welcome to bbc news, i'm david eades. our top stories: new york's governor bows to pressure and resigns over a series of sexual harrassment cases. andrew cuomo says he's going for the greater good: i work for you and doing the right thing is doing the right thing for you. thousands continue to flee major afghan cities in search of safety as the taliban capture their eighth provincial capital in a matter of days. at least 42 people, including 25 soldiers, are killed trying to fight forest fires in algeria.

hence andrew declined to comment declining reports and allegations that have come out. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. fellow democrats wanted him out, even president biden said he should go — now, finally, the governor of new york state, andrew cuomo, has quit his office a full week after the state attorney general found him guilty of sexually harrassing 11 women. it's a humiliating outcome for one of the most high profile political figures in the democratic party. but as he announced his departure mr cuomo also denied any intentional misconduct, and said he was gearing up to fight the allegations. nada tawfik has this report.

once i new york hero, today a target of ridicule. andrew cuomo fall from grace has been a dramatic one. for many months, the government sought to stain office following allegations of sexual harassment but with the threat of impeachment looming, he announced he would step aside. i think given the circumstances, the best way i can help now is if i step aside and let government get back to governing and therefore that is what i will do. his governing and therefore that is what i will do.— what i will do. his fate was sealed by _ what i will do. his fate was sealed by an _ what i will do. his fate was sealed by an independent. sealed by an independent investigation by the state attorney general is off office last week and found he engaged in unwanted touching and inappropriate comments to ii inappropriate comments to 11 women. one of those, and eight broke her silence after filing a complaint after accusing him of kissing her and groping her breasts and buttocks. truth? of kissing her and groping her breasts and buttocks. why did our breasts and buttocks. why did your father — breasts and buttocks. why did your father complaint? - breasts and buttocks. why did your father complaint? it - breasts and buttocks. why did your father complaint? it was | your father complaint? it was riaht your father complaint? it was right thing — your father complaint? it was right thing to _ your father complaint? it was right thing to do. _ your father complaint? it was right thing to do. the - your father complaint? it was l right thing to do. the governor needs— right thing to do. the governor needs to — right thing to do. the governor needs to held accountable. just

so unclear— needs to held accountable. just so unclear again, _ needs to held accountable. jut so unclearagain, being so unclear again, being accountable to you, being seen the governor charged with a crime. what he did to me was a crime. what he did to me was a crime. what he did to me was a crime. , ., ~ ., crime. he broke the law. prominent _ crime. he broke the law. prominent democrats, . crime. he broke the law. - prominent democrats, including presidentjoe biden, said the resignation was a good outcome for the state. many new yorkers agree. for the state. many new yorkers auree. . , for the state. many new yorkers a. ree, ., , ., for the state. many new yorkers airee, ., ., agree. -- it was a long time coming- _ agree. -- it was a long time coming- i — agree. -- it was a long time coming. i feel _ agree. -- it was a long time coming. i feel good - agree. -- it was a long time coming. i feel good that - agree. -- it was a long time coming. i feel good that he| coming. i feel good that he resigned~ _ coming. i feel good that he resigned~ i_ coming. i feel good that he resigned. i didn't— coming. i feel good that he resigned. i didn't think - coming. i feel good that he resigned. i didn't think it. resigned. i didn't think it would _ resigned. i didn't think it would happen. _ resigned. i didn't think it would happen.— resigned. i didn't think it would happen. resigned. i didn't think it would ha en. . , would happen. the evidence is wa too would happen. the evidence is way too much. _ would happen. the evidence is way too much, it _ would happen. the evidence is way too much, it is _ would happen. the evidence is way too much, it is smart - would happen. the evidence is way too much, it is smart to i would happen. the evidence is| way too much, it is smart to do this in the wisest thing is donein this in the wisest thing is done in a long time. i’m this in the wisest thing is done in a long time. i'm happy and unhappy is _ done in a long time. i'm happy and unhappy is not _ and it did not become uglier than it could have been and it was _ than it could have been and it was ugly— than it could have been and it was ugly enough. just than it could have been and it was ugly enough.— than it could have been and it was ugly enough. just year ago, andrew cuomo _ was ugly enough. just year ago, andrew cuomo was _ was ugly enough. just year ago, andrew cuomo was seen - was ugly enough. just year ago, andrew cuomo was seen as - was ugly enough. just year ago, andrew cuomo was seen as the | andrew cuomo was seen as the most popular governors for his handling over the pandemic and praised for his public support of the me too movement, all the while investigators say he abused the highest office in the state and created a toxic workforce. with his upcoming exit, a woman will now lead new

