this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. president biden confirms the us military mission in afghanistan will end on 31 august. he says that he is not prepared to send another generation of americans to fight there. nearly 20 years of experience has shown us that the current security situation only confirms thatjust one more year of fighting in afghanistan is not a solution. the olympic games injapan will be held without spectators at venues in and around the capital. a state of emergency in tokyo will run throughout the games, to combat coronavirus. protests in brazil over the president's handling of coronavirus. around 2,000 people are still dying every day. and the double jabbed—in england can jet off this summer, as the government changes travel

restrictions. hello, and welcome to bbc news. president biden has said that the drawdown of american forces in afghanistan is on schedule, and its military mission there will end on 31 august. it's nearly 20 years since us and other foreign forces entered the country in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks on the united states — attacks which were planned under taliban rule in afghanistan. two decades on, and a resurgent taliban continues to make rapid gains as nato forces leave. mr biden said that there was no sense in prolonging the us stay in afghanistan beyond the end of next month. in 2011, the nato allies and partners agreed that we would end our combat mission in 2014.

in 2014, some argued one more year, so we kept fighting. and we kept taking casualties. in 2015, the same — and on and on. nearly 20 years of experience has shown us that the current security situation only confirms thatjust one more year fighting in afghanistan is not a solution, but a recipe for being there indefinitely. it's up to the afghans to make the decision about the future of their country. a few hours earlier, the british prime minister, borisjohnson, confirmed that most of the british troops in afghanistan have now left the country, with the rest to come home shortly. here's our defence correspondent, jonathan beale. at one of the few nato bases left in kabul, the lowering of the union flag signalled the end of the mission. most of the 750 british troops who remained in the country have now returned home. time to reflect on the sacrifices made and to assess

what they've achieved. no—one should doubt the gains of the last 20 years, but nor can we shrink from the hard reality of the situation today. the taliban are already advancing. but the prime minister still insisted britain wasn't abandoning afghanistan. i hope that no—one will leap to the false conclusion that the withdrawal of our forces somehow means the end of britain's commitment to afghanistan. millions more afghan children, including girls, are now in school. after 9/11, the government also says, the world is now safer — the legacy of the last 20 years. gunfire but the afghan security forces are now on their own, and the taliban already control nearly half of the country. a57 british troops lost their lives, most here in helmand. 12 years ago was one

of the bloodiest. these are some of the faces of five soldiers who went out on one patrol and never came back. among them william aldridge, who'd just turned 18. his mother is still asking why. show me what we did achieve. i'd like to see with my eyes, what did we achieve? what was the sacrifice for? cos it is too high a price to pay. we had five killed and 35 wounded. from the company group, it was a total of ten killed and 50 wounded. richard steatfield also served in sangin in 2010. he fears the exit of nato forces will open the floodgates of violence. anyone who looks at afghanistan, looks at the future of afghanistan, cannot see a situation where removing the forces that have kept the balance of peace in afghanistan is a good idea.

it means that there will be bloodshed, and it is difficult not to see this as a strategic disaster. britain will retain a very small military presence to protect its embassy. but their war is now over — it's not for afghanistan. jonathan beale, bbc news. let s get some of the european parliament has approved by an overwhelming majority a resolution condemning hungary for a recent law forbidding the depiction of homosexuality and gender change to under—18s. parliamentarians are urging the european commission to take legal action against the hungarian government and to withhold eu funds. hungary's prime minister, viktor 0rban, says the law is necessary to protect children. the united states has said it will help haiti's national police investigating the assassination of its president, jovenel moise, who was shot dead at his home on wednesday. local police say four gunmen have

been killed and six arrested in connection with the murder, but say they are still looking for the masterminds. a number of the suspects are believed to be foreigners. now to another huge setback for the olympics, with the announcement that there will be no spectators at events in tokyo. 0rganisers have been forced to make the change with just two weeks before the start of the olympics, after declaring a state of emergency in the capital because of a surge in covid cases. this was how the news was announced. translation: we have no other choice but to hold - the games in a limited way. there are many people who are looking forward to the games — those people who purchased a ticket, as well as the local community people, we are very sorry we are able to deliver only a limited version of the games. but we want to have thorough operation to ensure safe and secure games, so that the people the world over will be able to find the olympic and paralympic ideals.

