this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones 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 divisive 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 come into force. taking his place at the surrender table... and japan prepares to mark the 75th anniversary of its defeat

in the second world war. hello and welcome to bbc news. the belarusian president says forces outside the country are behind the protests against his disputed election victory. alexander lukashenko has warned people not to take part in demonstrations against him, but they have continued for a sixth day. just a quick warning, some of the pictures we are about to show you are upsetting. there's growing concern over the police brutality against protestors, thousands of whom were detained since protests began — these images show the bruises of men released in the last 2a hours. public anger has been fuelled by accounts of torture and abuse from both men and women who have been detained. the eu has started planning sanctions against officials

involved in the violent crackdown on the protests. earlier on friday, protestors converged outside the parliament building in minsk‘s independence square for a peaceful demonstration. at least two security officers lowered their riot shields, prompting women to run forward to hug them and offer flowers. it's not clear though whether there is wider support for the protesters among the security forces. our correspondent abdujalil abdurasulov sent this report from minsk. the opposition movement against president lukashenko is growing. love is not violence, thatis growing. love is not violence, that is the demonstrators here in belarus. despite the brutal police crackdown, people continue to come out onto the street. protesters have

gathered in the main square of minsk. they are chanting "freedom, freedom". they have got flowers and balloons to show that there movement is peaceful. this is unprecedented for belarus, where authorities violently crackdown on protesters. i have been living here for 28 years, and 26 of them, he was the ruler of this country, mr lukashenko. and i am really tired of it and i wa nt to am really tired of it and i want to change it. at the notorious detention centre, a volunteer readout 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. sur gay was arrested on monday. riot police threw

him ina on monday. riot police threw him in a van, they use patterns and electric hit him with a stu n and electric hit him with a stun gun. —— sergei. translation: whenever we moved oi’ translation: whenever we moved or said translation: whenever we moved orsaid a translation: whenever we moved or said a word, they would beat us. or said a word, they would beat us. one of the police said "if i was ordered to burn you alive, i would". i was ordered to burn you alive, iwould". they i was ordered to burn you alive, i would". they would do anything to you. the pain was unbearable and i begged him to stop but he carried on. opposition candidate svetla na tikhanovskaya, who earlier had to flee the country, has called on authorities to stop the violence. translation: the people of belarus no longer wa nt to 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. nina jankowicz is a fellow at the wilson center in the us. that is an independent research organisation. thank you for coming on the programme. thank you for having me. we have seen these protests on the streets, let's start they are, how significant, how extraordinary do you think they are? these are the most widespread protests that belarus has seen in its independent history, there have been some other blips, after falsified elections in 2006 and 2010, but these are by far the most widespread and include many state—owned enterprises which keep belarus a float, which i think is real indication of how widespread support is for the opposition and for candidate svetla na ti kha novs kaya. opposition and for candidate svetlana tikhanovskaya. so given that, do you think change is really a foot? i think lukashenko will have no choice but to come to the negotiating table soon, because it has come clear that his brutal tactics

are clear that his brutal tactics a re really clear that his brutal tactics are really something that is only inspiring people to come out to the street. these protests are out to the street. these protests a re not out to the street. these protests are not quieting down, they are growing by the day, and unless lu kashenko they are growing by the day, and unless lukashenko changes something they are going to continue to grow and belarus will come to even more of a standstill and it already is. what we tried to highlight earlier on is people being detained in their thousands as we know, protesters and others released, and we started to hear their stories and allegations of abuse while they we re allegations of abuse while they were being held, what you make of the credibility of those allegations? i have been monitoring independent telegram channels, where people have been uploading pictures of what has been going on from the beginning, not only beatings on the street but protesters and prisoners as they have been released from jail. i also have several friends who have been detained and colleagues and their accounts are harrowing, and it doesn't seem like something that is a few isolated incidents, this is all across the country, and it is

