welcome to bbc news — i'm james reynolds. our top stories: first a war, now a pandemic — we report from inside yemen as the country struggles to cope with tragedy upon tragedy. the patients are our responsibility. they depend on us responsibility. they depend on us to live and we do want them to get better. it is so hard. reports emerge that the uk government is considering overturning part of the brexit withdrawal deal, jeopardising trade negotiations. hundreds of holidaymakers trapped by raging wildfires in california are airlifted to safety. more than 100 people are detained in belarus during the latest protests against the disputed re—election of president lukashenko. and — novak djokovic is kicked out of the us open after accidentally hitting

a line—judge with a ball. nearly six months on from the first covid cases in yemen, the bbc has become the first international broadcaster to reach the country to gauge the impact of the virus. yemen is divided between the houthi group based in the north and an internationally recognised government in the south. even amid the pandemic, fighting between the two sides has continued. bbc arabic‘s special correspondent, nawal al—maghafi reports from sana'a in northern yemen. here in sana'a there is a sense of hopelessness. as we arrive, another victim of covid—19 is being buried. the people here are faced with the evidence of what this virus does. but this is a country already battling the world's biggest

humanitarian crisis. years of war and starvation have made people indifferent to the threat that is a deadly pandemic. we are the first international broadcaster to get to yemen since coronavirus arrived here. and this is what we have found. there is no social distancing, no—one is taking any precautions. i go to a local market. the people tell me corona doesn't exist here. so i ask them if they've had flu symptoms recently. translation: i did. translation: me too. i couldn't smell or taste anything. but do they go to the hospital? translation: no way. people die in hospitals. they kill people in there. but for those in the covid wards, the pandemic is real and has taken its toll on an already broken health system. doctors in yemen

have been working with no government salary for years. this is sana'a's main coronavirus hospital. this doctor tells me because of the high mortality rates, they have been accused of killing the patients who come in. translation: the patients arrive here in the final stages because of the rumour that we give people sick with covid a mercy injection. the scars from working in these difficult conditions run deep. the patients are our responsibility. --translation: the patients are our responsibility. they depend on us to live. and we do want them to get better. it is so hard. rumours, panic and grief — they all take turns amid an information blackout. we go to a houthi ministry of health conference to find answers. our crew are the only ones wearing masks. until today, the authorities here have only announced four covid cases.

translation: thanks to god, we have been able to overcome it. we followed the plan, and the numbers decreased. i ask the houthi minister of health about fatalities. translation: of course, there are fatalities. how many, we will issue the numbers. we have our own strategy. we left with no answers. away from covid hospitals, it's easy to see why a pandemic can seem the least of problems. during our time here, fighting continued. so did airstrikes on civilian homes. that's not all. a saudi—led coalition blockade has caused a fuel crisis that has left food prices skyrocketing. driving towards sana'a we've seen hundreds of lorries queueing for petrol.

these lorries are carrying food and aid supplies to be distributed across the north, and because of the blockade, barely any fuel is getting in. and this is the result. hassan is eight years old. he's one of millions of children in yemen who are facing hunger. his doctor tells me that aid is getting so scarce lately that hassan and other children can't have their basic needs. it's another face of the unfolding catastrophe in yemen. the world remains consumed in fighting covid—i9, but for the people here, the pandemic is yet another deadly threat for them to survive. nawal al—maghafi, bbc news, sanaa. india has overtaken brazil as the nation with the second highest number of coronavirus infections. the country has confirmed over 4.2 million cases of covid—i9 and nearly 72,000 — only the us has more cases. the indian government insisted the fatality rate is low for a population

of 1.3 billion. there are reports that the british government is planning new legislation that will override key parts of the brexit withdrawal agreement — risking the collapse of trade negotiations with brussels. the financial times says it's been told that the move could undermine the agreement on northern ireland that boris johnson signed last october to avoid a return to a hard border in the region. so how is the eu reacting? 0ur europe editor, katya adler explains. chris mason. you limit this legislation will be introduced this week. labour are saying that this is another example of what they described as the prime minister public fluid relationship with the truth. there is little doubt that this appears to be an explosive intervention although government sources are insisting this is not intended to derail the talks. 0ur europe editor,

katya adler explains. if you have this international treaty, which was only recently signed a few months ago, between the uk government and the eu now being undermined by uk domestic legislation, you can expect a very strong reaction, notjust here in brussels but in paris and berlin and elsewhere. we've heard time and again during the current trade negotiations, which we know anyway aren't going well, but we've heard from the eu's chief negotiator that implementing the withdrawal agreement, the northern ireland protocol, is a key trust issue between the eu and uk, and he said it's also key to having successful trade negotiations. this news isjust breaking tonight, but i've been speaking to sources here in brussels, and one key eu diplomat said to me it's notjust about trust, its notjust about credibility, but if this uk legislation undermines the irish protocol, this could lead to the unravelling altogether of these trade negotiations. he called it "a self—defeating strategy" by the uk. and, of course, this comesjust on the eve of the eighth round of trade negotiations. the eu trade negotiators are about to pop onto the eurostar and join their uk counterparts in london this week. this report will not help

