this is bbc news. my name's mike embley, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. police in thailand move in to disperse pro—democracy protesters gathered around government house in the capital bangkok. france and germany announce tough new restrictions, including curfews, to try to stop the spread of coronavirus. tough new restrictions in the uk, with schools closing in northern ireland and pubs and restaurants also being told to shut. the teenage son of president trump tested positive for covid-i9 - but suffered no symptoms. could grey power he the x—factor in the us presidential election? we'll report from a retiring,

but not shy, battleground in florida. four years ago, donald trump won a huge victory here in the villages but the latest polls suggest thatjoe biden is well ahead amongst the over 65 is. riot police in thailand have clashed with a large group of anti—government protesters in bangkok — moving in to clear the streets shortly after the government issued an emergency decree banning all gatherings of more than five people and outlawing the publication of any news or online messages that, in their words, affect national security. as you can see, lines of police with riot shields were able to quickly drive back the lines of protesters and clear the area around government house — where thousands of people had been camping overnight following another day of widespread protests against the king and the prime minister. video on social media showed police facing off

against demonstrators and two protest leaders have been arrested. the emergency decree accused the protests of inciting chaos and threatening national security, specifically mentioning the moment some anti—government demonstrators obstructed the royal motorcade on wednesday. earlier in the night, before the police moved in, the protest had been peaceful, with speeches from activists and mini concerts. they are calling for reforms to the monarchy and for the prime minister to stand down. translation: the people are being awakened more and more when it comes to the monarch e. more and more, but on the other hand, with thais being thai, this is hard to push through. this has been rooted in the thai society for a very long time so in order to reform the monarchy we need a lot people oi'i monarchy we need a lot people on board.

northern ireland is now set to impose the toughest coronavirus restrictions anywhere in the uk. schools are being closed for two weeks from monday, as part of new measures aimed at slowing the spread of the virus. pubs and restaurants will be limited to takeaway and delivery services only for four weeks from friday. the deputy first minister, michelle o'neill, warned that hospitals there are only ten days away from being overwhelmed. people in parts of the uk with high rates of covid—i9 will be banned from travelling to wales from friday evening under plans announced by wales' first minister. the first minister, mark drakeford, said he'd decided to act — after boris johnson refused his request to stop people travelling in and out of virus hotspots in england. it is expected the ban will cover all of northern ireland, england's tier two and three areas and the scottish central belt. the uk government said the decision was "disappointing". in england, borisjohnson has insisted his regional approach to tackling the virus is the best way to limit the rise in cases and to avoid what he described as the ‘misery‘

of a full lockdown. the bbc understands that a meeting of thejoint biosecsurity centre has suggested that greater manchester alongside much of north—west and north—east england, large parts of yorkshire and parts of the midlands should be moved into the highest tier, alongside liverpool city region which is currently the only area to be placed in tier 3. germany and france have announced tough new restrictions — to try to stop the spread of coronavirus. in france, there will be a night—time curfew for paris and eight other cities. and in germany, areas with rising numbers of cases will see bars forced to close early and limits on people meeting. simon jones has more. two litres with two announcements that will have a big impact on the lives of their citizens. in germany, there is a warning that the disease has grown exponentially. there will be new restrictions in areas with high transmission including more mask wearing, a curfew for bars and limits on people

meeting. translation: i'm convinced that what we do and what we don't do in the coming days and weeks will be decisive for the question of how we get through this pandemic, because we can see that the curbs on the infection rates are pointing upwards, in part, quite steeply. translation: we are much closer toa translation: we are much closer to a second lockdown then people would like to believe. if we look at how the numbers are developing then it is high time, maybe not even five to midnight but rather the stroke of midnight, to set the right coui’se. of midnight, to set the right course. in france, a state of emergency has been declared. there is real concern that hospitals and intensive care units will become overwhelmed. to try to stop the spread of the virus, there will be no more late night training in paris. people there and in eight other major cities will have to stay indoors from 9pm to six p.m.. the curfew will

