Well bring you all the latest from the all england club. Welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. The olympic Torch Relay has reached tokyo, two weeks before the games begin. But with the Coronavirus Pandemic causing havoc to the games, the historic ceremony was very different to previous occasions. No crowds were allowed in to watch as the flame was carried on stage in a lantern and handed to the governor of tokyo, yuriko koike. And therell be no spectators at the arenas in the city hosting the bulk of olympic events. The Organising Committee has shut them out, after a State Of Emergency was declared in tokyo. Our Correspondent Mariko oi is in tokyo. The Capital Tokyo has been seeing a growing number of new infections, especially that very infectious Delta Variant, in recent days, and thats why the government last night announced their fourth State Of Emergency, starting on monday, ending on the 22nd of august, basically meaning that it covers the entire duration of the olympics. After that, we heard from the organisers that, as a result, they are not going to allow any spectators inside the stadiums, making these games the first one ever to be held behind closed doors. Of course, we knew this was going to be an olympics inaudible but he situation keeps getting more difficult for the organisers but i guess it is not exactly surprising because of the strong public opposition but also with the State Of Emergency i guess you cant exactly tell people to stay at home but you can still go and watch the olympics. And from the Government Point of view, they were very concerned that if people go to watch some competitions and go out to a bar, that could potentially spread the virus even further. Of course, businesses argue that the financial implications of this State Of Emergency, being asked not to serve alcohol in enclosed areas, is demonstrating. But from the Government Point of view, they have been repeatedly saying they want the games to be held in a safe and secure manner and that is what they are hoping to do. This means that after spending some 25 billion, including building that brand new stadium, it is going to be empty and the japanese government will see pretty much no financial benefit from tourism. Just bring viewers up to date with what exactly the Covid Situation is injapan right now . Are the figures high . Are the Infection Rates comparatively high compared to other parts of The World or not . The figure that the government kept sighting was 920 new infections in tokyo on wednesday, which resulted or which prompted the government to declare this latest State Of Emergency. Now, 920 might not seem as high compared to what the uk and the us experienced during the height of the pandemic but still from the japanese Government Point of view, they were afraid for that number to go above 1000 and medical experts have been warning them that if they allow people to go out and watch the games and start going out for drinks and so on, that number could easily go above 2000 and easily get out of control very soOn And that is why we have been hearing from the countrys top medical advisor saying that it is not normal for an event like the olympics to go ahead during the pandemic, so there have been a lot of strong opposition, notjust from the public but also from doctors. Mariko oi there. President biden has defended the withdrawal of us forces from afghanistan, saying he wasnt prepared to send another generation of americans to fight there. Mr biden said washington had achieved its initial goal of punishing those who launched the September 11th attacks, but admitted the talibans growing strength caused uncertainty. Mr biden said that there was no sence in prolonging the us stay in afghanistan beyond The End of next month. In 2011, the nato allies and partners agreed that we would end our Combat Mission in 2014. In 2014, some argued one more year. So we kept fighting, we kept taking casualties. In 2015, the same and On And on. Nearly 20 years of experience has shown us that the current Security Situation only confirms that just one more Year Fighting in afghanistan is not a solution but a recipe for being there indefinitely. It is up to the afghans to make the decision about the future of their country. Our north america correspondent, david willis, says there are questions around the speed of the withdrawal. It has, of course, been brought forward. We were led to believe September The 11th would be the date but now it will be by The End of august, President Biden said today. He also made the point that the united states could no longer afford as the Human Cost no longer afford the Human Cost nor the strategic distraction of maintaining large numbers of us forces in afghanistan. He said the us had done what it sought to achieve when it went in. That was the killing of a Osama Bin Laden and the rooting out of Terrorist Cells in that country, and now, basically, it was up to the afghans to sort out what sort of country they wanted going forward. He said we could go for another year, then another year, then another year what more would we achieve . It is, of course, somewhat controversial, given the fact that now the taliban seems to be forming quite a considerable force and by all accounts may have the afghan capital, kabul, in its site imminently. What about us public opinion, david . Well, it is interesting. Support for remaining in afghanistan has been higher actually amongst democrats than it has republicans, but americans, of course, do not worry too much generally about foreign matters and i think a lot of people here have become somewhat ambivalent to what is going on overseas, especially given the problems that this country has experienced by itself domestically, in recent months