this is bbc news. i'm aaron safir. our top stories... protests on the streets of belarus for a seventh day, as pressure grows on president lukashenko. on the 75th anniversary of the end of world war ii in japan, emperor naruhito expresses deep remorse for his country's past military actions. new quarantine rules in the uk — as countries across europe continue to fight the spread of covid—19. president trump has claimed plans for universal mail—in voting proposed for november's election will be catastrophic.

hello and welcome to bbc news. we begin in belarus, which has seen the seventh straight day of protests against president alexander lukashenko, since he claimed victory in a disputed election last weekend. demonstrations have continued to grow despite accounts of police brutality — including torture — from protesters who've been detained over the past week. the situation in belarus was discussed in poland, when the us secretary of state mike pompeo met senior members of the government there. mr pompeo said washington was closely following events in belarus with its eu partners. and the eu has already acted — taking the first steps on friday towards imposing sanctions on senior officials in the belarus government. meanwhile president lukashenko says he's worried about nato military exercises being carried out in poland and lithuania — saying there's been a military build—up.

and after speaking with his ally president putin, mr lukashenko said russia would provide what he called "comprehensive assistance" in the event of an external military threat. well, saturday's protests in the capital minsk were focused around the spot where a young artist taking part in a demonstration died on monday during clashes with police. the bbc‘s abdujalil abdurasulov sent this report from there. fear has been replaced by anger. thousands of people in belarus continue coming out onto the street to voice their protest against president lukashenko. people are gathering at the sideway. alexander taraikovsky, one of the protesters who died during the violence here in minsk. they are chanting, we will never forget, we will never forgive. such kind of scenes were unimaginable in belarus just a week ago.

we are sure everything will change. we believe in our victory. that is why we will come in the street every day, every single day. i was calling my parents to tell them to go to the city centre, where the girls are out there with the flowers, because you can raise the freedom for the first time in almost all of your life. hundreds of people gathered to attend the funeral of alexander taraikovsky. people sang the opposition anthem and bode farewell to the man who has turned into a symbol of change in belarus. president lukashenko has never faced such a challenge in his 26 years of being in power. today, he spoke to russia's president, vladimir putin. both sides expressed confidence that this situation will soon be resolved.

translation: there is a need to contact putin so i can talk to him now. because it is notjust a threat to belarus any more. there are a lot of clever russians there. they started to chant against belarus. i would like to say that defending belarus today is nothing less than defending our entire space. the union state of belarus and russia. an example for others. if belarusians cannot stand, the wave will flow there. observers say that russia's support will be key for mr lukashenko to hold onto power. but this crowd may be a sign that he has reached the point of no return. let's get more on this with heather conley, director of the europe programme at the centre for strategic and international studies. thank international studies. you forjoining us. let's start thank you forjoining us. let's start with the belarus connection with russia. we heard president lukashenko saying that vladimir putin is

offering comprehensive assistance. what are we to make of that? we are not entirely sure what that means. it appears that president lukashenko is appears that president lu kashenko is now appears that president lukashenko is now trying to create the image that nato is moving closer to bela russian border, they have reported that they are moving an airborne brigade to the lithuania poland border, and so perhaps president lukashenko is creating a military issue that he will ask president putin to help send russian forces into belarus. that could be one possible angle. but it is very clear that vladimir putin will exact a very high price of president lukashenko for any assistance that russia provides to him. we also have other neighbours a belarus, the baltic neighbours, poland, and the united states and other eu countries taking a position on

this. what kind of influence can they exert over the situation? we certainly have seen where lithuania is taking a leadership role both within the european union, foreign minister has been very striving in interview the european union must do more in the baltic states and poland have also offered mediation assistance to try to give president lukashenko a diplomatic way out of the situation. he has turned that down. so it is very good that down. so it is very good that secretary pompeo is in the region. a timely moment. we really need strong transatlantic cooperation. air freshener begins to take advantage and move into belarus thatis advantage and move into belarus that is certainly affecting a nato position. we often hear president lukashenko nato position. we often hear president lu kashenko referred to as europe's last dictator. it is not quite as simple as him always having an antagonistic relationship with his european neighbours. there have been times when he has moved towards them in a way from russia. where exactly does

belarus it in these kind of big power plays? you are absolutely right. a26 years lukashenko has what some analysts have called toa pair what some analysts have called to a pair went. what some analysts have called to a pairwent. he what some analysts have called to a pair went. he spends between the west, the eu and the united states. when russia exerts pressure on belarus he turns to the west. when the west tries to push lukashenko and bela russian society west tries to push lukashenko and belarussian society more towards democratic norms he then moves towards russia. he has been able to keep this balancing act going for so long but it is now come to an end. belarussian society has clearly said that he must leave and they are demanding free and fair elections. and for president lukashenko to remain in power, he will need assistance from russia. and thatis assistance from russia. and that is where the balancing act has now come to an end. if in fa ct has now come to an end. if in fact russia comes in that very heavily to support president lukashenko. coming back to the protest, we heard some of the

