this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm karin giannone. belarus begins to release some of the thousands detained in protests against alexander lu kashenko‘s disputed election. israel says it will temporarily suspend plans to annex the west bank as part of a new peace deal with the united arab emirates. britain imposes a two—week quarantine on travellers returning from france and the netherlands after a surge in coronavirus cases. and wildfires north of los angeles spread rapidly as firefighters try to contain the blaze.

the deputy interior minister of belarus has said everyone who was detained in protests this week will be released by friday morning. more than 6,000 people have been arrested in days of protests following the disputed election victory of president alexander lukashenko. there were more demonstrations in the capital, minsk, on thursday night. other countries in europe have condemned police violence and eu foreign ministers will meet to discuss possible sanctions later on friday. these are the latest pictures of prisoners being freed after similar releases that have happened on thursday. some of those detained have alleged mistreatment, including beatings. amnesty international says the accounts suggest widespread torture. 0ne protester told the bbc what he had seen and experienced firsthand.

translation: they beat people ferociously with impunity and they arrest anyone. the cells are overcrowded. we were forced to stand in the yard overnight. we could hear women being beaten. i don't understand much realty. —— such cruelty. joining me now is steven fish, he's professor of political science at university of california, berkeley. doesn't look like the authorities are doing what they said they would and releasing these prisoners? lukashenko is not known for keeping his promises. it does seem clear the government realised it overreached. its brittle methods in this crackdown went too far. that is what elicited the apology from the interior minister. so let's wait and see. what you think of that say about him and his grip on power, that his deputy interior minister is putting out an like this? well, look, if these

demonstrations have done anything, they've punctured a hole in the smith of lukashenko as the popular kind of its figure who you might be popular in the capital city, so goes the myth, but in the small towns and countryside is popular. these demonstrations we re very popular. these demonstrations were very widespread, they involved all sectors of society, they are heard across belarus. i think the myth of lukashenko as this impregnable depute —— dictator who enjoys popular support is gone. and european von —— foreign ministers will be meeting and discussing sanctions, how significant you think that will be? that would be significant andi be? that would be significant and i hope sanctions are forthcoming. unfortunately the eu is not i was a strong as it should be two dictatorships, evenin should be two dictatorships, even in its own ranks. hungary has been able to get away with an awful lot, as as 0lin, as these countries have slipped

back towards autocracy. belarus, i think we can plan on seeing eu sanctions on belarus and that would be a positive start. what you think russia is making of these developments in belarus? how is the kremlin eyeing this? it's hard to know for sure. vladimir putin wants a stable belarus led by an authoritarian ruling not close to the eu. he treats belarus as a kind of buffer state between himself and russia and the eu. he is never taken alexander lukashenko all that seriously but has stuck with him. right now it looks like he will probably stick with him, given the alternative and her people are actually democrats and they would like closer ties with the eu. it's also possible vladimir didn't is beginning to see lukashenko's days are numbered and we could even see people looking for alternatives to lukashenko within the security apparatus but as long as they stay with him he is secure for

the moment. what i was going to ask you what you think the next step is for the opposition the protesters ? step is for the opposition the protesters? the protests could continue in many different ways. if they continue in the form of protracted strikes, especially in some of the big state owned enterprises in belarus, this could begin to threaten the regime of lukashenko. if somehow the protests were to split the agencies of coercion, the army and the secret police, we would see some form of fish are forming in the rank of lukashenko's security apparatus, which so far has been very much willing to follow him and has been brutal in carrying out his orders. but if we see fissures in those ranks, then we will know lukashenko is in trouble and at that point putin might put his bat on another horse. stephen fisher, professor of political science, joining us from the university of california, berkeley, thank you very much. thank you. israel and the united arab emirates have signed a peace treaty that will open the way to the two countries signing deals in areas such as trade,

tourism, investment and security. as part of the us—mediated deal announced by president trump, israel will put on hold its plans to annex more palestinian land. but the surprise move has angered palestinian leaders, as our correspondent yolande knell reports from jerusalem. the face of a man who's made an historic deal. israel's leader talking today to the crown prince of abu dhabi and president trump. already, there were signs of warming ties with arab gulf states who share fears about iran. 0ver over a year, this was that a surprise official visit. —— this was a surprise visit. an israeli minister in the uae. the delegation singing in the jewish sabbath. now such scenes could become normal. we announced the establishment of a full and formal peace between israel and the uae. it includes the mutual opening of embassies, direct flights and many, many other bilateral agreements.