and years. I think that there are signs anyway that a lot of people simply really do not care now and many would like to see the troops come home. The chief of police in haiti has said 28 people are thought to have been involved in the assassination of President Jovenel Moise on wednesday 26 colombians and two haitian americans. The acting prime minister, claudejoseph, told the bbc he believed those he called haitis oligarchs might have planned the attack. Africa has experienced its most devestating week so far of the Coronavirus Pandemic, with worse yet to come according to The World health organisation. Confirmed cases have already passed Januarys Peak and are doubling every eighteen days with deaths not far behind. Its likely that actual cases are much higher than this however, due to poor levels of testing. This comes as only about one percent of the Continents Population is fully vaccinated. Earlier dr matshidiso moeti, Africa Director at The World health organisation, alluded to the Delta Variant in fueling increasing Case Numbers in weeks to come. As this variant spreads to more and more countries geographically, they will also take off in terms of the speed, of the increase in the number of cases. I think we are in for some weeks of a very difficult situation. Ingrid katz is an associate Faculty Director of the harvard global health institute. She gave me her assessment of the Coronavirus Situation in africa. I remain incredibly concerned about africa. We know that new cases have been increasing for over seven weeks, rising on average of 28 week upon week, and just this week alone, as wasjust indicated, has been the most dire in terms of the pandemic in africa. What countries in particular are the ones that have been hardest hit . Certainly we have the most information about south africa, where certainly the country there has been devastated. But throughout Sub Saharan Africa we are seeing cases continuing to rise. Tell me why . Because during the first wave, if you like, the pandemic around The World, it seemed, didnt it, that a lot of countries in africa did not get hit as badly as many of those countries, lets say, in europe, for example, or latin america . Yes, i think that was an interesting situation earlier On And was puzzling for many people because to be quite honest, people really thought that that would be the seat of the epidemic but fortunately for most of Sub Saharan Africa, they managed to move through that time relatively well. I think what we are seeing right now is certainly due to the Delta Variant. While it has been isolated in 16 countries, its certainly more widespread than that, and we know that the Delta Variant is 30 60 more transmissible than the prior variant, the beta variant, that was in south africa. So we know we have a tremendously transmissible virus on the continent right now and that combined with fatigue from social isolatiOn And lockdowns, is really combined to be a potent and deadly mix. And of course, very much key to all of this or key to the way out of this is the Vaccination Programme which has not seen as effective in that continent, in africa, as it has been in other areas of The World . Yes, as you mentioned, right now there really is just slightly over 1 of the entire continent has received full vaccinatiOn And even one vaccine is under 2 so we are looking at a situation where there has been gross Vaccine Inequity and we see a population of people throughout the continent that are just not getting access to the vaccine at this point. So what is the answer . Where does the Responsibility Lie in helping countries in africa who do not have access and to get it and get it quickly . Certainly, the Covax Programme from the World Health Organization is a critical piece of this. They have pledged to vaccinate a fifth of the population of lower middle income countries, by delivering about Two Billion doses by The End of the year. The us and other nations are stepping up but as of now, they are not really beginning to achieve these estimates and when you think about vaccinating countries throughout The World, we are going to need something like 11 Billion doses to fully vaccinate 70 of The World and really, right now, 85 of those doses are going to upper and upper middle income countries. Ingrid katz there. Stay with us on bbc news, still to come getting ready to hit the Dance Floor again as nightclubs in france reopen their doors for the first time in more than a year. Central london has been rocked by a series of terrorist attacks. Police say there have been many casualties, and there is growing speculation that alqaeda was responsible. Germany will be the hosts of the 2006 football world cup. They pipped the favourite, south africa, by a single vote. In south africa, the possibility of losing hadnt even been contemplated. Celebration parties were cancelled. A man entered the palace i through a downstairs window and made his way to the queens private bedroom, then he asked her for a cigarette and, on the pretext for arranging for some to be bought, summoned a footman on duty who took the man away. Cheering and applause. One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change The World. Education is the only solution. This is bbc world news, the latest headlines the Olympic Torch has arrived in tokyo two weeks before the games but organisers have said no spectators will be allowed. Brazils President Bolsonaro is under growing pressure over his handling of the covid pandemic, with protests on the street. More than half A Million people have died with the virus in brazil The Worlds second highest Death Toll after the us. Now there fears that the highly contagious Delta Variant could also take hold. Our international Correspondent Orla Guerin reports