ambitions of the people out on the streets but as you mentioned, he has been a power for 26 years. this is hardly the first election about which there have been? . the first election about which there have been?. why now and why are people turning out in such numbers now do you think? yes. i think what has happened is the belarussian people have now understood that they are their very future hands in the balance. we hear comments that as young people increasingly lead belarus, there is no hope, no future. and i think after these violent and brutal demonstrations by the belarussian security police against their children, young people, they have nowjust had enough. and they are standing in such solidarity, these are individuals that have supported the lukashenko regime for two plus decades. they are now taking a stand in the state workers, the tractor workers, even fairly apolitical citizens

are now coming and demonstrating. something has fundamentally changed but that we just fundamentally changed but that wejust don't fundamentally changed but that we just don't know where this is going to go. if lukashenko again since his security forces to brutally cracked down on the protesters, that will further the situation. though his options are now beginning to look much more difficult which is why he phone president putin income he needs support, the question is will there be more brutality to these peaceful demonstrations. tomorrow's marks are will be the largest demonstration across belarus for the free and fair elections and front lu kashenko for the free and fair elections and front lukashenko told me. we need to watch very closely how he will react in the following days. so many u na nswered following days. so many unanswered questions and so many different ways this could go. thank you for bringing your insight to the situation. the japanese emperor, naruhito, has expressed deep remorse for his country's past military actions, on the 75th anniversary of japan's

surrender at the end of the second world war. the war was brought to an end shortly after the us dropped nuclear bombs over the cities of hiroshima and nagasaki. naruhito is the grandson of emperor hirohito, in whose name imperial troops fought the war. translation: looking back on the long period of post—war peace, reflecting on our past and bearing in mind the feelings of deep remorse, i hope the ravages of war will never be repeated. to those who lost their lives, both on the battlefield and elsewhere, i pay my heartfelt tribute and pray for world peace and for the continuing development of our country. 50,000 british and commonwealth troops died in the war against japan, half in prison camps. earlier, some of their relatives joined surviving veterans at britain's national memorial arboretum for a ceremony to remember them. our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell

has the full story. in the open spaces of the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire, a carefully choreographed commemoration, attended by a0 veterans who served in the iath, sometimes forgotten, army. many thousands lost their lives in the jungles of southeast asia and injapanese prisoner of warcamps. they shall grow not old as we that are left grow old. age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. at the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them. last post plays. after the sounding of the last post by a royal marine bugler, a two—minute silence was led by the prince of wales.

and in remembrance of lives lost from so many nations, from british, pre—partition indian, and other allied armies, wreaths were placed at memorials here and in many of the nations which were involved in the conflict. today, in this hallowed place, and in the presence of all those gathered here, or in their homes, wherever

they may be, let us affirm that they and the surviving veterans are not forgotten. rather, you are respected, thanked, and cherished, with all our hearts, and for all time. in a tribute recorded on horse guards parade and broadcast by the bbc tonight, images of veterans, including the duke of edinburgh. he was aboard a warship in tokyo bay when the second world war ended. his grandson spoke of the need to cherish peace. we must not forget our responsibility to learn the lessons of the past and ensure that the horrors of the second world war are never repeated. we owe that to our veterans, to their families and to the generations who will come after us. 75 years on, thanks were given for the moment a world war ended.

nicholas witchell, bbc news. a prominent politician and women's rights advocate in afghanistan has been wounded in a gun attack. afghan officials say fawzia koofi was returning from a meeting in the eastern province of pa rwan when she was attacked — she's reported to be in stable condition. ms koofi is a member of the negotiating team due to hold peace talks with the taliban in the coming days. the taliban have denied involvement. president trump has warned that despite the coronavirus pandemic, the united states is not ready for a postal ballot in the november elections. he's said that universal mail—in voting would be catastrophic and make the nation a laughing stock around the world. the ongoing row over mail—in voting has sparked protests outside the home of the postmaster general, who is a trump loyalist and donor. demonstrators say the trump administration is deliberately