ease the atmosphere. more than 200 people have been airlifted to safety in central california after a fast—moving wildfire threatened to cut off a popular campsite in the sierra national forest. nearly 15,000 firefighters are battling 23 separate blazes across the state, where some areas are experiencing record temperatures because of the current heat—wave conditions throughout the region. mark lobel reports. a national guard helicopter rescue for campers. about 20 people were hurt as fires trapped over 200 and popular boating fishing destination. after california declared a state of emergency on friday. it was that day that this happened at the popular sierra national forest in what's being dubbed the creek fire. it

spread across 36,000 acres, forcing evacuations and road closures for sub— officials say the speed of the fire caught eve ryo ne the speed of the fire caught everyone off guard. —— road closures. 0fficials everyone off guard. —— road closures. officials say. bat fire grew so fast it trapped people at the reservoir in the mountains. at some point during the day when they became trapped, they were doing what they could to rescue themselves and make themselves safe. some of which resulted in injuries including broken bones, lacerations, scrapes, bruises, those kinds of things. as of sunday morning, nearly 15,000 firefighters were battling 23 fires across the state including this wildfire less than 100 kilometres from los angeles. it is a record heatwave with temperatures of up heatwave with temperatures of up to 125 fahrenheit during what is meant to be a holiday weekend. the national guard

says it is better placed than usual to respond because of its own coronavirus preparations, but... the difference this seasonisit but... the difference this season is it has come earlier. august is somewhat early in the typical california fire season to experience this dynamic fire behaviour but it is the sheer number of fires burning throughout northern california concurrently and several of them large complexes also burning concurrently. that is what is making this unusual. evacuation orders and warnings of power cuts are hardly what anyone wanted at this time of year but whether warnings are very possible fatal temperatures resound. we can now speak to kevin mcgowan who's director of the los angeles county emergency operations center where he joins us from now. kevin, your office has called for residents to this practical

wildfire readiness. in practical terms this means people should have evacuation plans ready to go, they should consistently monitor the media and social media and local public safety officials so that they are aware of what's going on. we are in a very dynamic situation right now with the heatwave potential power outages and concurrent fires occurring throughout the state, one of which is in los angeles cou nty one of which is in los angeles county right now. we think it is super important for people to be aware of what's going on right now and take those key steps, have an evacuation plan, have an evacuation kit ready to 90, 9° have an evacuation kit ready to go, go where you would need to go, go where you would need to go if you wanted to evacuate and keep in touch with your friends and family and loved ones. are you able to rescue people if they get cut off and are at risk? are public safety officials within los angeles cou nty officials within los angeles county are well versed in

wildfires. we have consistently trained throughout the year but most importantly, we go through wildland fires year over year and we consistently are improving the way we do things. and this season is no different and so we want to make sure that our whole community is really ready for this. when you are engaged with these significant wildland fires that are in the aspects of disasters, it is the whole community rep —— approach was a bit is not just community rep —— approach was a bit is notjust government officials, non—profit, faith —based communities, residents, visitors and businesses alike, all coming together that we ensure we have the least amount of problems from the significant wildfires as possible. is everyone taking it seriously? yes. kevin mcgowan, thank you so much. thank you. stay with us on bbc news — still to come: no title for novak —

the serbian tennis player is disqualified from the us open after accidentally hitting a line—judge. george w bush: freedom itself was attacked this morning, and freedom will be defended. the united states will hunt down and punish those responsible. bishop tutu now becomes spiritual leader of 100,000 anglicans here, of the blacks in soweto township, as well as the whites in their rich suburbs. we say to you today in a loud and a clear voice "enough of blood and tears. enough!"

