♪ >> welcome to live from paris. news and analysis from "france 24." it's now or n ever since boris johnson as he announces restrictions will be lifted on july 19. he warns of 50,000 new cases. personal judgment is needed, he says. a another school raided by armed gangs in the northwest in nigeria. 140 students are missing. anxious parents awaiting news. the taliban say they are the inevitable leaders of afghanistan, as 1,000 state

soldiers flee fighting with their militants to seek asylum over the border. a special report coming up. this is live from paris. ♪ thank you very much for being with us. the u.k. prime minister says it is now or never. boris johnson says that new cases in england could reach 50,000 per day. now is the better time to reopen. dubbed freedom day, july 19th is when more restrictions will be lifted and people will be able to use their own judgment regarding covid-19.

>> a return to normal life. u.k. prime minister boris johnson broke the good news monday but warned against undue exuberance. >> i don't want people to feel that this is the moment to get -- this is the end of covid. it is very far from the end of dealing with this virus. >> english is-- england is set for a significant return to personal liberties. as of july 19 face mask will no longer be required, limits on gatherings and one meter of separation also scrapped. nite clu -- nightclubs and restaurant back open from full pacitti. -- full capacity. some travel restrictions will remain. england's reopening is a bet on the effectiveness of the uk's vaccination campaign. 86% of adults have gotten one dose, 60 4% are fully

vaccinated. still, new cases are surging with johnson warning they could hit 50,000 per day soon, due to the dominance of the highly transmissible delta very. hospitalizations and deaths are staying low, a testament to the power of vaccines to reduce the severity of disease. expertsay it is still too soon. >> it seems to be odd to me to take all those risks with infection we are so close to vaccination doing the job of keeping us safe. >> britain has recorded 128,000 covid deaths. the latest lifting of restrictions applies only to english, as scotland, wales, and northern island set their own profiles -- northern ireland senator inhofe rotavirus. -- northern ireland sets their own protocols. >> next, the 140 schoolchildren

missing after an armed gang rated their border school in niger. ia. let's hear from a man whose daughter is among those now missing. >> just this morning, at about 6:00, i received a phone call that there had been at the school kidnappers. including my daughter. we moved down here. >> this is the latest in the series of kidnappings across nigeria. around 1,000 students had been abducted since december. most of been released after negotiations with local officials, though some are still being held. the gangs involved have no link to boko haram. correspondents have this.

>> students are taken away and then parents are reacting to what is happening. they are demanding justice. demanding action of the governor. the governor has to say something. this event -- the third or fourth time in six months that this is happening, that we see hundreds of students taken off. and they tried to rescue 25 lately, but of course, these people cannot still give any exact information where these people had been taken to. and what -- there's no follow up. but we know the nigerian navy and police have a joint force who ware also trying to track these kidnappers down to make sure -- they release them. the governor of the state has said he is not exchanging any

ransom with any could never. -- any kidnapper. and the government does not have any finances to give to any kidnapper. all the surity agents should do their job, which is providing security for the inhabitants and for the property. but we know whenever they come, they go -- something they have to do some exchange. there's a -- and niger and a -- in the long run, he's. repeated we don't know this will roll out. >> our correspondent there. we'll bring you an update on that situation as we get it. 140 pupils, students from that

border school are missing right now as we speak. next, over 1000 afghan soldiers sought refuge over the border and tai chi consent, -- in ta jikistan fleeing fighting. with u.s. force is scheduled to be out by september 11, the taliban says it is set to take back control of the state and imposing an islamist way of life. >> this is the military base in central afghanistan. taliban insurgents invited journalist to the site to brandish the weapons they have seized from the country's military including guns, explosives and vehicles. as foreign troops raced to leave the country, the islamic system is the only path forward to them. >> i wl put down my gun only if there is examin -- i will put down my gun only if there is islamic law. >> fearing they will reimpose

sharia law. this uncertainty about the future has forced many afghanss to try and leave. >> it was an emotional angle that many of us are observing on social media where afghans are calling out, we are being left behind. >> afghanistan has one of the highest proportions of young people in the world. many of whomave known only war. they, too, fear that the taliban will once again outlaw dozens of seemingly innocuous activities. >> we're worried what will happen. whether or not they will allow this. smoking has become very common now. >> if like in the past, girls are putting cages. their goals are trampled on and their dreams ignored, then i think life would become meaningless. >> it doesn't end there.