underfunding the post office, in order to influence the election. president trump is opposed to more funding for the postal service, even though the organisation has warned that millions of mail—in votes may not arrive in time to be counted on election day. despite voting by post himself, president trump opposes postal voting, and has repeatedly claimed — without evidence — that it leads to widespread voterfraud. for more we've been hearing from amy gardner, national political reporter at the washington post, who explained the issues surrounding postal voting in the us. mail balloting is common in many states in the united states. it is much less common in many other states. and when the pandemic settled in to all of us around the world, and we had this incredibly momentous selection that we were facing in the united states, state election officials and local election officials across the country started to plan for the reality that

many voters would not feel comfortable voting in person. and so many states, virtually every state, has taken steps to make mail balloting easier. to make it allowable in the states where it wasn't. some states require you to have a reason to vote absentee, like out of town or overseas or ill. many states have changed those rules. so currently, the vast majority of americans say they are planning to vote by mail. over 50%. at the same time, president trump has been criticising mail balloting. he has said that he thinks that it leads to fraud, that foreign actors could come in and steal ballots and mail them in, duplicate them. there is no evidence for this. there has not been any documentation of the kind of widespread fraud in mail balloting in the united states that he describes. he has also said that mail balloting will harm republican chances at the polls. so he is admitting that there is a political motive for him to oppose mail balloting.

and then when we had this sort of funding crisis of the postal service that erupted this week, on the news and in the headlines, he actually stated that he was going to oppose the funding that congressional leaders are requesting, democrats on the capitol hill, because he does not want mail balloting to be expended in the united states. this is bbc news. the headlines: thousands of people have taken to the streets of the belarussian capital, minsk, to mark the death of a man on monday, at a protest against president lukashenko's contested re—election. japan's emperor naruhito has expressed deep remorse for his country's past military actions, on the 75th anniversary of the end of world war ii injapan. thousands of british holiday—makers have arrived back in the uk, after a last—minute dash to avoid new quarantine rules. travellers from france, the netherlands and four other countries, would have been subject to ia days self isolation, after concerns over

rising coronavirus cases abroad. andy moore has the details. there were long queues at calais early this morning as people scrambled to get back to the uk ahead of the aam deadline. at passport control, to get this far, they told us we should be fine to get back to the uk for the aam deadline. on one of the last ferries out of france from dieppe, some exhausted travellers. and i'm told the ferry people know we need to get to the uk before four o'clock, so we will see you later. the ship docked in new haven just before the deadline. 3:58am in the uk. they laugh. fantastic! one group of edinburgh—based musicians who had been performing in normandy... classical music plays. ..hired their own fishing boat to get back in time. after an eight—hour crossing,

they landed at hayling island in hampshire ten minutes before the deadline. the airports were also busy with flights to the uk. the queue just keeps going and going and going. this was nice, last night. we've just boarded the plane, it's about ten o'clock and we had a really long, hard day. so many people in the airport, but we're finally on a flight. at gatwick airport this morning, some of the first passengers arriving back from france, who will have to go into quarantine. we were five hours too late... for the quarantine. so now we all have to quarantine. my husband's losing money for two weeks. it's ridiculous. the passengers arriving here from france are going into a very strict form of self isolation for two weeks. they won't be able to go out for exercise, they won't be able to walk the dog and any shopping will have

to be brought to them. and the penalty for breaching those rules starts at £1,000. andy moore, bbc news, gatwick airport. in south africa, the government has announced a widespread relaxation of coronavirus lockdown measures. president cyril ramaphosa said infections in the country appear to have peaked and nearly all restrictions would be eased from monday. a controversial ban on the sale of alcohol and tobacco will also be lifted. south africa has officially recorded more than half of africa's covid—i9 infections, with more than 570,000 cases and 11,500 deaths to date. around the world many industries have been impacted by coronavirus. . not least the clothing industry in bangladesh where thousands of garment workers have lost theirjobs. one such worker is 18—year—old sonia. she lost herjob because of the coronavirus pandemic and now she struggles to pay for food and rent. the bbc spoke to sonia. this is her story

this is sonia. she is 18 years old. she is just one of millions of factory workers that have been affected by the collapse of the globalfashion and clothing industry caused by the coronavirus pandemic. translation: i am in a lot of difficulties after i lost myjob. i don't have money to pay for my rent and food. my husband is the only breadwinner. we cannot run ourfamily with his sole income. i am in great difficulty. bangladesh is the world's second largest exporter of clothes. the industry there employs more than a million workers and most of them are women. at the start of the pandemic, many brands cancelled their existing orders. leaving people like sonia unpaid for work they had already done. clothing sales also plummeted meaning that right now brands are trying to get rid of existing stock rather than place new orders. translation: at the moment, i have no money. i am still waiting