come into effect from saturday and last for at least four weeks. president macron appeared in front of the cameras with a sobering message accompanied by a rallying cry. translation: we have not lost control, we are in a situation which is worrying and which means we shouldn't remain inactive, but we shouldn't panic. we cannot get through this if everyone doesn't play their part, doesn't do their bit. and in the netherlands, a last hurrah. bars, restaurants and cafe ‘s are closing. the warning there, like in many other european countries, is that if the coronavirus rates don't come down, more drastic measures may be needed. simon jones, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. iranian—backed houthi rebels in yemen have freed two american captives, in what's reported to have been a swap involving a number of militants. the white house said it welcomed the release of sandra loli and mikael gidada. the remains of a third us captive, bilal fateen, were repatriated as well.

the president of the european council has said it is in the interests of both sides to have a post—brexit agreement in place before end of the year. but he said it couldn't be at any price. the uk's prime minister boris johnson had issued a deadline of thursday, but this has been delyed until the european council's summit ends on friday. the us state department has announced new measures in response to china's crackdown in hong kong. its already imposed sanctions against 10 people including hong kong's leader carrie lam. now washington has warned of sanctions against global financial institutions doing business with them. two catholic priests have gone on trial in the vatican, marking the first time the city state has prosecuted a case of alleged sexual abuse. gabriele martinelli, is accused of sexually assaulting an altar boy and enrico radice is charged with covering up the alleged assault. neither man has submitted a plea or commented on the case.

president trump's nominee for supreme court, amy coney barrett, has been facing tough questions in the us senate for the third day of her nomination hearing. her likely confirmation will mean a 6—3 conservative majority on the court. the lifetime appointment is being challenged by democrats, saying that the court vacancy should be filled by whoever wins the election. republicans are pushing for a full senate vote before the november presidential election. in wednesday's hearings, judge barrett attempted to reassure democratic senators, worried about her alleged hostility to president obama's affordable care act. well, as i said yesterday, what i can say is that i certainly have no agenda, i'm not on a mission, i'm not hostile to the aca at all. and if they were on the court and if a case involving the aca came before me, i would approach it with an open mind — just like i do every case — and go through the process that we've discussed. as early voting begins in the us presidential

election, campaigners in the state of georgia say a historic problem has reappeared. it's called ‘voter suppression' and ranges from excessively strict identity requirements to purges of electoral rolls. all of which disproportionately affect black voters. our correspondent larry madowo reports from atlanta. waiting for hours. long lines at polling locations at the primary elections in georgia injune. i've covered elections in other democracies in africa, like nigeria and south africa, where america is seen as a beacon of democracy. but for some of its citizens, like here in the heart of atlanta, it is a game of cards — and they have been dealt a bad hand. gary harrison is a nurse who volunteers as a poll worker. he sees people blocked from voting for minor reasons. we may have votes, but a lot of votes are going to be suppressed. and they could be every reason they can use to strike the ballot, like felonies or signatures not matching.

officials at georgia's largest county are looking for redemption after accusations of voter suppression. fulton rolled out a mobile voting unit to serve voters who have been frustrated too many times. how are you, sir? fine, are you all right? i'm good, thank you. this is a first in the state of georgia? yes, sir, and we're very proud of it. but a voting station on wheels won't drive away strict voter identification laws that make it harder for minorities to vote. long lines, missing ballots, and voting machine failures at the primary elections were also widely criticised as instances of voter suppression. nearly 200,000 people were incorrectly removed from the state's voter rolls in 2019, according to the american civil liberties union of georgia. a lot of the rules that seem to be reasonable if you're a middle—class person who works a white collarjob and drives a car, actually end up

being voter suppression from the point of view of the person who moves a lot, who's low—income, who's working a minimum wage job. those fighting and documenting what they consider voter suppression here say some tactics are deliberate, others just sheer incompetence. but they say these are all signs of a fragile democracy. they consider it a battle worth fighting, because civil rights in this country have come too far to turn back. officials hope 80% of people will vote early or by absentee ballot to reduce the strain on election day. that was pretty easy. my staff, if you were to go around and ask them if they would participate in any sort of voter suppression tactics, i think you would get a resounding "no". i mean, that is not... we've done everything — since 2013, when i arrived, the only thing that we've been focused on is enfranchising voters. in death, the civil rights icon john lewis towers over atlanta. nikema williams is a democratic

