this is bbc news i'm tim willcox with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. making history — the democratic presidential candidate, joe biden, chooses african—american senator, kamala harris — as his running mate for november s us election. they take on donald trump in three months time — his campaign team has already weighed in, saying ‘americans will resoundingly reject‘ the pair at the ballot box. the main opposition leader in belarus flees the country after disputing the presidential election result. the people of beirut observe a minute's silence — marking the moment an explosion ripped through the city — one week earlier.

the hong kong pro—democracy activist, jimmy lai, is released on bail — 2a hours after his arrest under the national security law, imposed by china. hello and welcome to bbc news. after months of speculation and 84 days before election day the democratic nomineejoe biden has selected the california senator, kamala harris, as his running mate against donald trump for november's election. ms harris, who's fifty—five, is the first black woman on a major presidential ticket in american history. taking to twitterjoe biden said — "i have the great honor to announce that i ve picked kamala harris — a fearless fighter for the little guy,

and one of the country s finest public servants as my running mate. whilst kamala said she's honored to join joe biden as our party's nominee for vice president, and do what it takes to make him our commander—in—chief. let's speak to our north america correspondent david willis. whojoins us from who joins us from los angeles. it is an historic moment is in a? given her background and she's one of the very few women to be actually put on the ticket as a vice president. absolutely. we think of sarah palin, geraldine ferraro all those years ago. and now we have kamala harris. where getting a few more details about the process thatjoe biden went through. we know he's been involved in this process of selecting his running mate for the best out of three maybe four months now. backin of three maybe four months now. back in march he narrowed it down. he said it would be a woman and he's interviewed almost a dozen people. it's

been suggested in the last weeks and months. in some cases face—to—face and other cases online. we are told that it came down to about 90 minutes before the announcement today that he telephoned kamala harris and offered her thejob as his running mate. she accepted, of course. and he spent the rest of the time it ringing around the other u nsuccessful ringing around the other unsuccessful candidates. people like susan rice, the former national security adviser, a congressman from california and quite a few other people. joe biden has gone through this process very meticulously. he clearly believes that kamala harris who ran for the democratic nomination herself is battle tested and will serve him well in combating mike pence and donald trump in november. the only one-hit actually worked with had an office next door to it was susan rice. he knows michael

whaen through his son bo who died a few years ago. but kamala harris and joe biden has some pretty testy exchanges today in that first debate? that they appeared in. it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two united states senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country. everything i've done in my career, i ran because of several rides, i continue to think we have to make fundamental changes in civil rights for top those civil rights for top those civil rights by the rate include not just african—american but the lg bt just african—american but the lgbt q just african—american but the lgbt 0 community. just african—american but the lgbt q community. you also worked with them to oppose busing. and there was a little girl in california who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools. and she was bused to school every day. and that little girl was me. that's to

mischaracterize my characterisation across the board. ido characterisation across the board. i do not praise racists. joe biden said after that that he was angry and hurt which clearly caught him flat—footed. he wasn't expecting it didn't see it coming from kamala harris. they've since made up. this is politics, of course. is him always to the fore. and kamala harris is somebody who joe biden will look toi to i think, to secure the african american vote. it's a vote that has been important to him,joe vote that has been important to him, joe biden. he's long relied upon it and long successfully relied upon it. but kamala harris will be seen asa but kamala harris will be seen as a person who can hopefully, drive those voters to the polls. interesting that donald trump donated to her campaign when he was going that she was running for attorney general as to the banker as well. that is a good—natu red to the banker as well. that is a good—natured approach to her will be gone forever now though. he's already responded has in new to this? he has. and

donald trump has called her a lousy politician. he is also said that she was very nasty and her cross of brett cavanagh who is donald trump spec for, one of donald trump spec for the supreme court. and she really brought her prosecutorial skills to bear on that. and indeed to the cross—examination of jeff sessions. the former attorney general who was withering under her probing in the senate. and i think that that's the sort of thing thatjoe biden will be looking to rely on herfor thing thatjoe biden will be looking to rely on her for her. it'll be very interesting to see how she does in the vice presidential debate in october. when she will be up against mike pence. my parents were probably a bit wary of going into debating with kamala harris. before that of course, joe biden and kamala harris will be together in wilmington delaware tomorrow for a fundraiser. the first time they are to gather formally on this

ticket. david thank you very much indeed. earlier i spoke to stephanie schriock — democrat and president of emily's list which aims to put more democrat women in office — and asked her if kamala was the right pick. absolutely. we are thrilled emily's list has been working for 35 years and have successfully change how many women are in us congress. but we have yet to break the glass ceiling of the white house. in either the vp or presidential slot. and kamala harris is an excellent choice. a leader, a strategist, someone who's been holding the trump administration accountable. it's that kind of fight that i thinkjoe biden probably liked the most about her. and i think it isa the most about her. and i think it is a winning ticket. what does she have over all the others? elizabeth warren, susan harris, what is her usp? well,

