this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. after more than two weeks of thrilling sporting action — the tokyo olympic games end with a spectacular closing ceremony. and excitement in paris today as a flypast above the french capital marks the handover of the games to paris. another provincial capital in afghanistan falls to the taliban as they continue to make ferocious assaults against key northern cities. thousands flee their homes in greece as forest fires burn out of control. the country faces its most intense heatwave in more than 30 years. and coming up this hour, more on new changes to the uk's covid travel restrictions, double vaccinated people travelling

from france to the uk will no longer have to isolate. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. the tokyo olympics have ended, with a closing ceremony in the national stadium of empty fans. moments after the flame was extinguished in the olympic stadium a volley of multi—coloured fireworks lit up the night sky around the olympic stadium where athletes were already heading for the exits. the president of the international olympic committee, thomas bach, thanked the people of japan and described the sixteen day event as unprecedented because of the pandemic. the olympic flag was handed over to the mayor of paris where the games will be held in three years time.

team gb have matched their medal total from london 2012 with 22 golds, and 65 medals in total. jason kenny won a gold medal in the men's kieren cycling event in the veladrome. that makes him britain's most successful male athlete with a total of seven olympic gold medals under his belt — and a total of nine olympic medals in all. in the boxing ring, there was gold for lauren price in the women's boxing middle weight final. she beat china's li qian in a five to nil points victory. let's head to the bbc sports centre and speak to chetan pathak. great britain winning their last two gold medals of the games then on the final day taking their tally to 22. that 65 metals in all. as martin was saying, what a finish forjason kenny. is first british man to win seven olympic gold overtaking sir

chris hoy. it was a spectacular defence of his care and title, sprinting clear with three laps remaining, it follows this over one and the teams spread. it takes is overall olympic metal to nine. metalto nine. when i look back metal to nine. when i look back as our ca - , metal to nine. when i look back as our gap. give _ metal to nine. when i look back as our gap. give it— metal to nine. when i look back as our gap. give it a _ metal to nine. when i look back as our gap, give it a little _ metal to nine. when i look back as our gap, give it a little squeeze - metal to nine. when i look back as our gap, give it a little squeeze in | our gap, give it a little squeeze in a got bigger. and so ijust sort of went for it, really. i didn't feel like i was one of the favourite coming into the final. it wasn't as quick as i want to be in the sprint, team spread. ifelt like i've nothing to lose and just put it down and went for it, really. it was such and went for it, really. it was such a long way, ifelt like and went for it, really. it was such a long way, i felt like the last lap took me about half an hour. i got there in the end. couldn't believe i crossed the line on my own still. at the price of incredible back story on herjourney so far. or welsh football orformer

story on herjourney so far. or welsh football or former kickboxing champion, netball oran welsh football or former kickboxing champion, netball or an tae kwon do fighter. now in olympic boxing champion. one man who is a hero in kenya he says he's fulfilled his legacy after successfully defending his men's marathon olympic titles are regarded as the greatest over this distance. he's a world record holder and unofficially a marathon in less than 20 and 2019. he said he was really glad the olympics had gone ahead as it was a sign of hope that life is getting back on track after what's been an incredibly tough year for all. after what's been an incredibly tough yearfor all. let's have after what's been an incredibly tough year for all. let's have a look at the medals table after the final events. on the final day of the competition. this is how things stand. confirmation the us dipping china on the goals in basketball track cycling and volleyball. two more goals for britain equals their metal hall from london 2012 team gb

performance in tokyo succeeded those pregame predictions of 52 metals and 14 pregame predictions of 52 metals and 1a goals. 22 gold in total. 65 metals in totalfor team gb. this metals in total for team gb. this team to deliver— metals in total for team gb. this team to deliver 65 _ metals in total for team gb. ti 3 team to deliver 65 metals is absolutely extraordinary and i would say not only as the team made history but it's probably made history but it's probably made history on the back of the most complex and most difficult of environments that we will ever face. winning metals across more sports than any other nation again, 18 winning sports across more disciplines than any other nation again. these are extraordinary statistics. ~ ., again. these are extraordinary statistics. ~ . . ., ., statistics. will have much more on the final day _ statistics. will have much more on the final day of— statistics. will have much more on the final day of the _ statistics. will have much more on the final day of the olympics - statistics. will have much more on the final day of the olympics on i the final day of the olympics on sports day as well as the rest of the day sports. back to you. my

