hello and welcome to the programme, i'm lewis vaughan jones. the president of belarus has failed to suppress the demonstrations that have erupted across the country calling for him to quit, despite a violent response from the security forces. they've continued for a sixth day and more testimony is emerging from protesters who'd been detained, alleging serious human rights abuses. alexander lu kashenka says forces outside the country are behind the mass protests against his disputed election victory. just a warning, you might find

some of these images disturbing. you can see the bruises of men released in the last 2a hours or so. public anger has been fuelled by accounts of torture and abuse of both men and women who've been detained. the eu has started planning sanctions against officials involved in the violent crackdown. and look at this, earlier on friday, demonstrators held a peaceful protest, outside the parliament building in independence square in the capital minsk. at least two security officers lowered their riot shields, prompting women to run forward to hug them. it's not clear though whether there is wider support for the protesters among the security forces. our correspondent sent this report from minsk. the opposition movement against president lukashenko is growing. "love, not violence" — that is the message of 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 their movement is peaceful. this is unprecedented for belarus, where authorities violently crack down 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 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. sergiy 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. barack obama has accused the trump administration of trying to suppress voting, for november's presidential election. postal ballots are seen by many as crucial in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, but the us postal service is warning there could be delays with an unprecedented amount of people opting to mail in their vote. president trump has been vocal in his criticism of postal voting, saying without evidence, that it leaves the election open to fraud. he's now blocked extra funding that was being sought to help the post service with the expected surge in demand. our north america editor, jon sopel has more. they never thought the united states postal service would find itself at the centre of this kind of controversy. unprecedented numbers look like they're going to vote by mail. donald trump repeatedly has asserted that mail in ballots or postal votes will lead to fraud and chaos, but none of the recent surveys of postal

voting back that up. so what people suspect is that donald trump is worried that making voting easier will lead to an increased turnout, increased turnout will favour the democrats. so, he is saying that in terms, i am going to starve funding so postal votes become impossible. that has led to fury. the states postal service is worth today make worried that there will be delivered to barack obama has said everyone depends on the us postal service, seniors for their social security, veterans for their prescriptions, they cannot be as collateral damage to an administration more concerned with suppressing the vote than suppressing the virus. a post—script, two of the most recent people to register for postal votes were donald] trump and his wife melania. don't forget there's plenty more on the run—up to the us election on our website, including this article put together by our data journalism team looking at who's doing better in the most recent polls. that's on bbc.com/news.

anyone heading home to the uk from countries including france and the netherlands have less than one hour to get back onto uk soil before new rules kick in that mean they'll have to self—isolate for fourteen days. it's after the government added five more countries to its travel quarantine list because of their growing rates of coronavirus. hundreds of thousands of people have been scrambling to get home the past day or so after measures wre announced. our france correspondent lucy williamson's caught up with some of them on theirjourneys. 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. preserving a slot was only half the battle. we now think we can't make the ferry so we are going to try to travel to see if we can go to calais the cuthbert family missed their ferry crossing this morning but they did manage to get across

from calle. at the other end of the country in nice, passengers complained of long queues at the airport. unfortunately, because of the quarantine we have had to cut short the holiday. really disappointed with the uk government response. they could have given us response. they could have given usa response. they could have given us a little bit more than 2a hours notice. and embarrass some eurostar passengers turned up some eurostar passengers turned up on spec to try to find a seat home. we were supposed to doa seat home. we were supposed to do a couple days in paris but trying to find a way to get home before the quarantine. we had already changed our translate twice to try to avoid anything happening, and it has happened anyway. the uk's decision on quarantine wasn't unexpected stopping many tourists had already factored in the possibility that they might have to isolate when they get home. and eurotunnel says many of its customers are choosing to simply stay on to the end of their holiday. it hasn't stopped travel on the other direction. we are still seeing people coming to france,

and going on holiday. we are seeing cars with bicycles on the roof so it is absolutely clear they are holidaymakers. today france declared the regions around paris and marseille high risk the infection rate has risen to sa cases per 100,000. that didn't worry paul howard and his family who were due to leave for france today. gotta put the cases into the car then got the breaking news. knowing that we would definitely have to quarantine, my son would miss two weeks of school, concerns around insurance. in the end, we knew that there was only one decision to make but it is just so decision to make but it is just so disappointing. there are now just 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 and another two weeks at home. so called "close contact" beauty services such as facials

and eyebrow threading, as well as small wedding receptions and live indoor performances, will resume in most areas of england in just a few hours time, as a series of lockdown rules are eased. the changes should have come into force from august the 1st, but were postponed because of concerns over a rise in coronavirus cases. so what's the latest on the epidemic here in the uk? the latest figures show there were 1,441 new confirmed cases in the latest 2a hour period. that means, as you can see, the rate is rising gradually, with the average number of new cases per day in the last week, being 1,052. the deaths of 11 people were also announced, under new rules recording those who've died, within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. that means the total number, across the uk, is now 41,358.

