World News Roundup: Olympics to ban spectators as Tokyo declares COVID-19 emergency -report; Orban says Hungary will not let LGBTQ activists into schools and more

Francis, 84, was continuing the planned treatment in the Gemelli hospital. Britain has withdrawn nearly all its troops from Afghanistan - PM Johnson Most British troops have been pulled out of Afghanistan, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday, ending its official role in a two-decades long conflict amid fears the departure of foreign soldiers could lead to a chaotic civil war. British forces were first deployed to Afghanistan in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks on the United States and played a major role in combat operations until 2014.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Olympics to ban spectators as Tokyo declares COVID-19 emergency -report

Organisers are set to ban all spectators from the Tokyo 2020 Games, the Asahi newspaper said on Thursday, as Japan declared a coronavirus state of emergency for the capital that will run throughout the event. The ban will be formally decided during talks on Thursday, the newspaper said, citing people involved in the Games, as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said it was essential to prevent Tokyo, where the highly infectious Delta COVID-19 variant was spreading, from becoming the source of another wave of infections.

Orban says Hungary will not let LGBTQ activists into schools

Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Thursday that EU efforts to force Hungary to abandon a new law banning the promotion of homosexuality in schools would be in vain. His government will not allow LGBTQ activists into schools, Orban said.

Tests negative on recuperating pope after fever, Vatican says

Pope Francis, who is recovering from intestinal surgery in a Rome hospital, ran a fever on Wednesday night, but microbiological exams and scans of his chest and abdomen proved negative, the Vatican said on Thursday. Francis, 84, was continuing the planned treatment in the Gemelli hospital.

Britain has withdrawn nearly all its troops from Afghanistan - PM Johnson

Most British troops have been pulled out of Afghanistan, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday, ending its official role in a two-decades long conflict amid fears the departure of foreign soldiers could lead to a chaotic civil war.

British forces were first deployed to Afghanistan in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks on the United States and played a major role in combat operations until 2014. A total of 457 British soldiers were killed in the country.

Aerial images of expanding graves capture Indonesia's deadliest days

A morbid grid of graves widens as excavators dig deep, piling up soil to make space for Indonesia's pandemic dead to be laid to rest. Ambulances, lights flashing, deliver bodies to the Jakarta burial site as trucks carry away dirt beside rows of rectangles carved out of the brown earth.

Residents return as toxic chemicals from Thai factory dissipate

Evacuated residents warily began returning to their homes on Bangkok's outskirts on Thursday after a chemical factory went up in flames earlier this week, as experts called for air and water to be thoroughly tested for any lingering toxic chemicals. One firefighter died and at least 33 people were injured in Monday's blaze at Ming Dih Chemical.

Haiti police battle gunmen who killed president, amid fears of chaos

Haiti's security forces were locked in a fierce gun battle on Wednesday with assailants who assassinated President Jovenel Moise at his home overnight, plunging the already impoverished, violence-wracked nation deeper into chaos. The police had killed four of the "mercenaries" and captured two more, Police General Director Leon Charles said in televised comments late on Wednesday, adding that security forces would not rest until they had all been dealt with.

S.Africa's ex-president Zuma could be out of jail in 4 months, says justice minister

South Africa's former president Jacob Zuma, who has been in police detention since Wednesday night as he starts a 15-month prison sentence for contempt, will be eligible for parole after around four months, the justice minister said. Zuma turned himself in to police overnight to begin his jail term for defying a court order to give evidence at an inquiry into corruption while he was in power from 2009 to 2018. The inquiry is led by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.

Israel demolishes family home of suspected Palestinian attacker

Israel drew U.S. criticism on Thursday when it destroyed the family home of a Palestinian-American accused of involvement in a shooting that killed an Israeli and wounded two others in the occupied West Bank. Muntasir Shalabi was indicted in an Israeli military court over the attack in May near the city of Nablus in which student Yehuda Guetta was shot dead.

Analysis-N.Korea reshuffle signals military policy not top priority now, analysts say

New photos confirm North Korea has demoted a military leader in a reshuffle that left the ruling party's top body dominated by civilians, possibly signalling leader Kim Jong Un's focus on the economy and frustration with bureaucratic failures, analysts said. Last week, North Korea announced the latest in a series of leadership changes that may be the most significant reshuffle of top officials in years.