secunder kermani, bbc news, kabul.demonstrators in the capital, minsk, hours before the expiry of a deadline set by the opposition calling on the country's long—term leader, alexander lukashenko, to resign — orface a general strike. from moscow, here's stephen rosenberg. this was the moment the centre of minsk descended into chaos and violence. banging what you can hear are stun grenades fired by the riot police. what you can see is blind panic. anti—government protesters run for cover. they'd come out to deliver an ultimatum — either alexander lu kashenko agrees to resign, or from monday, there'll be a nationwide strike. from the authorities, the response, as you can see, was no. police sparked terror as they hunted down protesters in apartments. earlier, tens of thousands had taken to the streets to accuse mr lukashenko of stealing the presidency. the strength of feeling against him seems as strong as ever. but will the belarussian people heed the call for a national strike? svetla na ti kha novs kaya, the opposition

secunder kermani, bbc news, kabul.isting pressure, including from some of its own mps, to extend free school meals for vulnerable children in england into half—term, which for many begins tomorrow. minister brandon lewis insisted that the government's decision to give £63 million to local councils so that they could provide was "the right way to do it". 0ur political correspondent nick eardley reports. 0n the eve of the half—term break, fiona crump is preparing meal bags. these will be given to local children in falmouth in cornwall over the next few days. there are fears that with schools closed for the holidays and the pandemic hitting people's incomes, some families are struggling to put food on the table. show you what i've got in the fridge. people like claire, a single mum of three, who says the next few days will be a struggle. i'm really anxious because i'm just like, "have i got enough that's going to last till i get that payment on the last day of the month when i can go and do my shopping?" you know, it's ve

secunder kermani, bbc news, kabul.et lights for ten days — it's an experiment to assess the impact artificial light is having on the environment. the aim is to find out whether light from other sources like shop signs and billboards is contributing to environmental problems. here's our science correspondent victoria gill. when the natural light fades, our towns and cities begin to glow in the dark. but all this artificial light being shone into space, as these views from the international space station reveal, competes with the light from the stars. as well as obscuring our view of a naturally dark sky, and of the stars as well, with that all—too—familiar orange glow, artificial light at night can disrupt our sleep and that affects our health. it also affects wildlife because it disrupts the natural light—dark cycle that insects, birds and other animals are tuned into. to find out the problem an international team of scientists asked an entire us city to turn down its, to find the source of the problem. for ten days, t

secunder kermani, bbc news, kabul.after female passengers were reportedly subjected to invasive internal examinations as they tried to board a flight from doha to sydney. it followed the discovery of a newborn baby in a public toilet at hamad international airport. australia's foreign minister had this to say about the incident. australia has taken this occurrence very seriously, taken it up directly with qatari authorities, we have been liaising with qatari authorities here in australia and indo ha. we are awaiting the outcome of the from the qatari authorities —— doh. i understand enquiries are taking place with those people affected by this occurrence, and we also understand the matter has been reported to the australian federal police, and that will be a matter for the australian federal police. the british driver lewis hamilton has broken the record for the most formula 1 race wins after his 92nd victory came at the portuguese grand prix. the success took him beyond the mark set by the german michael schumacher. t

secunder kermani, bbc news, kabul.trators in the capital, minsk, hours before the expiry of a deadline set by the opposition calling on the country's long—term leader, alexander lukashenko, to resign — orface a general strike. from moscow, here's steve rosenberg. this was the moment the centre of minsk descended into chaos and violence. banging what you can hear are stun grenades fired by the riot police. what you can see is blind panic. anti—government protesters run for cover. they'd come out to deliver an ultimatum — either alexander lu kashenko agrees to resign, or from monday, there'll be a nationwide strike. from the authorities, the response, as you can see, was no. police sparked terror as they hunted down protesters in apartments. earlier, tens of thousands had taken to the streets to accuse mr lukashenko of stealing the presidency. the strength of feeling against him seems as strong as ever. but will the belarussian people heed the call for a national strike? svetla na ti kha novs kaya, the opposition leader

