Joe Biden will this afternoon formally announce the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan by 11 September – ending nearly two decades of war that killed more than 2,200 US troops, wounded 20,000, and cost as much as $1 trillion (£720bn). Estimates suggest more than 100,000 Afghans lost their lives in the conflict.
His speech comes as US climate envoy John Kerry is heading to China for talks between the world’s two biggest carbon emitters ahead of an environmental summit of world leaders. Intelligence chiefs have warned in an annual briefing that the climate emergency poses increasing risks to US national security on multiple fronts.
Jill Biden has returned to the White House after a “common” medical procedure, to which she was accompanied by her husband. There was no immediate detail offered about the nature of the first lady’s treatment.
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