state senator running to replace him in congress. she says she sees a larger problem in how elections are run here. i am very well aware of the leadership that we still have in this state. the legislature is majority republican—control in both chambers, and a republican governor and secretary of state. so we are very much mindful of the fact that we oftentimes have to go to the courts to get relief for voters in this state. thank you for waiting. you're welcome. thank you for waiting. a record turnout is expected in this election but, in the world's most famous democracy, full access to voting is not yet the full guarantee that has been promised. larry madowo, bbc news, atlanta. more to come injust more to come in just a few moments on the election in that key battleground state, florida. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: 200 nights in a tent —

and counting. we'll tell you why a british boy is paying tribute to his neighbour, and raising money for charity along the way. parts of san francisco least affected by the earthquake are returning to life, but in the marina area, where most of the damage was done, they are more conscious than ever of how much has been destroyed. in the 19 years since he was last here, he has gone from being a little—known revolutionary to an experienced and successful diplomatic operator. it was a 20—pound bomb which exploded on the fifth floor of the grand hotel, ripping a hole in the front of the building. this government will not weaken, democracy will prevail. it fills me with humility and gratitude to know that i have been chosen as the recipient of this foremost of earthly honours. this catholic nation held its breath for the men they called 'the 33'. and then... bell tolls. ..bells tolled nationwide to announce the first rescue and chile let out

an almighty roar. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: police in thailand have moved in to disperse pro—democracy protesters gathered around government house in the capital, bangkok. france and germany have announced new restrictions, including curfews, to try to stop the spread of coronavirus. a former chief minister has criticised the indian government after being detained for more than a year after being charged. it called the actions illegal and democratic. she was attained after delhi street the special processes in

kashmir. she used to be the chief minister, effectively the equivalent of being a governor in america so she wielded huge power over indian administered kashmir, governing alongside the party. the bjp. in august, they revoked kashmir‘s special status and at that time a number of politicians, business leaders and activists were detained, she being one of them. she has spent 14 months in detention. her daughter had been pushing with indian supreme court for her release. in an audio message, she called for others to be released. at the time, the government said

the time, the government said the reason for the detentions was to maintain law & 0rder the reason for the detentions was to maintain law & order in kashmir. does this change the status quo of kashmir? it is highly unlikely but it has put theissue highly unlikely but it has put the issue back in the centre of the issue back in the centre of the headlines. the teenage son of president trump and mrs trump tested positive for covid—i9 but suffered no symptoms. in a personal statement, the first lady also described her own symptoms as minimal. we can now speak to dr ashwin vasan who's an epidemiologist and assistant professor at columbia university's mailman school of public health. what does this news say to you? 0bviously, what does this news say to you? obviously, i feel, as what does this news say to you? 0bviously, ifeel, as a parent for barron tramp and i am glad he has been asymptomatic and that he will not have long—term symptoms but this is a documented super spreader event, as dr fauci said. no

masks or social assistance distancing —— social distancing and it is typical of the undermining which will help respond to pandemics effectively, clarity and communication and adherence to science. this is kind of consistent without the president has lived his entire life, flaunting the rules are not paying the consequences. the approach was so lackadaisical that even the senate majority leader away, a very staunch republican. it is pretty telling when mitch mcconnell, who has been donald trump? an enabler in chief, has not been in the white house since august because they have

not approached coronavirus as he would have. the herd immunity approach is an attempt to ta ke immunity approach is an attempt to take a failed policy and dress it up as an effective one prior to an election but there isa prior to an election but there is a handful of reasons why it will not work. we have asymptomatic and pre— symptomatic spread and if we protect vulnerable communities like the elderly and let everybody else go on with their daily lives, it will get in resulting in tens of thousands of deaths, strain on our healthcare of deaths, strain on our healthca re system of deaths, strain on our healthcare system and long covid as we have been calling it. we are seeing reports of reinfection. this would lead to cyclical epidemics and we know that controlling epidemics does

