this is bbc news. i'm mike embley with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the us presidential campaign steps up a gear with the start of a very unconventional convention for the us democratic party. opposition protesters in belarus have held a ninth night of protests against president alexander lukashenko whose re—election has been widely condemned as fraudulent. brazil's vice president has defended its handling of the coronavirus pandemic despite being the worst—hit country outside of the united states. in the beginning, everybody was afraid that we would have people dying in the halls of the hospitals, and this did not happen. feeling the heat: california's death valley has registered the highest ever temperature recorded on earth.

the race for the us presidency is kicking off in earnest with the start of the democratic party convention. the 4—day event will formally nominate joe biden as pa rty‘s candidate. speakers are delivering their speeches online from their home states because of the coronavirus. the star turn is the former first lady michelle obama. senator bernie sanders is expected to say that failure to defeat donald trump is too great to imagine. our correspondent, laura trevelyan, is in wilmington, delaware, wherejoe biden will make his speech and accept the nomination on thursday. laura, because of course that is his home state, you have seen quite a few of these will do what is your feeling about

this one? it is very different. it is so different. the first one i covered was the republican national convention in new york city in 2004 which was full of buzz and excitement, and this is so different 16 years later. this first hour of the virtual democratic national convention was quite unlike anything we have really seen in american politics. the focus of this power was racial justice politics. the focus of this power was racialjustice in the wa ke power was racialjustice in the wake of george floyd's death, and with orjoe biden moderating a panel that had been pre—recorded about that quest for racialjustice, been pre—recorded about that quest for racial justice, one of the consuming questions of american politics. we also heard a focus on coronavirus, hearing directly from a woman whose father died from coronavirus. she is blaming the death directly on the policies of donald trump. so the theme of donald trump. so the theme of tonight is we, the people. they claim donald trump has

failed in the pandemic, the economic response and failing to lead america at this moment in the quest for racial justice. that is the theme so far. move technical glitches really, which i am short of the relief of the producers, but the keynote speakers are coming up, burning sanders and michelle obama. what is your sense about how this will play with the voters? for people who don't watch this obsessively, it won't be that much different, because the bid networks only usually take an hour of the thing itself. this next hour is the hour that the us networks are opting into. so if you are an undecided voter rather than a committed part of them has probably been watching online devotedly since the cable networks started running live coverage a couple of hours ago, then this next hour is the key one. the messages that come out of it, these other clips that will be repaid on the news, one that will be influential in morning tv. we

will hear from senator bernie sanders, the arrival ofjoe biden for the —— let a rival of joe biden, but now he will swing behind him and say this is the most consequential election of our time and the priority is to defeat donald trump. then michelle 0bama will also speak, someone who is the wife of barack 0bama, a formidable political player in her own right. she will speak ina week her own right. she will speak in a week where a black woman, kamala harris, who will accept the nomination for vice president. this is a big hour coming up. they are saying joe biden is the one who can reclaim the soul of america after a in which donald trump has been president. it is the aim of what they are trying to do tonight. how do democrats push back against his trump attack line thatjoe biden is too old to do the job and is a puppet of the left, as mr trump puts it? it is an extra ordinary moment as there is a push for generational change in american politics. you have the

two candidates for the presidency, and yet you have this great push for change, for racial equality. so it is a strange moment in a way, but democrats are saying that donald trump has a record this time, he has to run on the record and their claims that joe biden is a who can unite america and lead it forward after a divisive few years. mr biden certainly has to convince people that he can reinvigorate the economy if mr trump has anything left really, it is the economy, isn't it? that's right, interestingly, the polling out this week is showing that although joe polling out this week is showing that althouthoe biden has a lead over donald trump of between four and 12 points depending on which pole you look at, donald trump still seems to have an edge when it comes to the economy, that is despite the economic calamity which is performed in america with unemployment over 10% since so many businesses had to be shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic. so you

