♪ ♪ >> a number of european countries witness a surge in covid-19 cases while spain and france are facing new outbreaks. the sudden move by the yuka government -- by the government to put in quarantine british tourists returning from spain. officials,can

leaving their consulate in the chinese city of chengdu after beijing orders its closure. civile body of the late rights figure john lewis is carried over salamis historians edmund pettus bridge the very -- salama's historic edmund pettus bridge for the last time. the latest on the coronavirus. 1 16.4ow globally r reaching mimillion, with some 652,000 deaths. china, having recorded the biggest rise in daily cases since april. australia has recorded its worst rate,aily infnfection centered in the outbreaeak in te city of memelbourne. some of spain's most popular summer venues are facing new restrictions after turning into

hotspots. attractions, nightclubs, bars and even beaches are under strict control. some european nations want people no longer to visit the country. large numbers of tourists are facing quarantine on returning home to britain, even thoughh many areas of spain n have lower infection rates than the u.k., yet another blow to the country's already battered tourismm sector. joining me from london is our correspondent, benedict. the uk's government finally imposed a 14-day quarantine on british tourists returning from spain. it has cerertainly been met with criticism, hasn't it? benedict: it is what the government is calalling a swift decision but a necessary one, and it was introduced at midnight londodon time on satury night. rereally catatching a loof peope out, including the transport

secretary, who is currently in spain. the problem isis really for the government. there has been frustration, some understanding, and also at anger -- and alalso anger from the public. some of whom are already in spain weather mainland spain or its islands, which are being treated the same whenen the rate of infection is considerably lower on the islands. it is cleaear that thepapanish governrnment is trying to really make the difference and plead with the british government that they not apply the blanket ban to all of spain. the british governmentnt has ben robustly defending his decisisn because it wants to avoid second spike or a a second wave. it warns that it is keeping the ququarantine policy y for other countries s under review. so thehe reaction from the labrr party, the main opoppositionon party, has been swift..

it has calleled for financial support fofor people having to quaranantine. of cours t there is coconsiderae woworry for people who have to o that, partrticularly, zero-our contrac and manys in the u.k. who are freelancers. so the labour party is asking that there be a guarantee if employers will allow people to work from home for two weeks. reaction from airlines has come in swiftly as well, british airways criticizing the new measures as, quote, "yet another blow to the british holidaymakers." the airport operations association, also not happy at all, saying the new measures c could damage yet another start in the retail sector. you have big opeperatorsrs likei toto are very unhappy and woulud like a more nuanced policy according to different regions. avespain, travel opeperators

been reaeally falling, up to 10% on t the london ststock exchang. there really is considerable reaction. depending on who you speak to in the airport, some say that they understatand. othersrs say they y are very unhappy. of course, there are all the brits poor thinking really hard about whether to cancel, even if there is a financial loss, going to spain at all. ofhor: youou d did a survey other countries in europe. measures under consideration? benedict: that is absolutetely e quesestion. i think anyone planning to travel or are their return or come to the u.k. needs to look very swiftly at the forereign offifice websisite. we saw on saturday that can changege within a matterer of h, between the confirmation from the gogovernment and the implementationon of that policy, that was six hours.

your question, which countries are next? could be france, germany, could be both. a very big question mark. almost 1.8 million people were due to fly from the u.k. displaying before the end of august, that is according to one particular set of analysts. now it is said that many passengers will actually abandon their holidays in spain and consider very carefully wheththr to go to france, germany or other countries. so, bad news all around. youor: but addicts, thank hehere -- benedict, thank you. in france, infections of covid-19 have been on the rise. the number of daily infections arising by more than 1000 up and week. french officials, issuing warnings over the increased disregard, they say, for social distancing. reporter: sunday in the parks in

paris, groups dropping social distancing. >> [speaking in french] oforter: others are warning an increase in the number of infections in the paris region, where 30 hotspots have been detected, 10 of which are in the capital. patients admitted to hospital are younger than during the lockdown. medical workers are warning about the loosening of roles. -- loosening of goes. >> [speaking in french] reporter: france has boosted its testing capacity, and free centers have opened in the city's artificial beaches. meanwhile on the coast, medical teams have set up camps to test holidaymakers arriving in the area.