not work onjust that controlling epidemics does not work on just focusing our effo rts not work on just focusing our efforts on the vulnerable and particular populations are not having a population wide strategy. they are trying to say this is a scientifically sound approach and have even gathered scientist to their declaration ——to bear a declaration. but a memo signed by myself and tends of others, scientists from around the block, and it says we know the way how to control these, population level measures like masking, social distancing, testing and isolation support and it is by protecting vulnerable populations like the elderly and essential workers and their countries like zealand and japan that have shown this is a viable way to go forward and it is not a choice between lockdown and heard immunity. that is not a

choice. dr ashwin vasan, thank you for talking to us. president trump is bouncing back from his coronavirus infection, trying to make up for lost time, just 20 days before the election. at his rallies this week in florida and pennsylvania, supporters have packed in, without any regard for the social distancing rules. and again tonight, the president will be flouting white house guidance. the president tells them there is nothing to be afraid of, but that message is not landing so well with seniors or suburban white women, as our north america editor, jon sopel, reports. love train by the o'jays plays. it is the morning aqua aerobics class, and these elderly ladies are being invited by the instructor to join the love train. but once they get out of the water, it will be the incessant demands to board either the trump train or the biden bandwagon. but they don't seem happy travellers, as i discovered at an impromptu focus group. how many of you just want this election to be over? cheering.

laughs. they all live at the villages, america's biggest retirement community. and when i say big, i mean humongous. it has a population of 130,000, it covers an area bigger than southampton, and sprawls over five postcodes. the preferred mode of transport — golf carts. and early voting is under way. the grey vote is critical for donald trump's reelection. but not all republicans are seeing it as black and white. i am thinking thatjoe biden is going to win. does that make you happy or unhappy? actually i prefer the republican platform, so i am voting for the republican platform is what i'm voting for. not necessarily trump but the platform. this is a very, very important election and i made sure that my democratic joe biden vote got in early and on time. are you confident that he might win? yes. can you be confident with a "might"? i'm confident he will! the parties know how these are doing in these postal votes,

and democrats have a spring in their step. the votes that have been cast so far are all vote by mail. and the return is higher than ever before. and well over 50% are democratic. and that says to me that the momentum that we felt building to this moment is still there and still growing. four years ago, donald trump won a huge victory here in the villages. but the latest polls suggest thatjoe biden is well ahead amongst the over—65s. and if that turns out to be true on polling day, that could be the difference between success and failure in florida. butjust like four years ago, the republicans are saying don't believe everything you read in the polls. trump is a bombastic personality. there are a lot of people who really appreciate that. a lot of people like it,

if you ask somebody a question, you get an answer. and donald trump will give you an answer. and i think a lot of people appreciate that. not a blade of grass out of place. it looks genteel but don't be fooled — there is a vicious and unrelenting fight going on that won't stop until november the 3rd. jon sopel, bbc news, florida. here, a 10—year—old boy has raised tens of thousands of pounds for charity by camping out in his back garden. max woosey has been sleeping under the stars in a tent left to him by his neighbour, rick, who died in february. max has been there ever since — that's more than 200 days! jon kay has more. night 205 and, as max goes to bed, once again he is remembering his hero — rick, his neighbour, who died of cancer earlier this year and left max his tent. he was amazing, he loved the outdoors. he said to me, "you've got to promise me that you will have an adventure," and i said, "yes, iwill,

i promise you that." and what an adventure he's had. since march, max has slept in the garden every night, despite all the dangers he's encountered. in the middle of the night, i was, like, ooh, that hurts, but fell back to sleep. woke up in the morning with a red ant, loads of bites all around my leg. the tent has had so much use, he has had to get a new one, big enough for diggy the labradoodle to join him from time to time. you've got a house here with a bedroom, with a nice, warm bed. it's been the tidiest ever! i've never seen it this tidy! are you ever tempted to go inside in the middle of the night? no, no. being able to have your own space instead of your parents checking on you... it's the middle of october now. very soon it's going to be cold and wet and wintry. are you prepared to do this, keep going? yeah, yeah. even if it's snowy, i'll build an igloo and live in it. max says he's going to do