i've got to tell you. i would not want to have been inched presidentjoe biden his shoes to pick among these women. they we re to pick among these women. they were all extraordinary talented extraordinary brought a lot of ambition to save this country. and so everybody brought a little bit of a different thing. and i think for senator harris you've got someone who served as attorney general of california. but keep in mind, is the second largestjustice system is the second largestjustice syste m o nly is the second largestjustice system only in the us justice system. and so she has held big banks accountable. 0bviously he was close to the family and close to bo biden. but also served in the united states senate. remember vice president biden came from the senate. she serves onjudiciary biden came from the senate. she serves on judiciary where biden came from the senate. she serves onjudiciary where she is questioned the trump administration. and she serves on intelligence. i think all of those pieces along with her general, personal story was a perfect fit for him. and i'm sure as all choices are, joe

biden knows better than anybody what it takes to be vice president and a good partner, i think they probably headed off. and figured they could this country back on track. and boy, we have a lot of work to do here. biden himself said that she's smart, tough, she faced quite a lot of criticism did and she especially in the press about her campaign when she was about her campaign when she was a contender? bad decisions, backbiting when you look at her record as attorney general she defended the death penalty despite being personally against it in california. 0pposed a bill which required her office to investigate police shootings. she's got a full political chess, hasn't she? well, if you can be vice president of the united states oi’ president of the united states or president you are going to have served the people for yea rs have served the people for years typically on the way. i think when you really look at michael once record, her record

as attorney general when she thought big banks and got a $20 billion settlement for homeowners in the state of california. what she has done in thejudiciary california. what she has done in the judiciary committee california. what she has done in thejudiciary committee to hold people likejeff in thejudiciary committee to hold people like jeff sessions accountable when he was on the stand. and cavanaugh. that's the type of leader that we want and need desperately. that's the kind of leader she's going to be as our well, first female vice president of the united states. and if they were to win, would she bejust looking ahead to her own presidential run? that is the criticism within the democratic party in some courses. i actually have the honour of knowing it kamala harris personally. i'll tell you what, she is, they are going to win this race because they have a vision for fixing this country. and we are in big trouble here. between not handling covid—i9 and emma correctly and also the economy around it. plus the systemic

racial issues that are just tearing us apart. kamala harris is the kind of person, she's gonna roll up your sleeves and she's going to get to work side by side with joe she's going to get to work side by side withjoe biden. to move us by side withjoe biden. to move us forward and build us back better. because that's what has to happen. and i have no doubts about that. she focuses on the job in front of her and that's exactly what she's going to do. the opposition candidate in belarus's presidential election has fled the country, after she disputed an election result she claimed was rigged. svetla na tikhanovskaya said she went to lithuania for her children, amid angry protests from her supporters in the capital minsk. the former soviet republic is often referred to as europe's last dictatorship. 0ur moscow correspondent sarah rainsford reports. she's been the face of change in belarus, but today, svetla na tikhanovskaya released a tearful video announcing she had fled the country.

translation: i know many will understand me, many will condemn, and many will hate me. but god forbid you have to face the choice i had. this was the last time the opposition candidate had been seen, heading to hand in an official complaint and she made another recording, clearly under pressure. it was a call to supporters to recognise alexander lu kashenko as the people's choice for president, and to clear the streets to avoid bloodshed. no one bought that. protesters have come out for a third straight night, shouting for mr lukashenko to go. this is how similar scenes ended last night. police using stun grenades, rubber bullets and brute force against the growing

demand for change. and yet, alexander lukashenko spent today talking food processing with officials. he's vowed there will be no revolution and blamed outside forces for fementing unrest. that's why, when these russians were detained, state television paraded them as provocateurs. we know two of them were just observing the elections. across the country, desperate families are now hunting for the thousands who've been detained, mothers clamouring at prison gates. this crisis has already claimed one protester‘s life and increased the anger and upset. the woman these people voted for has fled, but what svetlana tikhanovskaya has started now has its own powerful momentum. sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: kamala harris — the fifty—five year

old californian senator becomes the first black woman to run on a major presidential ticket in america.