can see that as probably this very negative campaign unfolds, that the gap will narrow between donald trump and joe biden, if the economy begins to rebound, which anna clement is down a little bit as more states open up, that donald trump will seek to press home an advantage. but democrats are claiming that donald trump is not leadership is incompetent when it comes to coronavirus, the economic response in response to racial injustice, so it is just a response to racial injustice, so it isjust a moment response to racial injustice, so it is just a moment of reckoning for america. what does kamala harris have to do amidst all this? well, she is a woman of colour in a field which is three other white men. if you think the republican ticket is two white men, two elderly white men, though she brings that generational change, younger than the rest, she is a woman, a woman of colour, and it is interesting to note tonightjust how many women of colour have been featured in the democratic lineup. we had the mayor of

washington, dc, muriel browser, taking on president trump over the way peaceful protesters we re the way peaceful protesters were moved out of the way so that he could have a photo op with the bible. you are seeing black women showcased. remember, it was like a putjoe biden over the top of one definite and one in the nomination. and they recommended that people should come out forjoe biden that was a key moment in the primary. he was also featured in that first hour. so this is a very important constituency for democrats. african americans. tonight will be key in the selection in the hope from the democratic side is that kamala harris will drive turnout up. laura, thank you very much indeed for that. for more on the democratic party's virtual convention, go to the bbc website where you'll find analysis of the current opinion polls and a feature on the republican governor, who's going to give a speech against president trump. that's all at bbc.com/news or download the bbc app.

0pposition protesters in belarus have been on the streets again calling on the president, alexander lukashenko, to go. they've dismissed his offer of a constitutional referendum followed by a possible fresh election as a ploy. earlier in the day, mr lukashenko addressed a group of workers in the capital minsk, from where our correspondent, jonah fisher reports. car horns toot this was the day the workers turned on alexander lukashenko. thousands downing tools and marching to a tractor factory. chanting while the strikers rallied outside, belarus's beleaguered president arrived by helicopter to address those who'd stayed at work. he was no doubt hoping for a friendly crowd.

what he got was a public relations disaster. chanting outside the plant was maria kalesnikava, pretty much the only opposition leader who hasn't been arrested or fled the country. translation: for 26 years, the authorities have humiliated us. thank you for not being afraid. we are not the little people, we are the nation. are you worried about your own safety? no, i'm not worried. i feel very safe here with my people in belarus. what is your message to the international community as they watch what is happening here? we are very thankful for the support of belarus

and, please, only with love and dialogue we can change our lives and our countries. another sign of the president's weakening grip on power came at state tv, where programming was disrupted this morning. 0utside, striking employees chanted "tell the truth." for the last week, government—controlled media has almost entirely avoided the demonstrations and the torture of activists. the momentum is certainly with the protesters who seem to grow in confidence with every passing day. it's very hard to see any way back from this politically for the president. the last few days have shown belarusians willing to take to the streets and to stand up against him. that surely can't be reversed. the big question now is more when and how he goes and whether it happens peacefully. jonah fisher, bbc news, minsk.

a lot of eyes on what is happening there of course, not least the russian president vladimir putin. what is the making of the developments in larousse? —— belarus? the bbc‘s sarah rainsford is in moscow. there is concern about an old ally slipping out of moscow's group. these countries have a collective security treaty in moscow has said it will honour that. we can't entirely rule out the idea of russian security forces heading in, and in belarus. especially if the kremlin signs of what is either the western meddling. so far the western meddling. so far the statement in moscow have been pretty muted, and i think what is important is important is the protest in belarus are not pro—eu, not pronator, not anti— russia. they are anti— lukashenko. i think if russia we re lukashenko. i think if russia were to and prop him up, that would actually backfire. belarusian is would actually backfire. bela rusian is good would actually backfire. belarusian is good turn against

russia. russia, there are other risks as well, western sanctions for russia. what sum hear suspected a very different plan, russia is, mr putin, they do not get along. perhaps russia is looking for an alternative candidate, someone is empathetic to moscow, and what it might be calculating is how and when to persuade mr lukashenko that it is time to go. one of the key opposition leader, svetla na tsikhanouskaya, has released a new video message from lithuania where she is in exile. she is there with her children. she announced she is ready to return home to become a national leader to restore calm and prepare for new elections. the lithuanian foreign minister gave his reaction to this weekend's protests. it is not for us to decide what people said. people made a choice, people spoke up. as never before. this demonstration of 400,000 yesterday was the biggest crowd

