this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm aaron safir. our top stories: chanting. in belarus — huge crowds fill the streets in one of the biggest protests yet against the president. but alexander lu kashenko remains defiant — telling his supporters he won't give up his country, after a week of demonstrations against his contested re—election. new zealand's general election is postponed because of a fresh outbreak of covid—19. house speaker nancy pelosi announces a vote to prevent changes in postal services ahead of the us election.

and, rejecting the mask. why some europeans are refusing to wear them. in belarus, the largest anti—government protests since last week's disputed elections, have been taking place, with further calls for alexander lu kashenko to step down. but he's vowing to stay in power, claiming belarus is under threat from foreign forces. mr lukashenko is accused of rigging the vote and unleashing a violent crackdown against demonstrators.

it's thought as many as 100,000 people took to the streets in the centre of the capital, minsk, from wherejonah fisher, has sent us this report. all chant. a week after the disputed election, belarus is voting with its feet. the centre of the capital, minsk ta ken over by hundreds of thousands of people. united in their demand that alexander lu kashenko, the only president this country has ever known, leave office. well, i really hope that when he sees all these people, he will step down. do you really think that's likely? he's been here a long time. maybe, it's. .. i hope so. do you think this sort of demonstration is going to convince the president to go? yes, we believe. that's why we're all here. all minsk, all our country. belarus has never seen scenes like this before. a couple of weeks ago, demonstrations were extremely rare and they were usually brutally

snuffed out by the government. now there are people marching as far as the eye can see through the centre of the capital, minsk. there's a real sense of change in the air. but for now, president lukashenko clings on to power. this was his rally today in minsk. just a few thousand showed up — an embarrassing turnout for a man who claims to have won 80% of the vote. in a defiant speech, he rejected calls for new elections, telling his supporters that nato tanks were near the border. chanting "leave, leave", they chant, but exactly how that happens is far from clear. do you think the president is going to go peacefully? i'm not sure about it, but we will not go away. today, tomorrow, next week, we will sit here on the streets, and i would like to say that i was born in 1998

and i spent all my life with president lukashenko and i don't want it any more. this was a day when belarusians found their voice. all chant. "lukashenko, lock him up", they're saying here. europe's longest serving leader may have passed the point of no return. jonah fisher, bbc news, minsk. mitchell a 0renstein is professor of russian and east european studies at the university of pennsylvania he says we're witnessing a pivotal moment in belarus‘ history and that the president won't be able to hold on to power. i think everybody on the street knows that he lost the election

and they're not going to go away, in my view. what's happened, in fact, is they've created a national movement probably for the first time in belarus. what you're seeing is the standing up of a nation, very similar to wenceslas square in 1989 in prague. something like that which is, i think, a unique moment for belarus. you're a professor of russian and east european studies. let's talk briefly, if you can, about russia. the role of belarus‘ neighbour is going to be in the back of minds of many people out on the street. talk us through what the relationship is between those two countries and the two leaders. absolutely, its very complex. russia and belarus have played an interesting dance for quite a long time and lu kashenko's sort of perfected it, where russia really wants to dominate belarus. russia looks at belarus as a domestic issue. it has a customs union with belarus, and it wants belarus to no longer be a sovereign independent state. it has been pushing vocally and visibly, publicly,

lukashenko, this year, to have more political integration with russia, which means a path towards basically becoming part of russia or some type of soviet union 2.0. lu kashenko has valiantly resisted, since 1994, this type of pressure by very cleverly playing the west off against russia, tacking this way, tacking that way and he in fact has maintained belarus as a relatively independent nation which is why he's making these arguments that he thinks "l'etat c'est moi", you know, "it's me who is belarus". in other words, "without me, belarus simply won't exist, we're in threat of invasion, we're in threat of a moscow takeover, i'm the only one who can solve the situation". in the past, that argument convinced enough people but now i think the belarusian nation has defined itself that exists without lukashenko, or rather, in opposition to lukashenko. to the us now — where

house speaker nancy pelosi is arranging for a vote in congress later this week on legislation to protect the postal service. ms pelosi has accused president trump of a "campaign to sabotage the election" and her democratic party is looking to unwind recent changes which they say could hamper postal voting in november's presidential election. alanna petroff has the story. it has come to this. a musical protest about the post office. demonstrators are gathered outside the home of the new postmaster general louis de joy, postmaster general louis de joy, for another day of dissent. louis dejoy recently appointed to the role, is a big trumpet donor. —— mac trump donor. it has slowed down mail delivery. i was overseas and i cast my vote by mail—in ballot!

