taking out you see. the nice and kind of famous. countersteering. defiant about losin president says he won't to give up the country as big crowds rally in support of him for the 1st time since the disputed election. but a larger crowd has gathered for what they say will be the biggest rally for freedom and they've now been backed by a top diplomat. follower not matheson this is on to syria live from doha also coming up

a call for change in thailand's demonstrators led by students want the government out and a new constitution. a ship leaking oil off the coast of militias breaks apart raising fears of an ecological disaster. it's a battle for the future of belo roofs a week after the disputed presidential vote to rival rallies have been taking place in the capital president alexander lukashenko spoke at a pro-government demonstration while in another part of minsk tens of thousands of opposition supporters have gathered for what they are calling a day of freedom glory chalons reports. 7 days after the contentious election and finally the embattled presidents of bella russo organized a rally of support state employees were brought by bus and train to the capital minsk from all over the country the intention to show that alexander lukashenko

still has a popular base after a week of anti-government protests unprecedented in their size in the august heat told the crowd better or is being threatened from outside it is more of. a friend i didn't call you here for you to defend me as well you came here to defend your country independence your families wives sisters and children for the 1st time in a quarter century. just a short distance across the capital a much bigger demonstration followed perhaps the largest of the anti-government movement so far better russians repeating the call they've been making since what they say was the rigged election on august the 9th the man who's ruled batteries for 26 years has no legitimacy he should leave and there should be a new and free vote. yet hours earlier the better russian ambassador to slovakia became the 1st senior official to back the protests in

a video posted online. i stand in solidarity with those who have taken to the streets of belorussian cities would peaceful marches so that their voices could be heard. i sincerely hope that the future of my country will be based on the positions of all things of society in representatives of various political forces. have suffered for this right since his plea on saturday that russian president vladimir putin should help him quell the protests they've had to phone calls the kremlin says it's willing to assist batteries militarily in accordance with a collective security pact. for the moments the protesters aren't much concerned with pos. russian intervention nor are they obviously pro western this is an emotional uprising spurred on by the beatings and alleged torture inflicted by state security their focus is getting out and writing a new chapter of about

a ruthless. al-jazeera. thousands of people have joined student led rallies in thailand's capital calling for political reform in the biggest protest in recent months they're demanding a new election and an amended constitution and as we're in here reports from bangkok some ties are touching a sensitive subject with calls for reform of the monarchy. in big numbers they came to the center of bangkok to escalate their call to change protesters gathered around democracy monument a symbol of what they say thailand doesn't have. i can pick the fact that the government is so corrupt it's been in power for far too long and things aren't getting any better. after weeks of peaceful protests led mainly by students this was by far the largest and most diverse attracting thais from different sectors of society including other groups who have staged mass rallies in the past. people have come out today the pair of young people and students alone can't force

change we need everyone to work together. the protesters say thailand's entire political system needs to change including the monarchy it's a dangerous and sensitive issue to take on because the royal family is protected by strict laws designed to prevent criticism. demonstrators also want the government gone and on thursday thailand's prime minister the army general who led the military coup in 2014 addressed the nation he urged unity at a time when the economy is being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. right now we must focus on the economic survival of the 10s of millions of people here let's get the economy going 1st get that done by working together then we can look at fixing the other issues collaboratively later but the protesters say the pen demick is proving and highlighting one of their points that thailand is an economically unequal society and must change tires that are well accustomed to political

protests but there is a sense that this is something different a movement centered around a new generation making unprecedented demands and wanting something profoundly different for thailand. in recent weeks the government has warned the protesters to be careful what they say and arrested 3 protest leaders but if that was a tactic to try to scare them and bring an end to the movement it hasn't worked and judging by the size of this crowd it may be having the opposite effect when hey al jazeera bangkok. is an associate professor of thai politics at kyoto university and he says the calls for the reform have never been so strong. since the official coronation we have seen the expansion of political power of the current king king was gone this also coincided with the current situation i think the students most of them felt that they have been let