when hundred 20 covid-19 hotspots were identified across the country last week, as daily infections rose by over 1000, 826% increase over the previous week. now, wherechina american officials are vacating the u.s. consulate in chengdu, days after beijing ordered its closure. the tit-for-tat move, coming in respononse to the shuttering of the chinese consulate. in houston, texas charles pellegrini is in beijing with more. charles: this is getting a lot of attention, with, for instance, a livestreaming of the consulate on chinese social media basically from friday when the decision was announced by the chinese authorities, millions tuning in to wawatch wt is considered to be sort of an historic event. there has also been physical gatherings in front of the consulate and around the

consulate, especially this morning, as authorities have cleared out the area of the debate. authorities are keeping a close eye on the gatherings, making xcessesere i is no e of nationalism. people are saying that basically china will not be bullied by the united statetes. some firececrackers have been lt over the weekekend. some saying they would like to see the consulate transformed into a restataurant. also, some people, basically lamenting that s state of the relatitionship betweenen a beiji and d washington. echoedntiment has been in chinese state media. chinese editorial this weekend, explaining that the trump administration is eager to return a partntner of more than0 years into a heinous c conflict overnight. fromr: charles reporting

beijing. a massacre of more than n 50 people in and off for has beenn ur hased by -- in doodarf been reported by the u.n.. our correspondent reports. reporter: a string of violent attacks in sedans door for sudan's darfur region. according to witnesses, houses shops looted.d the u.n. says the escalation of violence in darfur has led to increased displacement, compromimising the agricultural regionon. sudadan's prime minister has pledged to send troroops to the region after p protests dedemand protecection. the latest uptick in violence is stressing ththe country's fragae democracy.

last year, so dans longtime diator was oveverthrown by the mimilitary afterer a popular uprising. in power-sharing government composed of military and civilian leaders was sworn in september. nearly 2.8 million people are estimated to be food insecure in darfur. many of them lived in the province where the recent place. took anchor: further unrest in the city of portland, as protesters continue to face off federal agents in the oregonian city. tear gas fired early this monday morning, minutes after protesters shot fireworks at the courthouse. the protests began peacefully but intensified after hours. the department of federal law enforcement agents having sparked massive demonstrations in recent days, not just in portland, but other american cities too. drawn hearse,draw

former u.s. congressman john lewis has crossed the edmund pettus bridge, as tribubutes continue to flow in for the civil rights icon. lewis and other protesters were attacked by police 65 years ago, on a day that became known as bloody sunday. reporter: a crossing steeped in symbolism. draped in an american flag, the casket of civil rights activist beenas my john lewis has drawn. by horses across the edmund pettus bridge. . the procession was saluted by alabama state e troopers, a very differenent reception from thehe lewis s received in n march of , when a trooper nearly killed him . it is the second of six days of

commemororations, after he dieif july. o on the 1717th of >> if it is not right, say someththing. congreressman wiwis would sayy something. he would not letet it go. that is what we have got to do as a people, make it right. >> he was a fighter. end.pept pressing untilil the reporter: 55 years ago, lewis was leading a peaceful protest on the bridge when the activists were attacked with teargas and buttons, leaving many injurered. this l led to congress approving legislation that removed barriers to voting. his death comes s as black livis mamatter protests have brought thousands onto u.s. streets. speaking at his church service on sunday, an alabama representative said, lewis never give up hope. >> we are all infused with optimism. can't you hear him? "find a way to get in the way! good trouble. necessary trouble."

reporter: john lewis will lie in state at the u.s. capitol before a private yo funeral.. anchor: having clinched their title,onsecutive series two games are still left ago. 36elebrated their victory. >> [speaking foreign language] >> [speaking foreign language] anchor: but is it t for this edition. do stay with us here on "france 24." ♪

♪ > hello and welcome to the "france 24" interview. our guest today is an iranian activist. author of a book that was just published here in france. i will translate the title. it is "freedom is not a crime." in it, erie county her journey from an upper middle-class woman living in tehran, to an activist against the hijab, the islamic veil which is mandatory in iran. you were arrested and sentenced to two years in prison. verdict wasore the handed down, you decided to secretly fee i iran thugh turkey -- free iran through turkey, and you now live in canada.

how does one go from being an upper middle-class woman to an activist against t the islamic veil? livingsas just fed up w with this double life, living a lie, .nd prpretending everything isik for many years, we were facing violence because of the hijab. i knew a little bit about the women's movement in the west, the suffragist movement. i was very fascinated by those changes. made those now, women in the west can use it. they have almost the same rights as men and inequality. i realized that those women were successful in their movement because eventually, they had the support of normal, ordinary women, workers. in iran, women's rights

activists did their best for 40 years, but they did not go anywhere because they did not have the support of us. so, when this campaign came, i realized as is the moment for me. >> the so-called white wednesday campaign. the principle, for our viewers, was to wear white and from yourself. beto wear white or to unveiled in the streets, to send ..message the cacampaign was simply asaskg normal womenen and men to cocome forwarard and be the v voice. soso that was the moment for m , to join thee campaign. civil disobedience, nonviolence campaign. >> there was a turning point. by ther of 2017, a woman yed goes to amova