york and his deputy will become the first female governor in the first female governor in the state's history. the downfall of another powerful man in america shows the enduring impact of the me too movement but also calls into question how much is really changed? max kutner is a journalist and political analyst in new york. he says the govenor�*s resignation, when it came, happened quickly. even days ago, his office is releasing photos of him hugging and kissing people and saying thatis and kissing people and saying that is how he is and how was raised. so certainly going from that to his resignation in one week but there really does not seem a way around it. president biden was calling for this. democrats from his own party in the state was calling for that and really trying to distance themselves from the governor. i spoke with a spokesperson for a democratic senator or the state just a couple of days ago about a totally unrelated topic, a

piece of legislation, and even that spokesperson used as an opportunity to distance that state's senator from andrew cuomo. we have seen resignations of people from his office including a top eight of use in the next two eight in the few days. i —— aide. taliban militants in afghanistan are said to have raised theirflag on the main square and the governor's office in pul—e—khumri — the capital of baghlan province about 5.5 hours' drive north of kabul. they've now seized eight of the country's 3a provincial capitals. in farah, in the north—west, which also fell on monday, there's been heavy fighting, but in other cities government forces have withdrawn. it's being reported that thousands of civilians have been killed or wounded in fighting. caroline hawley has the story. the aftermath of the battle for kunduz, the northern city captured by the taliban on sunday, the terrifying cost of urban warfare. the un and other aid agencies are now growing increasingly

alarmed at the mounting toll it's taking. civilians have fled the taliban advances in their tens of thousands. many have reached the relative safety of the capital kabul. translation: those who have been displaced are in a very - bad and frustrating situation, but those in the government have not sent a representative here to help. there's little comfort for them here, but they've left far worse behind. people are living infearand dread. women are already being killed and shot for breaching rules that have been imposed on what they can wear and on where they can move without a male escort. it's time for the international community to prioritise peace in afghanistan. securing a ceasefire is the aim of these talks taking place in the qatari capital, doha, over the next few days. the us special representative for afghanistan, zalmay khalilzad, hopes to persuade the taliban to halt their offensive, started after foreign troops began

to withdraw in may. afghan government forces are trying to repel the advances, but it's the taliban who have the momentum now and very little incentive to stop. caroline hawley, bbc news. but the us senate has passed a $1 trillion infrastructure plan intended to restore some of the ageing and often crumbling transport systems across the us. what makes this especially noteworthy is that the bill won support from both democrats and republicans, 19 of them voting in favour and bucking the longstanding trend of highly divided party politicking in congress. so this bipartisan success story now goes to the house of representatives, and if passed there, would head to president biden�*s desk.

i know compromises hard for both sides. but it is important, it is important and necessary for democracy to be able to function. i want to thank everyone on both sides of the aisle for supporting this bill, today, we prove that democracy can still work. well, earlier i spoke to to max burns is a democratic strategist and journalist and put to him this will go down as a big win for president biden. this is a very incredible moment forjoe biden. he has come a long way from february when zero republicans joined come a long way from february when zero republicansjoined in his covid stimulus bill to now see 19 republicans across party lines against the explicit demands of the former president donald trump and actuallyjoin the biden administration to get this past is a great validation of the argument that he can lower the temperature in washington and get work done. the further you get away from washington and indeed the united states the more people

think is a very binary equation, republicans versus democrats, but there is another game in town, isn't there? and thatis game in town, isn't there? and that is the progressives within the democratic party who are really not terribly happy with the direction the bill is going and are ready to dig their heels in a little bit. is this where the real problems lie with joe where the real problems lie withjoe biden going ahead? that's right, in victory, there are a dozen more problems for the white house, the chief of those being the congresswoman from new york and the progressive caucus of about 96 members in the house. they have said that if democrats do not also pass a $3.5 trillion reconciliation budget bill being considered now, with significant climate change and social spending, that they will block debate of the biden bill in the house and have the numbers to make good on that threat. so it's something that joe biden is certainly taking