i sincerely solicit your kind cooperation. thank you. let's go to tokyo now, and speak to the bbc�*s mariko 0i. a year ayearago, a year ago, these were meant to be the celebration games, now there will be no fans. how can there be celebrations if there are no fans? as you know, james, there has been an overwhelming majority of the japanese public who have been opposing the games to begin with. they've been wanting the game is to be cancelled or at least postponed. so it wasn't exactly a celebratory mood for quite some time now, but as you said, this is definitely the latest setback. though i have to say, the decision not to allow any spectators in was somewhat expected after the latest state of emergency was declared, because you can't exactly ask people to stay indoors but say you can still go and watch the olympics. 0f but say you can still go and watch the olympics. of course, the state of emergency means restaurants and

bars are asked not to serve alcohol, and some of the businesses have been very angry about this, saying the financial implication is devastating. but from the government's point of view, though, they were very concerned about people going to some competitions, going to a bar, getting a bit drunk and possibly leading to a higher number of covid—19 infections. so as the organising committee and the government said, it was a difficult decision to make but they had to make it. but this means that, after spending some $25 billion, including building that brand—new stadium, it's going to be empty and the japanese government will likely see no financial benefits from tourism because we are not accepting any overseas fans, but also ticket sales either. . . ~ overseas fans, but also ticket sales either. ., ., , ., either. can ticket holders get a refund? yes, _ either. can ticket holders get a refund? yes, and _ either. can ticket holders get a refund? yes, and that'll- either. can ticket holders get a refund? yes, and that'll mean| either. can ticket holders get a - refund? yes, and that'll mean that the organising _ refund? yes, and that'll mean that the organising committee - refund? yes, and that'll mean that the organising committee will - refund? yes, and that'll mean thatj the organising committee will have to deal with some financial issues, as well. earlier, the government and

the committee, when they had initially announced they would allow up initially announced they would allow up to 10,000 spectators inside the stadiums, they reported that money may have played a role, the organising committee may have needed a financial bailout if they decided to hold the games behind closed doors. now that they've made this latest change, this could potentially mean that they need more taxpayer money — which obviously doesn't go down too well with the japanese public, who have already been opposing the games to go ahead. more money? goodness me. thank you so much forjoining us. in 11 days' time, anyone in england who is fully vaccinated against covid—19 can travel to an amber risk country without needing to quarantine on return. under—18s won't have to self—isolate either meaning families can travel abroad this summer. so long as the receiving country doesn't have any restrictions. the relaxation of rules is expected to result in a big boost

for the travel industry as people rush to book a last—minute summer holiday. here's our transport correspondent, caroline davies. the empty aircraft and quiet departure halls may soon be full of noise again. today's announcement is the most significant change to international travel seen this year. from 19july, anyone fully vaccinated doesn't need to quarantine when they travel from an amber list country to england. but they will still need to take a test before they travel and another pcr test on arrival. under—18s won't need to quarantine at all. under—fours won't need to take any tests. 5—to—11—year—olds will need to take a pcr test after they arrive and 11—to—17—year—olds will need to take a pre—departure test and a pcr test. for now, this is only open to those jabbed in the uk. northern ireland has said it will do the same from 26july, a week later. scotland and wales are yet to announce whether they will adopt the policy. at the moment, most countries in the world are on the amber list

and it's the news many in the travel industry were desperate for. if we thinkjust a week ago we had less than ten destinations on the green list that we were able to sell, and now we're selling 85 destinations which are both on the amber and green list, so it's massive news. we believe testing is the next thing that needs to be removed and there should be restriction—free travel very similar to how much of europe currently operates. and some are delighted that this means they can get away, including shay and herfamily, who are going to greece. it's really good in terms of the fact we are not going to have to self—isolate on our way back, which is really good, so that means we can go straight back into work after we've finished our holiday, but it's not great that we are going to have to take pcr test. but for some the change doesn't help. joanna is 2a and won't have her second vaccine for weeks, and her mother can't come to see her because she was double jabbed in bulgaria. it's quite disappointing because it's making a lot of plans notjust for me but i believe a lot