colleague lucy hawkins is in tokyo and i asked her how she felt uncovering the games. actually, a real roller—coaster. arriving here in tokyo at the beginning of the games none of us knew what to expect. so many restrictions on the media and on the athletes as well, cooped up in their rooms at times, having to do daily testing, difficulties in training for some of them as well. i mean, there's constant concern about the pandemic and then we saw these rising covid numbers every day that we were reporting on. at one point in time the balloon to around 5000 cases a day and it felt at times that that might overshadow these games but, martin, the stories of inspiration came thick and fast. every day it felt like there was a story that would bring people to tears and then the sport really worked its magic and for the host nation, japan, they'd had this incredible record hole, ——haul 27 goals, far better than they were expecting in many respects. they've got a brother and sister who both won medals in thejudo, young dynamic skateboarders who were only 12 and 19 when they stood on that podium.

they won the baseball the other night which is an absolute passion for many japanese are on the sporting field there was all the success you started to feel the tide, sort of, turning here and the change as people started really enjoying the sporting action so like many japanese i have also felt a bit conflicted that yes, this is been happening amdist a pandemic with a huge amount of concern about the health care system and whether it would hold up adult of these incredible moments that we've seen in the health care system and whether it would hold up adult of these incredible moments that we've seen this was a arena. —— in this that we seen in the sporting arena. the atmosphere inside either sporting stadiums is artificial, was nothing like any one had ever competed with before? absolutely, and some athletes relished it and used it as a way of focusing. other athletes, i think, really miss having family and friends. particularly, in fact, simon bile spoke about that

—— biles when she talked about her mental health, how tough it was do not have a family there with her but done right, of course, all the athletes came up to support each other and if we take simone biles he was there every day sporting her team—mates even though she wasn't actually competing we saw that time and time again. they were trying to fill out the stands, they have their flags, they were cheering on their team—mates at all of these events but, yes, it was poignant, i think is the word to use, and i don't know how much of the closing ceremony you saw but i felt that very much tonight, that there were these athletes parading round to an empty stadium and some of the smaller countries have already sent all their athletes home because, remember, after you've completed you've got 48 hours before you have to return. they have to do have volunteers carrying their country's flags which felt a little bit sad as well and then they recreated inside the olympic stadium tonight scenes of tokyo, we saw a park scene, bmx's, a dj and what they were trying to do

was give the athletes a sense of what this incredibly vibrant creative amazing city is all about because they haven't been able to see it. they've only been in the olympic village about their venues and they wanted to give them a little taste of it at the closing ceremony so moments like that, for me, actually felt a little bit poignant. reports from afghanistan say the taliban have taken another provincial capital — taluqan in takhar province. it comes as heavy fighting continues in the city of kundoos, where government forces are trying to push back militants. a taliban spokesman said their fighters had already captured some districts and were inching towards the city centre. they have also taken government buildings in the northern provincial capital of sarai—pool. us central command says it had intensified air strikes in support of the afghan government. here's our world service south asia editor, anbarasan ethirajan. the taliban have made very sweeping territorial gains in the last 48 hours by capturing already two

provincial capitals. one was zaranj in the south—west and sheberghan in the north, but today, this morning, they told me that they'd also made inroads into the city of kunduz in the north, which is a very, very important trading hub and considered a gateway to central asia, and that they'd also captured most of the government buildings. but a defence ministry spokesman a short while ago tweeted showing what he said was the pictures from kunduz where special forces commandos have been tackling the insurgents. so, as we speak, heavy fighting is going on in kunduz city, and why it is important? because this will be the biggest prize for the taliban so far in the latest offensive against the government forces. i'm joined now by patricia degennaro an international security consultant who's worked with us forces in afghanistan. thank you very much forjoining us.