seriously. joe biden is certainly taking seriously-— joe biden is certainly taking seriousl . ~ . , ., , seriously. what is a problem for joe seriously. what is a problem forjoe biden _ seriously. what is a problem forjoe biden there - seriously. what is a problem forjoe biden there then - seriously. what is a problem forjoe biden there then it i forjoe biden there then it because if you're talking about spending on climate change mitigation or management, he would say yes we have to do it. if you look at some of the social spending is that a have to do that. but i suppose it's probably paid for and this is where the problem is life? that is one of the — where the problem is life? that is one of the hiccups _ where the problem is life? that is one of the hiccups in - where the problem is life? trust is one of the hiccups in the party, the centrist, moderate senators like joe party, the centrist, moderate senators likejoe manchin party, the centrist, moderate senators like joe manchin from west virginia are booking a little bit of raising the pricetag of this partyline bill but it does appear that the president is open to most of what the left and the progressives are open for, their reconciliation bill introduced this week contains almost 90% of what they asked for. so it's looking tougher than to argue that this is not a significant victory for them. and as you put it a reconciliation bill, a budget reconciliation bill, a budget reconciliation be, that essentially means a straight majority is required, 50, plus one? . , majority is required, 50, plus one? ., , . one? that is correct, with

other legislation - one? that is correct, with other legislation bill - one? that is correct, with other legislation bill that l other legislation bill that requires 60 votes in the senate, this will only require 50, plus one, and the democrats have shown they are perfectly willing to do that and use vice—president paris break the tie. vice-president paris break the tie. . , an american woman has filed a civil lawsuit in new york, accusing prince andrew — the queen's third child — of sexual abuse. in a statement, virginia giuffre, claims she was trafficked to the prince by the late, convicted paedophilejeffrey epstein, when she was 17. prince andrew himself has consistently denied the allegations. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. which of the people in this photograph is telling the truth? the man, prince andrew, who categorically denies any impropriety? or the woman, virginia giuffre, who alleges she was sexually assaulted by him on three occasions? ms giuffre has made these allegations before. she's now followed up with a civil claim filed

at a district court in new york. the claim states that when she was 17, she was the victim of sex trafficking. the document states... it goes on to refer to "prince andrew's criminal acts" and states in conclusion... tonight, ms giuffre's lawyer issued this warning to prince andrew. i think it would be very ill—advised for prince andrew to ignore judicial process. he can ignore me. but if he does, it's going to be a default judgement against him and,

in addition, will be a judgement that can be enforced not only in the united states but in virtually every civilised country in the world. earlier, prince andrew had offered no reaction to the lawsuit. his position remains as it was in his interview with newsnight�*s emily maitlis in november 2019, when he denied any improper behaviour with ms giuffre — or virginia roberts, as she was then. you can say categorically that you don't recall meeting virginia roberts, dining with her, dancing with her at tramp or going on to have sex with her in a bedroom in a house in belgravia? i can absolutely, categorically tell you it never happened. do you recall any kind of sexual contact with virginia roberts, then or at any other time? none whatsoever. the civil claim has been lodged with the court. andrew will doubtless be hoping

it doesn't lead to a hearing, as will his family. buckingham palace is doing its best to keep everything to do with prince andrew at arm's length. but whatever the truth of these claims, the very fact that a member of the royal family finds himself facing them is clearly damaging. prince andrew has withdrawn from public life with the royal family. for all his denials, these latest developments suggest there can be little immediate prospect of him restoring his public reputation. nicholas witchell, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: building a new olympic spectacle — beijing prepares to become the first city in history to host both a summer and winter gamesjust six months after tokyo. the big crowds became bigger as the time of the funeral approached. as the lines of fans became

longer, the police prepared for a hugejob of crowd control. idi amin, uganda's brutal former dictator has died at the age of 80. he's been buried in saudi arabia where he lived in exile since being overthrown in 1979. two billion people around i the world have seen the last total eclipse of the sun to - take place in this millennium. it began itsjourney off the coast of canada, . ending three hours later when the sun set over. the bay of bengal.