since may, the insurgents have taken control of a third of the country's 421 districts. meanwhile, amid a rise in violence and as peace talks continue between the government and the taliban, leaders of the group have claimed that the rights of all afghans including women would be accommodated in the ir law of the land. >> a third of afghanistan under taliban control. let's bring in kate clark, co-director at the afghanistan analyst network. thanks for being with us. do you feel that what happens next is the taliban taking control of afghanistan and making changes? >> i t's been an extraordinary and unprecedented scale and speed with which the taliban have taken over these districts, mainly i'd say since the middle

of june. in some places, they had to fight, and then there was this collapse of morale among the afghan government forces in the north. some places the army left with its weapons. it looks like a deliberate -- looked like a deliberate withdrawal to protect the bases and supply lines. others it was a rout. either the soldiers surrendered or local elders -- give up their weapons and the taliban got large amounts of military equipment. the problem as we have seen many times in afghanistan's long war -- it is into the 41st year now , this is just the latest phase -- is that things tend to change quickly on the battlefield, not because of militarprowess but because of lack of faith in your side. you do not want to be caught on the losing side in a war.

i think that is the main problem with the moment. people have lost faith. the soldiers and the generals and people in the government to protect them. >> 1,000 soldiers running over the border to seek sanctuary. it's underlying exactly what you're saying about the kind of way faith with crumbled. as 're talking about the seizure of an -- of arms by extremist. s. the amount of military hardware they have taken over there is kind of scary to see. is there a sense the past two, decades, you mentioned 40 years, i'm talking the past two decades given u.s. involvement in the other foreign forces, has this been for nothing, do you say? >> i guess you could say it could have been better handled. from the start it could have been better handled. t absolutely in the last two

years, donald trump and then joe biden, the presents in t -- the presidents inn the white house, they wanted their forces to leave afghanistan. under donald trump there were these strange negotiations where it was clear the americans were leaving and they were trying everything to get the taliban to sign an agreement to start talks with the afghan government. the americans gave them everything to get them there. so, as well as leaving, their main, the most deadly enemy on the battlefield they force the government to hand over 5000 taliban prisoners last summer. they gave the taliban international legitimacy. by the time joe biden decided the forces should leave, the taliban were really up, their confidence was up. they were thinking they were going to have a victory. the government force's morale

was down in their boots. the whole of the american strategy absolutely depended on the taliban's honest intentions that they wanted to negotiate. and, as soon as joe biden said the forces were leaving unconditionally, this gobbling up of territory started. remember, this is during a pandemic. afghans are suffering from a drought. this is a cruel time to launch this kind of onslaught, at a time when afghans repeatedly say they want peace, the taliban have chosen really to inflict miseries of war on the population. >> in our report we heard from a young girl talking about women being put in cages. talking about restrictions being put on women under the taliban. isn't this possibly the worst thing that is set to happen, that women and girls will lose some of the relative liberties

ey have gained in recent years? >> yes. a lot of women are very worried about it. we've got a big report, by organization tomorrow, we talked to rural women. there is this argument that the women activists, the urban intellectuals, english speakers, possibly some french speakers among them, don't represent afghan women when they say that their rights are important. they need to safeguard the rights. it was really interesting talking to women across the country that almost exactly the same sort of concerns arose. these women want peace, but they are worried that -- they are worried about their movement being restricted, their children not being able to go to school, particularly theiir daughters. they are worried about, and particular if you are woman who does not have a male husband or brother or son, it can be really difficult.

if you are widow, if your husband is disabled and you're trying to make income, you are not allowed to work. what is the solution then these women absolutely wanted peace but they are very, very aware of what problems arose th rough this current peace process. and not one of them had come through with a catastrophic loss. homes destroyed. afghans are very aware of what civil war looks like. >> we need to leave it there. thank you very much for joining us. thanks for sharing your knowledge, your thought, your insight on the situation. we will continue to report on all afghanistan's for afghanistan going forward. next, the death toll is now 27. at least in the collapse of the apartment block in florida. search and recovery has resumed

after the remaining portion of the building was brought down with explosives ahead of the arrival of tropical storm elsa. 118 people are still missing after the 12 story champlain towers south crumbled over a week ago in surfside, miami. let's hear from our local reporter. >> since the first responders were able to resume their work on the collapse last night, we have very sadly recovered three additional victims. the total number of confirmed deaths is now at 27. the number of those accounted for is 191. and unaccounted for -- 118. >> time for business. the fallout continues from a ransomware attack on a u.s. software from that happened on friday. >> it has been dubbed the single biggest global ransomware attack in history. hundreds of companies have been affected and are still unable

to unlock their computers. among the greatest hit is a swedish su supermarket group. cyber gangs linked to russia breached a u.s. software company based in florida and used the products meant to protect against malware to spread the virus instead. the alleged perpetrators are demanding $70 million in ransom paid in bitcoin. sweden's defense minister says the latest attack is another reminder of increasing threats to society. >> [speaking swedish]

>> china has widened its crackdown on tech companies after banning a ride sharing app. and lory sherry services -- lory sharing services are being investigated. the companies that run the services have frequently listed on the u.s. stock market. more on why the chinese government is stepping up its crackdown on its own tech companies. >> more chinese tech companies rare being targeted, all of them publicly traded in the united states. the widening of the chinese governments probe comes after it banned didi on sunday. >> [speaking foreign language]

