>> you are watching "live from paris" on france 24. the end of an era. u.s. troops pull out of their main military base in afghanistan after nearly 20 years of war. this as the taliban continues to gain more ground. french prosecutors launch a probe into major fashion groups over profiting from forced uighur labor. and brazilian prosecutors open a

probe into allegations that president bolsonaro sought -- sat on evidence of vaccinations in a covid-19 deal. it marks the end of an era -- after nearly 20 years, u.s. troops have left afghanistan's bagram airbase. it had been the center of u.s. operations against the taliban and al qaeda. president biden pressing the accelerator on the withdrawal of forces but denied that a full withdrawal is imminent. that is still set for september 11. >> after two decades of american

presence, bagram airport. >> and repeat that this country is ours. >> program has become a symbol of foreign occupation in afghanistan. it was the main air base used by coalition forces since the u.s. invasion in 2001, becoming a makeshift village with a hospital and even fast food restaurants. some 100,000 soldiers lived there. this nerve center in the fight against the taliban will likely be remembered for housing a secret facility for housing

terrorists where torture was conducted. on friday, the u.s. president said everything was going according to plan for withdrawal. >> we're are exactly where we expected to be. i wanted to make sure there was enough running room that we would be able to do it all by september. it is a rational drawdown with our ally troops. >> after september, only soldiers tasked with protecting diplomatic personnel will remain. the afghan people have mixed feelings about the withdrawal. on the one hand, content to turn the page on this period of their country's history. on the other hand, afraid over new tensions with the taliban. >> for more, we bring in the deputy dean of education in the

government university of exeter 's social science department. critics have said that the u.s.'s withdrawal from bagram was irresponsible, given the absence of any kind of peace deal with the taliban. what are your thoughts? she was there for a quick second, but i think we have lost her. we will try to get her back later on in the program. going to move on now and to pass over to florida where the death toll from last week's building collapse has risen to 20. bodies.crewsound t more 140 people still missing, lowered from 145 after duplicate names were eliminated and some

on the list turned up safe. major fashion brands being investigated i french prosecutors have denied profiting from the forced labor of uighur muslims in china. brands are accused of sourcing cotton from the singeing region where uighurs are tortured in a run camps. >> it is the latest chapter in the global real -- the global row over cotton. french authorities have opened an investigation into 4 fashion houses accused of concealing crimes against humanity. the probe is i response to a legal complaint filed by an alliance of ngo's in april,

which accused the companies of continuing to martin -- market goods produced in shenzhen using the forced labor of uighurs. the government has reiterated that it has zero tolerance for forced labor. on french company said it would cooperate with french authorities to prove the allegations false. another friend said it had not been contacted by french authorities, insisting none of its manufacturing partners are located in change in -- in shenzhen and that it's products are free of forced labor.

washington's decision to b products produced in the north region of china is due to suspected human rights violations in shenzhen. the european union, britain, and canada have imposed sanctions on chinese officials over their treatment of uighurs. let's bring back the deputy dean of education at the government university of essex. thank you very much for joining us. critics have said the u.s. withdrawal from bagram was irresponsible given the absence of any kind of peace deal with taliban. what are your thoughts? >> the biden administration felt that their presence there was not really helping matters and that it really was only a matter of time that the taliban was going to be taking over much of the country as it was. even with u.s. troops there, the taliban either controlled or was contesting every single

province. in the last two months, they have gained 25% more control, so the u.s. felt that they had spent over $2 trillion at this pot. many troops had been there, and it still was not really making angst much better. the other issue for bided -- is still was not really making things much popular. the other issue for biden is it is not very popular this is viewed by t u.s. publics something that was long overdue and that the u.s. maybe should not have been there in the first place, but critics are worried about what will happen now for afghanistan. as you mentioned, there is no peace deal, and you see the taliban and is likely to take control, some experts say even within six months. >> that's right. some experts say the afghan government could collapse within six months. do you think this -- do you

think there is a real possibility this could actually happen on september 11, the withdrawal of forces? >> i think that could happen. they have been able to take down afghan troops with such speed. the taliban has some 85,000 troops, and the afghan troops are really reliant on the u.s., and they still are going to be reliant on the u.s. 80% of the afghan military is funded by u.s. aid. there's questions about how they will survive financially. i'm sure the u.s. will continue to provide some support. you will also have the u.s. based in qatar and the uae, and you also have an aircraft carrier in the arabian peninsula, but that is not really about saving the taliban.

it is really more about keeping and i on the rise of al qaeda or other violent nonstate groups. i think it is inevitable we will see afghanistan predominantly under taliban control, which is exactly where we were back in 2001. >> back in 2001, we were just starting off this war. no one must have really imagine how long it would go on for. if you take stock, what do you think the u. has achieved in this 20-year war? >> i think sadly, it is very little. as i mentioned, we really are back to square one because we have the taliban in control, and they were not really able to establish a democracy. they tried to work with local afghans but in the end were using a lot of ex-pats to create a government. they were not able to implement a lot of state building.

