♪ .ost: w we are live from paris the headlines this lunchtime. belarus leader thousand has a crucial meeting with vladimir putin today as over 100,000 people gather of the weekend in minsk. i will be speaking to our regional correspondent shortly. coronavirus daily infections reach a worldwide high. h.o. reporting over 300,000 new cases sunday, the highest since the pandemic began.

we will take a look at the picture at the start of this week in israel and d europe. u.s. president donald trump promises to visit california as it battles the worst wildfires inin the hisistory of the stata. our reporter t takes us to the town o of paradise, all that butroyed in 2018 -- all destroyed in 2018 wildfires and surrounded once again. coming up on the program in business, we will look at the saga surrounding tiktok. apposofoft's bid to buy the has fallen through. ♪ first, the embattled president of belarus is to meet vladimir putin today as protests calling

for his resignation show no sign of abating. over 100,000 people took to the streets over the weekendnd, marking the start of the six-week of antigovernment demonstrations. alexander lukashenko is to meet putin. the embattled belarusian president is hoping to walk away with political backing from moscow. lukashenko arriving today effectively to ask for clinton's support. -- putin's support. that is a change for lukashenko, who not long ago was trying to distance himself from thee russian leleader. tell us how ththat has evolved. absolutely.y. just before the election, alexander lukashenko was accusing russia of meddling in belarusisian a affairs.

we stitill don't understand what the real c circumstances of this r. alexandeder lukashenko -- this w ere. alexanander lukashenko used that to say the russians were preparing some mischievous actions s in belarus against belarusian sovereigngnty. the trademark of alexander lukashenko throughout his 26 years in power has been beenlaying of russia -- has playing of russia against the west. alexandeder lukashenkoko has mae sure it has vever been totallyly in thehe russianan c camp. it has been cleared its alliance with moscow is not unconditional. in 2014, lukasashenko mamade hif usefeful to the west by refususg rececognize russia's annexation from ukraine of crimea andd hosting peace talks for easteten

ukraine in minsk. in the subsequent years,s, russn economic support t to belarus hs been progressively reduced, leading to thehe economic hardsp in belarus, whwhich is one of te main reasons why alexander lukashenko is so u unpopular and why he is finding himsmself havg toto brurully repreress protest. hand tois going cap in vladimir putin with few options left. host: sounds like a possible rapprochement between lukashenko and putin. how is the possibility of an improved relationship between those two being received on the ststreets ofof m minsk? reporter: itit is always hard to assess belarusian public opinion because there are no opinion polls. for a long time, belarus was regarded as a country with weak

national identity, very close to russia. belarusian language is only spoken by a minority of the people. the national flag was the symbol of only a patriotic intellectual opposition opposed to lukashenko and in the minority. that is changing. that flag is all over the streets of belarus during these protests. it has become a symbol of the opposition to out him to lukashenko. anthems ofarious this protest, there is a feeling that this protest movement is a national awakening, which is made both versions proud of their national characteristics. there is no violence in thesese demonstrations. they are very disciplined. there is a great deal of newfound national pride in belarus. this makes a lot of analysts

believe any rapprochement with russia, in terms of going further with this union state between these two countries, would not be well received.d. especially poorly received if alexander lukashenko was the person putting it forward. always stressing that they are not a anti-russian not just because they would help to be able to continue to be allied with r russia on some level if they manage to get rid of lukashenko and take power, but as one of them confirmed last week, they are concecerned about alienating that part of belarusian society that sees itself as close to russia and is not keen on an opposition that would be seen as pro-european. host: thank you for breaking down what we know ahead of that meeting today between putin and lukashenko. when we get more on that meeting

on "france 24," we will bring it to you. japan is on course for a new prime minister. became thegay sudha leader of japan's ruling party. the vote, taking the majority of ballots cast by liberal party lawmakers. this is an internal election after shinzo abe stepped down for health reasons. earlier, i asked our correspondent in tokyo. reporter: he is very different from his predecessor, shinzo abe, a man he has been very loloyal over the last eight yea. in terms of their background, the men could not be more different. shinzo abe eight was the son of a foreign minister, the grandson of a former prime minister. he is a self-made politician,

quite raree in parliamenent. he is the son of a strawberryy farmer, well-to-do family, certainly aa family that never had any money problems. hehe did leave school at the age of 18. he came down from northern japan to tokyo where he paid his w way throughh university. a lot has been made of his relatively ordinary background. some h have said this could make it easier for him to connect with voterer certainly, he mimight be more adept at doing that than actions oblique ever was. -- than shinzo abe ever was. we are not really expecting a huge change in policy substance. host: justin mccurry for us. let's have a look at some of the latest coronavirus news on the program.