protesters worried about louis dejoy protesters worried about louis de joy public changes protesters worried about louis dejoy public changes will hamper mail—in voting during the 2020 presidential election. voting by mail is especially important this year. many americans will want to avoid busy polling stations to cut down on the risk of catching the coronavirus. president trump is not a fan of voting by mail. he has warned of potential voter fraud, without proof, and he says he is blocking billions of dollars of additionalfunding for blocking billions of dollars of additional funding for the postal service which ever cracks want to deliver a fair election. —— democrats. cracks want to deliver a fair election. -- democrats. you are going to have a catastrophic situation with universal mail—in votes. situation with universal mail-in votes. he has said... members of the democratic party accused the president of trying to suppress votes. he says he wants to slow down the mail to hurt the elections and make people doubt the results of the

election. maybe he is worried he is going to lose, it doesn't matter. 0ur elections are sacred. men and women have died for them. and the right to vote. and to do this is disgraceful. democratic presidential contenderjoe biden recently tweeted this... democrats believed the leaders of the us postal service have some explaining to do. the us house of representatives is calling on top figures in the postal service to testify at an emergency hearing on august 24. they specifically want to hear from this man, the postmaster general himself. the us postal service has a long time motto about making swift deliveries despite snow and rain. voters will be hoping that even with

financial difficulties and polarising politics, the postal service will stick to its motto and make sure every vote gets through and gets counted. australia has seen its deadliest day of the coronavirus pandemic after the state of victoria recorded 25 deaths in 24 hours. victoria's previous daily record was 21, recorded last wednesday. there were 282 confirmed cases in the state in the past 24 hours. the total death toll from covid—19 in australia stands at 421. new zealand's general election has been postponed because of the recent outbreak of covid—19 in auckland. the poll had been due to take place in september, but the date has been pushed back by four weeks to the 17th of october. the prime minister, jacinda ardern took the decision after consulting the other political parties. i have sought and received advice from the electoral commission on a range of options,

including retaining the current date of the 19th of september, moving the election by four weeks to the 17th of october and the final possible date the electoral commission considers the election could realistically be held, which is the 21st of november. having weighed up all these factors and taken wide soundings, i have decided on balance to move the election by four weeks to the 17th of october. at the end of last week, i was advised that this date is achievable and presents no greater risks than had we retained the status quo. i've also been advised that in moving to a 17 october election day, the commission will be able to leverage and draw much of the work already undertaken to deliver the election. so how have new zealand's other political parties reacted to the delay? here's tvnz correspondent ryan boswell in christchurch.

well, they're very pleased. national and act were pushing for the election to be delayed and evenjacinda ardern's coalition partner, new zealand first, wanted it pushed out too, saying that there simply wasn't enough time in midst of this pandemic to debate some of the issues that kiwis really need to get stuck into. remember, new zealand not only has an election, it's also holding referendum on euthanasia and cannabis and of course every kiwi is interested to see what direction the next government does take when it comes to tackling this pandemic. it's interesting to think that the other parties are supportive because of course jacinda ardern is broadly viewed as having handled this crisis quite well. she's on tv every day. she's got the attention of the media, notjust in new zealand. i wonder if the other parties are struggling to make any impact during this crisis. well, it does work for the prime minister

at the moment, having this covid crisis take place in the midst of an election. like you say, she does dominate the headlines, and people are watching with interest as to what the government does do moving forward, and it really does suck oxygen from the other parties and what we have seen over here is that those minor parties and even the opposition party is really struggling in the polls right now. jacinda ardern could quite comfortably govern alone with her party, labour, without any need for any other party to be part of that government. so she is sending or putting out a very commanding presence at the moment here in new zealand and many kiwis are quite happy with the direction that she's taking. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: limiting freedoms or saving lives? why some in europe are protesting the wearing of masks.

washington, the world's most political city, is today assessing the political health of the world's most powerful man. indeed i did have a relationship with ms lewinsky that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. in south africa, 97 people have been killed today, in one of the worst days of violence between rival black groups. over the past ten days, 500 have died. czechoslovakia must be free! russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 118 submariners who died on board the kursk. we all with them now. with — in our hearts. the pope has celebrated mass before a congregation of more than 2.5 million people in his hometown of krakow. "stay with us, stay with us", chanted this ocean of humanity. "well, well", joked the pope, "so you want me

to desert rome?" this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: tens of thousands of people have turned out at one of the biggest demonstrations in the history of belarus to protest against what they see as the rigged election victory claimed by president lukashenko. the speaker of the us house of representatives, nancy pelosi, has said she will recall the house to vote on legislation which would prevent changes in post office services. democrats are concerned changes would affect postal voting in november's election. hundreds of people have gathered in the spanish capital, madrid, to protest against the mandatory use of facemasks in public spaces and other new government measures aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus. there were similar scenes

