nathalia passarinho, bbc news. it's two years since a fire nearly destroyed notre—dame in paris.rk is about to start on its reconstruction. our paris correspondent lucy williamson reports. beneath its protective cranes, notre dame still embodies the horror and heroism that unfolded here two years ago. since then, workers have been clearing the debris, securing the structure, and dismantling the scaffolding that melted in the fire — 40,000 tubes of it, fused into strange new sculptures — each mangled piece cut away one by one. now, for the first time, thoughts are turning to the reconstruction. 1,000 trees have been pre—selected to rebuild the roof — nicknamed the forest for its sheer number of rafters. some of them more than 20 metres tail to span the vast spaces inside the cathedral. this is one of the 1,000 oak trees that have been specially selected for notre dame. smaller tree trunks will be used to rebuild the medieval rafters. big ones like this will go to reconstruct the spire. each tree is tagged, measured and assigned a place in the reconstruction. this one — its trunk a

nathalia passarinho, bbc news.l, where he's been speaking to afghanistan's president, ashraf ghani. the trip comes just hours after president biden announced the withdrawal of the remaining us troops from afghanistan by september 11th. the move leaves millions of afghans facing a deeply divided country. the taliban still control many areas, including parts of balkh province. from there, our correspondent secunder kermani reports. victory, they believe, is theirs. as american troops prepare to leave afghanistan, the taliban promise to create what they call an islamic government. but where does that leave millions of ordinary afghans? we've been given rare access to their territory to find out. early morning, we set off from the northern city of mazar—i—sharif. this province was once one of the most stable. now it's one of the most violent. we're just around half an hour's drive outside the main city, and already we're in taliban territory. our hosts have put on a show of force. their violent insurgency has cost the

nathalia passarinho, bbc news.y that cancelling this year's olympics in tokyo remains an option if the coronavirus crisis becomes too dire. toshi—hiro nikai, the secretary general of the liberal democratic party, has told japanese broadcaster tbs on thursday that "we need to cancel it without hesitation if they're no longer possible.". he also asked, "what is the point of the olympics if it helps spread the virus further?" his comments come after the publication of a report on wednesday by researchers urging japanese officials and the international olympic committee to reconsider hosting the tokyo games, pointing to the country's failure to contain community transmission of the coronavirus and the slow pace of vaccination. less than 1% of the country's population has been vaccinated so far. here's japan's prime minister responding to mr nikai's comments. translation: in order to hold . the games, we as the government would also like to do everything possible to prevent the virus' spread. and there is no change in t

nathalia passarinho, bbc news.d the slavia prague player for ten matches for racially abusing the rangers midfielder glen kamara, but our team the rangers midfielder glen kamara, but ourteam in the rangers midfielder glen kamara, but our team in glasgow telling us police scotland have now sent a report to the procurator fiscal in relation to that incident, and that match. so that has just come through, police scotland saying that report has been sent following inquiries into alleged racial abuse. that was at the match on the 18th of march. so that report has now been sent by police scotland. that is what we are just hearing. the headlines on bbc news: the number of people waiting to start hospital treatment in england reaches a record high — of 4.7 million people. the conservative head of a watchdog looking at mps and civil servants working in the private sector, says the whole system needs urgent reform. prince charles and camilla view some of the floral tributes laid in memory of prince philip — as more details a

the bbc�*s nathalia passarinho gained exclusive access to one children's icu in the northeast of brazilr own money so parents can have at least some contact with their children. for now this is the closest this mother can get to her newborn baby. translation: it's been in an immense challenge working in the icu without any parents being able to visit. it’s the icu without any parents being able to visit.— able to visit. it's 'ust words exchanged _ able to visit. it's 'ust words exchanged over _ able to visit. it'sjust words exchanged over the - able to visit. it'sjust words exchanged over the phone. able to visit. it's just words - exchanged over the phone. it's so hard for them to understand how their child's case could have become critical and in some cases unfortunately, the child might die. lucas was just unfortunately, the child might die. lucas wasjust one unfortunately, the child might die. lucas was just one when he contracted the virus. his mum jessica took him to the hospital with a fever and breathing difficulties.— with a fever and breathing difficulties. ~ ., , ., ., diffic

with exclusive access to one children's icu in the northeast of the country, nathalia passarinho hasy, there is _ translation: the duchess said, my dear, don't worry, there is no - translation: the duchess said, my dear, don't worry, there is no need i dear, don't worry, there is no need for a covid test. it is probably just a minor sore throat. weeks later his condition _ just a minor sore throat. weeks later his condition worsened i just a minor sore throat. weeks | later his condition worsened and just a minor sore throat. weeks i later his condition worsened and he was finally admitted when i see you. i keep thinking a covid test could have saved my son, because then he would have received proper treatment. but the doctor simply didn't want to. hejust gave but the doctor simply didn't want to. he just gave a diagnosis of the top of his head. more young children are known to have died of covid—19 in brazil than anywhere else in the world. the death toll for babies under one is 22 times higher than in the united states. why are there more children dying of covid in brazil than in o