everin yesterday was the biggest crowd ever in belarus. you cannot ignore, they deserve to be at least listened, so he has to make a choice in the process of preparing sanctions, and by doing that, economic sanctions, not to harm people but target individual sanctions against those with electoral fraud, using this excessive force. so now we are in the process, also national sanctions. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, beating all records: california's death valley has registered the highest ever temperature on earth. 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 last ten days, 500 have died. chanting: czechoslovakia must be free! czechoslovakia must be free! chanting: 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, within 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? " welcome back, very glad to have you with us. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the race for the us presidency is kicking off in earnest

with the start of the democratic party convention. the four day event will formally nominate joe biden as pa rty‘s candidate. a ninth night of protests in belarus against the leadership of president alexander lukashenko. his re—election has been widely condemned as fraudulent. brazil is the worst—hit country from covid—19 outside of the us. more than 100,000 people have died and it has nearly 3.5 million cases. the country's vice president has defended the handling of the pandemic, as well as it's management of this year's fires in the amazon that have now started to burn. 0ur south america correspondent katy watson spoke to brazil's vice president, hamilton mourao. of course we regret the deaths of more than 100,000 brazilians, 0k? but the federal government and the state government, they did everything that we could.

we were successful in adapting the curve of the pandemic to the capacity of our public hospitals because, in the beginning, everybody was afraid of this, that we would have people dying in the halls of our hospitals — and this did not happen, 0k? and also, we had a lot of measures to mitigate the economic and social problems. i think we are doing a good job. jair bolsonaro has made it clear on how he has felt about social distancing, he's pushed back on the wearing of face masks. he himself has had it, so has the first lady. a lot of people feel that perhaps the leadershipjust doesn't care. you have to understand the nature of brazilian people. brazilian people are not a very disciplined one, 0k? so, it is impossible to come top down and say, "ok, you have to do this, you have to do that." even governments, local governments, and the mayors of the main cities,

they have a lot of difficulties to keep people in their homes. we have a lot of shanty towns in our main towns, so it's not easy to keep a social distance. so these inequalities make the fight very difficult in the way that, for instance, that people in europe did against the pandemic. fires are burning in the amazon. last week, bolsonaro branded them "a lie". despite a ban on fires, they are still burning. how can the government deny they are happening? well, we don't deny what's happening at any moment. one thing must be very sure and very clear — that the forest is not burning. there is one part of the legal amazon where people are established. jair bolsonaro called it a lie, you know, he said that. and there is a ban on fires at the moment, and there are fires happening. that land that is, as you talk about being humanised, used to be forest. i mean, this government does not have a good record

of protecting the amazon. we have been monitoring this very closely. in this month of august, when the fires really are starting to grow more, we will be fully trying to stop these fires going higher than last year. you said in the past that you didn't want brazil to be labelled by the rest of the world as an "environmental villain," but many people in the world do see brazil's government acting like that. people say that we are a villain because of the de—forestation that happened in the amazon area, or the fires. but we have very clean energy metrics, 0k? we don't burn coal or oil, 0k? so we are not the villains in this. but we know that it is our responsibility to enforce the law and make people obey it. we understand this, and we are going to do this.

that was the resilient vice president they're speaking to katie watson. —— brazilian. let's return now to our top story. the democratic party's national convention. this whole process started with upwards of two dozen presidential candidates. now it's down tojustjoe biden. but is he the right person to unite the party? the bbc spoke to democratic millennials and generation z voters — who make up a third of the american electorate — and asked what they would want a "president biden" to do on day1. joe biden is... the best option that we have. an incredible american. really our only shot of restoring humanity to the white house. a liberal and a moderate. a listener. empathetic. essential to save our democracy. joe biden is a moderate continuation of the status quo. the last resort. but he is not a horrible last resort.

