this is bbc news. i'm maryam moshiri with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. striking in support of the protesters. workers in belarusjoin the public outcry over disputed elections, as more stories emerge of torture and abuse by police. politics and the post office. how the mail has become a hot—button political issue in the lead—up to the us presidential election. a desperate dash to the french port of calais as britons scramble to get home before the uk's new quarantine measures on france come into force. we'll speak to one holiday—maker hoping to get back on time. a lesson in public health management. how images from a crowded school hallway in the us state of georgia

have re—ignited the conversation over opening schools. hello and welcome. if you re watching in the uk or around the world 7 and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. tens of thousands of people across belarus have been on the streets once again, showing their opposition to the country's president. alexander lu kashenko was declared the winner of last sunday's election, having ruled the country for the past 26 years, but critics believe the vote was rigged. the european union now says it doesn't recognise the result, and is preparing sanctions against belarus, where this evening thousands have been marching on independence square, in the capital minsk, from where abdu—jalil abdurasulov now reports.

chanting. the opposition movement against president lukashenko is growing. protesters have gathered in the main square of minsk. they are chanting, "freedom, freedom". they have brought flowers and balloons to show that their movement is peaceful. this is unprecedented for belarus, where authorities violently crack down on protesters. translation: i have been living here for 28 years and for 26 of them, he was ruler of this country, mr lukashenko, and i am really tired of it and i want to change it. at the notorious okrestina detention centre, a volunteer reads out the list of names of those who still remain inside. and as detainees leave jail, they show us bruises from vicious beatings. many tell harrowing stories of torture and abuse. serhiy was arrested on monday.

riot police threw him into a police van before torturing him. they used batons and electrocuted him with a stun gun. translation: whenever we moved or said a word, they would beat us. one of the police said, "if i was ordered to burn you alive, i would." they could do anything to you. the pain was unbearable, and i begged him to stop but he carried on. opposition candidate svetla na ti kha novs kaya, who earlier had to flee the country, has called on authorities to stop the violence. translation: the people of belarus no longer want to live with the former regime. people don't believe in his victory at the elections. let's defend our choice. back on the square, special forces nervously keep an eye on the protesters. the president tried to soften the mood today by calling on security forces to be more

gentle, but this may be too little, too late, for the regime. for more on the protests, i've been speaking to the belarussian journalist fra nak viacorka, who fled the country due to security concerns and now works with other journalists in ukraine, collecting and verifying footage of the protests sent from his sources in belarus. the strikes that we have seen, it was impossible to predict in belarus one week ago. if i were to ask on monday if belarus would go on strike, we do not have such tradition. we have never had a strike before. if you see that more than 20 different enterprises and companies are striking in their demands are pretty clear. the demand for a new government and they think they are very serious about this and

they are very serious about this and they will follow it to the end. 20 think has pushed people across that line to start striking and start pushing themselves even further? people are tired of the system of authoritarian system. it is very similarto authoritarian system. it is very similar to 1989 before communist fallen in belarus and they wanted to just change. any change. so, employees and factories and scientists, medics, doctors, teachers have joined the protests in 1989 and now, a very similar situation were all the social groups wanting to leave and they hope the transition will happen soon and it will be nonviolent. it was support and western sanctions can help him from shooting people, from torturing people in order to have nonviolent

transition. lukashenko must stop using violence in the streets. as the us presidential election grows closer, and the coronavirus outbreak in america continues to spread, there has been an increased focus on using postal votes. but there have been questions over whether the us postal service — or usps — could cope with the increased demand. now the usps has said that some states have reported election mail volumes which are ten times higher than any previous year. it has now advised several states that they may need to expand their voting by mail deadlines to allow the system to cope. the issue has been put in the spotlight for two reasons. firstly, the postal service has been struggling financially, which some people blame on changes to regulations dating back several years. and secondly, president trump has raised concerns about the possibility of electoral fraud through postal voting. he was asked about whether he would give the usps extra funding at a news conference a few hours ago — here's how that exchange went.