hello you're watching bbc news. your main story this hour. this hour. making history — the democratic presidential candidate, joe biden, chooses black senator, kamala harris — as his running mate for november s us election. let's stay with that now. earlier i spoke to our correspondent anthony zurcher — i asked him considering kamala harris‘ position as a front runner why joe biden had decided to delay the announcement. well, yes she was a front runner and a front runner for a

reason. because you seem like an obvious pic. i think the delay suggest the importance of this pic forjoe biden and really for democrats. because this isn't just another really for democrats. because this isn'tjust another running mate. usually running mates don't affect the ticket that much. but becausejoe biden is 77 years old then there's the question about whether he might even declined to run in for yea rs if even declined to run in for years if he wins. this is essentially crowning the heir apparent of the democratic party. and because kamala harris clearly has presidential ambitions now. she has a leg up over the rest of the field. but if you saw from all the sniping and all the other candidates being advanced, all the questioning going on over the past weeks and months, i think eve ryo ne past weeks and months, i think everyone realise how important this decision would be. given joe biden his age and given the fa ct joe biden his age and given the fact that this is a stepping stone to the presidency and it has been in modern american history. donald trump contributed to her attorney general campaign in 2011 and 13

so has our back out. he's been commenting about the announcement at a press conference today. i think we canjust bring conference today. i think we can just bring that in now i think. i was a little surprise at the pics. a lot of people was saying that might be the pack. i was more surprised than anything else because she did so anything else because she did so poorly. many people did much better than her so poorly. many people did much betterthan her in so poorly. many people did much better than her in the primaries. she did very poorly in the primaries. that second pole. that's like a pole. like a pole. president trump doesn't a lwa ys a pole. president trump doesn't always listen to the polls does see? in terms of uniting the party though anthony. can she do that with a more progressive wing, perhaps? welll do that with a more progressive wing, perhaps? well i think the progressive wing certainly has their doubts about her. she kind of tacked towards the left during her presidential campaign but they never really trusted her. they probably more with moderates. she was one of these candidates who got caught in the in between the progressives who had bernie sanders and elizabeth warren and the moderates who are rallying behind joe biden

pretty much throughout. that is probably why she didn't do as well in the race as people thought she might. but i think, when i talk to democratic activists, politicians right now. even those on the left, beating. donald trump is so important to them. winning this election is so essential that even though she may not be a progressive and are forced on people in the party at this point they just want to get donald trump out of the white house. they are willing to paper over their differences and pull together. ithink paper over their differences and pull together. i think she has a going in herfavour. but infor has a going in herfavour. but in for years when conceivably she is running for the nominations are in eight years i think all of that will resu rfa ce i think all of that will resurface again and people who are on the left is see her as a cop, essentially as law enforcement as somebody has a prosecutorial background. all of that will come back up again. then again now she will be the heir apparent to the moderates. it will be interesting to see that dynamic player going forward. ceremonies have been held in the lebanese capital tonight, as beirut marks

the moment a week ago when the city was hit by a devastating blast. from there — tom bateman reports. here, there is faith in god... but none in their country's leaders. the living paid tribute. they believe the dead paid for lebanon's problems with their lives. i want to pay a tribute to all the victims. i would not call them martyrs, never, they are not martyrs. a martyr chooses to die. we did not choose to die. a week ago, the moment when nothing would be the same. explosion. a city shattered, a country brought closer to collapse.

there's no help at the hospital, says yara, it's wrecked too. shocked and bloodied, she filmed the scenes of destruction. scenes she'll never forget. her husband comforts her. their home was destroyed, their neighbours below, killed. but she vows to rebuild — her home and their country. we will raise our kids here and no—one is going anywhere, and we're going to be stronger than ever. and nothing like this will ever happen again. nothing! nothing should ever happen again because no one should live what we lived and what we witnessed. these sisters have stuck together for a lifetime in beirut.

they've seen disasters and war, but now they're leaving. lebanon was already on its knees. now, some warn it may never recover from this. beirut is a broken city. people want change but they know with the system in place here, they've got to do it for themselves. and they continue to remember their dead. for yara, a sign of theirfaith in each other in a crumbling country, where the future seems more uncertain than ever. tom bateman, bbc news, beirut. russia claims to have become the first country in the world to have developed a coronavirus vaccine that offers ‘sustainable immunity‘. president putin says it‘s got regulatory approval after less than two months of tests on humans, but scientists in the west have raised concerns about the speed of its development.