this is the greatest advancements towards peace between israel and the arab world in the last 26 years. but the palestinians feel betrayed. past peace plans promised diplomatic relations with powerful arab states, only when their conflict with israel had been solved. recently, they've been fighting israeli plans to annex parts of the west bank, which they want for a future state. tonight, the uae justified what it called its "bold step", saying israel agreed not to take action. meanwhile, the white house congratulated itself. by uniting two of america's closest and most capable partners in the region, something which some said could not be done, this deal is a significant step to building a more peaceful, secure and prosperous middle east. for mr trump, with presidential elections looming and his friend, benjamin netanyahu, this is a majorforeign policy achievement.

in a measure of its great popularity with israelis, tonight, the tel aviv municipality was lit up with the emirati flag. let's get some of the day's other news. the afghan government's begun releasing the final 400 taliban prisoners it's been holding. the move had been approved in three days of talks by the grand council of elders at the start of the month. many of the prisoners are accused of crimes such as murder, kidnapping and drug trafficking. but their release was a precondition to the start of peace talks. two regions in spain have banned smoking outdoors to try to stop the spread of coronavirus. people in galicia and in the canary islands will be forbidden to remove masks, which are mandatory in public places to smoke, if they cannot be sure of remaining two metres apart. new zealand's resurgent coronavirus outbreak has spread beyond auckland in a major blow to efforts to contain the disease.

two of the infections were found in the north island town of tokoroa, around 210 kilometres south of auckland, which remains on lockdown after the virus re—emerged after more than 100 days with no positive diagnoses. now, the uk has added france and the netherlands to its list of nations from which incoming travellers will have to quarantine for 14 days. it follows a rise in coronavirus infections in several countries. the restrictions will come into effect for the whole of the uk from saturday morning. the uk's second most popular holiday destination will from saturday become more complicated to visit. france joins the list of countries where any uk visitor must self—isolate for two weeks on their return. we are announcing there will now be quarantine brought in for a number of other locations, now including

france, holland and some others. and that's because we have absolutely worked so hard to make sure we are keeping our numbers down here, we can't afford to reimport those cases from elsewhere. the foreign 0ffice from elsewhere. the foreign office is now warning but all but essential travel to france —— warning against. the new measures begin from liam, uk time, on saturday. if you do decide to travel, you'll face a 14 day quarantine when you return. as for why now, the department of transport says there has been a 66% increase in newly reported cases per hundred thousand people in france since last friday. for the netherlands, it was up 52%. france european affairs minister said there will be a reciprocal measure. those of holidays booked are now

weighing up whether to go or cancel, while many visitors in france face a race to get back to the uk. those who run the eurotunnel have a ready said they do not have the capacity to bring everyone home in time. we are already pretty much fully booked tomorrow, this is peak season, summer holidays, people are returning on friday night to get back home. and so we just haven't got the space to ta ke we just haven't got the space to take everybody who might suddenly want to come up to the coast. so what we're saying to people is amend your booking online, make sure there is space before you travel to the terminal. the foreign office hasn't advised uk visitors to leave a —— immediately, but they now have less than 2a hours to get home. caroline davies, bbc news. now to latin america, where two countries have officially reached more than half a million coronavirus cases. peru now has close to 508,000 confirmed cases

and over 25, 000 related deaths, according to the country's health ministry. the number of confirmed cases is similar in mexico, with a total of 505,000 infections. however, the government has said the real number of infected people is likely to be significantly higher. in california, fire crews are battling a fast—moving wildfire in the mountains north of los angeles. the blaze, dubbed the lake fire, started on wednesday and is still burning out of control. flames have now spread across 11,000 acres. david willis has the latest from los angeles. we are going to evacuate this area. helicopters criss—cross an apocalyptic skyline in the hills above america's second largest city. what started as a small blaze in a national park turned swiftly into a swirling, dancing while the flame, one that has since devoured more than 10,000 acres of land ——

wall of flame. fuelling the flames, thick brush rendered tender drive by years of drought. and mountains make hillside access all but impossible for the hundreds of firefighters who have been drafted in. as a result, they have to take into fighting this one from the air, flame reta rda nt one from the air, flame retardant coating diabolo in a fine layer of pink dust. yet the lake fire continues to burn out of control. this is very early to be starting off with fires this soon. we are expecting a very hot dry summer, that is what we have god, we are expecting even hotter weather next week, we have had some precipitation this morning which has been helpful. daylight revealing the impact of the blaze. everything in the path of the flames reduced to a smouldering pile of rubble and asked. cursed furniture, the only thing to indicate this was once somebody‘s home. hundreds of