certainly extremely horrific, it is something the international community needs to be speaking out against. because these are human rights abuses, pure and simple. all these people want is for their voices to be heard in their votes to be counted, the most basic of democratic principles, and lukashenko has responded with horrific and unprecedented violence. given that is the state of affairs in your eyes, what do you think the international community should do? i think we need to seriously be considering sanctions, for instance after 2006 and 2010, we saw luke —— sanctions on lukashenko and his regime from the eu and the us, those were lifted as the regime has softened in recent years, but this is something that we seriously need to be reconsidering. i would like to see for instance secretary of state, mike pompeo, who is right now in central and eastern europe on a tour, perhaps make a stop and have a serious discussion with president lukashenko about the future. but so far we have seen

somewhat timid statements from world leaders, i would like to see a little more action from the eu in particular, as it is on their continent, and they certainly hold a little bit more than the united states in the democracy department right 110w. the democracy department right now. thank you for coming on the programme. as the us presidential election gets closer and the coronavirus outbreak in america continues to spread, there's been an increased focus on using postal votes. there are questions over whether the us postal service, known as the usps, could cope with the increased demand. the usps says some states have reported election mail volumes which are ten times higher than any previous year. it's advising several states 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 made claims about the possibility of electoral fraud through postal voting, without providing evidence. 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 articulated in a series of tweets in the last hour, would you be willing to accept the $25 billion for the postal service, including the $3.5 billion? it is not what i want, it is what the american people want. i'm joined now by our north america correspondent david willis. hi david, america is one of the most advanced democracies on the planet, it seems incredible that we are talking about problems with postal services, what is going on? it does seem

improbable, the us postal service is a beleaguered service, at best, it is $160 billion in debt, and of course postal voting is expected to be conducted in unprecedented numbers this year because of concerns over the coronavirus. president trump doesn't like it that notion at all, he has warned that increased mail—in balloting will lead to massive election fraud, though he has yet to produce any evidence to support that claim. but he has also conceded that the use of postal ballots writ large tends to lead to larger turnouts, which tends to favour the opposition democrats, so he is blocking additional funding, billions of dollars of additionalfunding to billions of dollars of additional funding to the postal service. today the washington post reported that the postal service chiefs wrote to about 46 different states warning that their deadlines

are too tight, and that millions of people could potentially be disenfranchised, and votes will not count because they will not be received or delivered early enough. democrats as you can imagine are up in arms over this, i have said that postal voting is a health issue in this election, given the spread of coronavirus, and former president barack obama has accused donald trump of kneecap anger postal as he put it, in a bid to discourage people to turn out to vote —— knee capping the postal service. there are worries because become election results time, many people in the us are worried that this will somehow... damage the credibility of the election even? absolutely, and some have accused president trump of attempting to undermine the results, even with 2.5 months until the election he is travelling in the polls of course, but there are a lot of people who are concerned that

with the influx of lawyers and so with the influx of lawyers and so on, remember back in 2000, all those hanging chad's and so it -- all those hanging chad's and so it —— and florida and so on, that could be a walk in the park compared with what we are looking at potentially this year, with all the potential complications that could come from all those millions of mail—in ballots. from all those millions of mail-in ballots. thank you david. let's look at coronavirus now. hundreds of thousands of british holidaymakers are desperately trying to return home to the uk, after the government imposed quarantine measures on people returning from france and five other countries. the new restrictions start in three hours time. travellers arriving after that will have to self isolate for 1h days. the french prime minister acknowledged the number of coronavirus cases in the country was going "the wrong way". lucy williamson reports from calais. the countdown began this morning at france's ports. thousands of british tourists beating the deadline for quarantine. in calais, eurotunnel

told us their shuttles were fully booked despite running extra trains at peak times. we decided to try and book a ferry, cancel our holiday and come home to avoid it. i think it's very sudden. i think it could be a bit more gradual, maybe a bit more notice. i've driven for, what, 11 hours with breaks, so, you know, getting back to make sure that i don't have to self—isolate. that's it, really. august is a busy time at the border anyway. the race to escape today less noticeable here than online. it was only literally 15—20 minutes. i think we were 852nd in the queue. at the other end of the country, in nice, passengers complained of long queues at the airport. unfortunately, because of the quarantine, we've had to cut short our holiday. really disappointed with the uk government response. they could've given