current coronavirus restrictions on household gatherings in greater manchester, west yorkshire, east lancashire, and leicester are to continue. the department of health says infections rates remain high or are rising in those areas. here's our health editor, hugh pym. virus testing is stepped up in the lancashire district of pendle, one of three areas in the north west of england now under more intense focus as cases increase. local incident teams will be backed up by national officials to try to bring infection rates under control. councillors in pendle today set out their priorities. strengthening the local tracing capacity and making sure that we have boots on the ground who can actually keep people who need to be isolated in isolation. there are also concerns in 0ldham. a star of the tv show the inbetweeners has been recruited to try to get key messages across to the younger audience.

hello, the residents of 0ldham. how's it going? 0ldham council, for some reason, have decided to trust me. here's a coronavirus guidelines reminder to 0ldham residents. no visitors at home. don't meet anyone you don't live with in indoor venues. public health england produces a weekly watch list of areas with hotspots, seen here in the darker shades of red, where there are spikes in the disease. pendle, blackburn with darwen, and 0ldham, are still the areas of greatest concern. newark and sherwood was added to the list today, partly because of the rate of increase in case numbers. experts say the more detailed data now available allows a more focused response to local variations and outbreaks. if we go back to the beginning of march, what we had was a national average. but by having these more precise local areas, because of more testing and more data, that means the types of measures and interventions we can take are a lot more tailored,

a lot more targeted and more precise, to try to stop the virus spread more effectively. meanwhile, a lockdown in aberdeen after a large outbreak, with pubs and restaurants closed and travel restrictions, will be reviewed next week. today, the first minister said that across scotland, it was now mandatory for hospitality businesses to collect contact details from customers, staff and other visitors. hugh pym, bbc news. this is bbc news. the headlines: 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. strikes spread across belarus as unrest over the disputed presidential election grows. the european union is moving closer to imposing sanctions. we will get more on that story. brian whitmore is senior fellow at the center for european policy analysis.

he joins us from washington. thanks forjoining us on the programme. thank you for having me, lewis. these protests have been pretty extraordinary, pictures coming up from belarus have been shocking at times. put context for us. how unusual is it? this is highly unusual. you have had a small group in minsk who would previously protest but nothing they have seen on protest but nothing they have seen on this scale. we have to bearin seen on this scale. we have to bear in mind that lukashenko has been empowered since 1994, 426 years, that in perspective. when he came into powerjohn major was the british prime minister, francois mitterand was the french president, and bill clinton was starting his term. helmut kohl was german chancellor. he has been a power for a very long time. given that, why now do you think, why has this given people, whatever has this given people, whatever has happened, has given people confidence or perhaps

desperation to come out on the streets and do this because yellow belarusians streets and do this because yellow bela rusians have streets and do this because yellow belarusians have been historically very politically passive. and the lukashenko regime has survived on this passive acquiescence. and he has living standards for most of his reign relatively high by belarus in standards. this has been on the backs of russian subsidies. the belarus in economy effectively runs on importing heavy —— heavily subsidised petroleum products. since 2015, russia has steadily cut those subsidies, which has also cut into the standard of living of the people. also lukashenko's living of the people. also lu kashenko's handling living of the people. also lukashenko's handling of the covid—19 pandemic has been nothing short of abysmal. he was saying it has nothing to worry about. it's not anything serious or real. nothing that can't be cured without some vodka or a sauna or a good game of hockey. this has seriously

cut into his popularity so we think the belarus in people are saying enough is enough right now. you mention the role of russia. it is interesting they have cut the subsidies. i assume they want to maintain their influence in the country. yes, they do. the relationship between vladimir putin alexander lu kashenko has between vladimir putin alexander lukashenko has been very tight. they personally do not like it either. in fact, they despise each other. it is kind of this forced marriage, if you will, belarus is considered very important by the russians. it is what they consider part of the strategic depth. you can translate that as passive and obedient countries on the western border. vladimir putin has a lwa ys border. vladimir putin has always through this relationship as imperial. lukashenko has viewed this as transactional. i am glad to be your ally if only you will pay me. this has survived, the tense relationship has survived