people have been evacuated as the flames have pressed north. california is no stranger to wildfires, but a fire of this ferocity is normally something you wouldn't expect to see until late autumn, when seasonal winds pick up to fuel the flames. experts say they seem to be starting earlier and finishing later each year. two yea rs finishing later each year. two years ago, the foothill town of paradise was destroyed and 85 people died in the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in california's history. with temperatures of around 35 degrees expected this weekend and no sign of rain in the forecast, it may be some time before this one is brought under control. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: 0nline game fortnite pursued againstan 0nline game fortnite pursued against an actual giant.

the big crowds became bigger as the time of the funeral approached. as the lines of fans became longer, the police prepared for a huge job of crowd control. idi amin, uganda's brutal former dictator, has died at the age of 80. he's been buried in saudi arabia, where he lived in exile since being overthrown in 1979. two billion people around the world have seen the last total eclipse of the sun to take place in this millennium. it began its journey off the coast of canada, ending three hours later when the sun set over the bay of bengal.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: belarus has begun to release more than a thousand people detained in protests against alexander lu kashenko's disputed election. israel says it will temporarily suspend plans to annex the west bank, as part of a new peace deal with the united arab emirates. on monday, hong kong media tycoon,jimmy lai, was arrested in a scene that shocked many. his newspaper offices were raided by hundreds of police. mr lai, the founder of the apple daily, is the most high—profile person to be detained under a controversial new security law. hejoined us from hong kong in one of his first media interviews since being released on bail, talking us through his arrest. i was just down from

upstairs by my maid. i didn't know what happened so i went down, and i saw a bunch of policemen, about 20 of them and they said, "mr lai, you are under arrest under the national security law," so i was a bit shocked because national security law is a very draconian law, that i may be sent to china right away so i said, "look, i have just finished exercising, may i have a bath?" so they followed me to my room, to my bathroom, and didn't allow me to close the door, of course. they watched me. i washed and i went with them, they handcuffed me. i was very pleased to see that the whole team

were hong kong policemen, that means that i was not going to be sent to china. if they had some chinese mandarin—speaking police there, it was almost sure that i would be sent to china. then i was sent to the police station, and i was detained for a0 hours. during the a0 hours, they treated me very nicely and politely, while as a criminal, of course... it isa it is a time i need courage and to go forward. i am not scared and that is my mission. i think that international committee has done a lock but what is enough? 0nly history can tell.

apple has a new high—profile lawsuit on its hands. the company behind the popular video game fortnite is pursuing a case against the tech giant after its game was removed from the app store. the rivalry has quickly become a top trend on social media, with people around the world posting the hashtag #free—fortnite. 0ur reporter alanna petroff joins me now with the latest details. how did it escalate like this? is certainly escalated and as you know fortnite is a wildly popular game, more than 350 million users around the world and fortnite allows for purchases inside the games that you can buy currency within the game or upgrades that people are willing to pay for and fortnite offered a discount for in game currency. now, maybe you don't tend to do this, but

many people are interested and....| many people are interested and... . i have two children that were obsessed with it for a couple of years! what it offered was a discount but they said you have to buy with the maker of fortnite directly, who do not purchase through the regular apple app store and you can geta regular apple app store and you can get a discount. and if you purchase through the apple app store, you don't get the discount. and apple saw this and set it goes against their rules and they took down fortnite. ultimately, there is a lot of money at stake where apple gets a cut of where people get these in game purchases and fortnite wants to bypass that and the maker, epic. use of this has spread like wildfire. tell us what the reaction has been? epic seem to plan is like a chess game where epic made the move, and knew

that apple would take down the app from the app store i knew they were breaking down the rules and then immediately launched this big lawsuit and social media campaign and they put out the # of their free fortnight and they also put out the social media video comparing them to apple a little bit and saying we will pull up little bit and saying we will pullupa little bit and saying we will pull up a quick quote and they wrote" apple has now become what it round against, thinking the behaviour method... where will it go from here? the behaviour method... where will it go from here7m will have to go to the courts but i do have to say that other tech companies are going and teaming up with epic games, and saying that apple are in the wrong and spotify, let's see what they had to say: " they

have deprived consumers for far too long, apple". plenty more about this to come, no doubt. time to visit the bbc sports unit. hello i'm tulsen tollett and this is your friday sport briefing, where we start with the footballing news that rbleipzig are through to a first ever champions league semi—final after they beat atletico madrid 2—1 in lisbon. all three goals came after the half—time break with the winner being scored by american international tyler adams with a deflected shot in the 88th minute. the germans will play paris saint grmain next teesday for a place in the final. ——tuesday. england's bowlers gave them the upperhand in a rain—affected first day of their second test against pakistan in southampton. james anderson claimed two wickets with stuart broad, chris woakes and sam curran taking one each as pakistan closed on 126—5 with only just over 45 overs of play possible.

