welcome to bbc news, i'm rich preston. our top stories: an olympic sprinter from belarus who was ordered home is granted a humanitarian visa by poland after taking refuge at its embassy in tokyo. i'm sarah mulkerrins with all the latest from the games in tokyo, where there are 26 gold medals up for grabs and we will see the return to competition of us gymnast simone biles. there are fears the taliban are on the verge of taking control of lashkar gar — the capital of helmand province in afghanistan. and emotional reunions as the uk lifts immigration restrictions on those fully vaccinated.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. the belarussian sprinter krystsina tsikhanouskaya has been granted a humanitarian visa by poland. she sought refuge in the polish embassy in tokyo after saying she'd been ordered to return home from the olympic games in tokyo against her will. her apparent offence was criticising her coaches on social media after they'd entered herfor a race she hadn't been expecting to run. our tokyo correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes reports. this was the moment earlier this evening when krystsina tsimanouskaya stepped onto polish soil. safe from the belarusian officials she says were forcing her to leave tokyo against her will. the saga had begun to days earlier with this social media post.

next, ms tsimanouskaya was spotted at tokyo's hamada airport about to board a flight to istanbul. but it's very clear she didn't want to go. the belarusian team says that claim is nonsense, that she was being sent home because of her emotional and psychological state. but the polish government has decided to believe her story and to offer refuge. what's going on here in tokyo has very much the whiff of history about it because back in the days of the cold war, olympic defections were a regular event. the last one i can find was in los angeles in 1984. now we have someone defecting from belarus, a country that's been described as the last dictatorship in europe, and she's going to poland, a country that was once part of the soviet bloc and is now very much the opposite. last year, belarus was rocked by huge protests demanding an end to the 27—year rule

of alexander lukashenko. poland was a vocal supporter of these protests, and it's clear today's offer of refuge to ms tsimanouskaya fits in with warsaw's support for the opposition. "every person who cannot return to belarus for political reasons and wants to come to poland can count on our support," the deputy foreign minister says. "ms tsimanouskaya is under the care of the polish state. she wants to come to poland. we will grant her all support." back injapan, there is relief this drama has been resolved so quickly. but with six more days till the olympics close, tokyo must be a little worried that other athletes could be tempted to follow ms tsimanouskaya's lead. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo. mairko, has there been much news coverage injapan on this

story and what's the reaction been? i have noticed this story covered on a number of programmes this morning but it isn't the top headline like ours. i have grabbed some newspapers for you this morning and it is still very much about covert cases across japan but also over the fact that the government is now asking covid—i9 patients to stay at home unless their symptoms are really severe, perhaps indicating that hospitals are getting overwhelmed are somewhat, but still a lot of coverage, as you can see, of medals worn by japanese athletes yesterday. we saw silver and bronze in gymnastics, wrestling, and when it comes to the sports newspapers, very excited about the baseball team. they beat the baseball team. they beat the united states. this article says two more victories to the gold medal. what happens to the

belarusian athlete, i thought it was interesting that some people on social media compared her, weight athlete, to our ugandan athlete who was trying to run away from her hotel room early in the games. of course, it isn't as simple as their skin colours but some comparisons have been made. one was trying to seek help through an official channel, the ioc, while the other was trust trying to run away from the rooms, so there are obvious differences, but some people made that comparison. others speculated whether she was seeking asylum outside of japan may have changed the way she was treated, of course japan doesn't grant a lot of asylum, including to those who are elite athletes. thank you, mariko oi on the streets of tokyo. well let's take a look at the sporting action now. i'm joined by sarah mulkerrins in tokyo. sarah, simone biles is back after a breakfrom competing last week, tell us about that.