translation: the difficult decision we reached together was one that required great and exceptional courage. it's an exodus of up to 60,000 people caused by the uneven pace of political change in eastern europe. iam free! this is bbc news, the latest headlines: first a war, now a pandemic — we report from inside yemen, as the country struggles to cope with tragedy upon tragedy. reports emerge that the uk government is considering overturning part of the brexit withdrawal deal — jeopardising trade negotiations. at least 250 protesters have been arrested across belarus, after tens of thousands of anti—government demonstrators took to the streets for the fourth weekend in a row. they're calling for the resignation of president alexander lu kashenko, following his disputed re—election last month. in the past week the belarusian security forces have

intensified efforts to detain or intimidate protesters. 0ur correspondent, jonah fisher, spent the day among the crowds in the capital, minsk. for the fourth sunday in a row, the people of minsk defied their president. crowd chanting riot police had been deployed on every street corner. razor wire used to block off squares and monuments. but the people here are no longer scared of alexander lu kashenko, or the balaclava—clad riot police who carry out his orders. four weeks on from the disputed election, there's no sign of belarus's demonstrations running out of steam. this is another huge protest, brought here, not just by that vote, but by the brutal, violent crackdown that followed. why have you come out here today? because my heart was broken when i saw all this violence

in telegram and instagram. i felt i must do something. the violence this week has been particularly aimed at students. groups have been seized from the streets, while out demonstrating. others, like 21—year—old prokhar, were detained on university premises. so the police dragged you out of here? yeah, yeah. his crime, singing a revolutionary song from the musical, les miserables. released from detention, he was at the demonstration today, philosophical about recent events. i can even say, lukashenko, thank you. because he made us united, and we are what we are now. as the numbers dwindled at the barricades this evening, the riot police had their revenge, beating and detaining dozens.

the security forces are still with the president, but he has clearly lost the people. jonah fisher, bbc news, minsk. three migrants have been rescued after jumping into the sea from a large oil tanker, off the coast of malta. the captain of the maersk ettienne has called on european authorities to allow the vessel to dock, before food and water runs out. freya cole has the story. on board the maersk etienne oil tanker, a makeshift refugee camp. beds are made out of rope found on deck. it's a commercial vessel which is ill equipped for humanitarian rescues and, according to captain volodymyr yeroshkin, resources are running thin.

a pregnant woman and a young child are among the group of migrants from libya. the maersk etienne says maltese authorities ordered the vessel to carry out their rescue on august 4, but malta is yet to offer a place to dock. tunisia has also refused, and denmark, where the vessel is registered, is yet to offer a solution. letters written by the migrants describe their gratitude to the crew. 0ne writes, "we don't know what to do or say, you gave us a second chance." another writes directly

to the captain, "you are our hero." the crisis worsened when a three menjumped overboard. a cry for help in a situation which appears hopeless. they all survived but the captain has growing fears for the mental health of those on board. malta's ministerfor home affairs byron camilleri has denied responsibility, saying: the stand—off between european authorities and a commercial shipping company is unique. and while the situation sails on, 27 lives remain in limbo. freya cole, bbc news. of the sri lankan fire says the fire on an of the sri lankan fire says the fire on an oil of the sri lankan fire says the fire on an oil tanker of the sri lankan fire says the fire on an oil tanker has of the sri lankan fire says the fire on an oil tanker has been distinguished greatly reducing

threats of an ecological disaster. the tanker is is carrying nearly a quarter million tons. in melbourne, a lockdown continues. has a been under lockdown for six weeks. the premier said measures will remain in place until the 28th of member. a typhoon battering in the southern highlands of japan with heavy rain and high winds. thousands of homes are without power and they have been mass evacuations. the weather agency wanting a potential butterflies, and the risk of rivers flooding. it is the second typhoon to hit the region within a week. tennis and the men's number one seed, novak djokovic, has been disqualied from the us open. it follows an incident where he accidentally hit

a line—judge with a ball. tim allman reports. a moment of madness and a bid for glory comes to an ignominious end. it was early days in novak djokovic's match against pablo carreno busta. he'd lost his serve in the first set and then this happened. look at the right of the screen. djokovic turns away and hits a ball — seemingly in frustration. now see it from this angle. the serbian player had inadvertently hit a line judge, apparently in the neck. he quickly went to see if she was ok as she clearly looked to be in some distress. 0ut came the tournament officials and djokovic pleaded his case. but rules are rules and the world number one eventually shook hands and left the court. i think that it was bad luck. you know, you cannot do this. but, of course, i think that novak never, never wants to hit the line umpire.

it is not the first time such an incident has occurred. britain's tim henman had to say sorry with flowers after hitting a ball girl at wimbledon in 1995. and canada's denis shapovalov forfeited a davis cup tie in 2017 when his ball hit the umpire in the eye. in a statement, novak djokovic said he was "so sorry about what had happened, but was grateful the line judge was ok." he was red—hot favourite for this event, desperate for another grand slam. but after this unfortunate accident he will have to wait. tim allman, bbc news. joining me now is sports journalist, reem abulleil. was disqualification the right decision? yes, i definitely think it was and if it is of the general reaction from all the general reaction from all the pundits as well. they went