from Sao Paulo. Brazils agony. Carved into the soil. Fresh graves in Sao Paulo await the new covid dead. The virus is still reaching many here long before vaccines do. Critics accuse President Jair Bolsonaro of presiding over a massacre, with Hundreds Of Thousands of needless deaths. Josildo Di Mora Man was one of them, relatives say. The 62 year old died from covid in may hours after these pictures were taken. The father of five was the heart of his family. His son, felipe, joined the recent Street Protests here against the brazilian leader, seeking justice for his father. For those whove come out on the streets here, this is notjust about Grief And Anger its about political responsibility. They believe that many of the dead are victims of President Bolsonaro, his policies and his inaction, as well as victims of covid 19. And the pressure on the president is growing. The epicentre is here, inside the Modernist Parliament in the capital, brasilia. We met the opposition senator, omar aziz, leading an enquiry into the handling of the pandemic. His own brother is among the dead. He says the president doesnt believe in science and the people have paid. The senate hearings are often heated and have become must watch tv. A Pfizer Executive said its offers to supply vaccines last year were ignored by the government for months. And President Bolsonaro has been accused of Negligence And Corruption claims he denies. Here he was just last month, thronged by die hard supporters and setting an example of not wearing a mask. In the midst of a pandemic, leading a bikers rally. He insists the wheels of the economy must keep turning, and says staying at home is for idiots, and its time to stop whining and crying. Brazil is. The president guaranteed that covid would spread, according to pedro hallal, The Epidemiologist Leading brazils largest study on the virus. Everything that you should not do, brazil has done. Pretty much everything. So, brazil has said that the pandemic would not be important oh, its just a little flu, our president said, oh, its coming to an end. In april last year, then he said that the vaccines were not safe. This statement from the president himself was that they produce damage and they killed people. And this is what needs to be said. Many protesters go further, accusing the president of genocide. They want him out. For now, hes going nowhere, but the bereaved are hoping there will be a reckoning. Orla guerin, bbc news, brasilia. A row has broken out in spain over Meat Consumption. One Spanish Government minister suggested his fellow countrymen should eat less meat for their own health and the planets. But that caused beef with a colleague as Courtney Bembridge reports. It is a country famed for its dry cured ham, chorizo and sausages. Spaniards love their meat more than any other eu country, slaughtering 17 Million pigs, cows, sheep, goats, horses and birds every year. So many spaniards were surprised to hear their consumer affairs minister, alberto garzon, saying this. Translation what would you think if i told you that l excessive Meat Consumption harms our health and also our planet . Without the planet, we have no life, without the planet we have no salaries, no economy, and we are destroying it and we have a direct impact on one of the parts that we are destroying it. We can change our diets and improve the state of the planet. His comments came underfire from, you guessed it, the Agriculture Minister who said it denigrated the work of the countrys farmers. Then the prime Minister Pedro Sanchez interrupted a trip to lithuania to weight in. Translation on this | controversy, i will put it in very personal terms for me, there is nothing that beats a well done t bone steak. The average spaniard puts away more than one kilogram of meat a week and each kilogram takes around 15,000 litres of water to produce. In a country thats facing a rapid expansion of its deserts, at the very least it is food for thought. Courtney bembridge, bbc news. Now to wimbledon where the top seed, ashleigh barty, has reached her first womens singles final with a straight sets win over the former champion angelique kerber. Shell Play Karolina Pliskova on saturday. Heres Chetan Pathak at the all england club. We have our wimbledon final, and Ash Barty into herfirst here at these championships, the first australian woman to be in the wimbledon finals since Evonne Goolagong in 1980. Barty getting past the 2018 champion, angelique kerber, of the two, barty winning that 6 3. Kerber fought back with her traditional baseline play, but still, barty, when she needed to, was able to Slice And Dice her way to victory in the moments when it mattered the most. It was tight at a tie break, but barty getting herself over the line a player whos got better and better, round after round at these championships. And awaiting her in the final will be the Czech Eighth seed Karolina Pliskova who, at 29, many had written off from reaching this stage of a Grand Slam again. But pliskova, the 2016 Us Open runner up, was too good for aryna sabalenka, the number two seed in The End. And, despite losing that first set, pliskova fought back in the second and third, winning them 6 4, 6 4. Shed reached the semifinals of all the other Grand Slams before these wimbledon championships. Now shes into the final here, but barty perhaps the big favourite for that one on saturday. As for friday, its mens Semifinals Day the defending champiOn And, without a doubt, the overwhelming favourite, novak djokovic, takes on canadas denis shapovalov. Whilst in the other match, the big Hitting Matteo berrettini from italy faces roger federer� s conqueror, hubert hurkacz. Friday will be a Big Day for many people in france as nightclubs will be allowed to re open. For