absolutely, i think a lot of gymnastic fans all around the world will be excited by the news that broke yesterday evening here in tokyo. we had known that simone biles last week pulled out of the team event and had missed some of the other final she was due to take part in. this was the final event she could have taken our and final event she could have taken ourand in final event she could have taken our and in tokyo. she has announced she will be there, the beam final a little bit later, so lots of people are interested. there will be attention on her to see how she goes. let's get a little bit more on the story and speak to gina pongetti, a former gymnast and now physiotherapist. she is reporting on the games, gymnastics. why do you think simone feels like this is one that she can compete in, bearing in mind all we have heard about she had as battling

the thing called twisties, where she is not sure how she will go when pulling off some more dangerous moves. it has been some days and she has had — it has been some days and she has had time in a gym to work on matting and loose foam pets. she posted this on her instagram, and obviously what happened at practice, that was something that she pulled out from — something that she pulled out from. however, a double take dismount _ from. however, a double take dismount doesn't involve rotation, so that is the planet. _ rotation, so that is the planet, as we understand. it is not as— planet, as we understand. it is not as she _ planet, as we understand. it is not as she gets dizzy, so it is a bit — not as she gets dizzy, so it is a bit confusing. it is one of the — a bit confusing. it is one of the most _ a bit confusing. it is one of the most complicated things to do, flipping, but it seems to not be — do, flipping, but it seems to not be affecting her as much so she will— not be affecting her as much so she will give it a go, i think.

what — she will give it a go, i think. what should we expect from simone biles later? she is definitely known for her dismounts and her double twisting double back or even a fall end. — twisting double back or even a fall end, which is a full twist and — fall end, which is a full twist and two _ fall end, which is a full twist and two flips. i think she will pull— and two flips. i think she will pull that— and two flips. i think she will pull that out and probably switch _ pull that out and probably switch it to just flipping twice _ switch it to just flipping twice without twisting, which is where _ twice without twisting, which is where her brain can handle right— is where her brain can handle right now— is where her brain can handle right now from a confucian perspective. i thinkjust an altered _ perspective. i thinkjust an altered routine to make it comfortable for her so that she can actually participate in one of the — can actually participate in one of the event finals which she so desperately wants to do. ithink— so desperately wants to do. i think there will be a lot of support for her especially after the last week. i wonder what you think this week will do for simone biles going forward and herfuture forward and her future participation in gymnastics. i know that it has left a mark on society— i know that it has left a mark on society and has opened up a large _ on society and has opened up a large conversation on the physical— large conversation on the physical and orthopaedic risks, which _ physical and orthopaedic risks, which i — physical and orthopaedic risks, which i deal with on a regular

basis — which i deal with on a regular basis from people pulling out of skills. _ basis from people pulling out of skills, and the mental health— of skills, and the mental health aspect, so she is definitely someone that people are looking up to right now for the decisions she is making, and — the decisions she is making, and i— the decisions she is making, and i am _ the decisions she is making, and i am not sure she is done the sport _ and i am not sure she is done the sport. she does have a tour coming — the sport. she does have a tour coming up _ the sport. she does have a tour coming up that she is hosting, and i_ coming up that she is hosting, and i khow— coming up that she is hosting, and i know she is participating and i know she is participating and that, _ and i know she is participating and that, and i wouldn't rule out world _ and that, and i wouldn't rule out world championships if, indeed, _ out world championships if, indeed, it does happen back here — indeed, it does happen back here irr— indeed, it does happen back here injust a few months, and then— here injust a few months, and then obviously there's only three — then obviously there's only three years until paris, sol think— three years until paris, sol think we _ three years until paris, sol think we will see how she feels and if— think we will see how she feels and if she — think we will see how she feels and if she like she still has some _ and if she like she still has some redemption that she needs to get— some redemption that she needs to get with the sport, very similar— to get with the sport, very similar to watching some of the other— similar to watching some of the other athletes to continue on a little _ other athletes to continue on a little bit — other athletes to continue on a little bit older because they aren't— little bit older because they aren't quite done yet. yes. _ aren't quite done yet. yes. it— aren't quite done yet. yes, it is always a difficult decision. thank you so much for joining us, gina pongetti, from inside gymnastics. all eyes will be on simone biles today but plenty of other big events coming up as well. let's have a

look at what else is on for day 11. on the track, we'll start the morning session with the men's aoom hurdles final which will feature norway's karsten warholm. later on in athletics, it's the women's 200m and 800m track finals. the first boxing medals will be handed out today, with the men's welterweight division and the women's featherweight coming up. in the velodrome, it could be a good day for britain. both laura and jason kenny will be in action as the women's team pursuit and men's team sprint medals are decided. laura kenny has won the team pursuit at two olympics in a row. and jason kenny has won the team sprint at every games since beijing 2008. and today we will also see the debut of sport climbing