in warsaw as people there called for an end to the restrictions. the bbc‘s tim allman reports. no social distancing at this demonstration. packed in together, close as can be. the unmasked of madrid. with their angry cries of "freedom", they seem to believe the government is now a bigger threat than the virus itself. "i am here because there are too many repressive measures," this woman says. "they are taking all our rights away from us." "the solution is that everybody takes to the streets to their voices," insists this man. "we need to prove we know what this is about and we are claiming our rights." spain was one of the

earliest and ha rdest—hit countries in the pandemic, and has had more cases than any other nation in western europe. infections have spiked in recent weeks, but for these protesters, the battle to combat covid has gone too far. it was a similar story in warsaw, where there was another anti—mask march. here, they argue any restrictions aimed at fighting the virus are illegal and unconstitutional. in paris, face masks are now compulsory in much of the city, which has been named a high—risk zone. the attitude here seems a little more accepting. translation: i think it is best to wear it everywhere. at least we know we are protected. are we going to get to a second wave? we don't know, so the best thing is to protect ourselves everywhere.

face masks have become symbolic, part of a political debate, but scientists insist they are still vital in the fight against coronavirus. tim allman, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. the government in somalia say that a five—hour siege at a hotel in the capital, mogadishu, has been brought to an end by security forces. 20 people were killed when al—sha baab islamist militants exploded a car bomb and stormed the beachside hotel. more than 200 people were trapped before being evacuated. police in warsaw have kept apart pro— and anti—gay rights protesters outside the university, two days after being accused of heavy—handed policing towards lbgt campaigners. a right—wing former presidential candidate told the conservative rally that if they failed to stop gay rights activists, poland would, as he put it, go the way of the west. in thailand, an estimated 20,000 people havejoined a protest in bangkok calling

for sweeping political reform. the thai government has successfully contained the coronavirus, but the tourism—dependent economy was badly hit — and a series of other blunders have eroded its popularity. but it is the student movement's unprecedented call for reform of thailand's monarchy which has stunned the country, where harsh laws criminalise any negative comment about the royal family. jonathan head reports. they haven't seen a protest this big in thailand since the military seized power six years ago. and for these youthful demonstrators, the military‘s influence is still too great. its performance in government on freedom, human rights and in managing an ailing economy is now a burning grievance. this large gathering at the monument which has always symbolised the hopes for a real democracy in thailand

is the culmination of weeks of student—led protests demanding wholesale reform of the political system. but that is not all they are demanding. they are also asking for significant changes to the monarchy, an institution that is officially viewed as sacred and untouchable. and in a country where few have even dared to broach the subject before, that is revolutionary. it is almost unimaginable. only a couple of years ago, saying what the youth are now demanding on stage as part of their manifesto for reforms. the youth seem to be unafraid i would say. they haven't been held back by the concerns that previous generations had before, not even to talk about, not even discuss about the monarchy. complaints about the monarchy have been heard at the protests in recent weeks. but it was the

manifesto read out by this young woman at a university rally last monday that sent shockwaves through the country. for the first time, it demanded an accountable monarchy. one that limited its power and its spending. the king, making a rare visit back to thailand this week from germany, where he stayed during the covid—19 crisis, has said nothing. the prime minister, while acknowledging the students' right to protest, said he would investigate who was behind them and punish any who had broken laws. the students, though, seem undaunted by threats of prosecution or worse. we have to try to start talking about and making it a new norm for the society that it is ok to talk about the monarchy. do you think many thai people agree with your programme? i think the silent majority itself want to talk about it,

and the monarchy, because if you don't act on something or reform something, nothing will happen, and it will collapse on itself. this is a historic moment for thailand. a taboo has been broken by a younger generation who have lost faith in the old, royalist establishment and want change. it is though hard to imagine that they will be allowed to go on saying what has always been unsayable here. the democrats will host their national convention on monday, wherejoe biden will be confirmed as the party's nominee for us president in november's election. mr biden knows there are some in the party less than enthusiastic about his nomination, particularly on the left. but there is a belief his choice of running mate, senator kamala harris, can help him unite the party and turn a healthy lead in the polls against donald trump

