china has said it won't co—operate with the world health organisation's new plan to investigate the originsnto the theory that the virus escaped from a chinese laboratory. but on friday officials in china said the lab leak theory should not be investigated. clashes have broken out between police and protesters in thailand, after hundreds of people defied a ban on mass gatherings to march on the prime minister's residence and demand his resignation. the protestors claim the prime minister has mismanaged the country's covid—19 response. on friday, thailand saw a new record for daily cases. us government scientists have confirmed thatjuly was the world's hottest ever month. the national oceanic and atmospheric administration said the global land and ocean surface temperature last month was nearly one degree celsius hotter than the 20th century average. that makes it the hottest since modern records began 142 years ago. a heatwave is sweeping through much of southern europe and wildfires are still raging across the region. the italian island of sicily, registered 48.8 degrees celsius on wednesd

china has said it won't co—operate with the world health organisation's new plan to investigate the originsooking into the theory that the virus escaped from a chinese laboratory. but on friday officials in china said the lab leak theory should not be investigated. clashes have broken out between police and protesters in thailand, after hundreds of people defied a ban on mass gatherings to march on the prime minister's residence and demand his resignation. the protestors claim the prime minister has mismanaged the country's covid—19 response. on friday, thailand saw a new record for daily cases. potentially dangerous illnesses are often picked up during routine eye check—ups, but attendance has dropped significantly due to the pandemic. to raise awareness of the risks of missed appointments, a medical student from the english county of lincolnshire is spending the summer blindfolded. 0ur reporter, vickyjohnson has been to meet him. blindfolded, ca rambola's world has blindfolded, carambola's world has been that your blunders this summer as he tries to raise awareness of the impacts of eye c

the world health organisation says vaccine inequity is the biggest obstacle to ending this pandemic.ed today that america's donated more than 110 million vaccine doses to 65 nations. loyce pace, directorfor the office of global affairs at the us department of health and human services, explained where they will come from. we are hopeful that they will come from us as well as other countries who have made these commitments, and so is the president announced we are at 100 million and counting, there are hundreds and millions more, in fact, coming the remainder of this year and going into next year. as you are aware the g7 countries also made an additional commitment to share vaccines, up to1 billion going into next year but we know that it is going to take more and don't know that the us is committed to sharing its simplest doses as they come online at. we are working directly with countries as well as regional partners but importantly, aligning ourselves with the covax facility and so this collaboration that is really a co—ordination across the world health organization, unicef and ot

the world health organisation says anywhere from a thousand to two thousand people get the plague every, but due to under reporting, the true number of cases could be much higher. here's our medical editor, fergus walsh. protection from an ancient killer — a vaccine against plague. larissa is one of the first volunteers to receive it as part of a trial in oxford which will assess the vaccine's safety and whether it induces a good immune response. i am lucky enough to live in a time where vaccines are being developed, and so when i saw that there was a study in the developing of a vaccine against a disease that's been around for thousands of years and has killed millions of people. and so that's the reason i did. plague is caused by bacteria found in fleas and rodents and can be spread by humans whose lungs have been infected. that deadliest pandemic in history, the black death in the 14th century killed around 15 million people, half of europe's population. plague is thankfully now rare and treatable with antibiotics, but an outbreak in madagascar in 2017 killed around 200 people, and t

the world health organisation has said in recent minutes they think it is a bad idea and there shouldon a boosterjabs until the end of september to ensure that the focus is on getting first jabs ensure that the focus is on getting firstjabs in arms in the developing world. what is your view? irate the developing world. what is your view? the developing world. what is ourview? ~ . ., what is your view? we are in an improving _ what is your view? we are in an improving situation. _ what is your view? we are in an improving situation. we - what is your view? we are in an improving situation. we have i improving situation. we have just over 4 billion doses of vaccines out there. by the end of the year it should be more than double that number. there is a real possibility that if we make sure those doses are going equitably around the world that we can still achieve, this year, that goal of protecting most of those people at risk. if we now divert those doses to giving boosters this year, then that really further enhances this inequity. we end up with some people having three doses and in

an investigation at the world health organisation, which has struggled to litigate or mediate disputesoing to produce that either. you really do need a scientific investigation, such as one involving national academies, ideally including the national academy from china. we need an answer here, but that answer is really only going to come from sainters. 0k, going to come from sainters. ok, thomas bollyky, we will leave it there. thank you very much for being here. appreciated. thank you for having me. you are watching bbc news. our main headlines: senior taliban officials say they are ready to take control of kabul airport as soon as the americans leave. sources have told the bbc that the us and british troops are "wrapping up" their operations at the airport. us intelligence agencies say covid—i9 was not developed as a biological weapon — but remain split on its origins. a parole board in the us state of california has recommended that the man who assassinated robert f kennedy during his presidential campaign in 1968 should be released from prison. sirhan sirhan has served more than 50

the humanitarian crisis in afghanistan is deepening, say the world health organisation — with medicinesn short supply. we hear from afghans across the country facing severe food and water shortages. and i'll be talking to the first american to fight the taliban in the field as a commander — and then talk to its leaders in face to face negotiations. how does the rest of the world deal with a new islamic emirate? welcome to a bbc news special about afghanistan with me lyse doucet in kabul and philippa thomas in london. flights are still taking off from kabul airport, a day after two devastating bomb attacks there killed as many as 90 people. but for those who want to get out of afghanistan the chances of getting on them are growing slimmer and slimmer. and australia have already ended their evacuations — british forces say they will only now evacuate people who are inside the airport. flights are taking off and thousands of afghans hoping to get to the airport. hoping against hope they can get one of the last military evacuation flights out of afghanistan away away from the rest and chaos