0bviously, they won the toss and battered and it was a responsibility as a bowling gi’oup responsibility as a bowling group to get the wickets and i thought we did really well. it was really humid throughout the day and i saw the forecast and it looks like thunderstorm throughout the week so who knows, definitely something in the wicket and hopefully we can ta ke the wicket and hopefully we can take their wickets as quick as we can and hopefully, yeah, that really well. —— bat really well. to tennis, where serena and venus williams met for the 31st time in a rivalry going back 22 years in the second round of the lexington open on thursday and it proved to a tough encounter in kentucky, lasting two hours and 19 minutes. the older sibling took the first set 6—3 but then her younger sister found her groove, levelling 6—3 in the second. she then won the final set 6—4 to extend her head—to—head to 19 wins to 12. serena will now face another american, shelby rogers,

in the quarterfinals. the champions league continues later when barcelona face bayern munich in the third of the quarter—finals. the two sides are the only former champions still left in the tournament, having both been crowned european champions five times. if the spanish club fail to win it this year, it would be their first without a major title since the 2007—08 season. the final of the world snooker championship at the crucible theatre this weekend is set to have spectators, after the british government announced that pilot events to test the safe return of fans will resume from saturday. ronnie 0'sullivan has been showing his frustration in the tournament after he let slip a lead to now trail mark selby 9—7 having led 6—2 at one stage. selby won 7 of the 8 frames played on thursday and it plays to a conclusion in the coming hours. primoz roglic will take the race leaders yellowjersey in to the third stage of the criterium de dauphine

on friday as the race continues in the alps. the slovenian broke clear of his rivals with less than 700m metres to the finish line on thursday. he crossed the line comfortably clear of france's thibaut pinot in one of the major warm—up races for this months tour de france the defending champion egan bernal finished in tenth. and we stay with cycling for something that caught our eye on social media. after most of the field had finished the stage at the dauphine in france, some of the riders further down the mountain were caught in a torrential hail storm. roads were flooded and some were even forced to walk their bikes up the course — not a great end to long and tough day in the saddle! you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport but from me, tulsen tollett, and the rest of the team that is your friday sport briefing.

stay with us on bbc news, we will be discussing the new travel restrictions with experts. stay with us. hello there. top temperature on thursday was 30 celsius. nowhere got above 30. that's the first time in over a week we've seen that, so temperatures are falling now over the next few days and we'll have a north—south divide. southern parts of the country will feel most humid, with the risk of thunderstorms over the next few days, whereas further north, higher pressure will tend to bring a lot of dry weather with some sunshine. but there will be some mist and low cloud across more eastern areas. so, for friday, we've got lower pressure to the south, this weather front generating the showers and thunderstorms. higher pressure, though, across the north, which will bring the fine and settled weather, but we will start off with that low cloud and mist, across many central and eastern areas, which will tend to burn back to the coast through the day. best of the sunshine western scotland, northern ireland, northwest england, where it will feel pleasantly warm. and further south, these thunderstorms could be quite vicious again, with the risk of localised flooding in places where they occur.

not as warm as it has been. in fact, the extreme heat will have gone. we're looking at temperatures around the mid—20s celsius at best, but cooler down the east coast, with onshore breeze and where it stays quite cloudy. as we head through friday night, it looks like those thunderstorms will continue to rattle on across southern areas. again, the risk of some localised flooding in places, drierfurther north. it's going to be another warm and muggy night for many, particularly england and wales. now, into saturday, then, it's a similar story — higher pressure to the north, lower pressure to the south, so this is where we'll see the showers and the thunderstorms continue. again, some of them heavy with the risk of some localised flash flooding. further north, we'll start off with a bit of grey mistiness across eastern areas. the best of the sunshine for western scotland, northern ireland and northwest england. it could stay quite grey along some north sea coasts. top temperature 25