nearly eighteen months ever since the pandemic began they remained shut. This report from the bbc� s Tim Allman contains flashing images. Back where he belongs, Dj Vinz behind the decks at Le Duplex in paris. No one is dancing yet but it is only a matter of time. Soon this nightclub will be full, or at least mostly full, of party goers. It is going to be a special night, he says. Its always great to see people so we are really looking forward to it. This was Le Duplex before the pandemic, a Premiere Hotspot on the Paris Nightclub scene, its owners desperate to get the party started as soon as possible. Translation | think what matters most is to open, making profit it is important but it will be secondary. I think were really eager for this wind of freedom because we know that, maybe, in august or september, we may be told to close our doors again. Its believed only around a quarter of clubs will actually reopen, and only then with reduced capacity. The Trade Body that represents the industry says around 400 nightclubs have been forced to close permanently or are in deep financial trouble and this Grand Reopening coincides with the spread of the Delta Variant. Translation so its true that the timing is probably not the best, because we still have a very high incidence rate, and insufficient vaccination rate, so we consider that our businesses will not be ready from a health standpoint. Anyone hoping to get in will need proof of vaccination or a recent negative test but, as one potential customer put it, we havent had fun in a long time, and we need to have fun. Tim allman, bbc news. A drawing of a bear� s head by Leonardo Da Vinci has just sold forjust over 12 million. Measuring just 7cm centimetres squared, head of a bear is a Silverpoint Drawing on a pink beige paper. The drawing is more than 500 years old. The sketch previously belonged to british Painter And Collector sir thomas lawrence, before being sold at christies in 1860 forjust over 3. The previous record for an old Master Drawing was another Da Vinci drawing, horse and rider, which sold for 11 Million in 2001. You can reach me on twitter im bbcmaryam. Hello there. The next few days look pretty unsettled, with low pressure always nearby, so were likely to see sunshine and showers notjust for friday, but into the weekend and into the start of next week, too. So, for today, these showers will be heavy, much like they were on thursday, and youll see on the Pressure Charts were in between systems, and theres barely any isobars, so the winds are light and the showers will be slow moving again. So, quite a bit of cloud to start this morning, particularly across scotland, where well see some patchy rain in the north east. The sunshine will get going, though, the best of it in central and eastern areas and this is where well see most of the heavy showers into the afternoon, again, some with Hail And Thunder mixed in. An area of more persistent rain will push into the South West later in the day. Temperature wise, 20 24 celsius. Now, for wimbledon for friday and into the weekend, therell be a lot of dry weather around with some sunshine, but theres always the chance of catching a heavy shower. Now, as we move through friday night, those heavy showers across central and eastern areas will tend to fade away, many places will turn dry with variable cloud and clear spells. But this Weather Front will bring in persistent rain to South Wales and the South West of england, slowly moving its way eastwards. Temperature wise, most places sticking in double figures. So, for this weekend, again, its one of sunny spells and scattered showers, though well have that area of rain across southern areas for a while, but that will clear away during the course of saturday, then all areas will see sunny spells and showers. That area of rain could bring some persistent, fairly Heavy Rain to central and Southern England through the morning, eventually clearing away. Elsewhere, after a rather cloudy start, the sunshine will appear, and then, these showers will get going and again, some of them will be heavy with some Hail And Thunder, theyll be relatively temperature wise, 17 22 celsius. As we move out of saturday into sunday, a new area of low pressure pushes into Western Parts of the Uk Thatll bring enhanced showers to the northern and western areas in particular. Again, some of them will be heavy and merge together to produce longer spells of rain in places. Probably the better area to see the driest conditions will be central and eastern parts of england, where well see the best temperatures, 22 23 celsius otherwise, the high teens further north and west. Very unsettled into the start of next week, as well, particularly england and wales could see some very wet weatherfor a while. Then from midweek onwards, it looks like High Pressure wants to build in. Thatll settle things down with increasing sunshine. This is bbc news, the headlines as the Olympic Torch arrives in tokyo, the japanese government has said that spectators will not be allowed to attend events at venues in the capital. The government is placing tokyo under a new State Of Emergency from next week because of rising coronavirus infections. President biden has defended the withdrawal of us forces from afghanistan at The End of august, saying he could not send another generation of americans to fight there. Mr biden said washington had achieved its initial goal of punishing the perpetrators of the September 11th attacks. But he admitted there was uncertainty with the taliban continuing to gain ground. A row has broken out in spain, over Meat Consumption after One Spanish Government minister suggested his fellow countrymen should eat less meat for their own health and the planets. Now on bbc news, hardtalk