down by them or not you know in term of paying attention to the economic hardship of the people at the same time he also seemed like he and you know who have now living long term in germany enjoying his life without you know once again caring for his people so i think the east frustrations part of art at this point in time that's why we have seen them you know proposing a reform for them or not is not the 1st time but i must say this time is very serious the emerge i mean something emerging out of the context we have seen today let young activists most of them basically 1st 'd as well saw week with the clearly the disconnect disconnection between cricket partly and still then just while we could say that they are basically genuinely in support of democracy without any political party backing them up they have a lot of strategies they use the you know the social media in terms of promoting

their campaign and they come up with you know artworks new way of protest they are so daring you know making bad nurse you know comparing the new language if you would say well to criticising the want to know what's in the like that before. the u.s. postmaster general has been summoned to testify at a congressional committee president donald trump is accused of trying to sabotage the mail network before november's election by withdrawing funding the postal service has warned that millions of mail in votes may not arrive in time to be counted mike hanna reports. protesters gathered outside the new postmaster general steve c. home. was a prominent republican fundraiser and those here in so steve's effectively assisting president trump in what amounts to focus suppression former president barack obama in rear public criticism accuse the president off and i quote kneecapping the

postal service for political gain detroit has slashed over time fired or reassigned key management figures and ordered the decommissioning of 10 percent of mail sorting machines the department's inspector general has confirmed to congress that an investigation into problems in the postal service is under way but president trump has only praise for his appointee making reference to his own campaign slogan yes. he wants to he wants to make the post of his great again you ever hear the expression you want to make the post office great again. and the president repeated his absolute opposition to mail in vote you are going to have. a catastrophic situation with universal mail and birds and on top of it the democrats aren't willing to give the people the money and the post office the money

polls indicate that more democrats and republicans are likely to vote by mail vote ironically president trump himself will be costing an absentee vote in an upcoming primary in florida the difference between an absentee vote and a mail in ballot is largely procedural in the form of voters' request permission to vote by mail but in the 2nd case voters need no approval and simply post in their vote in all cases the vote is mailed it's difficult to see why the president sees one process as acceptable and the other as fraudulent. concern about the impact of failures in the u.s. postal service on the election is becoming an increasingly bipartisan issue we could see a dramatic increase in the volume of mail of people returning their ballots which we would absolutely determine has to be done in a timely fashion so here ruins vote is counted there's no doubt that the. long term

financial challenge and those who need to be dealt with but now it's not the time to be cutting back services sitting in congress is the democratic party coronavirus relief bill that includes a 25000000000 dollar injection into the postal service a bull where president trump insists he will not accept in its current form mike hanna al-jazeera washington. donald trump is changing his mind on edward snowden the us president says he's considering giving a pardon to the whistleblower he previously wanted executed for being a traitor snowden lives in exile in russia after leaking what was described as a treasure trove of secrets from the national security agency 7 years ago tom says many americans think he's been treated unfairly. 5 people have been killed in an attack on

a hotel in somalia's capital mogadishu government officials say 2 gunmen are among the dead i mean and stuff on scene say 28 others are injured an explosion followed by gunfire was howard at the elite hotel in lido beach it tack is ongoing still ahead on al-jazeera. i have to. go and everything gone in a matter of seconds we meet some beirut residents who've lost everything they've worked for. and the sale of cigarettes and alcohol resumes in south africa as coronavirus restrictions are lifted. hello there's more rain to come for the korean peninsula but probably for north

korea wrong than south korea which is enjoying at least in the south a bit of a warm sunny spittal a moment in fact the rain is more likely to be showing itself in beijing where you have to be brief bit of flash flooding not significant but it's been iraq and in the last day or so could see some more the heavy rains down in sichuan the headwaters the yangtze in beijing itself the forecast is the thunderstorms from monday into tuesday there across a time on wednesday not particularly humid but enough the thunderstorms in the picture generally throughout tuesday if you're not in beijing in this general area is to me she made one with showers in hong kong but shanghai looks fine the korean peninsula looks fine wall almost all japan much the same for the south an increase in the light into showers is occurring now on will do in the forecast in borneo and sumatra and maybe in java jakarta city getting close is a mass of showers of the philippines which is not a big surprise they should be but far fewer in sort of ways it was popular we see recently the picture in jakarta isn't entirely dry one by the time we get there

wednesday showers return now it is officially still dry season but the rain is thinking about coming back. but. it began as a dream holiday then turned into a public health disaster one o one east investigates how a cruise ship became the source of one of a stray lived largest coded 19 outbreaks on al-jazeera. be the hero world needs right. washing. the all of.