at the olympics. with a combination of lead climbing, speed climbing and bouldering, the new olympic sport of sport climbing will be one of the toughest gold medals to win in tokyo. usually athletes focus on one or two of the disciplines, so being an all—rounder is a big advantage. australian teenager oceana mackenzie will be challenging the world's best at the aomi sports park, as the sport aims to gain millions more fans around the world. i'm oceana mackenzie, i do sport climbing and i'm from australia. so, i started when i was about eight, and, yeah, my mum, she actually took my sisters to our local climbing gym, but i would go with them and hang out at the gym and start traversing around the walls. and, yeah, i pretty muchjust loved it straightaway. climbing has this great challenge where you're actually trying to find a way to get up the climb. i loved having that challenge of trying to figure it out and challenge my mind as well as my body. the good thing about climbing is it's always really great to find your own way because you have a special kind of way of doing things. i never expected climbing to be in the olympics,

so when it was first decided, i was like, "oh, that's amazing. it can be really great for the sport!" and then when we realised that i could potentially qualify, it was like, "whoa, i can actually go to the olympics," and it happened. and, yeah, super excited. for the olympics, you do speed, bouldering and then lead. speed climbing, just to get up the wall as fast as you can. bouldering, which is a short wall, so there's multiple boulders, and you have to complete the most you can. lead climbing, which is like 17—metre walls, and that's whoever gets the highest point on the climb. it's a lot to train your mind as well as your physical body. like, it's a big part of competition climbing. there's never an end to it, i guess like a lot of sports, but you can never really be the best because there's always going to be a harder climb that you can't do, which is really cool. like, you're always having to keep going, which is really special. she started when she was eight! i certainly wasn't doing that

when i was eight years old. these exports have been so excitin- for youn-er watchers. exciting for younger watchers. that will be coming a little bit later, sports climbing. i am very much looking forward to watching that. thank you, sarah. fighting in a major city in afghanistan has been intensifying. there are fears lashkar gah in the southern helmand province could be the first provincial capital to fall to the taliban. a tv station there is reported to have been seized by the militants, and thousands of people have been fleeing rural areas. the uk and us say the taliban may have commited war crimes. the taliban say those accusations are baseless. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, told reporters that the taliban could not turn the country backwards. we will keep engaging intensely in diplomacy to advance negotiations between the afghan government and the taliban with the goal of a political solution, which we believe is the only path

to lasting peace. translation: | would - like to point out that we have now a very clear vision and plan for taking back control. our security forces are ready. they have reassembled, know the plan and are getting stronger by the day. we can now speak to vanda felbab—brown who's a senior fellow in the center for security, strategy, and technology in the foreign policy program at brookings. thank you for being with us. how significant are these games by the taliban? unfortunately, they are significant. we have seen over the past several weeks significant advances of the taliban in broader areas and systematic efforts to choke off access to provincial capitals. what we have been seeing, really since thursday, is this push into three provincial capitals, partly through the

capitals, partly through the capital of luksika. prior to that, the taliban has made significant advances also in the north, it is strategic and significant politically. it is not over and it is crucial that afghan security forces find a way to hold the taliban offensive and increase capacity to better stand up to it. secondly, he is right, the only solution to lasting peace is an inclusive government negotiated. unfortunately, the taliban feels that the political, strategic and military moment is on its side and is making a big push. i carney said he warned that the swift withdrawal by the us army would be damaging. will they be a chance of the us delaying their decision? what can they do? i think it is very unlikely that the united

states would reinsert military forces back into afghanistan. the decision by the biden administration has long been in the making and is an accumulative process of years of contemplating that, including, of course, the trump administration's initial peace deal that the taliban had. however, the united states, i hope, and other officials have reiterated that they want to stay engaged and afghanistan and do not intend to walk away from afghanistan. that includes supporting the afghan security forces, through training the provision of equipment. one of theissues provision of equipment. one of the issues currently at stake is of course the airstrikes, and the united states over the weekend has inserted airstrikes to help afghan to forces defend lashkar gah, but they will presumably and by august, so

the question is, how do afghan security forces cope with that significant reduction of air support was much beyond that, there is always the diplomatic and political pressure on the taliban, on regional activists to help and negotiations. unfortunately, we are far away from even the answer of meaningful negotiations, and the negotiations are unlikely to start until you start seeing at least some scaling on the battlefield, until the issue is halted. thank you, we will leave it there. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we meet the couple that tries to complete every one of the 96 olympic events — all in the name of charity.

