hello, welcome to outside source. donald trump announces an historic peace deal, between israel, and the united arab emirates. workers at some state—run companies in belarus down tools — as demonstrations continue against president lukashenko over his disputed election victory. more than 6000 people have been detained there are reports of torture and brutality. we will speak torture and brutality. we will speak to the un rectorfor

torture and brutality. we will speak to the un rector for belarus. torture and brutality. we will speak to the un rectorfor belarus. and the turkish president suggests that tensions with greece in the eastern mediterranean might have spilt over into an altercation. welcome. president donald trump has unveiled an historic peace deal between israel and the united arab emirates which the us helped broker. here he is announcing it. after 49 years, israel and the united arab emirates will fully normalise their diplomatic relations. they will exchange embassies and ambassadors and begin cooperation across the board and on a broad range of areas, including tourism, education, health care, trade and security. 0nly only two arab nations previously has signed peace agreement with israel. it is the greatest advancements towards piece between israel and the arab world and the last 26 years. and it marks the third formal peace

between israel and an arab nation. there has been some reaction from around the world to this development. starting with a senior palestinian official, hanan ashrawi. she said that the uae has come out in the open on its secret dealings with israel. "please don't do us a favour — we are nobody‘s fig leaf! " uae's ambassador to the united states called it a "win for diplomacy and for the region that lowers tensions and creates new energy for positive change. "the iranian tasnim news agency which is affiliated to the revolutionary guards, unsurprisingly condemn the move. they said that "the uae—israel agreement is shameful."and finally, the un has responded writing: "un chief guterres welcomes ‘any initiative that can promote peace and security in the middle east region.‘ white has officials say as part of the agreement occupied west bank that it had considered an exit.

diana is a lawyer and formal adviser to the organisation we asked her about this. look, ithink it's important to keep in mind that there have been two processes of annexation. they form a one and the informal process the informal process has gone over 53 years and that has included the confiscation of palestinian land. building is really only infrastructure on that land. creation of an apartheid system and denial of freedom to palestinians. the formal annexation was the part that was supposed to happen in july. was the part that was supposed to happen injuly. and that's the only pa rt happen injuly. and that's the only part that's going to be stopped. bbc world service middle east sebastian, is it unexpected 7 world service middle east sebastian, is it unexpected? unexpected no. surprise the way that it suddenly appeared, yes. not in a sense that just as you are hearing that about the situation in the territory is

essentially a contrast between the formal and the informal it's a status quo either way. this is sort of status quo that's established itself between the ua and israel. to be honest between israel and several other arab states in the past few yea rs. other arab states in the past few years. it's been warming up if relationships or time is come up more out into the open. coronavirus has been one of those examples where both countries have talked about working together to deal with coronavirus, ua sent a plane directly to israel to help with the palestinians. it's a surprise in that it palestinians. it's a surprise in thatitis palestinians. it's a surprise in that it is sonically sprung a p pa re ntly that it is sonically sprung apparently out of nowhere. although we been hearing from the white house and the americans jared kushner, president trumps son—in—law has been put in charge of middle east matters that these negotiations have been going on for a year these negotiations have been going on fora yearand these negotiations have been going on for a year and half. i think from the uas of perspective they saw an opportunity to make this something where they can come out of it

perhaps of domestic opinion and even arab opinion for that when the israeli prime minister in the last israeli prime minister in the last israeli election promised that he would launch the process towards annexation of up to 30% of the occupied west bank. that became a rallying cry again. it hasn't been for some time was up the palestinian initiative for much of the arab world. it sounded a slightly different note from the us and a ua israel talked about historic breakthrough, peace deal, in the ra nks breakthrough, peace deal, in the ra n ks of breakthrough, peace deal, in the ranks of the egyptian and jordanian peace deals. the ua essentially saying is this is a step forward. it is good for a piece, it is good for bringing countries together but the asp is a key element is talking about is that from that uas perspective it stop the threat of annexation and they are saying not just now but completely. that is not the message that's coming from

israel. benjamin neta nyahu the message that's coming from israel. benjamin netanyahu in the speech that he made when he was asking questions afterwards said that that annexation has been delayed but not canceled. european foreign minister are due to discuss possible sanctions on belarus on friday — after protests over sunday's disputed election entered a fifth day. this was the scene on the streets of minsk earlier today, as you can see protesters on the march, holding flowers, and people driving past beeping their horns in support. remember, this man, alexander lu kashenko has ruled belarus since 1994. he won 80% of the vote on sunday, but there have been widespread allegations of vote rigging. this was the main opposition candidate, svetla na tikhanofskaya, who ran for president after her husband was arrested. she was detained while lodging a complaint about the result and fled to neighbouring lithuania.