you watching on his ear a reminder of our top stories this hour president alexander lukashenko has told supporters he won't call a new election despite opposition allegations last sunday's election result was raped nato denies not present his allegations that its forces are gathering at the border ready to invade. in the capital minsk the red and white flag of the opposition has flown high in what tens of thousands of protesters called a day of freedom there repeating their demands for local sangha to resign after 26 years in power. and to govern the protest is in thailand have been rallying in the capital bangkok calling for political change they're demanding an overhaul of the government and of the rights to the constitution. the japanese ship that ran onto

a coral reef off the coast of the russia's last month has broken up its looking fuel oil and storm a recent marine reserve and on to beaches popular with tourists the vessels on and says it will consider paying for damages lower burden manning reports sea walls have flooding in oil out the japanese owned vessel and the rock a share has space apart and the oil is there spreading along the pristine coastline of eastern russia. the ball carrier running to refit point as the 3 weeks ago a 1000 tons of oil spilled into the ocean presenting a huge danger to marine wildlife some unique to the country the area boosts colorful reefs mangrove forests protected wetlands and pristine beaches. an environmental emergency was declared last week we are facing another threat of another 50 tons of fuel against being in the logo and in the long term we're also

looking at the in the longer term impact of toxic elements containing the ship like the batteries toxic paints and other elements counting the ship which we see been to see and contaminate further. so the damage of the washer is not a short term damage it's a very long term damage the japanese ship a gun but he has issued an apology on its website saying it's willing to pay compensation for damages japan and other france responded to calls for assistance joining thousands of local volunteers who are bracing the clock to protect the wildlife and some have got creative. using boobs made from human hair and husks from sugarcane to soak up as much of the oil and sludge as possible the island of 1300000 people relies heavily on tourism many are angry the government did not act quickly enough it blamed bad weather for the slow response and is investigating why the ship came so close to the shore it was supposed to stay at

least 16 kilometers away many doubt fear the spill could impact the local economy for decades and do irreversible damage to the local wildlife nervous about the al-jazeera. is the campaign manager for climate and energy greenpeace africa he explains the risks if the cleanup isn't completed quickly. the coral reefs that are around the lagoon have been inundated with oil so meaning that there is pollutants and contamination of the coral reefs we're also talking about a large extent to a large proportion of marine life that had that escaped the area or actually dead in this case because they can not agree with oil are out but that also extends further inland towards the shoreline as well as the mangrove plantations where you have an oil also going into the mainland and in some of the waterways where there's

other areas of activity so essentially you cannot use the shore like you cannot access the lagoon in a sense and you're going to go fishing or spect you see there the 1000000 lead because that's gone then the 2nd part is that if the ship is not removed as it has broken in half it might end up thinking to certain extent obviously depending on where. the self of undersea ortez of the undersea will to search is it could sink in certain areas in other areas it will still be afloat however we are also worried about the different contaminants within the ship also leading further into the broader war 2 weeks israel has closed the fishing zone off the coast of gaza overnight air strikes have been launched against hamas positions in southern gaza the israeli say they're responding to makeshift fire bombs attached to balloons being sent over the border from gaza palestinians that infuriated by the deal signed by israel and the united arab emirates to normalize

relations millions of lebanese are in poverty while the political elite are trying to find a new prime minister and a government and the devastating explosion of almost 3000 tons of ammonium nitrate nearly 2 weeks ago was the final straw for many and smith reports from beirut. like many other lebanese and one by seal has always managed to get by no matter what was thrown at him being a conflict or economic crisis but now it's different measures should benefit all mad i walked around 8 kilometers he says as he describes trying to get medical treatment in the aftermath of the port explosion that sent a devastating shockwave through beirut i think he has 7 days. count. and there are no air 970 year old antoine eventually found a hospital to treat the injuries to his had and on now he relies on free help and volunteers stress that would be part of the explosion the whole story has to. ok