a full year under canvas, and there's a very big incentive. he has already raised tens of thousands of pounds for the hospice that cared for his hero. if rick was still alive, i think he would be by my side in a different tent right now. jon kay, bbc news, braunton, in north devon. good one, max. in a world—first, athletes have cliff—dived 120 metres underground, into a salt mine in romania. cliff—divers, rhiannan iffland and constantin popovici, pushed the boundaries of the sport when they dived into the salina turda, one of the world's oldest salt mines. their bodies decelerated from 85 kiolmetres per hour to zero in almost twice the usual speed, due to the water's high density. mining in the underground bell stopped in 1880, and it has since become a renowned tourist destnation. that main news again, large numbers of police have been

deployed in the thailand capital of bangkok, breaking up a demonstration who want the prime minister to resign. we will keep across that story. much more for you at any time on the bbc website. hello there. when you think back to the start of october and just how wet it was, it's probably a good thing, actually, that we are in the midst of quite a quiet spell of weather. for many of us, we will have skies like these, over the next few days — often pretty cloudy, but with some brighter spells at times. high pressure to the north of the uk. low pressure in northern italy, and between these two areas of pressure, we've got north—easterly winds feeding in. and those north—easterly winds are dragging in a lot of cloud from the north sea. thick enough to bring some scattered showers across eastern areas of scotland at the moment. and we've got a few heavy showers just running into north—east england, although these will ease over the coming few hours. temperatures about 5—8 degrees celsius for most, but a bit colder where the skies do manage to stay clearest longest.

0n into thursday, then, and these north—easterly winds will continue to feed the cloud in for many areas. the west is best in terms of any sunshine. but i suspect we will have quite a few showers at times through the morning across the wash area. and then the showers probably break out more widely across east anglia, as you head into the afternoon. all the while, we'll see this line of showers, through most of the day, affecting east kent and running on into the channel islands, where, for some, it could be quite wet. although, for many of us, again, away from those eastern areas, it will be a relatively dry day. brisk north—east winds gusting about 30 mph, around some of the north sea coasts, will make it feel rather cool. now, we still have those north—easterly winds for friday but, if anything, they're a little bit less strong. and again, friday is the day with rather a lot of cloud around, a few bright or sunny spells, and we will continue to see an odd shower or two popping up. the majority of these, again, affecting eastern parts of scotland and eastern areas of england. what about the weekend weather prospects? well, a lot more of that cloudy weather on the horizon,

with a few light showers from time to time. now, you'll start to notice the winds going round to more of a northerly direction, across the far north of scotland, bringing the showers in here. so a greater chance of seeing some showers for shetland and 0rkney, where things will start to get a little bit cooler. 0therwise, again, a lot of cloud around, some bright or sunny spells and temperatures 11—14 degrees. sunday sees that colder air moving a little bit further southwards across the north of scotland. so temperatures will be dipping away here. again, a lot of cloud, a few brighter spells, but i think a greater chance of seeing showers across the northern half of the country, turning colder in aberdeen — highs of eight on sunday.

this is bbc news, the headlines: police in thailand have moved in to disperse pro—democracy protersters who have gathered around government house in the capital bangkok. it came after the government brought in an emergency decree, following a series of protests. they've banned gatherings of more than five people. france and germany have announced new restrictions, to try to stop the spread of coronavirus. a strict night—time curfew has been imposed in paris — and in germany, areas with rising numbers of cases will see bars forced to close early and limits on people meeting. tough new restrictions are coming into force in the uk, with schools closing in northern ireland for two weeks. all pubs and restaurants, hairdressers and beauticians will also have to shut their doors for a month.

an international study has found that england and wales