but it's clear the dissatisfaction is widespread. the belarussian journalist hanna liuba kova has tweeted:"something has cracked. protests have taken place in the capital, minsk, and beyond. police have used live bullets against protesters in the south western city of brest. in the city of gomel a man died after being arrested and kept in a police van, the second death in the unrest. and workers at some state—run companies have downed tools as part of a general strike. here you can see pictures of workers from the huge state—run be—laz factory, which makes haulage equipment. they're chanting for the president, alexander lukashenko, to stand down.

since sunday, more than six thousand people have been detained by police and security forces. i should warn you, the footage we're about to play from belarussian state tv is disturbing. it shows detained protesters being asked if they will start the revolution again. they respond no. some of them are injured. they all look scared. the state tv channel has reported that many of those arrested were carrying weapons and foreign passports, but these reports have not been verified. this is the scene outside a prison north of minsk. relatives are waiting outside detention centres, hoping that their loved ones are amongst those who have been released. some people are showing photos of those they're looking for to see if they're being held in the same cells. here's what some of the relatives of the detained had to say on wednesday.

i only managed to tell my husband the police are coming to take us away. i said to him with us he said why they were already taking him twisting his arm taking him to the police van. we just want to know where our children are. that's all we need. they are not giving them food. this morning some boy saved the police beat them up if they were not quiet. they're up to 40 people in the south. every half an out they bring it at litre of water. a leader and a half or all of them. margarita, what are you seeing on social media? although there are restrictions on internet access. yes there certainly are. our internet was not working properly from the 9th of august until yesterday. when it seemed to resume work. however, there are still problems periodically. but where we see some interesting scenes for example, policemen are posting their

resignation letters. and some of them are posting videos discarding them are posting videos discarding the uniforms, there was one viral video where a policeman through his uniform into a rubbish bin. another one threw it out the window. someone burned it. and aside from that prominent figures, singers, athletes, tv presenters instead thing i can fax state tv presenters are also resigning. 0n social media they go into the reasons for doing so they go into the reasons for doing so and often times they cite violence against protesters as the motive. so many different sections of society are caught up in things. 0n the streets we've been showing oui’ 0n the streets we've been showing our audience some of those pictures of women leading the rallying. yes, we've seen that in different cities around the country. today and also

yesterday interestingly, women have been leading this effort. and they are been leading this effort. and they a re often been leading this effort. and they are often dressed in white and carrying flowers. and you see other people joining carrying flowers. and you see other peoplejoining them. doctors carrying flowers. and you see other people joining them. doctors for example and also drivers driving by and honking. in support, bringing flowers to them. it's been a kind of a nationwide protest. thank you and we will keep watching this. the reports of police brutality on the streets and in prisons has been mounting as we heard from margarita, journalists and passersby caught up in the arrest. here is how one man released from detention describe what happened to him. released from detention describe what happened to himlj released from detention describe what happened to him. i was arrested two days ago i did nothing illegal. they told me to lie on the floor. i did and they started to beat me. i didn't resist. then i was beaten in

the van as well. then i was beaten in the van as well. i'm joined now by anais marin, the united nation's special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in belarus. welcome to bbc news. how would you characterize what you are seeing? well, we are witnessing extreme violence. which is unjustified and unlawful. and very much concerned about reports of torture, ill—treatment during the arrests and in detention. in your subject the conditions of detention where described. the authorities was such a heavy—handed response to the protests is to make people understand that they should go home and stay home and never again go out in the streets unless they want to face arbitrary violence. as we have been witnessing for the past three oi’ been witnessing for the past three orfour been witnessing for the past three or four days. lukashenko has been in

office for 26 years, his authoritarian rule is no surprise but do you feel that what's happening now is a departure? definitely society has changed. and the wind of change and desire for some revolutionary mood has been there in the country for a couple of months already for some even before the start of the electoral campaign. people were dissatisfied with the mismanagement of the covid—i9 crisis by the authorities. and they already felt at the time of the signature correction for shielding candidates that it was not an equal field for people to run. because several candidates have been prevented from running and who are injail now. including the husband, the blogger and husband of the woman who fled the country for fear of more

repression and her presence in the country as potentially a leader for the protests to lead to a possible bloodbath. you are calling for the violence to stop. and then what should happen? society is divided for the first time ever i believe, the opponents two instantly shackles rule out the minority and they know it. they want to be heard and the wa nt to it. they want to be heard and the want to be heard by their leader who doesn't seem to be willing to to them. —— minority however, the society is resilient and it is eager to oust him it seems. the fact that there were no international observers from the usc, they fact that many foreign journalists were