as if the middle class has gone with explorers there's normally a class at all so people are coming seeking medical support food clothes house cleanups whatever you think they need just got bigger the blast destroyed or damaged around $50000.00 homes affecting 300000 documents lebanon's currency has lost 80 percent of its value against the dollar and there are tight restrictions on how much people can take out of the banks and inflation is running at almost 90 percent so what little money there is people need to spend it on daily necessities there is no spare cash for rebuilding. mañana dam blood if from me from my head i'm gonna work 35 years in

a bank he saved and bought his own home this is what's left of it a dream of a quiet retirement with his wife andrea and their 2 daughters is in tatters nobody . this time from the government do it today what happened in iraq what. do you want what do you have what nothing i bought near here in lebanon. i have 70 years old where i go now to rebuild i'm 12 and tens of thousands of others need foreign donor help that cash will only likely be released when this country has a cabinet and prime minister acceptable to the international community talks on who make up that government continues between the political elites who control this country burnitz make beirut. a new iranian supermarket chain has opened in venezuela as capital it's the latest symbol of the growing political and economic alliance between tehran and caracas and a sign of defiance against u.s.

sanctions and soon human reports. in a reunion tractor enhances the entrance of mc gases this spanking new mega supermarket in caracas is certainly. no pated on the edge of caracas his largest the country's 1st ever iranian supermarket offers products such as garlic shampoo and sweets flavored with date syrup all exotic items have been israel in silicon valley given chill and his wife in a movie it's the 1st time of comic it's spacious and has a wide variety of products it's a bit more expensive but i guess it's because almost everything is imported. to make gas the supermarket chain says it's a private company in that israel had to do business but the only person authorized to speak to us on its behalf was the 1st secretary of the remain an embassy who seems well versed on the subject but and their mother. was one of the best sellers

right now because of the pandemic is a vegetable based anti septic hand made from sweet beetroot also toilet paper napkins detergents and liquid soap also the typical things like pastor and reiss. venezuela's close ties with iran date back to former president although chavis but under current president nicholas my little the 2 opec members have become even closer as both faced tough u.s. economic and political sanctions in maine a fiver reining in gasoline tankers brought desperately needed fuel driven israela despite u.s. threats to intervene. the u.s. state department says the iranian supermarket is the quote latest example of a growing alliance between 2 pariah states iran's ambassador to the israel and tells al-jazeera his country has every right to establish commercial ties with whom it pleases and both of them with a do so both hope of others not them of the american government's charges mean

nothing to us they're worried that we're providing food and medicine to venezuela they want countries like iran venezuela and cuba to suffer from the sanctions all they want is that people to suffer until they are by washington's orders. the ambassador denied us reports that the mccaskey supermarket chain is run by iran's revolutionary guard iran is also providing technical support to venezuela's crippled oil industry it's unclear what it's getting in return except perhaps in israel and gold which is also subject to u.s. sanctions but there's another explanation solidarity another way of demonstrating the ancient proverb that the enemy of my enemy is my friend you see in human al-jazeera. the u.s. food and drug administration has given emergency approval to a new saliva test for covert 19 it follows a successful trial by the yale school of public health on professional basketball

players in the n.b.a. researchers have found that the so-called saliva direct test is nearly as accurate as a nose swab using saliva may also detect the illness earlier than other methods and it is significantly cheaper. so if africa is easing coronavirus restrictions because a few who are new infections is getting rid of nearly all limits on economic activity by moving to alert level 2 that allows travel between provinces and the end of the ban on cigarettes and alcohol sales from another has this update from johannesburg . south africa has had one of the world's longest and most strict lockdowns and while some of the restrictions have been eased very slowly over recent weeks it's industries like this the hospitality and the restaurant sector that has suffered there's been concern that up 240-0000 jobs could be lost and now that restrictions are being eased to further this hope that this will bring change in general it is