they were starting from scratch, and it was a very difficult assignment, but their objective was supposed to be to get rid of al qaeda, and instead, they embarked on this massive state-building project, and that is where things went wrong. in doing so, they were not really able to achieve what they set out to. >> have to leave it there, but thank you for joining us. let's move on now to brazil where the country's top prosecutor has opened a probe into claims the president knew about but failed to report alleged corruption in the factories of a coronavirus vaccine. last week, brazil's senate had infoation that a deal to purchase the indian covid-19 vaccine was a front to embezzle millions of dollars.

brazil's government has denied any wrongdoing. >> this is part of the fallout from that commission of inquiry into the government's handling of the pandemic. it has bece evident the government w very late, perhaps reluctant at first t buy vaccines at a very protracted negotiatis with a number of vaccine suppliers. the indian vaccine was more expensive than the others and at the time of the negotiation, in february, march, was still under contract. irregularities in the contract were brought to the attention of

prident bolsonaro, including 100% upfront paynt not to the company producing the vaccine but to a brazilian intermediary. president bolsonaro is alleged to have said when he understood that this was a corruptcheme being organized by a certain politician thahe would take this up with the role police. far as we know, he did nothing. this leaves him open to charges of obstruction of justice and also of maladministration. bolsonaro was elected on an anticorruption ticket and spent two and lf years saying there's no evidence of corruption in my government. that has changed. over the last two weeks, he has been saying it is impossible to know what is going on in all of his ministries. that anticorruption line has certainly been weakened, and you can imagine he will certainly pay a price for that. >> a new wave of coronavirus is

sweeping across the african continent driven by the delta variant. cases are doubling every three weeks according to the well help in a station. the delta strain is twice as contagious as the original, fueling concerns about the crowds at the euro 2020 football games. >> nighttime curfews are back in portugal. the last two weeks, the number of coronavirus cases has almost doubled, reaching a daily count of 2500 on thursday, the highest number since february. health officials say the rise is driven by the highly contagious delta variant. in response, the government is imposing an 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. curfew in 45 districts, including lisbon and other cities popular with tourists.

>> [speaking foreign language] >> meanwhile, the world health organization is raising a red flag about large crowds attending the euro 2020 championship football matches. the who says the games are to blame for a 10% rise of cases in host cities. >> this is not unexpected. these types of events are happening all around the region. all arou the world, we are seeing a lot of image. we need to look much beyond just the stadia themselves. >> italy has imposed a five-day quarantine for anyone entering the country from britain in the

previous two weeks. for its part, england is not heeding the advice of the who, allowing some 60,000 fans to attend each of the final games in london next week. >> it is time now for a look at the day's top business news. we are starting with some rather encouraging employment numbers out of the u.s. ask the u.s. labor department has released its latest monthly jobs report, eight hundred 50,000 nonfarm payrolls added for june, well over expectation of just 700,000. wages up 3.7% for the month, but up 3.6% from a year earlier. numbers helping to ease concerns over a labor shortage in the u.s. as hiring picks up in the hospitality and tourism sectors. the company has recovered 15.6

million out of 22 million jobs lost during the pandemic. >> we have now created over 3 million jobs since i took office. more jobs than have ever been created in the first five months of any presidency in modern history thanks to the incredible work of the entire team. this is historic progress, pulling our economy out of the worst crisis in 100 years, driven in part by our dramatic progress in vaccinating our nation and beating back the pandemic. >> wall street certainly pleased as those numbers show the u.s. recovery gathering steam. boeing shares lost about 1.25% after pilots were forced to dig a 737 cargo jet in the ocean near hawaii. the s&p -- that, though, closing at record highs as they gained about .75% each. more than 80% of french

vacationers who might otherwise have gone abroad decided to stay in the country this summer. hotels and campsites are seeing occupancy rates soar even higher than pre-pandemic levels, but the tourism industry does have one major challenge -- a shortage of seasonal labor. it is being met in part by students. >> in this hotel complex over the mediterranean, the upcoming hotel season is busy. in july, nine out of 10 rooms are already booked, but it is proving difficult to find the staff to clean them. >> in a season like this, where it is proving hard-to-find workers, we all have to do our part. >> france's hotel industry says the sector lost 110 thousand jobs in 2020 and has already lost 31,000 in the first three months of 2021. many seasonal workers have not returned for the year. many foreign workers are staying

away for now, but that's good news for students in france. john baptiste was spoiled for choice when he was looking for a summer job. >> i applied to a few places, and all accepted me, but in the end, i decided to work here. >> without students, they would not have been able to open. >> half of our staff are students, which has not been the case before. >> france's tourism industry was already short of workers, and the covid-19 pandemic has only exacerbated that shortage. without the staff to keep it running, the country's economy faces another hurdle on the road to recovery. >> the eu, meanwhile, is getting set to introduce what is called a digital levy on a wide range of companies. the commission vice president said the new charges will cover hundreds of firms, most of them european, and wl be used in