of people who are wanting to go and see their families being reunited, they were making plans and unfortunately that's not happening now. the government has said it will look at whether it's possible to phase in people jabbed in other countries over the summer. what are you going to say to young people and those who are the last to be vaccinated that when it comes to international travel they are going to be left behind? children will be able to travel as if they were double vaccinated even though they haven't been vaccinated at all, and, look, as a government we have a choice of simply saying people will never be able to travel until every single last person has been vaccinated, or at least starting to open things up so people can see their friends, their family, maybe travel for business. but some are still urging caution about opening up. we can open travel but we have to have the right safety measures in place such as a good testing regime to capture people who bring the virus back from their holidays. the policy is just about what happens entering the uk. whether other countries will let uk travellers in and under what conditions

is a different matter. the outlook is sunnier, but travel this summer could still be rocky. caroline davies, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: and it was women's semi—finals day at wimbledon. who is through to the finals? we'll have an update from the all—england club. central london has been rocked by a series of terrorist attacks. police say there have been many casualties, and there is growing speculation that al-qaeda was responsible. germany will be the hosts of the 2006 football world cup. they've pipped the favourite, south africa, by a single vote. in south africa, the possibility of losing hadn't even been contemplated — and celebration parties were cancelled. the man entered the palace l through a downstairs window and made his way to the queen's private bedroom, then _ he asked her for a cigarette — i and, on the pretext of arranging for some to be brought, -

summoned a footman on duty who took the man away. one child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world. education is the only solution. this is bbc news, the latest headlines... president biden says the us military mission in afghanistan will end on 31 august, and that he is not prepared to send another generation of americans to fight there. the olympic games injapan will be held without spectators at venues in and around the capital. a state of emergency in tokyo will run throughout the games, to combat coronavirus.

brazil's president bolsonaro is under growing pressure over his handling of the covid pandemic, with protests on the street. more than half a million people have died with the virus in brazil, the world's second highest death toll after the us. 0nly13% of the population is fully vaccinated and around 2,000 people are still dying with the virus every day. now there are fears that the highly—contagious delta variant could also take hold. 0ur international correspondent 0rla guerin reports from sao paulo. brazil's agony. carved into the soil. fresh graves in sao paulo await the new covid dead. critics accused president jair bolsonaro of presiding over a massacre, with hundreds of thousands of needless deaths. this man was one of them, relatives say. the 62—year—old died from covid in may — hours after these

pictures were taken. the father of five was the heart of his family. his son, felipe, joined the recent street protests here against the brazilian leader, seeking justice for his father. for those who've come out on the streets here, this is notjust about grief and anger — it's about political responsibility. they believe that many of the dead are victims of president bolsonaro,

his policies and his inaction, as well as victims of covid—19. and the pressure on the president is going. the epicentre is here, inside the modernist parliament in the capital, brasilia. we met the opposition senator, 0mar aziz, leading an enquiry into the handling of the pandemic. his own brother is among the dead. he says the president doesn't believe in science and people have paid.

the senate hearings are often heated and have become must—watch tv. a pfizer executive said its office to supply vaccines last year were ignored by the government for months. and president bolsonaro has been accused of negligence and corruption — claims he denies. here he was just last month, thronged by die—hard supporters and setting an example of not wearing a mask. in the midst of a pandemic, leading a bikers' rally. he insists the wheels of the economy must keep turning, and says staying at home is for idiots, and it's time to stop "whining and crying". brazil is... the president is guaranteed that covid—19 would spread, according to this pedro halal, the epidemiologist leading brazil's largest study on the virus.

everything that you should not do, brazil has done. pretty much everything. so, brazil has said that the pandemic would not be important — "oh, it's just a little flu" our president said, "oh, it's coming to an end." in april last year, then he said that the vaccines were not safe. this statement from the president himself was that they produce damage and they killed people. and this is what needs to be said. many protesters go further, accusing the president of genocide. they want him out. for now, he's going nowhere, but the bereaved are hoping there will be a reckoning. 0rla guerin, bbc news, brasilia. well, let's get some analysis. let's get straight to brazil, where journalist sam cowie joins us now.