this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: andrew cuomo resigns as governor of new york state after an inquiry found he sexually harassed eleven women. as civilians flee their homes, there's warnings of thousands of deaths and injuries in afghanistan, with the taliban capturing an eighth provincial capital. wildfires in algeria have killed at least 42 people, including 25 members of the military who were fighting the blazes in forests to the east of the capital, algiers. algeria is the latest country on the mediterranean to be hit by wildfires. dozens killed and land scorched, algeria is the latest company to be faced with disastrous wildfires. more than 100 fires rage and several providences in the east of the

capital, claiming the lives of both civilians and soldiers who were deployed to rescue algerians from the flames. while some villages were evacuated, others stayed back, using tree branches to calm the flames. translation: ., , translation: there are fires everywhere. _ translation: there are fires everywhere. we _ translation: there are fires everywhere, we have - translation: there are fires everywhere, we have not - translation: there are fires| everywhere, we have not seen the government here. we do not have estate. the people are the government, long live the members from the civil protection teams. the flames have burnt the country's famed olive trees. and clouded the streets with smoke. these are becoming worryingly familiar scenes, as wildfires continue to burn across several countries. greece's prime minister apologised to the nation for the fires that have been tearing through since late july, tearing through since late july, and said climate change has fuelled the fires, increasing the risk of hot, dry weather. his minister in charge of civil protection broke down

when asked about the country's failings. translation: i failings. translation: ., ., translation: i want to say something- — translation: i want to say something. every _ translation: i want to say something. every house - translation: | want to say| something. every house that translation: | want to say i something. every house that is lost is a tragedy for all of us and it is a strike to our hearts, but what i know as a massive battle was raged during recent days. we have all remained without sleep throughout all these days. more high temperatures are expected in the coming weeks, meaning more land and lives could be vulnerable. we have breaking news from china. a court has found a canadian businessman are guilty of espionage, sentenced to 11 years in prison. he was detained since late 2018. the verdict will test the strained relationship between the

comments. ottawa claims he was arbitrarily detained. the court upheld a death sentence for another canadian who was accused of drug smuggling. that usejust coming in. here in the uk, the health secretary says plans are in place to offer some of the most vulnerable people a booster vaccination against covid—19 from next month. but experts including professor andrew pollard, the man behind the oxford astrazeneca vaccine argue additionaljabs would be better used on people around the world who've not yet had any vaccinations. going for a major boost to programme in the uk is a really difficult one, both in what we're talking about in terms of what would be a moral failure with no doses and many parts of the world and three doses here, so there is that that aspect. there is also the messaging because that says to the other countries is that we need three doses, and so that has a huge

implication for sucking even more doses out of the system. the uk'sjoint committee on vaccination and immunisation is due to publish its findings into the ongoing protection from vaccines before the booster rollout is confirmed but there are already some clues from other countries, including a study of more than 50,000 people in the us that showed protection does lower with time. nference is the medical research company that oversaw that study. their co—founder and chief scientific officer venky soundararajan explained their findings. number one, there is a new variant, the variant of concern, the delta variant, which is clearly playing into the vaccine effectiveness which me and others have observed. those who got the vaccine early seem to have higher odds of

infection risk, so coupling these two factors will be really important. i suppose the key for most of us is that if we get infected, how badly do we suffer? now, the results are still pretty good. exactly, exactly, so i see you and hospitalisations are dramatically reduced. do we really need a boosterjab was to mark it as a good question and when you look at revolution we need to stay one step ahead of what is happening. clearly the delta variant from the time that we have been following it and the time that it is now upon us, and during that time. what we have learned is that vaccines are well—designed and the shots that regard, the two shot programme in the context of of

the mrna vaccines, there is a durability factor that needs to be considered. and as the delta variant becomes more prevalent, particularfor variant becomes more prevalent, particular for the pfizer and biontech vaccine, we are seeing a significant diminishing of the effectiveness, which necessitates a conversation and the right thinking from a data science standpoint about what does it mean to get a booster shot? who should be prioritised to get the booster shot? and what is the compromise, globally, when you look at pockets of unvaccinated or unvaccinated communities who do not have access to the resources that we do. given this is a global pandemic, this will have to be a fine balance. we have just had will have to be a fine balance. we havejust had one olympic games, the next is six months ahead. the winter games in beijing. before the current delta variant outbreak, chinese officials were confident they could have crowds for all events — now they're not so sure.