>> the two latest company to be platforms.re truck hailing a far reaching data security law comes into effect at the start of september. it will require companies to get approval if they want to transfer data stored in china to overseas institutions. violating the legislation can lead to fines of between 260, 000 and 1.3 million euros. the growing influence of big tech companies is a cause for china's commonest party, particular when it comes to monopolistic practices and the handling of user data. >> oil producing cartel opec

plus called off their plans to summit, agreeing on a new deal on production vibes. -- production volumes. the group failed to come to a deal amid a' spat. the uae has been blocking a plan for an 8 month extension to the ongoing production cuts. the deal which the output increased gradually from next month to calm inflation fears. it is not clear if there will be no output increase in august or whether a new meeting will be scheduled in the coming days to make that possible. that deepening impasse has pushed oil prices to their highest levels in three years. brent crude has risen above the $77 mark. wti up 1.6%.

french champagne producers are furious after russian enacted a law that forces foreign champagne producers to labeled their bottles or sparkling wine, while russian producers can continue to call their bottle chamfering. -- their bottle champagne. they will add a new designation to comply, but france has called on its members to stop shipping bottles to rush altogether, reminding them that the term champagne originated from the region in champagne and has legal protection in 120 countries. here is the head of the group speaking earlier. >> [spking french]

>> i must say, i have never tasted russian sparkling wine. >> if it is not made in champagne it is not champagne. as simple as that. but, anyway we would have to get in there heads to find out. thank you very much. great to see you. time for focus with the calling of a fragile truce, cease fire in tigray we have a special report from the region. if 400,000 are on the brink of famine or even worse. our correspondents report from the center of tigray. >> two months ago, this man lost everything. at the heart of tigray's mountains eritrean soldiers massacred residents in his village. >> my wife was called -- she

was a mother of five. on month ago, she gave birth to a baby. we also had daughters. we were not able to pray for them because we had to run for our lives. >> 19 people were killed in one day. >> on that day, there were many eritrean soldiers. they were uncountable. people were simply staying in their homes. the soldiers brought all the residents together and killed them all here. >> since the beginning of the conflict eritrean soldiers have been black in the -- have been backing ethiopian soldiers. many witnesses accuse eritreans of having massacred and raped civilians. most rural areas are difficult to access for n's. this medical team is often forced to return to the regional capital. and, even when there is no

fighting, its movements are restricted. >> today, we climbed -- we plan to go to a village of people were expecting us. but we were stopped by ethiopian soldiers. they turned us back even though we told them we would treat women and children. we're very worried about people in remote villages without access to health care. >> the team finally sps in this small village in central gray. people here have been in dire need of medical assistance since the local clinic was attacked.. >> this center was treating patients until mid january but then the ethiopian military destroyed it. they took everything and tore it apart. over there is the fridge. they broke it and left it. they threw out children's vaccines and medicines. so that they are now unusable.

>> in these rural areas, accessing medical treatment has become difficult. even food is now difficult to find. children, especially, are suffering from malnutrition. >> one measures 11.1, i'm giving you a form that will entitle you to special food. >> because of a shortage of ambulances, some women die in labor like this baby's mother three months ago. for the past days, the family has been an able to find milke. . her aunt feeds her cereal. >> we're going to weigh her. we found this baby by chance. if we had found her later we could've easily missed her. there are many babies just like her and their motrs do not have milk. these children are too underweight and what we give them will not be enough to save them. >> the baby lives a few minute''

walk from the village. her dad his everything he could -- did everything he could to save his wife. he brought her to the nearest hospital using a horse cart. >> when we went to -- there was nothing. the town was empty. we didn't find anyone to help us and she eventually died. we walked with her body and waited a hour and a half. now that i've lost my wife, my situation is difficult. i have to take care of my children and i cannot plow my land. >> the family is now li-- living in hunger. these empty cereal bags are all they have l eft. this man his weapon able to prepare his field to feed his family. >> it started around november. we've been enduring so many

problems. our enemies came and we had to -- runaway away and seek shelter and other places. i wasn't able to plow my field and now it's too late. >> the town closest to the llage is deserted. its economy at a standstill. to help those most in need, some organization supported by the government have tried to distribute wheat and seeds. >> we are planning to distribute about 2,900 seeds. it is used for 30,780 farmers. it is not -- >> the unilateral cease-fire declared by the government on june 28th could come as a relief amid an alarming humanitarian situation. according to the u.n., 350,000 people are facing famine in tigray. >> our correspondents without

report from the center of tigray . we'll continue to chart all of the updates on the story. short break. then the news continues here, live from paris.

07/04/21 07/04/21 [captioning made possible amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> what, to the erican slave, is your fourth of july? i answer -- a day that reveals to him, more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is a constant victim. to him, your celebration is a sham. amy: "what to the slave is the fourth of july?" we will hear frederick douglas'' 1852 independence