if the democrats were to give you some of what you want, what you said ina some of what you want, what you said in a series of tweets in the last hour, which should be willing to accept the $25 billion proposal for the postal service, including the three and a half. it is not what i want, it is what the american people want. i'm joined now by our north america correspondent, david willis. it has been a massive bone of contention mail and voting. in the past few weeks, it is just going to get worse, isn't it? absolutely in the us postal service has long been a beleaguered organisation and demands on it are growing because millions of people are thought to be opting to vote by mail in the forthcoming presidential election and the fact that there is a new postmaster general. a close ally of donald trump and he started instituting changes, cutbacks and over time and so on in order to make

the service more sullivan. that has only added to delays in president trump has sat, as you mentioned, has been sitting on additional funding for the us postal service because he believes mail in voting causes massive fraud, even though there's no evidence to suggest that is actually the case. well, now the postal service sent letters to 46 different states, warning that because deadlines are tight there, votes from their states may not be counted and thus potentially disenfranchising millions of americans and of course, the democrats are up in arms about this. all of this is an assault on democracy. in the situation is different according to which state you're talking about, isn't it? in some states actually have had all mail in voting or postal voting for many years. some of the california, where in speaking to you from have opted for that system because of the

coronavirus pandemic and there is some concern that workers and polling stations tend to be elderly and therefore, they are more likely to co ntra ct and therefore, they are more likely to contract the coronavirus if a lot of people do turn out in person to vote. so, you have quite a controversy here in the postal service has been tracked into this increasing political drama, if you like. thank you very much indeed. hundreds of thousands of british holidaymakers are desperately trying to return home to the uk, after the government imposed quarantine measures on france and five other countries, taking effect in the early hours of tomorrow morning. travellers will have to self isolate for 1h days, as the french prime minister, acknowledged the number of coronavirus cases in the country, was going "the wrong way". the current rate of infection in france is 3a cases per 100,000 people. in the netherlands, one of the other countries taken off the uk travel corridor list, the current rate of infection is 41.6 cases per 100,000.

and in malta, also removed from the list, the rate is 84.1 cases per 100,000. the uk, by comparison, has 17.3 cases per 100,000 people. lucy williamson reports from calais. beating the deadline for quarantine. their shuttles were fully booked despite running extra trains. we decided that we would trade to avoid it. we think it was very sudden and we think it would be a bit more gradual, may be a bit more notice. we think it would be a bit more gradual, may be a bit more noticelj have driven for 11 hours, with the brakes, so you know, getting back to

make sure that i do not have to self—isolate, that's it. make sure that i do not have to self-isolate, that's it. august is a busy time anywhere. the race to escape today noticeable more here than online. it was 15 or 20 minutes, i think were 800 52nd. we we re minutes, i think were 800 52nd. we were making sure we got her booking at our friends from the cottage behind us and we were attending 15 minutes, they were five and a half thousand in the queue. reserving a slot was only half the battle. so we i'iow slot was only half the battle. so we now think we cannot make the fairy, so we now think we cannot make the fairy, so we have to try and travel this evening go. the family missed their crossing this morning, but they did manage to get across. at the other end of the country, passengers complained of long queues of the airport. unfortunately, because the quarantine, we have had to cut shorter holiday. we are really disappointed with the uk government's response they could

given us than 24 hours notice. and in paris, some passengers turned up to up to try to find a seat home. we are supposed to do a couple of days in paris but trying to find a way to get home before the quarantine. we changed our trains twice to avoid anything happening and it happened anyway. the uk's decision of quarantine was not unexpected, many tourists have already factored in the possibility that they might have to isolate when they got home. they say many of their customers are choosing to simply stay on till the end of their holiday. it hasn't stopped travelling the other direction, we are still seeing people coming to france. and going on holiday, we are seeing cars and bicycles on the roof, so it is clear that the holiday—makers stop by today, they declared the places high

risk zones. they did not worry paul and his family, who were due to leave for france today. we have to put the cases in the car and we got the news knowing that we would definitely have to quarantine and my sofi definitely have to quarantine and my son missed two weeks of school and we have concerns around insurance. in the end, we knew that there was only one decision to make but it is just so disappointing. they're not just so disappointing. they're not just a few hours in just a few left until the deadline passes. after that, the journey across the channel will me an hour at sea and another two weeks at home. we can now speak to helen mccarthy who joins us from her car in northern france on route to the uk before that 4am saturday morning quarantine deadline. you told me they had two one half hours away. where are you now, how

farare hours away. where are you now, how far are you from calais. we are just 54 km away and we are on but is fairly quiet but we, we have booked on the ferry at 230 this morning but we are to soaping that they are not long queues there in that we can get through smoothly and arrive in england. it would be much on the same time around 230 but the time difference, just before that four o'clock deadline. explained if viewers at home weight is so important for you and your family to get to the uk before that quarantine deadline. we were split, we can work from home, but we have two teenage children course starting year ten

