are on the offensive. they reportedly control a quarter of afghanistan's districts after overrunning several government outposts. they are insisting no western

forces be left behind. 0ur foreign forces should withdraw from the country ——all foreign forces should withdraw from the country whether they are contractor, adviser or trainers because they were part of the occupation. that's a violation, we will react. but that reaction would be based on the decision of our leadership. in this province — the former taliban stronghold — residents have been voicing their fears of what they think the return to power might mean. translation: that taliban don't want peace, the taliban want _ the whole government. the tally banner on the killing. the taliban are only killing. and there is another concern. 0sama bin laden may be dead, but its organisation, al-qaeda, lives on. many fear a return of the taliban means a return of al-qaeda. a nightmare scenario not just for afghanistan, but for much of the world. frank gardner, bbc news.

0ur chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in the afghan capital kabul. all of the focus now is on battlefields across this country, but far away in the gulf state of qatar, negotiations have resumed between an afghan government and taliban delegation. we are joined from from one of the government team negotiators. welcome to bbc world news. thank you. how would you assess the seriousness of the talks which have taken place in recent days? is it just that taliban going through the motions, or is this a serious effort at trying to find peace? well, i guess the seriousness of the attacks are determined by what is going on on the ground. 0n the ground, things are not promising, as you have explained.

violence has really escalated in a very strange way, villages and districts are following. in some places, not to the hands of the taliban, but to the hands of nobody, and in fact, the government military and civil servants evacuated the area. and then the taliban came hours later. so i think the pace of the talks are being determined by what's going on on the ground. however, i think both sides understand that there is no military solution to this war. i think even if kabul or major cities are overtaken through military strategy, the other side understands that this is not going to bring stability in afghanistan, so therefore, the attacks of peace, we are engaged. in fact, the talks have never been installed, the only problem with the talks are that their results are not

to the extent that people of afghanistan expect. of course, many things went wrong in this process. many opportunities were missed, but it is time for us to now get serious into the business of negotiation. you must be watching the situation on the border with special anxiety. that is your family home. are you worried that it will completely come under the control of the taliban? as i said before, that province which during that time that taliban were controlling afghanistan, they never actually managed to get to places where they are now. it's not about the strength of that taliban, my concern is about the weakness of the afghan forces , the civil service, the government in terms of for failing their accountability come out responsibilities.

——the government in terms of for fufilloing their accountability, accountability, responsibilities. they have not been able to do so, and therefore, they are unfortunately, as i said before, leaving the area without leaving a vacuum of power, without anybody replacing them. the taliban are taking over some places, but, of course, that is not sustainable, because our taliban going to deliver services? how will they pay salaries? this is a major issue, and in some places, i know that the blame game continues between both sides in terms of violation of rights, and i know i have been receiving evidence and video messages on the ground, people complaining about the fact that schools are now being closed for girls. women are not allowed to go to hospitals in some places. even reports of forced marriages by people who claim either to be taliban in this case, which is worrisome because in the vacuum of power, everybody comes in, including those who are criminals.

talking with our correspondent there. gunmen in north—west nigeria have targeted a hospital, a school and a police station — in less than 2a hours. 140 students were taken from the a baptist school in the early hours of monday morning. it follows an attack on a nearby hospital, where at least eight people were abducted, including nurses and three children under the age of three. 0ur nigeria correspondent, mayenijones has more. nigeria's kidnapping crisis is spiralling fast. we havejust heard of a kidnapping that took place at a hospital on sunday in the town of zaria. now it seems another kidnapping has happened at a school in the northern state of kaduna. we spoke to a parent who told us that in the early hours of monday morning, around 2am, a number of armed gunmen stormed a baptist school in kaduna, they came into the back, they knocked down a fence. a mother i spoke to said

there was as many as 60 gunmen, and they abducted the students with them. this is happening at a time when kidnapping is at an increasing point across nigeria. there is an economic crisis here brought on by the fall and the price of oil and lockdown during the covid—i9 pandemic, unemployment has risen, the price of food is rising, and many criminals are turning to kidnapping as well, which we have seen in northwestern nigeria, in particular, the mass kidnapping of student since december, there has been more than 1000 students abducted. nine of and were unfortunately killed. 200 students are still missing. unicef say some of them are as young as three years old. this latest kidnapping will be a headache for the governor who has criminals because he says it incentivises them. unfortunately, this meant that a number of kidnappers have come to kaduna state and art carrying out attacks with increasing frequency.