not given accreditation for to cover the events means that everything is happening almost behind closed doors. also because of the internet closure. basically it's society now fighting against its solitary and president. we've just heard from our abc monitoring journalists, reports of police taking out the uniforms, discarding them, burning them, does that give you hope if the forces of law and order are deciding that this is not acceptable? definitely. it's possibly the only hope that those who are tasked with fulfilling unlawful orders with abuse and violence will just unlawful orders with abuse and violence willjust refuse to execute this orders. however, belarussian regime is extremely autocratic and the army and the law enforcement and the army and the law enforcement and the kgb are extremely powerful. and

it would be a very difficult struggle for anyone trying to go against this rule. thank you for speaking to us. stay with us on 0ustide source, still to come: we look into the middle east as french conduct military drills they are. 0ur scotland correspondent has this update. the head of net work rail visiting sites at urgent checks are now being at similar high—risk cuttings. we have the best safety record in europe. but we weren't good enough yesterday. whatever

happened yesterday, we will want to find out eventually. what that was. it's important that the investigation given time to do that properly and forensically. three people died in the derailment. along with the trains conductor a family man he was said to light up the room with his cherry banter and stories. the train driver was described by his family as the most decent and loving human being we have ever known. his passing leaves a huge void in all of our lives. this is outside source live from the bbc news room. donald trump announces an historic peace deal between israel and the united arab emirates. hundreds of thousands of students in england and wales in

heavy the grades in england were standardised using a computer formula made by the office of qualifications and examinations regulation — and that algorithm has come under criticism. (00v)private schools have seen the greatest increase in top grades this year, an increase of 4%, whereas state comprehensives are up around 2%.(00v)the bbc‘s policy editor lewis goodall explains ‘one of the main reasons private schools danjohnson dan johnson has been danjohnson has been meeting stu d e nts danjohnson has been meeting students and how who just got their results. i'm not happy with my results. i'm not happy with my results because they been doing downgraded at least a grade from the assessments. olivia had moral support from her mum this morning but she didn't get what she wanted. ijust but she didn't get what she wanted. i just feel disappointed but i'm glad that we have gotten appeal system but a lot of people here today are really upset and disappointed in what we've been given. and it's politician being blamed. they have had some months to get this right. and i think they should have had more trust and the teachers and their skills. for their honesty really for their integrity.

and that's the frustrating part for me. layla has been downgraded but should still get a place at university because of the flexibility and this years admission was but after all her school years these grades are about than that. after you knee if you going on to get a job you might be getting someone get a job you might be getting someone who's obviously from a previous year on maybe next year who sat the exam and got their true grade. the grades in england wait standardise using a computer formula made by the office of qualification and exam regulation. in that algorithm has come under criticism. private schools have seen the greatest entries in top grades this year increase of 40% where state comprehensive schools are up around 296. comprehensive schools are up around 2%. the bbc‘s policy editor explains one of the main reasons private schools are doing better than usual. they have small classes with unusual subjects and cohorts. and that is impossible to standardise full stops or they are more likely to be awarded their teachers assessment.

others take a dim review. the guardians deputy political editor says, today's english eight level stu d e nts says, today's english eight level students are getting results decide to buy a computer based on whether they are rich or poor. and if they're lucky, they will get in to up they're lucky, they will get in to up to £55,000 worth of debt to watch online lectures in their bedroom. she says it's a betrayal of this generation. while the uk prime minister borisjohnson says there is a system for the students to appeal their grades. where pupils are disappointed where they feel they could have done better coda injustice being done to them, there is a possibility of appeal. and they can reset, they can take a reset this autumn as well. labour shadow education secretary said the appeals process needs to be urgently clarified. it's a devastatingly worrying time for them. we are talking about their future careers, next steps and

further study. and under still a great deal of uncertainty about what is the best thing for them to do now. whether to appeal, going to university clearing, whether to reset their subjects in the autumn. i think it's really important that the government gives absolute clarity about how these different processes a re clarity about how these different processes are going to work. next — we're going to talk about the eastern mediterranean. there have been tensions here for some time — spurred by competing claims over gas reserves and maritime claims between turkey, and greece and cyprus. there have been several developments in the region today. first, these pictures today show france and greece conducting joint military drills, an obvious show of strength. on wednesday the french president tweeted that he was going to strengthen the french military presence temporarily in the eastern mediterranean. and he added —— in french and greek "the eastern mediterranean situation is worrying. turkey's unilateral decisions concerning oil exploration are provoking tensions. those tensions must end, to enable

calm dialogue between countries which are neighbours and allies in nato." this came after a turkish ship left port to carry out a drilling surveyjust off the greek island of kastel—ohrizo earlier this week. this is an area where greece and turkey have overlapping territorial claims, as you can see from this map. this is the ship in question, the ohrooch rayees . its setting off put greece on alert. not least because it's being accompanied by five turkish naval vessels. but as this forbes article points out, "turkey is up against some formidable navies in the eastern mediterranean. " it mentions the french, egyptian and the israeli navies — all of whom are against turkey's moves in the region. so potentially getting quite crowded there. and today president erdogan seemed to suggest that the war of words might have already turned into something more serious.