and 11 and they have not been schooled for the past six months and they really did not want to miss another two weeks of school. we live in lester in school starts a bit earlier, so they just in lester in school starts a bit earlier, so theyjust did not want to miss those first two weeks and we we re to miss those first two weeks and we were delayed and going away on holiday because it's been marked down and be a been waiting and waiting for the release, so we could go away for the summer and we managed to get a week in france and then we have had to come back halfway through the holiday, we were going to come back next weekend. halfway through the holiday, we were going to come back next weekendm has been good to talk to you get an update as to where you are and how you are and i really hope you make it. iam you are and i really hope you make it. i am sure you will. make it to the uk before that quarantine. thank you once again for doing a time.

germany has extended its requirement for people to quarantine after returning from spain to cover all of the country, apart from the canary islands. the uk had already imposed similar restrictions. it comes as the number of infections in spain continues to remain high, despite orders closing bars and nightclubs, and restricting smoking in open areas in some regions. 0n the spanish island of majorca, the famous party destination magaluf has been left deserted because of coronavirus. for more on the situation there, i've been speaking to ben morris who part owns one of the main squares in magaluf. it is had an impact since day one, to be fair. when it first opened, there wasn't very much tourist about and then there was restrictions on the strip and quickly we had to redesign our schedule for the summer and we ended up, knowing people who we re and we ended up, knowing people who were really opened and we did take on an extra 35 staff and in the

space of two weeks, it was really busy because after that two or three week period, we had to lay them all off again because the restrictions we re off again because the restrictions were getting tighter and tighter and the rules kept changing overnight and now, it's impossible to carry on with the constantly changing rules in the changing regulations and it's just getting really tiring. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: a lesson in public health management. how images from a crowded school hallway in the us state of georgia have re—ignited the conversation over opening schools. 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 brutalformer 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 itsjourney 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: strikes spread across belarus as unrest over the disputed presidential election grows.

at a virtual meeting, european union foreign ministers move closer to imposing sanctions on belarus. there've been queues at the french port of calais as britons scramble to return home, before new uk quarantine measures on france come into force. in the united states, president trump has been outspoken forfuel for fuel shipments forfuel shipments from for fuel shipments from iran to venezuela. the justice for fuel shipments from iran to venezuela. thejustice department said it was the largest seizure of iranian oil ever made by the us authorities. it's at the cargo from four vessels amounted to more than 1.1 million barrels was now in us custody. the wildfire burning in los angeles and started moving away from populated areas after the winds change direction. evacuation orders are starting to be lifted, meaning some residents can return to their homes. firefighters are still working to control the blaze which is spread over more than 3000 acres.

new zealand prime minister has announced a 12 day extension of the countries covid—19 restrictions. that is after an initial clash in just a few cases in the city of auckland has now grown to 29. the country has been a world leader in containing coronavirus. museum and went 102 days of without a. the african centers for disease control and prevention said the testing is a part of a way to understand how infection is on the continent. the first group of countries to sign up for the programme. in the united states, president trump has been outspoken in saying that schools should reopen this autumn. those decisions are being made

at a local level, but weighing safety and educational development is one of the toughest calls teachers, parents and students are having to make. take the example of one school in the state of georgia. education administrations are doing damage control after a picture of a crowded hallway went viral. our us correspondent larry madowo has the story. a heated meeting between the parents, teachers and the officials of the board of education. the 28,000 students in this district were among the first return to school as covid—19 ravages america. is the china virus prevalent in children? my point is that we try to prevent illness and injury in children and can still happen requiring children to wear masks and not play outside on the equipment is not going to change that. 15—year—old hannah waters was surprised when she returned to

school. she was suspended after tweeting this now viral picture of the first week and sharing video of crowded hallways, no social distancing and few students wearing masks. i've also been surprised at how many parents are upset with me because, if i were a parent and i was sending my kids to school i saw it, i will be upset with the county and everyone, basically. i've done a lot of backlash from parents and students. hannah's suspension was reversed after public outrage and the school closed. it is reopening next week with rotational, in personal attendants and online learning. but masks are still not required. masks have been politicized and so has the virus, it shouldn't be. it's straight science. she is allowing jenna tames that allowing her eight and six—year—old boys to go to the elementary schools for face—to—face classes. one of the schoolmates tested positive for the virus, butjenna doesn't worry