in the united states young people under the age of 35 make up a third of the country's electorate. this demographic turned out to vote in record numbers in the 2018 mid—terms. nearly doubling the young voters who went to the polls in 2014. we don't know yet if that will be the case into the 2020 general election but we do know that young people are likely to lean democrat. hi, how are you? so we talked to a dozen young democratic voters from all across the country to ask what they think of their party's nominee. joe biden was not the favourite for a lot of younger people. joe biden was not my number one choice. i don't think he has that certainje ne sais quoi that i would want in a president. but since winning the nomination, he has done something that i did not expect, he has reached out to the more liberal wing of the democratic party and really brought in staffers from other campaigns to advise him on climate policy.

ifjoe biden is elected, what should he do on day one of his presidency? 0h. that's a really good question. oh, man. i think he should arrest donald trump but i don't think that will be possible. going definitely back into the paris climate agreement. try to rejoin the world health organization. to overturn the muslim ban that impacts people like myself as a muslim. community investment into the black community. if he is so confident that he has the african—american vote then he needs to be able to provide for african—americans when he's in office. we're in the middle of a pandemic, i think everybody is asking, like, what's next on healthcare? many of us are going to lose our health insurance once we age out of being on our parents's insurance. joe biden will be able to get us back to a point where not everything is horrible. i want the terror that has been caused by this current administration to end. he has good intentions

and wants to help people which is more than could be said for our current president. sometimes that's enough. we will see soon enough. what could be the highest temperature ever reliably recorded on earth —130f — may have been reached in death valley national park in california. 54.4 celsius. it comes amid a heatwave on america's west coast, where temperatures are forecast to rise further this week. paul hawkins has more. it is already one of the hottest places on earth, the lowest point in the united states, surrounded by mountains, it acts like an oven, trapping the heat in the valley, sending temperatures soaring, with little rainfall for respite. add this summer's heatwave into the mix, which has caused problems like wildfires and blackouts across california, and they think they may have recorded the highest ever temperature on earth, 130 degrees fahrenheit, 54.4 degrees celsius, but it needs to be verified.

they look at such things as corroborating evidence from other sources, whether there are any discrepancies in the equipment or the procedures that were used, or if there's any other reason to doubt its veracity. in fact, the greatest warming is occurring in the higher altitudes, such as the arctic, particularly, and in the northern hemisphere, the temperatures in the arctic on average are 3, 4, 5, even eight degrees above pre—industrial levels already, so we are seeing uneven warming and very high warming in some places, including places like the arctic, where it is especially significant because of the effect that it has on the ice. before this, the highest temperature reliably recorded on earth was 129.2 degrees fahrenheit, that's 54 degrees celsius, also here in death valley in 2013.

we're going to try and cook an egg — it's 109 degrees fahrenheit on the tarmac. here we go... sometimes the ground here is so hot, you can fry and egg on it... it's not working. ..if you do it right. it works in films... paul hawkins, bbc news. our correspondent is in delaware where joe our correspondent is in delaware wherejoe biden will make his speech in his home state and accept the nomination on thursday. what is your feeling about how this is all going? nominally, in your more key, but also online? absolutely, this is the big hour here in the united states, mike, where the us networks are all opting in to carry this our of this remote democratic convention. very interesting to note that the democrats chose to lead his key hour of where many undecided voters could well be tuning in. they lead it off with republicans for biden,

a whole selection of republicans who are now saying they're coming out to support joe biden because for various reasons, but they don't like donald trump. including, the keynote there, the former republican governor of ohio john kasich. all about this argument the democrats are trying to make because of trump's leadership of the coronavirus pandemic comedy economic fallout of that and racial injustice, that he is not the person to lead america at this moment. essentially, you had a variety of republicans making a point. that is an essential pitch, wonder that democrats wanted to put on prime time tonight. and some big names to come, quite shortly, bernie sanders and michelle obama. absolutely, we are about to hear from senator bernie sanders, the lion of the progressive movement. he was a contenderfor progressive movement. he was a contender for the democratic nomination too and he is a key figure who worked withjoe biden on the policy platform that the democrats have