but there are also political challenges for the chinese government hosting the games, as it's accused of serious human rights abuses. our china correspondent stephen mcdonell has more. in the mountains around the chinese capital, thousands of workers are busy. next to the space age skijumping centre, they're making the most of the summer months for construction. justin downes is a canadian winter sport specialist who's been advising games organisers. well, there's no question beijing will be ready for the competitions. in fact, all of the competition venues are already ready and they've already hosted test events, so what you see going on around us here isjust the supporting infrastructure. before the sliding centre is iced overfor the bobsleigh runs, they're putting on the finishing touches. a high—speed train connection with the city is already operating.

around it, hotels, temporary stands for spectators, food and beverage sites are all being built. here at the olympic village, there's still work to be done to have everything ready in time for the games. beijing's been fortunate, though, in that it's been able to study tokyo to work out the logistics in a time of coronavirus. over three years ago, we filmed some of the test events here. despite the pandemic, china's officials had also been planning to have spectators at the coming olympics. that was before a delta variant outbreak reintroduced the coronavirus to china. yet, they say they're still hopeful to bring it under control in time. and most people here seem pretty optimistic about what the beijing games will bring.

this area already has the feeling of a full—blown the hope is that after the olympics, there will be an explosion in china of interest in skiing and the like, and that these facilities will get used quite a lot. one of the things that the beijing olympics is going to find hard to shake is the political element. there are allegations of serious human rights abuses in this country, and some are calling for a boycott of the games. well, here we are at the top of the mountain — not bad, eh? even ruins of the great wall of china overlook the winter olympic sites. but with the coronavirus lingering, how many people will be able to take this all in? stephen mcdonell,

bbc news, beijing. all due to start february 2022. hello. tuesday brought us our first 25 celsius day in the uk in over two weeks. and, while some of that warmth will still be felt on wednesday across the south and east of the country with some sunny spells, clouding over into the afternoon, it's the cloudier conditions in the north and west which will bring different conditions compared to what we've seen. much more in the way of rain and breeze, all courtesy of these weather fronts pushing in off the atlantic. heaviest of the rain into the start of the day across parts of northern ireland and the very far west of scotland, but quite a mild and humid start here, 111—15 celsius. fresher in the east, where there will be a few mist and fog patches, but the best of the morning sunshine. now, the sunshine, as i said, will be best in the morning, clouding over from the west, so there's still some sunny spells to the south and the east. northern ireland should cheer up

into the afternoon with some sunshine, and into late afternoon, we'll see that sunshine develop across western scotland, too. but after the morning sunshine across the far north, into orkney and eastern parts of scotland, a rather damp afternoon, rain coming and going. rain at times in northwest england, though areas around the merseyside, cheshire area may just about stay dry. patchy rain across wales and southwest england through the afternoon, but much of the midlands, east anglia and the southeast dry, with temperatures around 211—25 celsius yet again, and a fine day in the channel islands, too. now, that weather front bringing the rain actually just fizzles as it pushes its way eastwards as we go into wednesday night and thursday morning. not much in it as it reaches parts of southern england, the midlands, and east anglia. clearer skies to the north of it means a cooler night to take us into thursday, particularly across scotland and northern ireland. temperatures more widely into single figures. but for thursday, we're between two weather fronts — one which is stalling across the south of the country, and this next one across the deepening area of low pressure out to the west of the uk. does mean most will start off dry with some sunshine, a few showers around. a lot more cloud, though,

southern counties of england, east anglia, with some patchy rain and drizzle which will move its way a bit further northwards through the day. but to the north and west, the breeze will pick up, gales across western parts of scotland, parts of northern ireland, too, and some heavy bursts of rain later. in the sunshine, though, for many, temperatures still where we should be for the time of year, 20—24 celsius. friday sees yet more in the way of heavy, thundery showers across parts of western scotland. winds remain strong. blustery day for all. still some cloud lingering across the south, but sunshine elsewhere. bye for now.

has quit his office a week

this is bbc news, the headlines: the governor of new york state