us a bit more than 2a hours' notice. the uk's decision on quarantine wasn't unexpected. many tourists had already factored in the possibility that they might have to isolate when they got home, and eurotunnel says many of its customers are choosing to simply stay on till the end of the holiday. of course, it hasn't stopped travel in the other direction. we're still seeing people coming to france and going on holiday. we're seeing cars with, you know, bicycles on the roof, so it's absolutely clear that they‘ re holiday—makers. today, france declared the regions around paris and marseille high—risk zones. the national infection rate has risen to sa cases per 100,000. as we were literallyjust about to put the cases... that didn't worry paul howard and his family, who were due to leave for france today. going to put the cases into the car and then got the breaking news. knowing, you know, that we would definitely have to quarantine, my son would miss two weeks of school, i had concerns

around insurance. in the end, we knew that there was only one decision to make, but it's just so disappointing. there are nowjust a few hours and just a few ferries left until the deadline passes. after that, the journey across the channel will mean an hour at sea, another two weeks at home. lucy williamson, bbc news, calais. and germany has extended its requirement for people to quarantine if they're arriving from spain to cover the whole of the country, apart from the canary islands. 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. new zealand prime minister jacinda ardern has announced a 12—day extension of the country's covid—19 restrictions. that's after an initial cluster ofjust a few cases in the city of auckland has now

grown to 29. the country has been a world leader in containing coronavirus — new zealand went 102 days without a community transmission, before these cases were discovered. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: strikes spread across belarus as unrest over the disputed presidential election grows. the european union is moving closer to imposing sanctions. there have been queues at the french port of calais — as britons scramble to return home before new uk quarantine measures come into force. you the uk government has signed deals to buy two more experimental coronavirus doses was that britain now has 314 million doses on order for six different vaccines, enough to give everyone in the country five doses, but it is still unclear whether any of them will actually work. here is our

medical terror, fergus walsh. a coronavirus vaccine, it would be the solution to the pandemic. a way to protect the vulnerable and social distancing. how do you feel? i feel fine. good. such is distancing. how do you feel? i feelfine. good. such is the pressing need, countries are placing orders long before clinical trials are finished, and they know whether any of the vaccines protect against the vaccines protect against the virus. the uk is said to have one of the world's biggest stockpiles of coronavirus vaccine. 340 million doses have been ordered of six different vaccines, the latest deals are with a belgian company and a us biotechnology company and even though most of the vaccines require two doses, it will still mean there will be enough to inject everyone in the uk five times over. it's a recognition that most vaccine

trials and in failure. vaccines area trials and in failure. vaccines are a great force for social good. the woman in charge of buying coronavirus vaccines for the uk says the government has to hedge its bets. we don't know if any of these vaccine formats that we have acquired will actually work. there are no license vaccines for any human coronavirus. so our priority is to ensure that we have sufficient vaccine for the populations in the uk who are most at risk for coronavirus infection. britain has a strong record in supporting global health, but one of the world's biggest research charities is concerned developing nations could lose out in the scramble for covid—19 vaccines. could lose out in the scramble for covid-19 vaccines. it's critically important that countries that cannot afford to sell finance these vaccines have a way of accessing some of those early doses. if we are to deliver maximum public health parked around the world, countries must not secure too many doses for their own

citizens. so when will we know if we have a vax —— an effective vaccine? early signals may come at the end of the year. more trials are due to begin in britain soon. the more people who sign up, the sooner we more people who sign up, the sooner we will get an answer. august walsh, bbc news. in the aftermath of the explosion that shocked lebanon and brought the city of beirut to a halt, there's growing concern about the safety of african domestic workers. many of them were already in precarious situations because of the struggling economy. a group of sierra leoneans is asking their government to evacuate them from lebanon — and they're using music as a way to get their message out. phoebe hopson reports. singing this is lucy's story. she is one of over 70 women