we told them, don't you attack. we said that if you attack you will pay a high price and they got their first answer today. a high price and they got their first answer today. he didn't give any more details, but that does seem to suggest there might have been an altercation. irem koker is from bbc turkish. do we know what's happened? no. not from the sources a few moments ago it's been reported that a greek defence ministry official denied any sort taking place. are any attack on trisha's vessels in the region. but when we look at the tortured fleet that took us government papers right after he spoke today they started issuing and publishing these new stories about the incident that happened earlier today. they suggest a greek frigate tried to ostroff the target research ship and carcass worship accompanied the research

ship tried to intervene the situation. an turkish ship and the greek frigate, they touched slightly each other. again, the turkish government suggests the greek frigate had some damage while the turkish ships remain an tactful stop in the turkish defence in his a statement saying that turkey will continue escorting the research ship with the same warship. some pundits suggest that this wording implies that the turkish warships remain intact and any incident that may have occurred. it sounds like pretty risky times in the east and med. that's correct. the issue of the maritime rights and the continental sheu maritime rights and the continental shelf has been one of the thorniest issue between turkey and greece to nato allies. and this issue remains unresolved in the last, for many

many decades. and there have been some talks to resolve the issues which is not provided any solution yet. and back in early 1996 there was a yet. and back in early 1996 there wasa similar yet. and back in early 1996 there was a similar escalation in the eastern mediterranean went to countries claimed sovereignty on small islands. which are a few miles from the turkish coast. and then the two countries came on the brink of war. and back then the us president bill clinton stepped into the issue. which is intervention de—escalated the situation. and for many people this is what we see recently is the most significant escalation in the region since 1996. thank you. a bit of the bigger picture about what's happening. just a reminder as well our top story israel and the uae has reese doomed formal normalisation of relations. you can talk to me on

twitter. thanks for joining relations. you can talk to me on twitter. thanks forjoining us for outside source. hello there. it's still been very humid today, but it's not been very hot across parts of the uk today. because we've had all these downpours developing, some very heavy bursts of rain, particularly across southern parts of england. over the next couple days or so, it will be the southern half of the uk that sees most of these downpours, and again it'll feel on the humid side as well despite those temperatures dropping off a little bit further. further north, mainly dry with sunshine around at times, but there will be some areas of mist and low cloud coming in off the north sea. like we've had today, and that can be rather stubborn to move away,

keeping it cooler as well. higher pressure across the northern half of the uk, that's why it's drier, but we have easterly winds bringing in the low cloud. clusters of cloud coming in from continental europe or developing across southern parts of england into wales. that's where we see most of the downpours. continuing into this evening, they may ease off a little bit later in the night, but we may introduce more from continental europe. so, wetter in the south, drierfor the north, low cloud comes in bringing drizzle. it'll be a muggy night across the southern half of the uk like it has been of late. tomorrow starts off grey and misty, we will see sunshine developing in many areas. still the potential for more thundery downpours breaking out across wales, the midlands, east anglia and southern england. that cloud still sticking into the north east of england, some northern and eastern parts of england. quite warm for western scotland and north west england, with temperatures in the south east lower than today at 25—26 celsius. into the weekend we still have the area of high pressure in the north starting to move away, allowing the downpours that we see in the south to move northwards. saturday is very similar to friday,

again it is wales, the midlands, east anglia, southern england that are likely to find some heavy and thundery rain with the threat of localised flooding. further north, low cloud keeping it on the cooler side. temperatures won't change a great deal over the weekend but we are likely to find those showers still potentially heavy and thundery. moving further north into northern england, up to northern ireland, threatening southern parts of scotland. sunshine in between the downpours in the south, the top temperature 25 celsius.

this is bbc world news.

the headlines... the us president donald trump has announced a peace deal between israel and the united arab emirates. hamas, which controls gaza, has rejected the deal, but the un and egypt have welcomed it. as part of the agreement, israel has agreed to suspend its controversial annexation of parts of the occupied west bank. the israeli prime minister has described the annexation as delayed, not cancelled. workers at a huge state—owned factory have gone on strike and are calling on the belarus president alexander lukashenko to step down. protests have been continuing against the disputed re—election of mr lukashenko and subsequent violent suppression of dissent. and hundreds of thousands of students in england, wales and northern ireland have received their final high school grades for exams they didn't sit, because of the coronavirus lockdown. but there has been anger from thousands, who say they've