by the book. the rules say that, if a player hits a line judge or a umpire or a bulkhead with a racket or a ball, that isa with a racket or a ball, that is a straight default and, if anything, i applaud them for doing that and not thinking or worrying that it is novak djokovic, the top contender for the tournament and actually the tournament's referee later said we would have made that goal if anyone was on court. in that list of tennis crimes, is accidentally hitting the line judge with the ball wasn't smashing your racket on the ground or yelling at an umpire? yes, because were physically hurting someone. if you see footage of the incident, the line umpire was hit in the freight... it looked really bad. she was in pain. she was

gasping, especially the courts are miked up and you can really hear everything so you can really hear her gasping in the first few seconds and it took her a while before she was able to get up. i definitely think it is different when you are yelling at an umpire, it is different when it is physical abuse and that is why the robot differentiates between both. you can even get disqualified from atonement for yelling at an umpire but it has to be a second or third offence of the night. there is a point penalty system that leads to a default that happens if you are verbally abusing an umpire or official so the rules are very clear and that is why it was not debatable. has neverjock of it done anything like this before? he is never hit someone but he has come very close. there is footage from 2016 and one of the years at robert

garrigus when he threw his racket in frustration and a linejudge had to racket in frustration and a line judge had to actually very swiftly move out of the way to avoid getting hit. that is one incident. this year controversy seems to follow him around the world. he has made comments about anti— vaccine, he organised a tournament in which people and that up catching the virus. wherever he goes, the risk a cloud that i don't want to say problems that attention around him. it is an u nfortu nate event after everything that happened in the past five months. i personally set as isolated event simply because it happened on the cot and it was clearly unintentional but ultimately he had to get kicked out. —— called. but it can look at it asa called. but it can look at it as a whole, it is very bad luck for him for this to happen on the back of everything that happened in the last five months. it has been fascinating talking to you. thank you so

much. more on our website. and i am on twitter. do stay with us. hello there. on sunday, we had quite a bit of cloud that developed through the afternoon, notably across parts of eastern england, where we had showers, especially for yorkshire and also parts of lincolnshire, bringing us some rain here through the course of the afternoon. now, talking of rain, we've got more of that on the way right now, with rain already spreading into scotland and northern ireland. here, it's going to turn increasingly windy over the next few hours. but for many of us at least, temperatures holding up into double figures as we head into the first part of monday. now, the rain is all associated with this area of low pressure that's up near iceland. weather fronts pushing into high pressure and weakening as they reach towards the south—east. and that means, actually, we'll see rain across northern and western areas, where it's going to be quite windy. but through the day on monday, it will probably stay dry, with sunshine across

the south—east of england, turning increasingly hazy. so, this is how the charts look through monday. you can see the rain spreading from scotland and northern ireland, into the north of england, across wales. but after a sunny start elsewhere in england, yes, it will tend to cloud over, with the best of any sunshine through the afternoon hanging on across east anglia and south—east england, where it will be relatively warm, with temperatures into the low 20s. brighter skies, eventually, late in the day, edging into the far north—west. now, for tuesday, we have another weather front crossing the uk. this one bringing a broad warm sector. and this wadge of warm air will be pushing right the way across the country, so it will start to feel a little bit more humid. mind you, it's also likely going to be quite cloudy, particularly across western areas, with the cloud thick enough for some patches of drizzle around some of our coasts and hills, particularly through the morning. a little bit of rain at times across the north—west as well, but where we do see some cloud breaks, and a bit of sunshine coming through, it certainly will feel on the warm side. and actually, for many of us,

those temperatures will lift into the low 20s on tuesday. tuesday promises to be the warmest day of the week. now, that warmer air is going to get shoved southwards as a cold front moves in. now, this boundary is the cold front. it's going to be bringing cloud across england and wales, with outbreaks of rain. again, the rain not really amounting to too much across south—east england. it is a weak front. but eventually, we'll get fresher air blowing into the northern half of the uk. sunshine, a few showers in the north—west. temperatures for most of us into the mid—to—high teens, so feeling pleasant in the sunshine. but across the south—east, before the front arrives, we'll still see temperatures running into the low 20s for wednesday afternoon. that's your latest weather.

this is bbc news — the headlines: nearly six months on from covid cases starting to be reported in yemen, the bbc has become the first international broadcaster to reach there — and gauge the impact of the virus. yemen is divided between the houthi group based in the north and an internationally recognised government in the south. there are reports that the british government is planning new legislation which could override elements of the brexit agreement signed last year with the european union relating to northern ireland. it's thought this might potentially derail the prospects of a last—minute trade deal between britain and the eu. tennis — and novak djokovic has been disqualified from the us open in new york — after accidentally hitting a linejudge. it happened in his fourth—round match. in a statement — the world number one said he was so sorry for what had happened. he now loses all prizemoney from the tournament. now on bbc news, it's time for a round—up of the week's