the question was whether we wanted to save our people — and japanese as well — and win the war or whether we wanted to take a chance on being able to win the war by killing all our young men. the invasion began at two o'clock this morning. mr bush, like most other people, was clearly- caught by surprise. we call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all iraqi forces. 100 years old and still full of vigour, vitality and enjoyment of life — no other king or queen in british history has lived so long, and the queen mother is said to be quietly very pleased indeed that she has achieved this landmark anniversary. this is a pivotal moment for the church as an international movement. the question now is whether the american vote will lead to a split in the anglican community.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines: an olympic sprinter from belarus who was ordered home is granted a humanitarian visa by poland after taking refuge at its embassy in tokyo. 26 gold medals up for grabs on day 11 of the tokyo olympics, which will see the return to competition of us gymnast simone biles. after months of being separated by on international travel, many families and friends have finally been able to be reunited after a change in the rules on entry to the uk. the change means people who've been fully vaccinated in the united states or in the european union no longer have to quarantine for 10 days if they arrive from a country on the amber list. the exception is france, where stricter rules still apply to people coming from there. our transport correspondent caroline davies has more.

through the dark and the difficulty of the last few months, they've waited for this. as soon as we got off the aeroplane we got so excited. even the little ones were shouting, "london, london." we've onlyjust literally walked in a few minutes ago but when we get home and see everybody, yeah, it will sink in. as soon as the quarantine rules changed last week, naomi booked herflights from california to see her parents. taking a message from her children... we love you. mwah. we love you. i really miss you guys. ..on one of the first flights to land in the uk since the rules changed, while her parents wait nervously. i couldn't sleep, i think i saw every hour. i think i did get sleep in between but it was just... yeah, i'm too excited. they've not seen each other since december 2019. i really didn't think it was possible to come home until i actually

set foot off the plane. oh, my god. i've left my husband and two kids at home and it pains me to have left them behind, but grateful that they gave me the opportunity to come. it's all very emotional. i love you, dad, i love you. love you, mate. there are a lot of excited and quite frankly, relieved reunions at the airport today. but for many people who have loved ones not in the us or in europe, there's still some disappointment that they're not included. gopi krishnan hasn't seen his 13—year—old daughter in the uk since last october. he's double jabbed but with the vaccine the uk hasn't approved and lives in the uae, which is currently on the uk's red list. you were given this vaccine at that time, there was no choice at all, so you take whatever is given to you. yes, it's unfair, it's pretty stressful, to be honest. i'm just wondering if there is a new way, you know, that i can meet her in the next six months, nine months or a year.

the travel industry want the government to go further. we'd like to see other amber countries opened up for people who have been doubly vaccinated. we'd also like to see the cost of testing brought down. a simple way to do that would be to replace the pcr test that everyone has to take post—arrival with a simple lamp or lateral flow test, which is much cheaper. the list of countries that are rated green, amberand red is due to be updated this week. caroline davies, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. palestinian families facing eviction from their homes in neighbourhood of sheikh jarrah in eastjerusalem say they'll reject a suggestion by israel's supreme court that they rent their properties from a jewish settler organisation. the families say they want recognition of their ownership of their homes. the uk and iran have summoned each other�*s diplomats in a row over last week's deadly attack on an oil tanker, off the coast of oman. the uk, us and israel blame iran for the attack,

in which two crew members — a briton and a romanian — were killed. iran says it had nothing to do with the incident. an investigation into brazil's president, jair bolsonaro, is to go ahead. the country's top electoral court will examine his statements claiming that there will be fraud in next year's elections. the president, who is expected to seek a second term in 2022, has repeatedly claimed that brazil's electronic voting system is vulnerable to fraud. critics say his unfounded claims are sowing doubts to pave the way for him to deny defeat. now, while the games in tokyo are reserved for athletes at the pinnacle of their sport, one couple from oxfordshire in england are aiming for a gold for effort, if not achievement. they're trying to complete every one of the 96 events in 17 days — most of which they've never tried before. they're doing it all to raise money for a charity close to their hearts. andrew plant has the story. go! they've gone from cycling to synchronised swimming, tried their hands at taekwondo. in fact, they're not missing out a single olympic sport.