secunder kermani, bbc news, kabul.ere's jane dougall. .. hello and thanks forjoining us. some brilliant performances in the world of sport today. we begin with lewis hamilton's, his victory in the portuguese grand prix means he holds the outright record for formula one victories with 92 — surpassing michael schumacher. the result means he extends his lead in this year's drivers championship, with his sights now set on equalling the german driver's seven world titles. i feel like ifeel like i'm still i feel like i'm still going ifeel like i'm still going up. so, yeah, i never thoughti ifeel like i'm still going up. so, yeah, i never thought i would be here. but i am. and i hope that that continues to hopefully show people that no matter what people say to you, just keep believing, keep pushing and stay focused, don't let up. tayo gaygan hart has won the giro d'italia, becoming just the the fifth british rider to take a grand tour. the ineos grenadiers rider began the day in second place overall, although level on time w

secunder kermani, bbc news, kabul.n hart has a chance to win the prestigious giro d'italia. he won yesterday's stage 20 to share the overall lead with australia's jai hindley. today's final stage, which is getting underway this lunchtime, is an individual time trial. that's it. the next news on bbc one is at 5.35pm. bye for now. sport now and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. afternoon, i'm john watson, live from the bbc sport centre. we start breaking news in the last hour or so that a positive coronavirus test in the england women's camp has forced the cancellation of tuesday's friendly with germany it came from a member of the squad's backroom team. the fa say the decision is a precautionary measure. the match was set to be england's first game since march. it means they wont return to action until december the 1st against norway in a friendly at sheffield united's bramall lane. to a big day of action then and in the scottish premiership.. steven gerrard's rangers take on livingston at 3 o'clock as they loo

secunder kermani, bbc news, kabul. to come to terms with rising infections. in the latest developments, spain's prime minister, pedro sanchez, has ordered a night—time curfew effective immediately, from 11 this evening and lasting until 6am in the morning. from monday, all bars and restaurants in italy will close from 6pm. people will also be barred from eating or drinking outside at that time. the measures will last a month. italy reported yet another record breaking tally for new infections on sunday. so too did the netherlands where cases exceeded 10,000. and in france cases exceed 50,000 sunday, breaking yesterday's record daily increase. in here in the uk, there have been nearly 20,000 new infections sunday — down slightly from saturday's meanwhile, bulgaria's prime minister has become the latest prominent politician to test positive for covid—19. let's get more on the situation in madrid — this report from our correspondent there, guy hedgcoe. seven months after introducing a state of emergency, it's been reintro

secunder kermani reports.de bomber struck. fear, panic and shock amongst the students. like this 18—year—old, many were preparing for their university entrance exam next year. translation: i was walking towards the centre when there was a huge bang. i fell unconscious. when i woke up, i saw my classmates and friends wounded and lying on the ground. everyone was crying. this was the scene today. the suicide bomber was approaching the entrance when he was challenged by a guard and blew himself up. most of the residents of this area belong to afghanistan's shia minority, and they've been repeatedly targeted in brutal attacks like this by the islamic state group. two years ago, more than a0 students were killed in another suicide bombing on a tuition centre not farfrom here. is is much less powerful than the taliban, but it's carried out dozens of deadly attacks in recent years. there's also been an upsurge in fighting between the afghan government and the taliban in recent weeks, despite the start of peace talks.

secunder kermani, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news.cy activist tony chung has been charged with secession, money laundering and conspiring to publish seditious content. mr chung was detained by plainclothes police officers close to the us consulate in the city on tuesday. a group called friends of hong kong said he had planned to seek asylum. hurricane zeta has struck the coasts of louisiana and mississippi in the united states, bringing winds of 175 kilometres per hour. the governor of louisiana urged all residents to take shelter, and to prepare for evacuation in some low—lying coastal zones. the hurricane is heading towards new orleans, where transport services have been stopped. a curfew is in force in the us city of philadelphia after two days of protests and looting following the police killing of a black man. the family of walter wallace jr says he was suffering a mental health crisis when he was shot by officers. police say he had refused to drop a knife. pro—choice protesters in poland have marched through the streets of warsa

the islamic state group said they carried out the attack. 0ur correspondent secunder kermani has theide bomber was trying to get inside the tuition centre when he was challenged by the security guards and blew himself up. their bravery really preventing an even greater loss of life. the vast majority of these students would have been in their late teens and early 20s, many of them preparing for a university entrance exam. the islamic state group carried out a similar attack on another tuition centre two years ago. in fact, a tuition centre quite close by to this one in which more than a0 students were killed. the area in which these attacks have happened is largely populated by afghanistan's shia minority, which has been repeatedly targeted by is. in recent weeks, there has been an upsurge in fighting in afghanistan, but that's actually largely between the afghan government and the taliban, despite the fact that the two sides are engaged in peace negotiations in qatar. is are not part of those talks, which in any case have largely stalled amidst attempts to resolve preliminary issues

