For the reform of a levels after a record number of pupils were awarded the top grades. A british embassy worker in berlin is arrested suspected of spying for russia. Wildfires rage across greece, we hearfrom british firefighters supporting their counterparts. A hero s welcome for lionel messi as fans celebrate his arrival at paris st germain after his departure from barcelona. And coming up: under threat seahorses off the coast of dorset. Good evening and welcome to bbc news. After decades of conflict afghanistan is, once again, falling apart. And it is the taliban the hardline islamist group that once harboured osama bin laden which is gaining ground having already taken nine provincial capitals. A us led military coalition to oust the taliban first began in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks but now most of the foreign troops have pulled out. A54 british forces personnel or mod civilians lost their lives. Nearly 2,300 us troops have been killed. And over 120 thousand afghan m
Again for the first time at these olympic games. Another gold for team gb injapan as matt walls triumphs in the velodrome, taking the olympics medal tally to 51. Seven men have beenjailed for life for the murder of a law student during a botched drive by shooting in blackburn. A wildfire that has raged for eight days in turkey reaches a thermal power plant on the aegean coast. And uk adults spent more than a third of their waking hours watching tv and online video last year because of the pandemic. And strictly come dancing is to have its first all male partnership in the show s history after last yea r s first all female partnership. Good afternoon. British holiday makers who are fully vaccinated can more easily travel to france this summer as part of significant changes to the covid travel rules that will come into force in the early hours of sunday. France will be brought into line with other amber list countries, so anyone who s had both doses of a vaccine will no longer have to qu
And that gust of heat hits you in the face. Hello and welcome. Opponents of cuba s communist government say dozens of activists have been arrested after thousands of people joined the biggest protests in decades. Some were detained at the demonstrations, others were arrested at their homes. The protests called for democratic freedoms and criticised the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. President miguel diaz canel has blamed the united states embargo for the unrest. He said it was aimed at encouraging dissent and social unrest. Our north america editor jon sopel has more. Libertad! libertad, the crowd in havana shouts, orfreedom. But while many cubans feel this in their hearts, it s extremely rare for protesters to take to the streets to give vent to their anger in this one party communist state. Translation: we are here because of the repression l against the people. They are starving us to death. Havana is collapsing. We have no house, nothing, but they have the money to build ho
Gesture politics. Welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. Opponents of cuba s communist government say dozens of activists have been arrested after thousands of people joined the biggest protests in decades. Some were detained at the demonstrations, others were arrested at their homes. The protests called for democratic freedoms and criticised the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. President miguel diaz canel has blamed the united states embargo for the unrest. He said it was aimed at encouraging dissent and social unrest. Our north america editor jon sopel has more. Libertad! libertad, the crowd in havana shouts, orfreedom. But while many cubans feel this in their hearts, it s extremely rare for protesters to take to the streets to give vent to their anger in this one party communist state. Translation: we are here because of the repression against the people. They are starving us to death. Havana is collapsing. We have no house, nothing, but they have the m
Stuck about how to pay for it. Democrats want to finance the infrastructure plans by expanding the enforcement powers of the irs so that the agency can collect an additional $100 billion in unpaid taxes. Republicans are not onboard with that plan. Believe it or not. Which would involve making rich people actually pay their fair share of taxes. Senate majority leader chuck schumer says the senate will hold the vote on the bipartisan bill on wednesday. Meaning that for the first time in a long time it could actually be infrastructure week in washington. Your former president used to promise those regularly. Meanwhile, senate democrats appear to be better poised to push forward the larger $3. 5 trillion bill without republican support. In contrast to the bipartisan plan, this plan focuses on the country s human infrastructure. And party priorities like subsidized kid childcare. Elder careo care. Universal prekay and litany of climate initiatives. Needing the support of all 50 democrat sen