degrees in the southeast, the low 20s further north. subtle changes, though, as we head on into sunday. it looks like that thundery low will drift a little bit further north as this high—pressure retreats away, so it looks like we could start to see some thundery showers edging northwards into north wales, the north midlands, perhaps into northern england, as we move through the course of sunday. but again, some of these will be on the heavy side. top temperatures, 2a, 25 degrees. again, cooler in the north and east with that onshore breeze. as we head on into next week, it looks like things will stay on the cooler side, with temperatures close to the seasonal average, with a mixture of sunshine and showers.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. of would—be travellers — as france and the netherlands are added to britain's quarantine list at the peak of the summer holiday season. plus, running on empty. new us jobless claims fell below a million last week for the first time since march. but congress is still deadlocked over more stimulus for the economy. we start with the travel industry, it was dealt another blow late

on thursday after the uk removed more countries from its list of safe destinations, at the peak of the summer holiday season. from 4am on saturday morning, anyone entering the uk from france will have to quarantine for 1h days. the measure will also affect travellers from the netherlands, malta, monaco, aruba and the turks and caicos islands. france is the second most popular destination for uk tourists after spain. but it has seen a rise in coronavirus infections of 66%. that's in the last week. to put that in perspective — the current rate of infection in france is 32.1 cases per 100,000 people, while the uk has 18.5 cases per 100,000. let's talk to travel journalist simon calder from the bbc travel show. simon, how much of a blow is

this, right in the middle of august? as one travel company boss told me late last night, this is basically killing us. they were basically expecting something like this, but in the absolute peak weekend, when of course there are tens of thousands of people preparing, as we speak, or they had been, to travel particularly to france but also the netherlands and onwards to places like germany and poland, to suddenly be told, right, if you leave, you'd be travelling against government advice and your insurance would not be valid. and when you come back you would need to self—isolate for two weeks. it's terrible news, and it's even worse, i imagine, for the half a million or so british people currently in france as well as the many thousands in the netherlands, andindeedin thousands in the netherlands, and indeed in multi, where there are 20,000 people currently on holiday. —— in

malta. what it will mean for people here is after tomorrow, business dries up completely, and they normally run trains from here to paris, to brussels, is already on the no—go list with belgium, and amsterdam. that was simply close down. as you say, peak of the summer holidays, desperately upsetting for families, desperately disturbing for the businesses and for airlines to ferry companies to rail operators to hoteliers, who depend on this for normally the most profitable time of the year. and simon, this is a weekly review, but how much is the uncertainty about what destinations may be added to the list in the future or taken off the save list in forthcoming weeks, how much is that uncertainty affecting people's update for travel. are they thinking would we won't risk it? that is exactly what they are thinking, according to travel industry sources. it is only, if you remember, five

weeks since the british were told, its weeks since the british were told, it's ok, you will now be able to travel abroad. before that there had been a late and blanket quarantine. and within two weeks, spain, the most popular country for british holiday—makers, was suddenly put on the no—go list and overnights and ate many more popular countries. and so it is very destabilising for people, and what particularly concerns me is the rush that this is going to create. 0vernight on thursday, between when the band, before the ban you could fly on british airways for about $120 from paris to london within a couple of hours. 0nce the band, not exactly a band, but the warning had been put in place, those tickets were going forfour place, those tickets were going for four times place, those tickets were going forfour times as much place, those tickets were going for four times as much as people were scrabbling to find some way back, to put a foot on british soil before 4am local time on saturday. and that makes you wonder why people

we re makes you wonder why people were only given 2a hours or so to get back to the uk, if they don't want to have to quarantine for 1h days on arrival? yes. with the case of spain, people were only given four or five hours, so spain, people were only given four orfive hours, so there was simply no time to get yourself back to britain. there was a huge row about this, i understand, at number 10 downing street, about whether actually the people who were due to travel back on saturday anyway, tens of thousands of them, should be allowed to do that. in the end it was decided no, we have to impose this ban as quickly as possible, so just 30 hours. people heard the news, started driving north of the channel coast of france in the channel coast of france in the hope of getting some form of transport back, but it's all looking extremely busy at the moment. simon, we lost a picture, but we can hear you loud and clear, thankfully. simon calder at sam pang chris, just north of here at the bbc.