here's secunder kermani in islamabad on some of them. as you can see, many are returning to normal.we head into the winter, but so far, even though we have seen a few coronavirus deaths, the situation has not been as bad as many feared it would be. frankly speaking, no one is really sure why that is the case. some government figures have suggested lockdown, the contract tracing efforts but really, this is a big country with the week taking health care system and the rules of not been so strictly enforced but interestingly. studies say that 20% of people have been exposed to coronavirus, but most of them didn't develop any symptoms or develop, there are so mild that they do not realise they contracted the disease. 0ne crucial thing to remember is that this is a very young country. 22 euros or does the average. india has an order population at about 29 yea rs old has an order population at about 29 years old and older people are worst affected by this disease and that it's possible for the lower death rate in another factor when comparing this in india is because india's sheer size, m

secunder kermani's report contains some flashing images.slation: i was walking towards the centre when there was a huge bang. i fell unconscious. when i woke up, i saw my classmates and friends wounded and lying on the ground. everyone was crying. the suicide bomber was coming down this gate when he was challenged by some of the guards and he blew himself up. you can still see some of the marks left by the shrapnel in the wall and the impact the explosion had. most of the residents of this area for long to the shia minority who have been targeted by the islamic state group. still, there is defiance. i don't feel safe but i won't surrender. if the taliban or islamic state fight with weapons, i will fight with my notebook, my pen and my education. i have faith that i will win. there has been a surge in fighting in the country over the past few weeks largely between the afghan government and the taliban. these talks had started but seem to have stalled. islamic state is much less powerful than the taliban and is not pa rt powerful than the tal

police say they believe the bomb was hidden in a bag. 0ur correspondent in the region, secunder kermani were hundreds of students there at the time. hospital officials have told us that all seven of those killed were aged between 20 and 30 years old and as were most of the people who were injured. there were initial reports of a number of children having been killed, that doesn't seem to be the case although we are still getting clarity on that. police investigators have said they believe the blast was caused by a bomb hidden in a bag, it's not clear yet why this mosque was targeted. some suggestion it could be the work of the islamic state group who have carried out a number, a handful, ishould say, really, of attacks on religious figures who they see as being opposed to them but no claim of responsibility yet. the number of attacks by militants in pakistan has really reduced very significantly over the past few years so this attack certainly will be causing a great deal of concern. the prime minister imran khan has expressed his sympathies with the victims and vowed that those respons

police say they believe the bomb was hidden in a bag. 0ur pakistan correspondent, secunder kermani, hasts of this religious school were taking place. and, according to some of the survivors, there were hundreds of students there at the time. now, hospital officials have children is in the last few moments that the death toll has now risen to eight people who have lost their lives in this blast, but they say that all those people who were killed were aged between 20 and 30, taking back earlier claims that some children were also amongst the dead. now, as you say, police officials believe that this bomb had been planted in a bag and had been left inside the mosque. it is not quite clear yet what the target was, what the motive behind this attack was. in recent years the number of attacks in pakistan‘s major cities by militants has really decreased significantly. prime minister imran khan has condemned this attack, expressed his condolences, his sympathy with the victims and said that he will... an investigation will hold those responsible, will bring those responsible to justice. here in

here's secunder kermani in islamabad on what the view is now.small number of remaining us troops in afghanistan should be home by christmas. now, it's not immediately clear whether this was just a kind of throwaway political statement aimed at pleasing his base, or whether this is an actual change in policy and those troops will indeed be withdrawn much earlier than anyone expected. it would seem logistically difficult to achieve that, and certainly there'd be a real concern about what its implications would be for the afghan government, which is facing daily attacks by the taliban. it would certainly seem to undermine their position in the ongoing peace negotiations between afghan political leaders and the taliban. and as you say, this tweet from president trump came just a short while after this statement from the national security adviser talking about us troop numbers being withdrawn, or going down to around 2,500 early next year, and is not really clear what the reason for this discrepancy is. as a reminder, the us and the taliban signed an