with the economy doing as bad as it is anti—security forces unable to stop more attacks from happening, it is difficult to see how this crisis is going to end. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: anger boils over in india, as families who've lost loved ones to covid lash out at the doctors trying to save lives. china marked its first day of rule and hong kong with a series of spectacular celebrations. a huge firework display was held in the former colony. the chinese president — jiang zemin — said unification was the start of a new era for hong kong. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly that was cloned in a laboratory using a cell from another sheep. for the first time in 20 years, russian and american spacecraft have docked in orbit at the start of a new era of cooperation in space.

applause. challenger powered past _ the bishop rock lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering a record that had stayed for 34 years. - there was no hiding the sheer elation ofj richard branson and his crew. this is bbc news, the latest headlines... the uk prime minister borisjohnson has announced an end to england's coronavirus restrictions from two weeks' time. mask—wearing will become voluntary. fears are growing in afghanistan as it nears completion, the taliban has won any remaining us troops in the country will be treated as an

occupying force. an alarming number of doctors in india have found themselves the targets of attacks by family members of patients who say their loved ones haven't received sufficient medical care. the indian medical association is now calling for a new law to protect health care workers. divya arya has more from delhi, and a warning that her report contains disturbing scenes at the very start. they used whatever they could lay their hands on, a metal bedpan, a wooden stick, orjust their fests. bedpan, ——a wooden stick, orjust theirfists. shocked by the death of their loved one from covid , these relatives took out their anger on this doctor. 0n just a second day of work after graduating medical school. one month later, the memory of the attack was still fresh. translation: i was very scared.

and it felt like i wouldn't survive the attack. they were hitting my head. my nose was constantly bleeding. i begged them to stop, but they didn't. 36 people have now been charged. a shocking case, but not by a long way india's first during the pandemic. in some cases, doctors have taken to the streets, complaining about the ongoing attacks that have occurred throughout the pandemic. translation: the responsibility for the workers, the responsibility for all of us, so i wanted to be investigated properly. they started throwing a plastic chair. nobody was arrested over the attack, which has left the doctor suffering flashbacks. at the peak of the second wave of infections, angry relatives damaged property at the apollo

hospital. translatiin: the most | common factor is the lack of infrastructure in hospitals, because of this, hospitals get overcrowded, and as a result, the junior doctors often become the target of violence by relatives. last month, doctors across india held demonstrations, calling for legal protection for health care staff, saying there has been a sharp increase in attacks during the pandemic. many indian states have laws against attacking health records, ——many indian states have laws against attacking health workers, but the indian medical association says state legislation is not always enforced or even publicised. they believe on the a new passed by the central government can help stop the violence. india has very few doctors for its billion plus people, now it is struggling to keep them safe.

there was supposed to be a pride march in georgia's capital tbilisi on monday. but lgbtq campaigners called off the event at the last minute,)after ultra—nationalist far right groups took to the streets, tearing down the tents erected for the march, and throwing bottles and sticks at the assembled press. they also scaled the building of the pride office in downtown tbilisi, replacing the pride flag with the georgian national one. the organizers of the march said they couldn't "risk human lives and march under the circumstances. the bbc�*s nina akmeteli has more from tbilisi. there were some radical nationalist, we can call it ultraconservative groups, quite violent groups. but in previous days, actually, church called to pray and express that they are against this pride...