asking to be evacuated from lebanon. many people like to listen to music, and i sing about it, definitely, for young people to stop coming to this country, because i know the amount of abuse that they say you will have when you come to this country. they say you will have a good job and a good opportunity. lucy says she was promised a job in teaching but was tricked into becoming a domestic workerfor a family in beirut. she wasn't paid for seven months and that the family tried to kill her when she went to the police. i want to go back to sierra leone and even when you work, they cannot

afford to pay you, and they dump us in the streets. we are here and we do not have anyjob, even. they are able to make us some with the work of an activist. but i want to see lucy in her apartment where there were 15 women, all together in one small room, sleeping on a few mattresses and begging for food, begging for help. begging for medical care. so she said to me that she has written a song when she sing it to me and to the other 14 women, we all cried. the mistreatment of african workers in the middle east is well documented. in 2018, there was an investigation into the system where workers are legally bound to their employers, greatly limiting their rights.

but campaigners worried that the situation is going from bad to worse. as the country deals with economic ruin, the coronavirus pandemic and are the aftermath of last week possible explosion, many have become homeless. the antiracism movement in lebanon for this work and painting for evacuation, carried out a survey of the women at the start ofjune. 70% of them have been thrown out by their employers or their agency. 15% of them have fled their employer's house, stating reasons like physical or verbal abuse, or unpaid wages. lucy, like the other domestic workers, has put all her hopes of seeing her children again on the chance the government might evacuate her, something they have not confirmed. phoebe hobson, bbc news. saturday marks the 70th anniversary of victory over japan day, when the country's emperor, eric ito, announced

unconditional surrender —— hirohito. yet even now the legacy of the conflict lingers. many japanese see their country as a victim of the us atomic attacks on hiroshima and nagasaki. at tokyo's yasukuni shrine, the narashino brotherhood has come to bow to the spirits of japan's wartime leaders. august is a busy month for these far—right nationalists. first, they tried to get to japan's parliament, but the way is blocked. so they crank up the speakers and begin shouting abuse. "the liberal democratic party is useless," they shout. "you're idiots!" with more and more of her troops landing at shanghai... japan committed many crimes during world war ii, but by far the worst was the nanjing massacre. after the city fell, tens of thousands of chinese soldiers and civilians were slaughtered. but not according to takahiro ozaki.

translation: first of all, the nanjing massacre does not exist. the civilian population of the city was evacuated. if there was a massacre, where did all the dead bodies go? there is no evidence, it's all a lie. china is not the only country these groups claim, has wronged japan. today, their target is russia. so this is another piece of highly contested history for japan's nationalists. up the streetjust here is the russian embassy, and they believe that at the end of world war ii, russia stole a big chunk of territory from japan, and today, they‘ re here to demand it back. 75 years on, the wounds inflicted by world war ii remain open and festering. anger is strongest in south korea, where japan's prime minister, shinzo abe, is a figure of hate and ridicule. last month, a korean artist unveiled the statue of mr abe prostrating himself before

a young korean woman. it symbolises the begging for forgiveness that japan has yet to do for the crimes it committed against thousands of korean women. the united states, which was the occupying power injapan, did not want to get into the history question, wanted everyone to move forward. and you had, you know, millions, tens of millions of victims in china and korea. they're saying, "wait a second, wait a second, that's not ok, i'm not ready to move on." on saturday, thousands will gather at the yasukuni shrine. many will come to pray for a relative, one of the 2.5 million japanese war dead. but others will come here to pay homage to the 14 class a war criminals who are also honoured here. in seoul and beijing, they will see a country that still refuses to face its own past. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo.

and official events to mark the event start in a couple of hours. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @lvaughanjones. i'm lewis vaughan jones. i'm lewis vaughanjones. this is bbc news. 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 anotherfairly mild night, quite muggy again for england and wales. on sunday, subtle changes. our 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. on 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,

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. estonia's foreign minister has said the election was not democratic or legitimate. 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. president trump has been accused of deliberately underfunding the service to try and benefit his election chances. thousands of british holidaymakers have spent the day trying to return to the uk from france before the requirement of a two—week quarantine comes into force. the new rule also affects five other countries, including malta and the netherlands. coronavirus cases have surged in these countries in recent days.