hi, sam. the opposition politician in that report said president bolsonaro does not believe in science. do you think that's a fair question? science. do you think that's a fair cuestion? ~ , , question? well, whether he believes in it or not. — question? well, whether he believes in it or not. or— question? well, whether he believes in it or not, or whether _ question? well, whether he believes in it or not, or whether he _ question? well, whether he believes in it or not, or whether he has - question? well, whether he believes in it or not, or whether he hasjust i in it or not, or whether he hasjust put science to one side to keep the economy going, as was mentioned in the report, is a different question. certainly from his behaviour, we could suggest that he doesn't believe in science — he's blasted vaccines, he's blasted the use of facemasks, cast doubt pretty much on all of the scientific measures such as social distancing. anything that basically prevents covid, he's basically prevents covid, he's basically blasted and said, "come on, we need to get the economy moving again, more people die from hunger." 0f moving again, more people die from hunger." of course, most experts point out it's been very clear, if you look at the rest of the countries in the world, that you

can't get the economy running if you have thousands of people dying from covid each day. so brazil's basically in that mess right now in that situation with a dreadful economic crisis on the horizon and, you know, 2000 people continuing to die each day amidst a slow vaccine roll—out. die each day amidst a slow vaccine roll-out. ., ,., , ., , die each day amidst a slow vaccine roll-out-_ he i roll-out. how popular is he? he continues— roll-out. how popular is he? he continues to _ roll-out. how popular is he? he continues to hold _ roll-out. how popular is he? he continues to hold a _ roll-out. how popular is he? he continues to hold a very - roll-out. how popular is he? he continues to hold a very strong l roll-out. how popular is he? he i continues to hold a very strong and loyal support base, approval rates have dropped to record lows, but it's still about 24% of the population, according to latest opinion polls. a lot of people make the comparison with donald trump, that he has these die—hard loyalist followers. as the economy gets worse and the covid death toll continues upwards, it'll be interesting to see how many of these supporters remain loyal. he also has many loyal supporters still in congress — brazil's congress is a place known

for horse trading and hawk barrel politics. at some point, however, it's expected that when the president can't give these politicians what they want any more, which is usually patronage in the form of governmentjobs or funding, basically, that at some point they will abandon him. basically, that at some point they willabandon him. but basically, that at some point they will abandon him. but whether that'll happen before next year's elections, which happened in october 2022, it remains to be seen. {lining 2022, it remains to be seen. only 1396 of the — 2022, it remains to be seen. only 1396 of the population, _ 2022, it remains to be seen. only 1396 of the population, we - 2022, it remains to be seen. only 13% of the population, we are reading, is fully vaccinated. you're in sao paulo, how easy is it to get a job? in sao paulo, how easy is it to get a “ob? ~ ., ., ~ , in sao paulo, how easy is it to get a “ob? ~ , ., ,, ajob? well look, mine is happening on monday. — ajob? well look, mine is happening on monday, actually. _ ajob? well look, mine is happening on monday, actually. i'm _ ajob? well look, mine is happening on monday, actually. i'm in - ajob? well look, mine is happening on monday, actually. i'm in sao - on monday, actually. i'm in sao paulo, which is the richest, most populous state in brazil. the uptick has been surprisingly good, actually. listen, it's not a question of necessarily access to the gab — getting the jabs into people's arms is surprisingly efficient. the problem is that the brazilian government basically did

not act efficiently and correctly in getting these vaccines in the first place, you know, mass vaccination only really started here injanuary. as was mentioned in the report, there were dozens of e—mails from pfizer as the chief executive of pfizer as the chief executive of pfizer gave testimony in the senate inquiry — i believe it was 80 e—mails that were unanswered from pfizer. and, you know, there is a vaccine scandal here in brazil, where basically a chief whip in congress, an ally of president bolsonaro, has been accused of setting up a middleman situation to procure vaccines at a cost, and one of the witnesses in the senate inquiry said that mr bolsonaro was aware of this — and 13 days later, he still hasn't refused this accusation.—

he still hasn't refused this accusation. ., ~ , ., he still hasn't refused this accusation. ., ~ . accusation. sam, thank you so much for “oininu accusation. sam, thank you so much forjoining us- _ now to wimbledon where the the top seed, ashleigh barty, has reached herfirst women's singles final with a straight—sets win over the former champion angelique kerber. she'll play karolina pliskova on saturday. here's chetan pathak at the all—england club. we have our wimbledon final, and ash barty into her first year at these championships, the first australian woman to be in the wimbledon finals since evonne goolagong in 1980. barty getting past the 2018 champion, angelique kerber, in straight sets — the first the more convincing of the two, barty winning that 6—3. kerber fought back with her traditional baseline play, but still, barty, when she needed to come but was able to slice and dice her way to victory in the moments when it mattered the most. it was tight at a tie—break, but barty getting herself over the line, a player who's got better and better, round after round in these championships.