against this dignity march. so, it's hard to say for sure. it was not one group, there were several groups, ultra—nationalistic, ultraconservative groups. and i should note it here that, actually, church said they condemned violence, but on the other hand, we know that in georgia, we have quite conservative societies. so, there is a call from the church and there's and opposition to this march, whilst important. a manic monday and —— manic monday. its manic monday — the day when all the men's and women's last—16 matches have

been taking place. defending men's champion novak djokovic is through — as is roger federer. former women's champion, german angelique kerber beat coco gauff on centre but there was disappointment for the home fans as the last remain brit in the singles, emma raducanu — a teenage wild card playing in her major tournament — had to retire. chetan pathak was watching at the all england club. she did at times find herself really playing some of her best tennis in that first set. the world number 75. she lit up these championships can arrange 338 in the world when we started. she's gone up 150 places. some fantastic wins for her on route to the fourth round, including against the former french open, and against the former french open, and against time tonight from a lot of people where fancying her with the way that she played her game, how confident and assured she's looked. she stake in this championship in her stride, she stake in this championship in

herstride, never she stake in this championship in her stride, never mind it being her first grand slam. she has played as though she has done this many times before, but she did lose that first set 64, and credit to them, knowing most of the crowd, for holding her way in such great stead throughout that first set and winning it. in the match started to get away from her. she was three love down when she went off the court to get some treatment, it became very clear she wasn't going to be able to continue. the latest there from wimbledon. now for a rather slithery story that might make your flash crawl. about a man who suffered minor injuries after he was bitten by a python during, wait for it, and early—morning visits, the toilet, at his home. how did it happen? welcome to the police had a snake measured 1.6 metres commit escape from a neighbours apartment and slithered through the drains. it was later cleaned by an expert and handed back

to its owner. you are watching bbc news. hello. monday was drier for a while across england and wales, but we certainly saw the weather going down hill from the south. this rain here is merging its way northwards across the uk up into northern england and scotland where already in the past few days in edinburgh, we have had a months worth of rain. that early arenas moving away, but this area of low pressure is taking a band of rain, heavy at times, northwards up toward scotland and northern england with blustery showers following to the south. for a while, we will have some unseasonably windy weather along the coast of england all the way from dorsett across to suffolk, gust of 50 mph in the morning. it want to be as windy in the afternoon, but there will be some heavy showers around, and we have

got this more persistent rain, never really clearing away from northern england, pushing into eastern scotland, elsewhere, some brightness and maybe some sunshine. the showers are never too far away, and they may well be happy as well. generally, temperatures a bit lower on tuesday, 18, 19, could temperatures a bit lower on tuesday, 18,19, could be chillier temperatures a bit lower on tuesday, 18, 19, could be chillier where it stays wet in northern england and eastern scotland. as we have seen, there are some showers around, they could well affect wimbledon once again. it's going to be another day where we may well have the covers on and off. those showers will probably tend to ease off the during the evening and into the night. more places become dry, some wetter weather towards the northeast of scotland. the praise tends to ease down a bit and we will find temperatures typically again around 12-13 temperatures typically again around 12—13 degrees. it's a pleasure that's brought all the rain over recent days, in the centre of the low pressure, a lot of time, we get to wednesday, it's close to the northeast of scotland, some are cloud rolling in here and some patchy rain around as well. elsewhere, some sunshine, but we are going to find showers breaking out

commandos could turn heavy and thundering from the afternoon, particularly across wales, the midlands across to lincolnshire as well. temperatures may be a notch higher on friday, still no better than 20—21 celsius. let's end with a glimmer of hope, because the low pressure is trying to move away. this is where high—pressure is, dry weather, and this is trying to notch up weather, and this is trying to notch up from the southwest the uk. south during thursday and friday, the winds want to be as strong, and for more places, it will be dry. some sunshine, although i'd really rather cloudy for scotland and northern ireland. temperatures should be a little bit higher.

this is bbc news with ben brown.

the headlines: the uk prime minister, borisjohnson, has confirmed that virtually all coronavirus restrictions, including mask—wearing and social distancing, will end in two weeks' time. he said vaccines are breaking the link between covid infections and deaths. fears are rising in afghanistan about the deteriorating security situation as nato's withdrawal nears completion. local troops are now guarding bagram air base, but reports of taliban advances have heightened concern about an afghan military collapse. gunmen in nigeria have kidnapped at least 140 schoolchildren in the north west of the country. nurses and babies have also been abducted from a hospital in kaduna state. in tennis, the wimbledon journey of british teenager emma raducanu is over.