to the us now, where some 963,000 people signed on for unemployment benefits last week. it's the first time since the pandemic struck in march that the figure has fallen below a million. but that still leaves more than 28 million americans receiving jobless benefits. and as samira hussain reports on capitol hill, there is still stalemate between republicans and democrats over more aid for the economy. both democrats and republicans say they are hopelessly far apart when it comes to new stimulus funding. and in a new twist, us president donald trump says he opposes any additional money for the united postal service, as it would boost male in voting. democrats have asked for billions of dollars in additional funding for the postal service as part of the pandemic spending package. —— mail—voting. a record number of americans are expected to vote in the november presidential elections by mail because of the

coronavirus pandemic. polls suggest the race for the white house is tight and mr trump believes votes by mail will help democrats. and all of it politicking around a stimulus bill comes at a time in which millions of americans have lost supplemental unemployment relief are a popular business loa n relief are a popular business loan programme has ended, and federal eviction moratoriums have expired. samira hussain. simon french is chief economist at panmure gordon here in london. we saw those new jobless we saw those newjobless claims go below a million for the first time since the start of the pandemic. but with those stimulus measures running out on capitol hill? it's the lowest level of claims since march 1a, something to be positive about, but the unemployment rate is still above 10% stop and this is

workers who are unable to contribute to the economy and unable to replace their household incomes that they enjoyed before the pandemic. and i think the mirror was spot on. the worrying part of this is the potential for political deadlock in a key election year, which the pain won't be felt by politicians on capitol hill, it will be felt by us households and a very sluggish recovery in the us economy. what about the markets? the s&p 500 hit a new record during trading day, markets have wiped out all the losses we saw, the trillions of dollars of losses we saw because of the pandemic, but why are we still seeing us docs going so high? well, around $5 trillion of quantity easing —— us stocks, $5 trillion of quantitative easing has taken place over the last 3-4 has taken place over the last 3—4 months, that's an extraordinary rate of purchases. that was designed by central banks to try and keep banks lending, keep the cost of credit loafer households and

support governments doing extraordinary stimulus. but a lot of that money seeps into the stock market, as investors who otherwise were looking for high interest returns in government debt, in corporate debt, look to share is very similaror debt, look to share is very similar or higher rate of return. that is one of the reasons why we return. that is one of the reasons why we are return. that is one of the reasons why we are seeing this decoupling between the real economy and the stock market. turning to europe, europe's revised figures for the second quarter coming out, they initially expected a 12% file, way better than the figure from the uk earlier this week of around 20%. —— 12% fall. but why is there such a difference? this is a very politically sensitive issue in the uk. is it because the uk has dealt with the pandemic were sore because of the composition of the eu - uk because of the composition of the eu — uk economy? i think there is principally of the

lockdown took place a little bit later in the uk, therefore most of the damage took place in the second quarter of the year, and less damage took place in the first quarter. but it is also the case the uk has a slightly higher share of its economy in consumer pacing, consumer sensitive discretionary spending, which simply cannot operate under social distancing measures, and therefore just doesn't return. so, look, all the numbers across europe, double digits declines in the second quarter. i wouldn't pay too much on the differences at this stage, it is the recovery that is the most important. simon, thank you very much forjoining us. let's turn to the us—china trade war. trade representatives from the two sides meet online this weekend. tensions are high following beijing's imposition of the new national security law on hong kong, and us moves

to ban or restrict chinese apps tiktok and wechat. mariko 0i is following developments in singapore tell us more, mariko. well, karen, i think it's fair to say it will be wait a tense and awkward meeting this weekend, as you said, tensions have been high, you mentioned some of the sticking points. firstly, hong kong's national security law that has really resulted in tit—for—tat sanctions between the us and china, especially after those prominent arrests this week. you also talked about us lawmakers pushing ban chinese apps like tiktok and wechat, we have just chinese apps like tiktok and wechat, we havejust a month until tiktok, especially the us operation, has to be sold to an american company or else the app could be banned. then, that phase one trade deal, do you remember, that was into back in january. under that agreement, china promised to buy us agricultural products at a higher rate but because of the

damage, demand fell sharply in china and it has been difficult for beijing to keep that promise. —— because of the pandemic. so how they react in this meeting will be watched closely. i was talking to one of the analyst this morning he said that would actually be one of the biggest sticking points for investors. all in all, i think it's fair to say no—one is expecting that trade deal to move on to phase two, that's not going to happen in so at least after november's presidential election. mariko oi, presidential election. mariko 0i, thank you very much, live from singapore. the boss of one of the world's biggest food delivery platforms has told the bbc he intends to end gig working at his company across europe. netherlands—based takeaway. com this year completed a takeover of uk rivaljust eat and has recently announced a deal to buy grub hub in the us. founderjitse groen has been talking to the bbc‘s aaron heslehurst — who raised concerns about the insecure

