shingai nyoka, bbc news, at the border of eswatini. the german chancellor, angela merkel, has held talks with borisjohnson on what s likely to be her last official trip to the uk, before standing down in the autumn. mrs merkel also met the queen at windsor castle. more from our world affairs correspondent caroline hawley. angela, how are you? despite their disagreements over brexit, today was about celebrating and strengthening the german british relationship in a new era. high on the agenda for borisjohnson, germany s insistence that british travellers quarantine for 14 days, even if they are fully vaccinated. but after a working lunch of english asparagus tart and 0xfordshire beef, angela merkel hinted at good news to come for british holiday makers. translation: we are seeing a rise of the delta variant - in germany, a significant rise, and, of course, we are regularly reviewing these travel restrictions
the beginning of the school year was much worse. looking at yorkshire and the humber, it is almost a six month lag in terms of where primary pupils wear in terms of maths. that is an awful lot for them to catch up on. in the south west, it was three times less than that. you can see the effect that covid has had on different parts of the country. edi different parts of the country. of course, now the government says it s committed to helping resolve this, but it s been 80 mulches a week for the government. where do things stand currently? the government. where do things stand currently? there has been a hue row stand currently? there has been a huge row this stand currently? there has been a huge row this week, stand currently? there has been a huge row this week, with - stand currently? there has been a huge row this week, with the - huge row this week, with the resignation of the man appointed to advise borisjohnson on what to do to help schools catch up. he left after. the gove
without it, more districts are expected to fall to the taliban. yet in the capital kabul, some are happy to see the americans and other western forces depart. translation: this is good news. the americans have reached an agreement with the taliban in doha and these agreements must be implemented, and this is for the good of afghanistan. the taliban are certainly delighted to see the us leaving. they ve even thanked them for going. critics of the withdrawal deal say the afghan government got little in return, that the west is rushing to the exit and it s leaving afghanistan on the brink of another civil war. frank gardner, bbc news. the german chancellor, angela merkel, has held talks with borisjohnson on what s likely to be her last official trip to the uk before standing down in the autumn. mrs merkel also went for afternoon tea with the queen at windsor castle. more from our world affairs correspondent caroline hawley. angela, how are you?