it looks as if con dues is close to falling to the tele— band, if it is how significant is a? falling to the tele- band, if it is how significant is a?— falling to the tele- band, if it is how significant is a? well, i think it's definitely _ how significant is a? well, i think it's definitely significant - how significant is a? well, i think it's definitely significant i - how significant is a? well, i think it's definitely significant i think i it's definitely significant i think however that we understood that the taliban was preparing setting up a strategy also putting in place a ghost or shadow government across the country. they are pretty much prepared for when the us forces were going to leave the country. they had the patience of the last 20 years and they've been preparing for this. i think the announcement by the trump administration gave them the ready to really get all their pieces and people in place. so when the forces did withdraw it they could move very quickly. the forces did withdraw it they could move very quickly.— forces did withdraw it they could move very quickly. the afghan forces themselves are _ move very quickly. the afghan forces themselves are stretch _ move very quickly. the afghan forces themselves are stretch out _ move very quickly. the afghan forces themselves are stretch out than - themselves are stretch out than trying to protect so many different

targets. why hasn't the us air strike strategy stop the taliban? i think the taliban again, they are prepared for this. it's their country, they fought in these places before, they fought against the exact same, their fellow afghans before. the nds has been supported by the us and they are the traitors or the people who took the side of those other than the afghan people. it's something that i think that us forces never completely understood and air strikes are also quite limited. you are knocking to be able to strike the target country and every location that the taliban has their forces position. every location that the taliban has theirforces position. so this is a disadvantage and the fight is on the

ground. disadvantage and the fight is on the round. ., , . , disadvantage and the fight is on the iround. ., , ., , , disadvantage and the fight is on the round. ., , .,, , ~ ., ground. how stable is the afghan government _ ground. how stable is the afghan government at — ground. how stable is the afghan government at this _ ground. how stable is the afghan government at this point? - ground. how stable is the afghan government at this point? well, | ground. how stable is the afghan j government at this point? well, i don't think— government at this point? well, i don't think they're _ government at this point? well, i don't think they're very _ government at this point? well, i don't think they're very stable. i i don't think they're very stable. i don't think they're very stable. i don't think they're very stable. i don't think throughout the last 20 years they've ever been very stable. they've tried their best, the previous administration, probably had better relationships with governors and leaders across the country. particularly in kandahar, pashtun areas of the country. this administration has struggled tremendously with their engagement with even members of their own party. i think they are not readily prepared themselves are done the work to prepare themselves in either administration to really take control of the country and have given it there best effort to put in a government structure in order to govern the country so this didn't

happen in the first place. patricia degennaro. _ happen in the first place. patricia degennaro, international- happen in the first place. patricia| degennaro, international security consulting, thank you very much for your time. thousands more people have been evacuated from their homes in greece as forest fires continue to ravage the country. dozens of new fires have broken out in the last 2a hours with the biggest being in evia — greece's second largest island. areas in the peloponnese including arkadia and olympia, the birthplace of the olympic games are also affected. in evia, ferries have been evacuating hundreds of residents and holiday—makers. long queues of cars have formed at one port. residents are taking what they can with them — including pets. some have expressed their anger over what they see as failures of the greek authorities. our reporter bethany bell is on the island. here at the port, people are queueing up to get on ferries to take them back to the mainland. people have been receiving emergency alerts on their phones here in parts of the north of the island warning

them to leave. we spoke to one woman who said that she had packed up herfamily into their car, they'd managed to get away, but she was worried about whether she'd be able to see her holiday home again. one other woman told me she's staying here for the moment, but she's worried about the air here — it's full of smoke and there are bits of ash flying around, and she said her mother is 80 years old and she's worried about her being able to breathe. the ferries at the moment are only taking cars back to the mainland. they're not allowing new cars to come back here to the north of the island. meanwhile, the firefighters are struggling to try and bring these blazes under control, but it's an uphill task, and now the wind is picking up again. a team of british firefighters are on their way to athens to help. tony brown is one of them. our mission is to assist the greek authorities and the civil protection

to supplement their firefighting effort. we have a number of experts within the team who are wildfire experts who are european and world trained and we've got a team of 21 firefighters there to assist. what we're going to do tomorrow and this evening is fit in to the tactics, and that's myjob, to understand how we're going to fit into their plan and whether that plan, from our point of view, is considered and safe for our firefighters, so we will be working that out and we'll be working the language and communication out. most of us, especially the management team who are with the team are trained in the civil protection for european disasters and we understand how, you know, we communicate. british firefighter tony brown. officials in california say three firefighters have been injured tackling a huge wildfire in the north of the state. five people are missing after the dixie fire,

swept through two towns, destroying more than 180 thousand hectares in four counties. california's fire services said only around a fifth of the fire has been contained. the headlines on bbc news... after more than two weeks of thrilling sporting action — the tokyo olympic games end with a spectacular closing ceremony. and excitement in paris today as a flypast above the french capital marks the handover of the games to paris. another provincial capital in afghanistan falls to the taliban as they continue to make ferocious assaults against key northern cities. here in the uk new rules on foreign travel have come into force. people fully vaccinated against coronavirus can now visit france without quarantining on their return to the uk. seven countries including germany