into victory. here's our north america editor, jon sopel. folks, thanks. i understand there are thousands of you on this zoom... campaigning, covid style. this is a socially—distanced fundraiser. but there are no phone banks, just thousands on a zoom call. and since kamala harris joined the ticket, the money's been pouring in. $48 million raised injust 48 hours. the excitement is palpable! at least i'm excited. but enthusiasm is hardly the right word. even among democratic voters, like these college kids. he's getting older. i don't think he's the strongest candidate that was out there, but he is the lesser of two evils, definitely. maybe not the most, like — the person i would want if i had any option, but, yeah, definitely the lesser of two evils. i'm voting for him, sadly. um, because at the end of the day, electoral politics is... it's basically damage control. and these students

aren't exceptional. a newly published pew research poll asked democrats why they'd be voting for biden. a staggering 56% said it was because he wasn't donald trump. the next most important was his leadership performance. just 19% said that would be the reason for backing him. butjoe biden has likeability. ask the owner of this diner in his home town of wilmington, where the biden family have been regulars for decades. i wouldn't just vote democratic, ijust... i'm on his side. you know, iagree with his policies and hopefully that's going to get us out of a big mess. for the past five months, joe biden has scarcely emerged from his basement hideaway in the house behind me. and keeping such a low profile, paradoxically, has served him well. his poll numbers keep going up. but, surely, in the next three months, he's going to have to

campaign hard if he wants to win the presidency. trump campaign ads have sought to portray the 77—year—old as a man who is losing it. i'll make sure that we are... ..in a position that... go ahead. oh, no, probably best i don't. certainly, biden is gaffe prone. if you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or trump then you ain't black... and that i'm going to beatjoe biden. we hold these truths to be self—evident. all men and women created by the... you know the... you know the thing. the next vice president of the united states of america! in 2008, when a youthful barack 0bama stood with joe biden as his running mate,

the optimistic and positive message was hope and "yes, we can". ready, set, go. in this strange 2020 election, not being donald trump might be joe biden's biggest plus. jon sopel, bbc news, wilmington, delaware. hello there. we had lots of thunderstorms across england and wales on sunday, but it's not every day you see one of these. yes, a waterspout that formed out in the bristol channel, and this was seen by a number of our weather watchers, actually, from north somerset. it was also spotted around the newport area of south wales as well. that was all associated with this low pressure that's across northern france. we can see an occlusion. this band of cloud here that brought some thunderstorms across eastern england, and they were torrential. 28 mm of rain on sunday fell in bedford. looking at the weather picture at the moment, this system, essentially, is going to split into two bits, with this branch not really making much progress further north. that means the rain will continue to affect greater manchester, lancashire, merseyside along with wales

for a time before easing later in the night. it won't really push that much farther north. that means the far north of england, northern ireland and scotland stay largely dry over the next few hours, but with low cloud. there'll be some mist and fog patches, and maybe a little bit of drizzle around some of the eastern coasts in scotland as well. for the rest of monday, the low pressure will continue to move its way in, and that will bring showers. this time, the showers will be affecting scotland and northern ireland through the afternoon, but it's further south across england and wales that the day's heaviest showers are most likely to be. 20 or30 mm in the space of an hour. again, that's enough to cause some localised flash flooding. in between those showers in the sunshine, still feeling warm, still a little on the humid side. but we're not finished with the showery story just there, because tuesday will be another showery day. this time, the heaviest showers look more set to go in across northern england and scotland. lots of thunder and lightning, a bit of hail mixed in with some of these. fewer showers in the south. still one or two fairly pokey ones as we go into the afternoon.

beyond that, we see some changes in the weather. this area of low pressure, slow—moving, will be with us for much of the rest of the week with fresher air following this cold front through. it means on wednesday many of us start off on a dry note, but the cloud and rain will spread in across northern ireland, england and wales. eventually, it will turn a fair bit windier across the south—west. gusts of around 30—40 miles an hour, all the while staying largely dry in scotland through the afternoon with sunshine. fresher air then arrives from thursday onwards, but that's not an end to the wet story. it stays unsettled with rain or showers to take us into next weekend.

this is bbc news, the headlines: an enormous crowd of opponents of the belarusian president, alexander lu kashenko, has gathered in minsk to demand his resignation. it comes amid growing anger over alleged poll—rigging, and police violence at subsequent protests. but the president has vowed to stay in power, claiming belarus is under threat from foreign forces. the speaker of the us house of representatives, nancy pelosi, has said that she will recall the chamber later this week to vote on legislation to protect the postal service. democrats have accused president trump of trying to hamstring the cash—strapped postal service to suppress postal voting in november's election. new zealand's prime minister has announced that general elections due to take place in mid—september have been postponed because of a fresh covid—19 outbreak. jacinda ardern said date has been pushed back to october the 17th, giving parties time to resume their suspended election campaigns.