and awaiting her in the final will be the czech eighth seed karolina pliskova who, at 29, many had written off from reaching the stage of a grand slam again. but pliskova, the 2016 us open runner—up, was too good for aryna sabalenka, the number—two seed in the end. and, despite losing that first set, pliskova fought back in the second and third, winning them 6—4, 6—4. she'd reached the semifinals of all the other grand slams before these wimbledon championships. now she's into the final here, but barty perhaps the big favourite for that one on saturday. as for friday, its men's semifinals day — the defending champion and, without a doubt, the overwhelming favourite, novak djokovic, takes on canada's denis shapovalov. whilst in the other match, the big—hitting matteo berrettini from italy faces roger federer�*s conqueror, hubert hurkacz. covering wimbledon where i should say novak djokovic is clearly the

favourite in those men's semifinals. i'm on twitter, see you in a bit. good evening. thursday brought us another day of some sunny spells, but some really active showers around too, in fact, our weather watchers spotted plenty of funnel clouds across parts of eastern england from essex through cambridgeshire, towards lincolnshire as well. over the next few days, we keep those active showers. there will be that mix of sunny spells and scattered showers bubbling up through the course of the day. so, low pressure not far away, bringing us to unsettled theme, but a ridge of higher pressure trying to build in from the west for a time on friday. so, as we head to the course of tonight, then, clear spells for most areas a little bit of patchy and showery rain for eastern scotland. cloudier skies in general for scotland, northern ireland and western fridges of england and wales. central and eastern areas looking largely clear overnight, temperatures holding up between 12—14 degrees. so, a mild start to friday morning, and for some of us, there will be

some sunshine from the word go. it is going to be something of an east—west split, so for central and eastern england and eastern scotland, sunny spells developing, but scattered showers that could be heavy and slow moving, bringing hail, thunderstorms and perhaps some localised flooding. further west, slightly cloudier, mostly dry but a bit more rain working far into the southwest later in the day, most of us around 15—23 celsius on friday. if you do suffer from hay fever, you will probably notice that pollen levels are going to be high or very high for much of the uk. moderate for central and northern scotland. during friday evening, we are going to keep these heavy showers in the east going for a time, some thunder and lightning, and quite a bit of surface water if you do catch one of those heavy showers, but they will ease away overnight friday into the early hours of saturday, as this next system approaches the south. so things are staying very changeable, very unsettled, so this area of rain could be quite heavy and persistent across southern england and wales first thing saturday. slowly clears eastwards. then it's going to be another day of of sunny spells and scattered heavy showers and thunderstorms. again, probably eastern areas

seeing the bulk of that, a littler bit drier for the likes of northern ireland. temperatures a touch cooler than recent days, about 16—22 on saturday. and then as we head into sunday, of course, the euros final at wembley, likely that the weather at wembley should stay dry if somewhat cloudy, but not the same picture everywhere in the uk as we head into sunday. still quite unsettled, futher showers, more unsettled showery weather into the first part of the working week. something a little bit drier on the horizon from midweek onwards. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. the headlines:

president biden has announced the us military mission in afghanistan will end on the last day of august. he said continuing to fight in afghanistan was not an option, as it would mean us troops staying there indefinitely. the japanese government has said that spectators will not be allowed to attend olympic games events at venues in the capital. the government is placing tokyo under a new state of emergency from next week because of rising coronavirus infections. a haitian minister says one of the men arrested on suspicion of involvement in the assassination of presidentjovenel moise in a pre—dawn raid on his residence on wednesday is a us citizen. the european parliament has approved a resolution condemning hungary for a recent law forbidding the depiction of homosexuality and gender change to under—18s. the parliament called on the european commission to take urgent steps against the hungarian government.