for my wages to be paid. i have borrowed money from others to do my food shopping. i am going through a really tough time now that i am without a job. what is happening in bangladesh has not gone unnoticed. especially online. remake, an advocacy organisation, started the campaign to push for orders by global brands to be paid in full. this did notjust happen in bangladesh but also in ethiopia, cambodia, pakistan, india and beyond. we launched a pay up campaign to demand that brands honour their contracts, that they are taking orders that have been produced for them without asking for delays, changes in payment terms or discounts. and the campaign wans to protect workers and the campaign wants to protect workers going forward too. as we look towards the fall, orders continue to contract

and look nowhere close to what order demands were a year ago. i have been asking some of the brands being caught on social media what actions they are taking. some of them did not reply to the request. however, gap has said... primark also responded saying... whether big brands decide to pay up or not, it is clear that garment workers are facing a really tough time ahead. and even though the bangladeshi government announced a $588 million fund to help workers, there are questions over whether this is enough. for people just like sonia, it seems thatjob security is what they want the most. translation: if i get a good job, i can run my family well. i can have a happy family life.

if you ever need an example of how global this pandemic was. tributes are being paid to indian cricketer mahendra singh dhoni — who has announced his retirement from the international game. he captained his country in more than three—hundred matches — and led them to a world cup victory in twenty—eleven. the bbc‘s tim allman looks back at his career. ms dhoni was arguably in the epos my greatest ever cricket captain. whether as wicketkeeper or paxman, he was mr consistency. but now, after a16 mr consistency. but now, after a 16 year international career. he is calling it quits. in a statement on its instagram page, he said... the response on social media it was immediate. the countries greatest ever player tweeted. ..

and current captain said that ms dhoni made his debut for india in 200a. he became captain three years later. on the field come he won pretty much everything that could be one. india were briefly the worlds number one test site. but it was off the field where he made is greatest impact. a young man from a cricketing backwater come his success, a symbol of a new india. he once saidi symbol of a new india. he once said i want the team that can stand before an advancing truck. well, he was quite the driver. one and only ms dhoni.

plenty more on the bbc news website. that is offered now. thank you for watching. —— that is all for now. hello there. we still have a lot of humid air across the uk, the same air mass that brought us the hot and sunny weather. the big difference now is that the extensive low cloud. because of the humidity, still mist and fog and also bits of drizzle dotted around. you see a pretty extensive cloud but that is continuing to work its way northwestward and we also saw saturday some heavy thunderstorms, worked into parts of essex and in writtle brought a0 mm of rain in the space ofjust an hour and through the 2a hours we have 57 mm and that is over a month, so the majority of that brought flooding around the writtle area, including around the chelmsford area. looking at the weather picture, we see that excessive cloud and it is marching

its way northward. murky around the coast and hills with fog and quite an extensive drizzle and occasional heavier rain mixed in. a humid, warm feel to the air. temperatures starting off sunday morning around 18 degrees in the south. sunday, a cloudy start for many of us and heavy downpours on the way. i think we will see the skies brighten up but the best of any sunshine will be across northwest scotland. through the day, we will quickly see thunderstorms working in the southwest england but another batch of storms is likely to affect southeast england, east anglia and the midlands and maybe wales. thunderstorms capable of bringing torrential downpour so i think we could see some further localised flooding particularly sunday afternoon. for monday, we see an area low pressure drifting northwards so again we are looking at heavy thundery downpours at times and notice the rain is turning to move northwards and after a dry few days across parts of northern england, northern ireland and scotland, it will be a greater chance of seeing some

rain working in here and it will continue to feel humid but again those downpours will be very heavy so there is an ongoing threat of localised flooding. we have humid air with us at the moment, but it looks like by thursday we will start to get coolerfresher air following an across the uk behind that cold front. but it will stay pretty cloudy in the week ahead and there will be further bursts of rain at times, it is only really later in the week that it starts to turn a bit brighter and a little bit fresher as well. that is your latest weather. goodbye for now.

this is bbc news.

the headlines: anti—government protesters have held demonstrations outside state television buildings in belarus as unrest continues to spread across the country. the country's president, alexander lu kashenko, says he's agreed with president putin that russia would provide what he called comprehensive assistance in the event of an external military threat. japan's emperor has expressed deep remorse for his country's past military actions on the 75th anniversary of japan's surrender at the end of the second world war. the war was brought to an end shortly after the us dropped nuclear bombs over the cities of hiroshima and nagasaki. thousands of british holidaymakers have arrived back in the uk after a last—minute dash to avoid new quarantine rules introduced on saturday. travellers from france, the netherlands and four other countries would have been subject to 1a days self—isolation after concerns over rising coronavirus cases abroad.