adopted. he is the person who is credited with making joe biden adopt a much more progressive policy on climate change. although bernie sanders didn't get his medicare for all true, on health insurance, nonetheless the fact that he has worked behind the scenes with joe has worked behind the scenes withjoe biden, has worked behind the scenes with joe biden, he has worked behind the scenes withjoe biden, he has got a very prominent role now is very different to 2016 when of course, bernie sanders had a very prickly course, bernie sanders had a very prickly relationship course, bernie sanders had a very prickly relationship with hillary clinton which did not help democrats in the election. i guess the wisdom here is that bernie sanders is the letter on the progressive wing. he has endorsed joe biden but mr biden needs the bernie sanders supporters, not all of whom are co mforta ble supporters, not all of whom are comfortable with joe biden. that's right but i think that is why this speech from bernie sanders is important and he is going to say that this is the most consequential election in modern american history because of what he is going to say, the threat posed by donald trump. very powerful for democrats to have that message in prime time. he will be followed by

michelle obama. her transformation from political spouse, wife of barack obama to bestselling author and political force in her bestselling author and politicalforce in her own right will be off tonight because she is the person who is headlining the coverage. so, a very important 20 minutes coming up here in the programming at the democratic national convention, virtual as it is. and as you say, getting very close to centre centres. michelle obama delivered what of the most memorable speeches 2016 convention. she did, she famously said that when they go low, we go higher. and in prepared remarks that we know she is going to deliver tonight, she pre— taped them at martha's vineyard. she is going to talk about the character and the integrity ofjoe biden and also about donald trump. it'll be interesting to see what he has to say about him because course, donald trump rose to power, he gained prominence when he embraced the theory that president obama may not have been born in america, the

. he/she is playing at a stronger role in the proceedings tonight. what are we expecting mr biden to do, what work does he have to do specifically? joe biden's campaign is somewhat vague but it is based on the premise that he is going to restore the soul of america, that he is going to be the unifier and not the divide up. he has had a really quite a low—key campaign because of coronavirus and a nalysts a re because of coronavirus and analysts are calling it a front porch campaign. his campaign from his home but by not being donald trump and talking about his experience as vice president, his experience in the building international alliances, and believing in science. these are all of the themes that democrats are trying to run off that because of the three crises facing america at the moment, thatjoe biden is the amount of the experience. this is their

pitch, their chances way. democrats have the limelight after trump has been in the limelight with his own presidential reality show since january 2017. this is the democrats chance to hammer home the message. , because we're just keeping an eye on the feet of the commission at the moment. we are expecting the representative from richmond, the former chairman of the congressional lack caucus to introduce senator bernie sanders. there is no doubt that when it comes to it, joe biden has to convince voters he can reinvigorate the economy. yes, and it's interesting when you look at the polling. even though look at the polling. even thouthoe look at the polling. even though joe biden leads look at the polling. even thouthoe biden leads in almost all the polling, anywhere tween four — 12% over donald trump in the most recent polls, when it comes to the economy, donald trump still has an edge. that is partly why americans elected him in the first place. he had this image from the tv show the apprentice of the successful businessmen running the trump organization,

hotels around the world and whatever the reality, his multiple bankruptcies, his many loa ns, multiple bankruptcies, his many loans, division that americans have of him as a competent businessman who would transform the way america is governed. even now, when the economy is in the doldrums and unemployment is about 10%, the fa ct unemployment is about 10%, the fact that donald trump still has an edge in polling on the economy suggests that if things get better, the economy starts to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, that this could be automatic forjoe biden. it is in interesting want to wash their. laura, you know there is a lwa ys their. laura, you know there is always that tradition that, there is this kind of convention bounce after this kind of events. is it likely to work the same way this time? that's exactly what everyone is going to be looking for. is whether these unconventional conventions are going to have any impact or, we don't have the rousing shares, you don't have the balloons, you don't have the balloons, you don't have the balloons, you don't have the applause. you don't have the applause. you don't have the applause. you don't have the sense that the candidate is popular. that is something that can be created

by the traditional