working conditions of so—called gig workers in the food delivery industry. 0ne one thing the pandemic has certainly done is it has sort of show the spotlight back on gig workers. most of your employees will be gig workers. asa employees will be gig workers. as a change your attitude towards them, towards gig work, you know, no pension, no holiday pay, none of that? is it made you more aware, perhaps, orjust it made you more aware, perhaps, or just some it made you more aware, perhaps, orjust some of their tough working conditions? first of all, look. instill last year, takeaway .com has never actually had gig workers. we have had temporary workers to agencies. it is our intent not to have those in europe, we are still evaluating, for instance, canada and later on we will have to look at the us. the reason we do not like it is as

you say, we are a large multinational company with quite a lot of money. we want to ensure our people and want to ensure our people and want to be sure that they do have benefits and that we do pay tax on those workers. so that doesn't mean we need to move away from the freelance model everywhere, but it is our intent to me the quality of life of these people much better than it is now. and viewers on bbc world news can see more of that interview with jitse groen, the chief executive of just eat takeaway, on "talking business with aaron heslehurst" this weekend. the times are on your screen now with the first airing at 2330 gmt on saturday. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the thai record label using technology to keep the beat live.

"we weren't good enough", is the verdict of the head of network rail, following wednesday's train derailment in aberdeenshire in scotland, which killed three people. he denied network rail had failed to act on a report, which warned about the impact of extreme weather. an investigation is now under way into what caused the accident, with a scottish government minister saying extreme weather did have an impact. urgent checks are now being carried out on the network. we weren't good enough yesterday. whatever happened yesterday, we would want to find out eventually what that was. it's important that the investigation branch are given time to do that properly and forensically. more than 290 people linked to a food factory in northampton, have tested positive for coronavirus. the company, greencore, employs more than 2,000 people, making sandwiches for marks and spencer. local authorities say the company had introduced highly effective measures, to prevent the spread of the virus.

coming up at six o'clock on breakfast, charlie stayt and naga munchetty will have all the day's news, business and sport. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: belarus has begun to release thousands of people detained in protests against alexander lu kashenko's disputed election. israel says it will temporarily suspend plans to annex the west bank, as part of a new peace deal with the united arab emirates. let's go to india now, where the government is now allowing the sale and registration of electric vehicles without batteries, which rather begs the question, why would you buy an electric car without a battery? arunoday mukherji is standing by in delhi to explain more. hello to you, why? good morning. there is a very good reason and at all points

towards your wallet because 30%- 40% of the towards your wallet because 30%— 40% of the cost of an electric vehicle is made of that big battery that comes with these vehicles and this is being seen as another measure by the government to try to get people, to try to encourage people, to try to encourage people to switch over from their diesel and petrol vehicles to electric vehicles which is also in line with the government's overall plans to try to reduce its carbon footprint and to try and go into more green modes of travel. it remains to be seen whether this will actually be picked up or not because electric vehicles and india are yet to really catch up with consumers. you can blame it on lack of infrastructure or a lack of infrastructure or a lack of infrastructure or a lack of information because so far we have seen that the sales of electric vehicles have suffered and with the lockdown that india has seen for the last two months between march and april, sales fell by nearly 93.5% according to some buddy so it is not doing very well, it remains to be seen if this does actually get that much needed boost for the industry.

how many companies seem interested in entering the battery exchange market? that really would be linked to what kind of sales they see in the next few months because it will depend on the number of sales for these individuals to actually get into the business, to see that the more the cars, the more the electric vehicles you have, the more battery business you would actually have but india overall plans to make the country, according to the minister in charge, a manufacturing hub for these batteries and electric vehicles in the next five years as set for one of the ministers concerned. also want to take on the place of china which currently has a monopoly over lithium batteries which is an important component in electric vehicles and is the world looks beyond china, india is looking to plug the gap as well for this, they say, could also tie in with india's larger geopolitical economic admissions, but as companies say, it remains to be seen whether the sales do actually

pick up on the next few months, whether these actually catch up with the individuals, only then we will see these people into the battery market which would feed into consumer demand. arunoday mukherji there in delhi for us live. let's turn to the music business now, it has been struggling to keep afloat as the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus. with social distancing very much part of today's new normal, bands have had to cancel live concerts and in some cases, delay album releases. that's hurting not just the musicians, but also the roadies and technicians who help stage those live performances. but, a record label in thailand has found a way to keep the groove alive — with the help of technology. music.