very well-known place in the center of the run, dedecides too take off her veil and put it on a stick. stir. created quite a for you this was a a turning point, because it wasn't really just about wearing white, it was taking thehe hijab and putting t onon a stick. >> sure. for a few months, people were talking about protesting b becae the compulsory y hijab. but that lady performed. she was standing there quietly thesending a message to government, to the authorities but i am peacefully protesting this law. it was very beautiful. for me, it was the most beautiful and peaceful civil disobedience in the world, and i was th one of the first women who followed her path. >> so you started doing the same? >> the same, yeah, a few days

her. >> quite a few times. eventually, what was bound to happen happened, you were arrested by police. you recounted in the book, several of those arrest and also the humiliation and the violence in pririson. alsoso, accucusations of spying. >> yeah. to that, i never want spot in the center of the city. i did not want to get arrested. at the same time, i wanted other women and men to join our campaign. to see me in my neighborhooood d to join us. but during the interrogation, i faced the most horrible thing in the world. the scariest thing is that you realize that they can do anything with you when they capture you. >> you werere lucky, if i may s, because you were able to be

defended by a well-known lawyer, is nowended you and herself in jail for a very long time, shortly after defending you. but this allowed you to have someone on your side telling you what to do. imagine there is a lot ofof intimidation and you don't know what to do when you face of those situations. > she was my only hope. eveven though i was not able to talk to her r or contact her during the time that i was detained. the thing that she had done for bring injustice into the public's eye and told the people of other things that happened to me and to other women. i owe my life to her. my family's safety and myself. >> right. so, you were arrested three times. some point, you decide

that because you have a husband and a young son. you say in the book that you realize that, if i stay, i am going to die. so you decide to flee the county - -to flee the cotrtry throrough a smuggler-r- into ca. the your regret leaving the country or was it the best decision you made? >> it is very complicated for me. at the same time i am able to advocate fro for women's rights and for my friends and my lawyer. but i am not happy. i cannot enjoy freedom as much as i want because my mind is in iran. my heart is with my friends and my lawyer. >> right. because, the sentence after you've fled, the sentences have become harsher. there is a group of three women were decided on women's day last

year to hand out flowers in the subway in iran there headed. they were arrested and now have very long sentences. is it may be a consequence of what you did? >> they were my y close friends. my closese friend who wawas advocating f for me during the time i was arrested. braver, evenetting ththough they y see that what ty have done toto me or other wome. and goverernment wanteded to sed thee message to o all the women, iranian women. at the same time, if you see the news, you see the videos, you see that even though 24 year sentence, 23 year sentence, women are getting bolder and bravaver. they will not obey the compulsory hijab, even though the police officers ask them, telling them to their face that

-- i don't believe in this law and i am not obeying this sexual discrimination. >> do you believe this is still going on or the movement has been stopped because of intimidadation? >> notot like that.. -- they are doing record campaign just to who want tofficers arrest them. enough. brave >> you voted for her son rouhani in 2013. you wowould not dodo t samame t? >> of course, not. >> why n not. >> the time i voted two o years ago, i did not believe in reform , even back then. because i was an animal supporter and they promised to have rights for animals.

but i had believed in reform before 2009, and i was one of -- people who hope that some there will be some changes in the government. 2009 and the demonstration, we realized there was not going to be any reform in my country. and people were just walking, choosing between the bad party and the worse party. in 2017 when the reformist party killed people, killed innocent prototesters, and after that in 2017, they suppressed all the movements, and labor movements, teacher movements, women's movements, and also last november, if you saw the horrible news from iran, ththey

killed -- based o on a reuters report, more than 1500 prototesters and arrested thousands of people in just three days. so you see that there is no difference between the r reformt or t the fundamentalist? >> i undererstand. you are advocating for regime change. some are saying that you are being used or allowing yourself to be used by those especially in the u.s. who are pushing for regime change. are you being used, do you think? touch withot been in anyone from m the u.u.s.. this is the mindset of people that think women don't have a voice. this is me. changelways belieieving in and i wanted change in my country with other iranians, but i did not have the chance. now i have the chance, and you

see the human rights situation, the violation of human rights are getting worse and worse in my country. what am i supposed to do? do nothing? now i have a platform as a and as rights activists a humans rights activists. i will use that to tell the world that these are happening iran. opopen your eyes to ththe violan of human rights in a run and support the iranian people and not the government -. >> thank you very much for coming on the "france 24" interview. your book is published in france right now, probably pupublishedn english at some point. thank you very much for watching this interview. stay tuned for more news. ♪ ♪

man: the islamic state's brutal reign of terror in raqqa may be at an end. woman: raqqa is now almost fully under the control of coalition forces. man: the liberation of the syrian city is celebrated in the streets. a shadow of the group remains. man 2: hi. i'm stuart ramsay in raqqa and this is "hotspots." tonight, we're gonna take you behind the scenes of the world's biggest and hardest-hitting stories. we come face to face with cops playing for keeps. from america's south, the teenagers being sold for sex. woman: women are being trafficked. children are being trafficked. ramsay: andme