the number of daily infections around the world has reached a record high. new w data from the world health globalation shows cases are rapidly approaching 29 million. 300,000 cases confirmed on sunday, the highest daily figure confirmed since the beginning of the pandemic. israel has announced it is repurposing a draconian lockdown on its population, one of the first countries to do so in response to a second wave of infection. for the next three weeks, israelis will be required to keep within 500 meters of their home unless it is absolutely necessary to go further. for more, let's go to our correspondent in israel. this sounds like a pretty restrictive second lockdkdown. tell us more about what will change in israel from friday. reporter: everything is expected to grind to a halt.

we are going to see no shops, no schools, no malls. hospitals will be open. essential services will be open. there will be no hotels, no travel within the country, which people have been trying to do. all of these limits are coming back in. israel for the past week has had the highest rate of infections in the world with 4000 new cases per day with a population of 9 million. it was becoming desperate. the prime minister said yesterday that the doctors had raraised a red flag. they could have dragged on for a few w more weeks, but not t lonr than that. it was time to act now. host: how much support is there in israel for these latest measures?

apologies. we seem to have lost our correspondent in jerusalem. we will try to speak to her later in the program. let's bring you some other covid related news on the program and have a quick look at the situation in the united kingdom. can onlytoday, brits gather in groups of up to sisix people. that is the latest strategy by boriss johohnson's government to try to get coronavirus cases under control. inrting monday, new cases britain surpassed 3000. the french government is also trying to slow the surge of covid-19 nationwide. for the french government, that involves handing over more power to local authorities to get them to impose health and safety measures as they see fit. it also includes a national advertising campaign designed to sound the alarm.

grim new public service announcement from the french government. after health and safety recommendations go unheeded, a grandmother celebrates her birthday with her family while ignoring social distancing guidelines. a few days later, she ends up in the hospital. it is a change in town from authorities, whose messages were less aggressive earlier this summer, but also response to the rising caseload of covid-19 in france. the government hopes handing more authority to local officicials will helelp reversee underlined last friday. announce new to restrictctions monday. other measures are

likely on the agenda. the head of the region surrounding marseille has called for a ban on wedding parties. in bordeaux, retirement homes could see restrictions onn visit ors. authorities insist no measures are off the table. host: the u.s. president donald trump has said he will travel to california to see firsthand the devastation brought by this year's wildfires. flames have destroyed thousands of homes across the west coast anankilled at t least 35 people. a small mountain town of paradise in california was nearly destroyed by wildfires in 2018. residents there are trapped again as two of the state's largest fires burn on either side. reporter: paul and his family are back in a trailer again.

they lost their paradise home two years ago when the camp fire ripped through the area. earlier this week, tragedy struck again. >> i thought driving through the camp fire was bad, but this was exceptionalllly bad. embers, and blowing the fire across the road, you could not see more than 50 feet. you could feel the heat. l's. or hadad the added responsibility of getting her animals to safafety. >> you need to focus on something to keep levelheaded. inside, ii wasas about ready to break down. i knew there was a chance we were not good to go back again. >> that really hurt. even though we went through it before, this time around, you really think to yourself and this cannot be happening. reporter: they have not been able to get back to assess the damage.

paul asked us to go and check on his home. we arrive at the address the family gave us. as you can see, the fire took everything. you see a little bit of the washing machine. you can see the kitchen in the back. there is nothing left of this home that was burned in the north complex fires. the only thing remaining are the corvettes. emotions run high. >> you cannot recognize anything. reporter: after surviving two wildfires in northern california, the question is are they goingng to stay h here? >> we are going to waiait and s. we are taking the process that we are going to stay. we are looking at homes right now. we don't know for sure. we are not going to let negative things in life keep us down. we will fight for it. if we want to do something that may go against the grain, we are going to do it. reporter: they will continue to

take it one day at a time. host: you are watching "france 24." a a reminder of our headlines. belarus leader alexander lukashenko gearing up to meet protests begin their six-week come over 100,000 people gathering in minsk. coronavirus daily infections reach a worldwide record high. the world health organization reporting overthrew hi -- over 300,000 new cases sunday. israel is preparing for a second lockdown. u.s. president donald trump promises to visit california as it battles the worst wildfires in the history of the state. program for some business news. i am joined by catherine

bennett. you are going to be starting a soft with the latest in that saga in the sale of the app tiktok. microsoft's bid was unsuccessful. reporter: it looks like the company has abandoned thededea of a sale. it is pursuing a partnership with oracle. ,racle could be a wise choice not least because of its connections to the white house. saidpresident donald trump oracle would be a great company to take over the operations. oracle has ties to the trump admininistration. the oracle ceoeo was a member of donald trump's transitionon tea. the chairman is one of the few supporters of donald trump. nothing is certain. catherine viette has the story.