we learned that we cannot put everything that actual concert to put in an online concert, because online concert is more like, we are making a tv show. translation: the atmosphere is so different stopper usually when you are done playing in a concert, you hear cheers from the fans are. but with the virtual concert, it was quiet.

a lot of musicians are not in a good place. it pays the bills, and without the shows, you know, there is a bit of trouble therefore a lot of us. the whole ecosystem of show business, crew, election guy, tech guy, lighting guy, sound engineer, so wejust tech guy, lighting guy, sound engineer, so we just want to do something to help them get some money, so that is why we come to do an online concert. let's

stay with the musical theme. india is notorious for its caste system. 0riginally divided hindus into four rigid hierarchical groups, but not everybody except the position they are in. he says he has now found his calling and wrap music.

translation: i didn't have enough experience to get a job. even though i was a graduate, the only work i got was cleaning tables at a restau ra nt. cleaning tables at a restaurant. i was depressed stopping my family had hoped i would get a decentjob. ifelt bad doing this work, so my lyrics are about these experiences.

translation: i have a mobile phone, i have pen and paper and my thoughts. i don't need anything else. i am a rapa. my thoughts. i don't need anything else. iam a rapa. i get offers to write cheap songs on women. i have refused everyone. if i would write such songs i would earn a lot of money but i have different motivations. if you've just joined if you'vejustjoined us, to that breaking news over the last few hours, uk travel restrictions in force, the uk removing more countries from its list of safe destinations at the peak of the travel season. from for amr on saturday morning anyone entering the uk from france

will have to quarantine for 1h days. and also affect travellers from the netherlands, malta, monaco, and aruba. hello there. top temperature on thursday was 30 celsius. nowhere got above 30. that's the first time in over a week we've seen that, so temperatures are falling now over the next few days and we'll have a north—south divide. southern parts of the country will feel most humid, with the risk of thunderstorms over the next few days, whereas further north, higher pressure will tend to bring a lot of dry weather with some sunshine. but there will be some mist and low cloud across more eastern areas. so, for friday, we've got lower pressure to the south, this weather front generating the showers and thunderstorms. higher pressure, though, across the north, which will bring the fine and settled weather, but we will start off with that low cloud and mist,

across many central and eastern areas, which will tend to burn back to the coast through the day. best of the sunshine western scotland, northern ireland, northwest england, where it will feel pleasantly warm. and further south, these thunderstorms could be quite vicious again, with the risk of localised flooding in places where they occur. not as warm as it has been. in fact, the extreme heat will have gone. we're looking at temperatures around the mid—20s celsius at best, but cooler down the east coast, with onshore breeze and where it stays quite cloudy. as we head through friday night, it looks like those thunderstorms will continue to rattle on across southern areas. again, the risk of some localised flooding in places, drierfurther north. it's going to be another warm and muggy night for many, particularly england and wales. now, into saturday, then, it's a similar story — higher pressure to the north, lower pressure to the south, so this is where we'll see the showers and the thunderstorms continue. again, some of them heavy with the risk of some localised flash flooding. further north, we'll start off with a bit of grey mistiness

across eastern areas. the best of the sunshine for western scotland, northern ireland and northwest england. it could stay quite grey along some north sea coasts. top temperature 25 degrees in the southeast, the low 20s further north. subtle changes, though, as we head on into sunday. it looks like that thundery low will drift a little bit further north as this high—pressure retreats away, so it looks like we could start to see some thundery showers edging northwards into north wales, the north midlands, perhaps into northern england, as we move through the course of sunday. but again, some of these will be on the heavy side. top temperatures, 2a, 25 degrees. again, cooler in the north and east with that onshore breeze. as we head on into next week, it looks like things will stay on the cooler side, with temperatures close to the seasonal average, with a mixture of sunshine and showers.

good morning, welcome to breakfast with charlie stayt and naga munchetty. 0ur headlines today: france is added to the uk's quarantine list, along with the netherlands and malta, as tourists are told they'll have to self—isolate for 1h days when they get home. up up to half a million british tourists are thought to be in france right now. they face a scramble to get home on flights, ferries and here at the eurostar in saint pancreas before the rules come into force at four o'clock tomorrow morning. anger grows over a—levels as the government faces calls for an urgent review of this year's results. lockdown is eased in england, with beauticians,