being carted misstating to see what damage it has done but you know what we've done is we've had to stick to very strict protocols on what we allowed to do social distancing at least 1.5 everybody that comes in tolerations has to be monitored with temperature and they have to read just page of our health department contacting us it has had a quite a different feel like there's been a bit of fear from the customer side of parts as well so people have actually stopped coming out but in the recent weeks funnily enough it odyssey in the recent weeks people have started to actually come out and start enjoying the old way of life with the new restrictions that experts say south africa may have reached the peak in the number of covert 1000 infections in fact numbers are now dropping from an average of about 12000 new infections every day to 5000 and this is renewed confidence that the economy can be reopened but the relief well may have come

a little too late for some. environmental and so warning that clear skies in cleaner waterways during the pandemic aren't reasons for major celebrations a study in italy says despite 10 percent less rubbish being produced since locked on the increased use of disposable cover 19 protective gear is adding to the mountain of waste explains. it's a scene we've all become familiar with no matter where we are in the world wearing a mask is our new normal. but while single use protective gear might be saving lives it's also polluting our environment. running up on them yet them obviously during the pandering racin an increase in the usage of individual protective gear such as face mask and gloves very often made out of plastic. the tiny an institute of environmental research found that in just 2 months of lockdown during march and april the amount of general waste fell by 10 percent or $500000.00 tons that's the

good news researches say there is bad news in what is now being thrown away so. we were there we started $6.00 to $9.00 glove models and more than 30 facemask models all very different from each other they have different structures some have false some have filters and therefore different weights we made an assumption on the average wage and they found out that at the end of 2020 this production will create 300000 tons of additional waste and that's just masks and gloves alone. by the end of the year the total amount of waste produced is likely to be similar to before the pandemic. environmentalist's are also concerned that the pandemic has rolled back global efforts to cope single use plastic. we have also seen an increase in consumption of packaged foods and e-commerce that uses a lot of single use plastic packaging we don't have an estimate yet of how much of

those objects were dumped into the environment but what is sure is that all of those that have been abandoned sooner or later will reach the sea. here in trade body u.n.c. t.a.d.s. to mates global marcel's have doubled since last year. plastic pollution was already one of the greatest threats to our planet's before the outbreak now around 75 percent of use masks as well as other pandemic related waste will end up in landfills or floating in the sea. sort of height at al-jazeera. this is all it is here and these are the top stories but it was president alexander lukashenko has told supporters he won't call a new election despite opposition allegations last sunday's election result was rigged nato denies the allegations that its forces are gathering at the border

ready to invade in the capital minsk the red and white flag of the opposition has flown high during what tens of thousands of protesters are calling a day of freedom they are repeating their demands for looking to resign after 26 years in power sebastian's been at the opposition protest in the capital euphoric. unprecedented tens of thousands of people gathering here even estimate up to. rally for freedom people here are saying we are changing the country you are witnessing history they really feel that they are winning the battle for the future of here despite the fact that. has again not stepping down until government protesters in thailand have been rallying in the capital buying call calling for political change they're demanding an overhaul of the government and a rewrite of the constitution. the u.s.

postmaster general has been summoned to testify at a congressional committee president donald trump is accused of trying to sabotage the mail network before november's election by withdrawing funding 5 people have been killed in an attack on a hotel in somalia's capital mogadishu i mean and stuff on scene say 28 others are injured an explosion followed by gunfire was heard at the elite hotel in little beach the attack is still going on. israel has closed the fishing zone off the coast of gaza overnight air strikes were launched against hamas positions in southern gaza the israelis say they're responding to makeshift fire bombs attached to balloons being sent over the border from gaza those are the headlines the news continues here on al-jazeera after one a one east goodbye. movie

frances sailed into sydney for the 1st time last year the ship was greeted with fireworks and celebration and still while everybody was to go along. now the ruby princess is famous for all the wrong reasons put them on. the 1st absolutely appalling what. a special commission of inquiry is examining how hundreds of infected passengers were allowed to leave the ship spreading the virus around the country and the world.