it was trampolining today, then triathlon tomorrow. their olympic timetable has almost 50 sports, most of which, they've never even tried until now. what's been the hardest one for you so far? this! and bouncing with a back injury isn't helping. have you ever been on a trampoline before? this is my second time ever, and i'm pretty confident to say it will be my second and last. so, we absolutely hated the 50k walk. it was really hard. and i did not like the windsurfing because i have a massive fish phobia and it was on a fishing lake, and it was alljust very traumatic. and i've absolutely loved trampolining, that was brilliant, loved the rowing. there are so many things that have been great fun. it's all in the race for donations for the motor neurone disease association. the charity which supported stuart's brother spencer, who passed away

from the illness. he was a9, he had two boys who were four and seven who he loved unconditionally, as all dads do. he wanted his legacy to be that we would keep raising money and awareness, and we will do that. 60 events down. still more than 30 to go. tomorrow, they'll also take on the 100 metres. aiming fora time under 20 seconds. congratulations. thank you. so, no world records being broken, but they've already won the silver and gold for effort. andrew plant, bbc news. what a fantastic power. much more on that on the bbc news website, along with all our other stories. and you can download the bbc news app. all the latest information on the olympics is there as well. you can reach me on twitter, i am

@richpreston. drop me a note, i would love to hear from you. from the unforeseen, thanks for watching, and goodbye for now. —— from me and to the team. hello. sunny spells aplenty on tuesday, but there'll be showers around, too. and in fact it's going to stay quite showery for the rest of the week, and, if anything, it'll turn even more unsettled towards the end of the week. now, thejet stream's not on our side. we're on the cool side of the jet. the jet stream separates the cool air from the north and the warm air to the south, and it also sends weather systems in our direction. so, actually much of western and central europe is feeling the effects of that cool air. you can see the yellows there, whereas the hot air is in place across the balkans, greece, turkey and into russia. in excess of a0 degrees there. obviously not for us, not that we'd want it anyway.

but this is what it looks like early in the morning on tuesday. a lot of clear weather, sunshine right from the word go, but quite nippy in the morning in some places. around five degrees in rural spots. so, the weather map for tuesday shows that we're in between weather systems. more weather systems out in the atlantic heading our way, but in between means that we'll see those scattered showers here and there. very light winds as well. now, watch where the showers form, some across the south almost along these distinct lines here. elsewhere, a lot of sunshine around, but if you're caught underneath that area of showers, it could be very, very wet, thunder and lightning as well. but like i say, fine sunny weather for the majority of the uk, and temperatures getting up to around 20 or so.

now, the showers could linger into the evening hours for some of us on tuesday. here's a look at wednesday's weather map, and there's a weak weather front approaching from the west. it'll bring some showers to parts of northern ireland, scotland, too, and there'll be one or two showers breaking out elsewhere. but once again, plenty of sunny spells, so it's really sort of all or nothing really over the next few days. temperatures could get up to around 22 whether you're in the south or the north. now, towards the end of the week, so here's thursday and friday, a low pressure is sitting on top of us. that inevitably means strengthening winds. they could be quite strong and gusty in the south of the country, and they will bring quite changeable weather. so, frequent showers on the way. now, you can see the outlook, really not much changes overall for the foreseeable future. that's it from me. bye— bye.

thank you, we will leave it there.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the belarusian olympic athlete krystsina tsikhanouskaya has been granted a humanitarian visa by poland. she sought help from police at tokyo airport on saturday as belarusian officials tried to force her onto a plane home, after she criticised the team's coaches on social media. the american gymnast simone biles is to compete in the beam final, after pulling out of previous events at tokyo 2020, which will be her final chance of an individual medal. a total of 26 medals are up for grabs on day eleven of the olympics. there are fears the taliban are on the verge of taking control of lashkar gar — the capital of helmand province in afghanistan. us planes are continuing to attack their positions. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, says he's seen deeply disturbing reports of taliban atrocities.