British Airways is to launch a voluntary Covid-19 test for passengers travelling to the UK from three US airports.

The airline wants to persuade governments that testing travellers will make quarantining unnecessary.

American Airlines is also taking part in the trial, which follows a similar effort by United Airlines.

The government is looking at how testing can reduce the time travellers to the UK need to self-isolate.

British Airways owner IAG has long criticised the 14-day quarantine imposed on arrivals, saying it deters people from flying and damages airlines.

It is also trying to convince the US government to open its borders to UK nationals, who have been barred since March.

The trial begins on 25 November and will be free to eligible customers on three flights:

• American Airlines flight AA50 from Dallas Fort Worth to Heathrow
• British Airways flight BA268 from Los Angeles to Heathrow
• And British Airways flight BA114 from New York John F. Kennedy to Heathrow.

Customers will be tested 72 hours before their trip, as well as during and after travelling.

If they test positive before travelling, they will have to reschedule or cancel their flight, but will be able to rebook at a later date without a fee.

The trial will run to mid-December, and British Airways would like to test 500 passengers.

Boss chief executive Sean Doyle, who was parachuted into the role in October, said: “If we have a testing formula it gives people certainty from which they can plan.”

He added that he was “confident” the airline would demonstrate that a test three days before flying would make quarantining unnecessary.

Heathrow is already offering rapid coronavirus tests for people travelling to destinations where proof of a negative result is required on arrival.

It comes as airlines struggle with a massive slump in demand that has cost the industry $84.3bn (£64bn) in lost sales globally this year.

The UK government has set up a taskforce to look at how tests could reduce the quarantine period for people flying to the UK, but it says travellers would still need to isolate for a number of days.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “The government’s Global Travel Taskforce is working at pace, with clinicians, devolved administrations and the travel industry to develop measures as quickly as possible to protect air connectivity and consider how testing could be used to reduce the self-isolation period

Syria’s veteran Foreign minister dies

Long-time Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, one of the most prominent public faces for President Bashar al-Assad’s government during the country’s civil war, has died aged 79.

State media did not specify the cause of his death, but he had reportedly been in poor health for some time.

He was last seen in public last week.

Muallem, who became foreign minister in 2006 and also deputy prime minister in 2012, blamed the war on a Western conspiracy to topple Mr Assad.

He also regularly defended the government and its allies against widespread allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

More than 400,000 people have been killed and 13 million others have been displaced since a pro-democracy uprising erupted in 2011.

A Syrian government statement said Muallem was “known for his honourable national stances at different political and diplomatic arenas”.

In 2014, Muallem headed the government’s delegation at UN-sponsored peace talks in Switzerland that were meant to discuss a political transition plan for Syria.

Sitting across the room from leading opposition figures, he said in an opening address: “The media laud these people, these terrorists, by claiming they are moderates. But they know full well that they are extremists and terrorists.”

Then-UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon accused him of using inflammatory language, to which Muallem responded: “You live in New York. I live in Syria. I have the right to give the Syrian version here in this forum.”

The talks eventually collapsed and there has been little progress on a peaceful resolution to the conflict since then.

Rebel and jihadist groups once controlled large parts of the country, but the Syrian army has retaken most of the territory over the past five years with the help of Russian air power and Iran-backed militiamen.

Now, the last remaining opposition stronghold is the north-western province of Idlib, which the government has vowed to “liberate” despite the presence of three million civilians, including one million children.

The US is to cut its number of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq by 2,500, the US Department of Defense has confirmed.

President Donald Trump had previously warned that he would be cutting the size of US forces in the two countries.

The cut will take place before President Trump leaves office, the Pentagon said.

The Secretary-General of the Nato alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, has warned of a “high price” if US and allied forces leave Afghanistan too quickly.

In a statement, he said the country risked once again becoming a platform for international terrorists to organise attacks.

The number of troops in Iraq will be cut by 500 to 2,500, while the number of service personnel in Afghanistan will fall from 4,500 to about 2,500.

Acting US Defense Secretary Chris Miller said the move reflects Mr Trump’s policy “to bring the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to a successful and responsible conclusion and to bring our brave service members home”.

The Nigerian musician Seun Kuti has announced the revival of his father’s political party, the Movement of the People.

The youngest son of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti said the party was established in opposition to the country’s elites.

Mr Kuti has claimed the police threatened to close his family’s nightclub, The New Afrika Shrine in Lagos, if he held a meeting of his movement there. There were local media reports of a heavy police presence around the venue on Tuesday morning.

In a small conference broadcast live on social media, Mr Kuti explained that the Movement of the People (MOP) was a coalition of socialist, progressive organisations. Representatives of the factions also spoke at the meeting.

The original Movement of the People was set up by Fela in 1979.

He intended to run for the presidency under its banner but was barred from taking part.

The revival of the MOP was announced as a young Nigerian man involved in recent protests against police brutality was released on bail.

Twenty-seven-year-old musician Eromosele Adene was detained on 7 November. His lawyers say there was no charge made against him.

His supporters have claimed he was detained for his involvement in the #EndSARS protests.

Other protesters have had their accounts frozen without warning. The central bank has listed potential involvement in terrorism as a reason for the action.

The rights group Human Rights Watch has described the move as a “gross abuse of power”.

A cocker spaniel nearly died after eating a facemask, a vet charity said.

One-year-old Ralph needed emergency surgery at Huyton PDSA in Liverpool to remove the mask, which had blocked his intestines.

Owner Julie Veidman, from Prescot, first began to notice something was wrong when her dog could not keep water down and even refused his favourite treat.

“We never thought he’d actually eat a facemask,” said Ms Veidman.

“We think he must’ve stolen it from my daughter’s bag in the night.

“He always had a liking for socks and sometimes knickers too, so we always keep things like that well away from him.”

PDSA vet Lizzie Whitton said her team was “shocked” when they made the discovery.

Donald Trump has insisted he is not conceding the US election, despite seemingly acknowledging for the first time that Democrat Joe Biden won.

“He won because the Election was Rigged,” the Republican president wrote on Twitter, repeating unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.

About an hour later he said he was not conceding the 3 November vote.

He has launched a slew of lawsuits in key states, but has not provided any evidence to back his claims of fraud.

All the lawsuits have so far been unsuccessful.

On Friday, election officials said the vote was the “most secure in American history” and there was “no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes or was in any way compromised”.

Meanwhile, Mr Biden remains president-elect.

The Democrat has 306 votes in the electoral college – the system the US uses to choose its president – which far exceeds the 270 threshold to win. Any recounts or legal challenges are not expected to overturn the overall result.

Mr Biden’s lead in the popular vote has also surpassed five million.

Nevertheless, Mr Trump had refused to acknowledge Mr Biden’s victory until – apparently – now.

In a news conference on Friday, Mr Trump said “who knows” which administration would be in power in the future.