part to repay the 750 billion euros they collectively agreed to borrow to finance recovery from the pandemic. this comes on the heels of thursday's announcement by the we cd that 130 nations have agreed to a minimum 15% tax rate -- announcement by the oecd. >> the agreement is for the 100 biggest companies. this is for many, many more. from i think mostly europeans for more sides of the world, and has the potential of financing sort of our common costs of the european union among recovery and resilience plans. >> the united nations generation of olive or wrapped up friday, its goal to promote gender

equality. in the u.s., the situation has been improving in recent months, particularly within the white house. female biden administration staffers earn a gap of less than 1% of male counterparts, compared to close to 30% during the trump administration. progress there, but still a bit of a gap. >> thank you very much for that. let's bring you today's "focus" report which takes us to spain where nine separatist leaders were freed last week after the spanish government pardoned them. pedro sanchez hopes his gesture will lead to reconciliation in the northwestern region, but

separatist call the move insufficient, and unionist say the move is a dangerous concession to those who tried to break up the country. >> in a village in catalonia, she is welcome back as a heroin. she was released from jail after serving three years for her part in the independence bid of 2017. >> it is so good to be home with all of you. i want to thank you. i would not have been able to cope with those 1200 days in jail without you. >> this former minister was found guilty of sedition and abusing public funds to hold a banned independence referendum. she will not have to serve the remainder of her sentence after the central government pardoned her. >> the pardoned is only for the

nine of us who were in prison. we want general amnesty for everyone, with the 3000 other catalans who are suffering from the justice system. >> years after their jailing, she says nothing has changed. >> we've got to do everything. we are going to continue. anything is possible. thank you, everyone. >> the goal is the same -- to make catalonia a new country. >> i think these pardons open the door to a political solution so that political roots can begin. >> her childhood friends think the political movement will reopen the independence movement. >> people were frightened when they were removed from power, but we are still mobilized. and free.

this is a great victory. but the struggle goes on. >> in barcelona, we meet a socialist deputy in the regional parliament at a conference. >> it was needed to open up a new phase in catalonia. it was not possible to continue that narrative. >> he does not fear the organization of another illegal referendum and points to the loss of momentum of activists. >> they could not do it again, though. their supporters are tired. their leaders do not get along. >> member of the school of catalan economists says their figures show the wealthy region

deserves more money. >> catalonia represents 16% of the spanish population, contributes about 19% of the country's gdp and only receives 14% of public spending. this difference persists and causes an imbalance. >> catalonia's presidential building run by separatists flies this banner, a message that of many catalans. -- that appalls many catalans. >> the banner says the prisoners were jailed for expressing an opinion, but what they did was break the constitution and the law. >> the catalan separatist propaganda is always about discrediting spain's democracy and presenting it as a dictatorship. >> most spaniards are against the government pardons. many consider them a betrayal.

>> we feel really humiliated, ignored, and out raged. we cannot let this go. we have put up with too much. they think the scars have healed in just three years. no, they are still raw. what happened here was really serious. really serious. they wanted to make us foreigners in our own country. >> the pardon is not being given for free. the prisoners did not ask to be pardoned. they have not said that they regretted their actions. they have said several times they would do it again. >> the government proposed this measure because there parliamentary majority is too weak. they depend on the separatist deputies. >> a view shared by the main opposition parties. the people's party, the liberal citizens, and the far right party have all appealed the pardons.

>> the justice system is being threatened. we will take action every time the separation of powers is under threat. they have privileges no other citizen would have had. we would like the supreme court to overturn this decision and put them back in prison, like any other criminal. >> spain's opposition is hoping the decision cost the country's left-wing the government of the next general election in 2023. >> we are taking a short break, but there's more news next. stay tuned to france 24. ♪ >> the planet is suffering. climate catastrophe is at our doorstep. emissions are soaring. species are disappearing. but a mass movement is under way to make things right. scientists, engineers,

politicians, business leaders, and, of course, teenagers. we give them all a voice here. >> a major force is the good we could do at the end. >> "down to earth" on france 24 and france24.com. >> ever since a huge fire ripped through notre dame, this huge cathedral has been turned into a giant building site. now, two years on, the work to secure and shore up the structure is mostly finished, but the hard work is far from over. >> don't miss "notre dame revisited: the heart of the cathedral," alongside men and women working to save its fire damaged roots. "notre dame revisited" on france 24 and france24.com. ♪

072/21 07/02/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we the people have decided we don't like billionaires -- to light we have decided we don't like voter suppression. amico in a pair of major rulings, the supreme court guts more of the voting rights act while making it easier for billionaires to secretly bankroll campaigns. we will speak to ben jealous of people for the american way.