but now is coming to a head. russia has long sought a military base in belarusian territory, which lu kashenko military base in belarusian territory, which lukashenko is loath to give him. so russia has turned up the present end of the screws in order to get him to capitulate on this. fascinating. i'm afraid i'm going to get you to answer this in one word if you can. do you think this spells the end, finally, for this regime? is this a revolution about to happen? i certainly wouldn't rule that out. if you asked me for one word i would say maybe. don't like to be in the prediction business. this regime has never been in as tough a situation as it is now, but the thing to watch, even if this regime does fall, which i am saying is by no means guaranteed, watch what russia does because russia is not going to lose dolores without a fight. brian, thanks for coming on the programme. rachel chu. that is brian whitmore. thank you very much. the government has signed deals to buy two more

experimental coronavirus vaccines. ninety million doses have been purchased from a belgian pharmaceutical company and a us biotech firm. britain now has 340 million doses on orderfor six different vaccines — enough to give everyone in the country 5 doses. but it's still unclear whether any of them will work. here's our medical editor, fergus walsh. a coronavirus vaccine. it would be the solution to the pandemic, a way to protect the vulnerable, two and social distancing. how do you feel? i feel fine. 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 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, janssen, and a us biotech, novavax. now, even though most of the vaccines require two doses, it'll still mean there will be enough to inject everyone in the uk five times over.

it's a recognition that most vaccine trials end 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 licensed 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 that developing nations could lose out in the scramble for covid vaccines.

it's critically important that countries that cannot afford to self—finance these vaccines have a way of accessing some of those early doses. if we are to deliver maximum public health impact around the world, countries mustn't secure too many doses for their own citizens. so when will we know if we have an effective vaccine? early signals might 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'll get an answer. fergus walsh, bbc news. against the virus. 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. take the example of one school in the state of georgia. education administrations are having to respond 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 to return to school as covid—19 ravages america. is the china virus prevalent in children? my point is as much that we try to prevent illness and injury in children, it can still happen. and requiring children to wear masks and not play outside on 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 her 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 and i saw that, i would be upset with

the county and everyone, basically. but i've gotten 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 a mixture of rotational, in personal attendants and online learning. but masks are still not required. masks have been politicized and so has the virus and it shouldn't be. it's just straight science. jenna thames is 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 herfamily is at risk. being a former teacher, ijust know how important it is to have that face—to—face school setting with a teacher and so they can socially and emotionally thrive because they learn from their peers and they also learn from their teachers. if any of the other classmates catch coronavirus, will that change your mind?

no, i do not think that will change my mind. i feel that it is a virus and i feel like people are going to get it. jenna calls the public hand—wringing over the new school year 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, his dad has an autoimmune disorder, and his mother has diabetes. i saw teachers and students not taking it seriously. it just felt like it wasn't the safest environment for me to be in. i heard them saying masks are stupid and they're making fun of others for wearing them. this high school has become ground zero for the controversy around reopening of american schools. it pits 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 to school what they learned at home. we live in the country and a lot of people here have backwoods, southern politics. there is a ku klux klan bar, like, six miles down the road. rudy and his family plan to move from the county from a neighbouring one where they feel safe again and so noah can attend another school district. georgia does not have state—wide guidance on school reopening and so local school districts make the rules. but in an election year, even going to school has become a political statement. one of the countries hit earliest in the coronavirus pandemic was south korea. the authorities there were praised for their quick and efficient response to the outbreak. public transport is a potential area where the virus could spread. but in seoul they're trying to make it as safe as possible, as the bbc‘s tim allman explains.

in the age of covid—19, travelling by bus can be a hazardous business. but in south korea technology is your friend and this is a bus stop unlike any other. called a smart shoulder, it's air—conditioned, sterilised, and open only to the coolest of travellers, literally. translation: we connected a thermal image camera with a door so that people feel safe here. after checking body temperatures, the doors will be open for only those whose temperatures are lower than 37.5 c. we also set up as sterilisers which can remove 99% of viruses. ten of these high—tech stops have been set up high—tech stops have been set up in the capital, seoul. each one costing more than $80,000. but for these customers that seems to be money well spent.

translation: i felt uncomfortable at first as they had to take my temperature be for anz. but it didn't take long so it was good. —— before i could enter. so i feel safe here compared to normal bus stops. translation: if there are many people gathering at a bus stop i feel worried about coronavirus and uncomfortable with people sitting next to me but i feel safe here. more smart shelters are being planned. south korea determined to do what it can to combat the virus and key passengers safe. tim allman, bbc news. that is it from me. you can get me any time online or on twitter. i'm @lvaughanjones. coming up next on bbc news it is the weather. 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 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 to 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.