and i think the name of this vaccine, sputnik five, tells you about the politics behind this. sputnik, the first set launched in 1957 in the beat the us and the start of the space race and calling the vaccine that tells you that this is partly about politics, partly about showing that russia is up there, but sometimes it is better not to be first, but to get the right one. maybe this will work well, but it doesn‘t overwhelm, the trouble scientists outside of russia is no data has been released from the institute. so, they cannot really comment. so it is concerning that russia has chosen to go so quickly without showing its hand, without showing its data on that vaccine. two of hong kong‘s biggest opponents to china‘s

new security law have been released on bail. the activist agnes chow and the entrepreneur — jimmy lai — were arrested under a controversial new law paul hawkins has more. freedom for now. media tycoon released on bail late on tuesday. his supporters holding up copies of his apple daily newspaper with the headline apple will fight on. it‘s tabloid which is highly critical of the chinese government. the paper saying it printed 550,000 copies on tuesday instead of the normal 70,000 to cope with extra demand. he was arrested on monday on suspicion of colluding with a foreign power. the authorities using china‘s controversial new security law to clamp down on dissent. he wasn‘t the only one. 23—year—old political

activists agnes chow was also arrested at the same time and then released just a few hours after his release. i would say it‘s very obvious that the regina and the government is using the national security law to suppress political dissidents. and these kind of situations would not only happen on me but will happen on more and more hong kong people in the future. both will face trial at a later date. and could be sentenced to life in prison. the authorities in mauritius say cracks in the hull of a cargo ship which ran aground last month sparking an environmental emergency are worsening. bbc africa‘s catherine byaru hanga reports. a toxic trail of oil seeping into the ocean and invading reefs, mangroves and lagoons. the wreckage lay on the mauritus horizon, as crews battled for days to empty it of all of the oil. then things got much worse. cracks on the ship‘s hull deepened.

locals have been wondering why exactly, why was nothing done. why did it take so long? why did the government give so many contradictory messages? mauritius is in crisis. volunteers are using their bare hands to clean up the oil, threatening their most valuable asset. water and wildlife are vital sources for it‘s lucrative tourism industry. which is reeling from the coronavirus pandemic. and people here are furious. this is the leader of the opposition questioning the minister for shipping in parliament. the government is accused of being slow to act. this government did not assume its responsibilty. with the consequences, there has been a collapse of the whole system in this country, and we hold this government totally responsible! france, japan

and united nations we will cover that story in detail. plenty more on the website. for me bye—bye. hello quite a mix on offer at the moment. the headlines are being made by the heat but at times of low cloud is running into the coastal areas making a a good deal cooler. and then when all that he really piled on through we get that possibility of some thunderstorms. that‘s the pics that will take us for, many of us that will take us for, many of us through wednesday. there is heat to be had widely across western europe at the moment. the moisture being slow up towards the british isles where we start wednesday on another really humid note. widely across the british isles temperatures in the teens if not the low 20s. the bulk of the morning thunderstorms to be found across the northeast

quarter of scotland. gradually drifting toward shetland by evening. then leaving behind just the chance of one or two thunderstorms darted around. generally they will begin to gang up generally they will begin to gang up across the midlands and central, southern england as we get on through the afternoon. again the temperatures widely will exceed 30 celsius. underneath the cloud and merck about coast you could be closer to 17 to 19. through the evening and overnight there we re evening and overnight there were showers getting a bit further north at a little bit further north at a little bit further out towards the west. the market becoming ever more extensive the market becoming ever more exte ns ive a cross the market becoming ever more extensive across northern and eastern scotland into the eastern scotland into the eastern side of the pen nine. againa eastern side of the pen nine. again a very close night again for that widely temperatures into the teens to low 20s. there gets off to a pretty great start. the cloud more extensive than received as of late but he really close feeling day. is that mixture of heat and humidity again that will spark those thunderstorms widely across the southern half of britain. always that fresher and drier to further towards the north. sunshine pops out

here again you‘ll be up into the 20s. friday we‘re going to see again the low pressure very much the dominant feature and a lwa ys much the dominant feature and always that risk those torrential downpours affecting central and southern parts of the british isles. further north again the onshore breeze is dragging some low—level cloud into the eastern side of scotland. that‘s the best of the sunshine for northern island was up at across western scotland. though those temperatures look as though they‘re dropping awayjust a touch i think you will still feel pretty close. it‘s going to ta ke feel pretty close. it‘s going to take quite a while before we get something a good deal fresher with vegan from the atla ntic to fresher with vegan from the atlantic to affect all parts of the british isles.

this is bbc news, the headlines. the democratic presidential candidate, joe biden, has chooses kamala harris — as his running mate for november s us election. the fifty—five year old california senator is the first black woman on a major presidential ticket in american history. they will take on donald trump in three months time. the main opposition leader in belarus has fled the country after disputing the re—election of president alexander lu kashenko in last sunday s poll. widely regarded to have been tainted. the police have blocked off city centres and thousands of opposition supporters have been detained. ceremonies have been held in the lebanese capital, beirut to mark the moment a week ago when the city was hit by a devastating blast. there was also a moment‘s silence in the port area, at the moment the explosion ripped through the city.