have been added to the green list — but mexico is now on the red list, meaning a mandatory 10—day stay in a hotel for visitors coming back to britain. katy austin reports. for some passengers heading to france on holiday this morning, the fact they won't have to self—isolate when they return to the uk is a relief. we will no longer have to quarantine because we're double—jabbed. so, what does that mean for you? is that good in terms of work or anything like that? yeah, i mean, so we can come back to work — i'm self employed — and we get to go and see his family. brittany ferries has seen a surge in bookings, but still only hopes to carry half a million passengers this year, less than a quarter of pre—pandemic numbers. the season '21 will be i worse than the season '20 for brittany ferries, _ so i guess it's more than welcome this announcement, it's good news, but it comes in a year where, -

at the end of the day, for us, everything is about '22 - and making '22 a real. normalyear, hopefully. also from today, india and a handful of other places have moved to the amber list. however, mexico is among those joining the red list. that means paying for hotel quarantine. to avoid it, lotus and her husband, celebrating their anniversary after a tough year, scrambled to fly back to england a week early. i would be lying to you if i told you that i wasn't incredibly upset when it happened. i know that people say it can change quite quickly, but three days notice to travel from halfway across the world. struggling tourism and aviation businesses saw this season as crucial. one travel agent told me testing requirements were still putting many brits off booking foreign trips, and the latest change had only made a small difference. it's far too late to save the summer. for a lot of consumers, they've already made their plans,

and whilst we've seen an increase — literally, from the next day we have seen an increase — it's marginal, and when you think most businesses are trading 80% down you need a huge amount of volume to make up anywhere near the shortfall that they're experiencing. those who do now want to book a getaway will still need to check what the rules are for holiday—makers arriving at their destination. katie austin, bbc news. authorities in the chinese city of wuhan say they have completed citywide testing for covid—19 after a resurgence of cases more than a year after the coronavirus first emerged there. the city has tested more than 11 million people since tuesday — it includes all residents in the city except for children under the age of six and students on holiday abroad. the argentine footballer lionel messi has made a tearful farewell to barcelona, the spanish club hejoined

at the age of 13. messi has been at barcelona for more than 20 years, helping them win 3a trophies — including ten spanish and four uefa champions league titles. barcelona said it was letting him go because it could not afford to pay his wages. the 34—year—old did not say what he planned to do next, but acknowledged that a move to paris st germain was a possibility. he also expressed his deep affection for the club where he'd spent so much of his life. translation: many beautiful things happened to me here, bad too, i but all this helped me to grow, improve and made me the person i am today. we've had very good moments, bad ones too, but the affection of the people has been constant — i always felt it, the recognition, the love.

i felt it towards them, too, and the club, and will do all my life, i hope. a drug to treat cystic fibrosis, that became available on the nhs in england last year, is transforming lives. medics at the royal papworth hospital in cambridge say kaftrio is having an impact that some have described as "mind—blowing". richard westcott went to meet laura — who had been told she might not live beyond 30, but who has now celebrated that birthday in good health, and has even started a family. panting. this is life with cystic fibrosis. a few months ago, laura filmed herself exhausted by a simple walk. the transformation is incredible. after taking a newly—available drug, kaftrio, she's got her life back — and created a new one. say hello, louie. laura, when this drug first came out, you know, we were all hearing how amazing

it was, but did you, kind of, dare to hope it would have this kind of impact on your life? no, not really, because of how you feel with cf, living with it and how scary it can be, ijust thought, "no, two tablets in the morning, a tablet at night, how can that do "everything that everybody�*s telling me it's doing?" and it made me feel so much better, clearer, i could breathe better. ijust couldn't believe the effects that it was already having on me within even in the first few days. laura's lung function went from 52% to 92% in a matter of weeks, and after years of struggling to start a family... it only took seven weeks to fall pregnant, which is obviously incredible, and it has just been the best thing ever, because we've wanted to be parents for so long and then we've finally, as you call it, got our miracle baby. while we were filming, cf nurse chi came to say hello. chi, can ijust grab you for two seconds over here on the microphone? i mean, you've looked after laura