meanwhile, the scientists involved the world health organisation's investigation which visited chinaled". they've written an article for the journal nature saying, "the window of opportunity for conducting this crucial inquiry "is closing fast: any delay will render some of the studies "biologically impossible". a redacted version of the us intelligence report is being prepared for the public to see, that's likely to be closely watched, not least in china, over the coming days. let's get more from gordon correra. well, this was requested by the president after he looked at the previous intelligence in may about the organs of the virus, and that devious determination could not come to a conclusion —— origins. whether it was naturally incurring, transmitting or resulting from an accident. there was a division, but not much confidence about either conclusion. president biden asked his community to look again, to redouble their efforts. looking at that intelligence, using new techniques, asking allies, looking at communications — all of these elements. the sense as we headed for the repo

joining me now from brazzaville, capital of the republic of the congo is dr fiona braka, the world health organisation'shat is much _ the ground? africa is experiencing a third wave that is much faster - the ground? africa is experiencing a third wave that is much faster in - third wave that is much faster in terms of speed and scope compared to previous waves, so we have seen a large increase in the number of countries, 22 countries in resurgence, and that does pose a threat to the health system to be able to cope with managing large numbers of cases. sadly, we have lost 172,000 lives on the continent and we are seeing increasing numbers of deaths in a number of countries with the increased spread of the variance, notably the delta variant. so in view of this escalation of deaths, we are working with the countries to try and support mechanisms to manage severely ill and critical patients in order to avoid more mortalities and, sadly, issues like availability of ic you beds, availability of adequate oxygen in some countries, availability of oxygen cylinders and the capacity to manage critically ill pati

it comes as the world health organisation has questioned the ethics of an extra dose when the majorityries haven't had any. covid lockdown measures have been extended in sydney for at least another month. from monday, a curfew will be imposed in the worst—affected parts of the city after the state of new south wales registered nearly 650 cases. meanwhile, a nationwide lockdown in new zealand has also been extended until wednesday, after new covid cases were found in the capital, wellington. a record 20 places have applied to be the next uk city of culture. the government awards the title every four years, helping to bring tourism and investment to different areas. this year, groups of towns were encouraged to apply, and there have been bids from every nation in the uk. the winner will be announced next year. entertainment correspondent colin paterson reports. in the week when a hollywood—style sign appeared on a slagheap overlooking wrexham, it has been confirmed that the town is now aiming to become the uk city of culture 2025. wrexham county borough's entry is one of 20 that have bee

and the world health organisation says its medical supplies in the country will last only a few moreeaking to people across afghanistan. in this hospital, now guarded by the taliban, lies 18—month—old abdul. malnourished, his mother cannot afford to feed him. we were sent these pictures by a doctor in the north—east region of badakhshan, one of the country's poorest. there, and across afghanistan, we have been told that food and gas prices have risen since the taliban took charge. millions were already on the brink of starvation. now, the un says it urgently needs more money to avert a crisis. afghanistan stands on the brink of another humanitarian disaster. without that money coming in, we will not be able to supply food to those 20 million people who are already poor. so it could be a famine? absolutely. and what we will see, if we cannot get our food bundles to them, but because of the drought, because of the conflict, people cannot feed themselves. for years, conflict has ravaged this nation. earlier this month, explosions rocked this market in helmand province. the scene of some

the environment agency's own figures show how emissions have regularly breached world health organisation just want the site closed. chanting: stop the stink! hundreds of people have taken part in a series of protests this year. campaigners say the work to make things better hasn't made much difference. we haven't noticed any improvement at all. when you woke up at 2—3 o'clock in the morning and you literally are grasping for breath. it's that bad. your eyes are watering, your nose is tingling and the smell alone is absolutely disgusting. you know, rotten egg smell in your house. it is vile. there was a breakthrough last week for campaigners when the local council issued a nuisance abatement notice on the environment agency. but for the people who live near the site, a lot is riding on thejudicial review. if we lose, i am going to be forced out of my home, because there is no way i can keep matthew around here. and with matthew's other conditions, i have a good support bubble around me. so then it is going to be me who is going to be suffering mentally. iam angry. i am fed up. you know, t

world — and the lawyers. my colleague aaron heslehurst has been speaking to a law professor and a business health expert about how firms should navigate this potential minefield. he began by asking dr scott ratzan why his organisationately while business has not traditionally engage with health policy, they need to be now so we have been supportive of vaccine mandates in a way that we can engage with employers and employees and that is why we have established business partners to convince and work on the education and engagement and information, communication. generally speaking, vaccine mandates would be something that would come from the government and still may have to be supported by the government but at this juncture, we really have no choice but to get to the numbers we need to have a requirement to get back to work. ., requirement to get back to work. . . ., work. indeed. catherine, can i ask you. _ work. indeed. catherine, can i ask you. no — work. indeed. catherine, can i ask you, no companies - work. indeed. catherine, can i ask you, no companies in - work. indeed. catherine, can i. ask you, no companies in europe have mandated vaccines at work, we note the likes of google and facebook, they have mandate