reporter: after weeks of negotiations, an 11th hour rejection. microsoft now out of the running to acquire tiktok's u.s. operations, a decision the tech giant regrets. >> they let us know today that they would not be selling tiktok's opeperations toto microsoft. national securirity, that is the reason foror the sae as u.s. president donald trump believes that tiktok is being used to spy on american users by the chinese government, claims dismissed by the company. last month, trump signed an executive order requiringng the parent company to sell its u.s. operations within 90 d days or face being shutdown. with the november 12 deadline approaching, time is running out for a deal to be made. chinese state television reporting tiktok will not be

giving its source code to any potential u.s. buyer, nor will it sell to oracle. a possible partnership with the software giant is still be in the works. 100 milliontiktok's users in the u.s. hanging in the balance. next of the news of another sale, the american company nvidia is buying computer chip designer arm holdings in a $40 billion deal. this is the largest ever deal and the semiconductor industry. it could have a huge impact on the tech industry. arm holdings has enormous reach. its technology can be found in most smartphones. hundreds of companies depend on its chip design. this deal puts arm holdings under control of a u.s. company. that will onlnly intensify the

conflict between u.s. and china as both countries are trying to build up their semiconductor industries. it has ramifications for t the u.k. the government is under pressure to ensure arm holdings keeps its current business model. the founder of the company has called the deal a disaster for the u.k., decrying the fact that u.k. technolology is being soldo the e americans. let's take a looook at how the markets are e reacng t today. in europe, markets opened higigr but have since dipped down. 0.2%.'s ftse has dropped indices in asia close in positive territory today. the shanghai index rising over 0.5%. jumped 1.3%.y host: we are seeing staggering

unemployment numbers. reporter: it could be up to 700,000 planned redundancies. according to the institute for employment studies, there are said to be a record number of jobs lost this year, twice as many as in the months following the 2008 financial recession. the u.k. government plans to end its furlough skiing at the end of october. the plan supported 9.6 million workers during the crisis. in order to prevent long-term unemployment rising even further. as c coronavirus c cases contino rise across the globebe, air travavel r remains in n a stdbdy mode. many european airports a are feeling the pinch. in france, chaharles de gaulle airport hahas seeeen it 15% dece in passengs.s. manyny companieses that rely one

airlines worry about their future. >> chicken with vegetables. france's later in airline catering. the company usually makes up to 120,000 in-flight meals per day. since the pandemic, it is down to producing just 20,000 trays. since march, many of its assembly lines have been shut down. woworkers putting together just 10,000 meals per day for air france since the airline has grounded many of its planes. employees ofthe the company are on partial on employment. are hoping to avoid layoffs by allowing 500 employees to accept a partial buyout. >> [speaking french]

reporter: back to the airport, it is not all bad news comes even if there has been a 75% drop in passengers. the cargo business holding up well. at this shipping and logistics company, they have seen a 35% drop in revenues. none of the employees are on partial unemployment. for the president, that is good news. french]king cdg supports around 90,000 jobs, but only 20% work in the cargo sector. for the other businesses that rely on the airport, they are counting on the days -- counting the days until normal flights resume. host: in the united kingdgdom, uber is back i in court t for te second time. reporter: uber is again appealing a ruling from tranansport london.

of itsripped uber license for ththe second timen 2019, saying the company was not doing enough to stop fraud and keep its passengers safe. the company does not have a london license at the moment but is still able to operate in the capital while it appeals. it is the top choice in the city for right hailing apps with about 3.5 million users. of course this is one of the biggest markets foror the comomy in europe. host: you will be watching closely. that is it for the business for now. thank you. next to you for being with us on "france 24." break,ime for a short but stay w with us. coming up, here is a question for you, can china and the eu finally clinch an investment deal that has been in the pipeline for seven years?

we will look at what has been agreed so far and the possible stumbling blocks ahead. that story and all the headlines coming up after the break. thank you. ♪

>> it was in africa. it was very remote. fromeople there barred us accessing the actual place. they kept us about five kilometers outside and sent us a stream of so-called witnesses. they were telling us some dubious stories, including one young girl who looked perfectly normal and basically told us her family had been wiped out. she did selfies with us telling us she was pleased to be on television. after a week, we realize this was not a genocide. there was violence, but it was

all about controlling a migrant route. no genocide, but we did one of the first reports and one of these c camps in n the desert. -- reports at one of these