for years, haven't you? yes, yeah. what difference have you seen in her? oh, it's just amazing. like, i've seen her when she was 16 and now she's a mum, and it's alljust, like, a 360, so it'sjust amazing to see her have her dream come true with little louie and nick, and it's just very emotional. what do you think of little louie? 0h, ijust want a cuddle! i want to take him home. one of laura's consultants, uta, says the drug's transforming life expectancy. you have been in medicine a long time. have you ever seen a drug have this kind of impact? no, definitely not. this is really unique in my career in medicine. when i first started looking after cf patients, we were lucky if they would survive into their 30s or 40s, and now with this new treatment, i think this will change it all. this year has been i a big year for laura. she was told that she probablyl wouldn't see her 30th birthday. she's turned 30, she got kaftrio... now we've got our family and, yeah. the whole thing is a massive

outlook on life, completely. yeah. so, louie, what are you, three weeks in, now? your views on the world so far? baby hiccups. yeah, good answer. richard westcott, bbc news, cambridge. amsterdam has marked the 25th anniversary of its first pride parade. around 10 thousand people carried rainbow flags and banners through the city, capping off a month of events. a traditional canal parade — usually part of the festivities — was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. a reminder of our top story — the toyko olympics have ended after two weeks of gripping sport but without any crowds. paris has been celebrating — they will be hosting the games in three years' time, three years rather than four because

the olympics were postponed from russia because of the coronavirus pandemic. already they have taken over from tokyo and there have been a fly pass from the eiffel tower. you are watching a fly pass from the eiffel tower. bbc news. let's ta ke let's take a look at the weather forecast with thomas. once again today we've got big shower caught on the horizon, downpours, thunder and lightning possible to. and on the later satellite picture you can see there is a lot of cloud across the uk and only here and there we have lengthy sunny spells. and, actually, lengthy sunny spells possible second half of the day across the south—west of the uk. the heavy showers will be mostly across the northern half of the country, and particularly slow—moving, for example, in scotland and northern england, so the downpour will last longer because it's not being pushed by the stronger winds,

which are a little bit further south. so, the showers continue through the course of this evening and overnight, but there will be some clear spells around too — for example in the midlands, in wales, not a cold night. and then tomorrow, the showers will be more scattered, so that means there'll be more sunny spells developing, and, in fact, for some of us it may end up being a pretty decent day. if you want some drier, brighter weather it's looking better on tuesday.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... after more than two weeks of thrilling sporting action, the tokyo olympic games end with a spectacular closing ceremony. and excitement in paris today as a flypast above the french capital marks the handover of the games to paris. another provincial capital in afghanistan falls to the taliban as they continue to make ferocious assaults against key northern cities. thousands flee their homes in greece as forest fires burn out of control. the country faces its most intense heatwave in more than 30 years. new changes to the uk's covid travel restrictions come into force. double vaccinated people travelling from france to the uk will no longer have to isolate.

we're used to seeing spectacular pictures of world class athletes at the olympics — but what we don't see is how much work it takes to capture world class photos. bbc news has spoken to three sports photographers about their favourite shots from the games so far. what makes a great sports photograph? it's gotta be impactful, it could be in—your—face action shots, celebrations, emotion, dejection. subtleties, details. artistic compositions. the beauty about sports photography is it can take on so many different forms. my name's lawrence griffiths. i'm chief photographer in the uk of sport with getty images and this is my third summer games. i look at life as a photographer. you know, as soon as i'm walking into a place, i'm analysing what i've got, you know, i'm looking at the way

the light is, i'm looking — you know, i walk into a venue and i'm assessing backgrounds, i'm assessing angles. obviously lady luck does play a part, but if you want to get those perfect moments, you have to get the perfect spot and you have to get there early. three hours, four hours before, to sit in that spot. you know, if you leave it, someone willjump in it. i think a lot of people think you just turn up, take a few pictures and go home, but, you don't, like, it's early morning, you've got a lot of camera gear, it's so hot out here as well so it's quite physically tough. your day kinda never really stops. for me, it's gotta be a great picture to look at, it's gotta be something that kind of draws you in, something that you think, wow, not only does it capture the moment of that sport but it's, you know, aesthetically very nice to look at. i had a brilliant position at opening ceremony — bang opposite the cauldron.

i was able to take in all the fireworks and all the razzmatazz.