because she says nobody in their family at risk. being a former teacher, ijust know how important it is to have that face—to—face school setting with the teacher and so they can socially and emotionally thrive because they learn from their peers and they also learn from the teachers. if any of the other students catch coronavirus, with that change her mind was —— change your mind? they call it an overreaction. but when returning to another high school, he stayed for only three lessons before asking his dad to pick him up. he has asthma and an autoimmune disorder into his father has diabetes.|j and an autoimmune disorder into his father has diabetes. i saw teachers and students not taking it seriously and students not taking it seriously andi and students not taking it seriously and i thought it was not a safe environment for me to be in. i heard them sing a stupid and they're

making of others for wearing them. this high school is become ground zero for the controversy around reopening of american schools. pa rents reopening of american schools. parents who think the threat of coronavirus is overblown against their peers who accuse school administrators of not doing enough to protect their children. it has become a divisive political issue in a divisive election year. these kids are reallyjust taking what they learned at home. and a lot of people here have backwoods, southern politics. there is a ku klux klan bars six miles down the road. when they feel safe and attend another school district. georgia does not have state—wide guidance on school reopening and a local school districts make the rules. but in an election year, even going to school has become a political statement.

staying in the us, president donald trump has travelled into new york today to visit his younger brother robert, who is ill in hospital. us media reports say robert — who is fiercely loyal to the president — is seriously ill, although there were no details. on arrival in new york trump told reporters only that "he's having a hard time." a reminder of our top story. the president of belarus says forces outside the country are behind the protests against his contested election victory. alexander lukashenko also warned people against taking part in protests against him, but demonstrations calling for his resignation have continued for the fifth day, and the eu has started planning sanctions against officials involved in the violent crackdown on the protests. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @bbcmaryam.

hello there. over the last few days, temperatures have slowly been coming down, something a bit more comfortable both by day and by night. although we'll hold on to the humidity across england and wales as we head on into this weekend. but for this weekend, it's generally pretty similar to how the last few days have been. rather cloudy, a bit of sunshine in northern and western areas. humid in england and wales, where we'll continue to see showers and thunderstorms at times. now on saturday, the pressure chart shows higher pressure to the north, lower pressure to the south. that's why we'll start off with showers and thunderstorms across some southern portions of wales and southern england. further north, it'll be rather grey, pretty much grey everywhere, but the sunshine will break through central and western scotland, northern ireland, north west england, perhaps a few sunny spells across the south east of england. this is where we'll see some of the heaviest

of the downpours into the afternoon. temperatures low to mid—20s where you get the sunshine, but quite cool across some north sea coasts where we hold on to the cloud and mist. as we head through saturday night, the threat of showers and thunderstorms drifts a little bit further northwards into northern england, southern scotland, north wales. and for many of us, that cloud will roll back in, so it will be another fairly mild night, quite muggy again for england and wales. on sunday, subtle changes. 0ur area of high pressure drifts northwards. that allows this area of low pressure to push north across the country. so, we'll start off plenty of showers across central and northern parts of the uk, although much of northern scotland will stay dry with some sunshine. we'll start with some sunshine across southern england and wales, but then as that temperature rises, then thunderstorms will break out here into the afternoon. some of them could be quite heavy. again, temperatures low to mid—20s celsius across southern areas, cooler where you hold

on to the cloud and mist on the eastern coasts. 0n into monday, that area of low pressure sits on top of the uk. quite a weak feature, so these showers and storms spiralling around across the country will be moving quite slowly. the lion's share of the storms, though, will be across england and wales. fewer for scotla nd and northern ireland, where we should see a little bit of sunshine at times. those temperatures ranging from around 17 to 23—24 degrees in the south. then big changes as we head on into the middle part of next week. something we haven't seen for a while, a deep atlantic low will sweep in to bring much fresher conditions, some strong winds at times through wednesday, particularly into thursday. we'll see a band of rain followed by sunshine and showers, and it will be turning cooler and fresher for all by the end of the week.

this is bbc news. these are the headlines:

strikes and protests have been taking place across belarus demanding the resignation of president alexander lukashenko after his disputed re—election. the demonstrations have been fuelled by accounts of torture from protesters detained earlier in the week. the us postal service has advised several states that they may need to expand their voting by mail deadlines to allow the system to cope in the run up to november's presidential election. britons have raced to return home before a 14—day quarantine is imposed on arrivals from france. coronavirus cases have surged in the country in recent days. the united states says it has taken control of four fuel shipments from iran to venezuela. the justice department said it was the largest seizure of iranian oil ever made by the us authorities.