And again, friday is the day with rather welcome to bbc news. My names mike embley. Our Top Stories Police in thailand move in to disperse pro democracy protesters gathered around Government House in the capital. France and germany announce new restrictions, including curfews to try to stop the spread of coronavirus. The first lady reveals that 14 year old barron trump contracted covid 19, but suffered no symptoms. Could grey power he the x factor in the president ial election . We report from a retiring, but not exactly shy, battleground in florida. How many of you want this election to be over . cheering
hello. Riot police in thailand have clashed with a large group of Anti Government protesters in bangkok. They moved in to clear the streets shortly after authorities issued an emergency decree banning all gatherings of more than five people. Lines of police with riot shields quickly drove people back and cleared the area around Government House. Thousands had been camping overnight after another day of widespread demonstrations against the king and the Prime Minister. At least two protest leaders have now been arrested. The emergency decree accused the protesters of inciting chaos and threatening national security, specifically mentioning this moment on wednesday when the royal motorcade, carrying the queen, was surrounded. But on wednesday night, before police moved in, things had been much more peaceful, with a large group listening to speeches and music. They are calling for reforms to
the monarchy and for the Prime Minister to stand down. Heres what two protesters had to say. Translation the people are being awakened more and more when it comes to the monarchy. More and more. But on the other hand with people in thailand being tired, this topic is hard to be pushed through. The monarchy has structural power which has been deep rooted in society for a very long time, therefore in order to reform therefore in order to reform the monarchy, we need a lot more people on board. Joining me now from bangkok is cod satrusayang, editor in chief of the thai inquirer. Cod, weve never seen anything like this before in thai history . Tell us what you think is happening. Can you hear me . Yes, absolutely, can you hear us . Absolutely. What is happening as you descend on the
news brief, there was a confrontation between the royal motorcade and protesters in the Prime Minister has come out to say that this is something unacceptable say that this is something u na cce pta ble to say that this is something unacceptable to him high society at large and that these protests must be disbursed and leaders arrested and thats exactly what happened thai but for the past three months these projects have been taking place in bangkok and touched a lot on the royal institution, something which was held sacred for the people of thailand for a long time and for it to be suddenly thrust into the political conversation is something not many conservative thai people are used to, not many right wing thai people are used to cope so definitely a cultural moment in thai society right now. Have you seen this before and we do think it might go next . Honestly, this is such an unprecedented situation, the idea that the motorcade incident could happen in thai
society is something unfathomable, even six months ago but because of the shape and form of the protests and how they have evolved over the last three months, it is quite an unprecedented situation. As to where it may go, it is anyones guess at this point. There is a counter rally due today at four pm with the remaining protesters saying they will rally against the protests a nd they will rally against the protests and government and the government has come out and said that anyone going out to protest at four pm also protested so it remains to be seen what happens there. In terms of the wider picture, as we said, it is so unprecedented, i dont want to make any prediction because it will likely come out wrong. Make any prediction because it will likely come out wronglj understand. I suppose much depends on how much the government process, how hard the military goes in. The scenes around the royal motorcade were really quite something. They were and the military in thailand has long seen military in thailand has long seen itself as the protector of the three pillars of thai
society and those are ingrained to you from early childhood, they are the monarchy, the religion and the country. The monarchy is seen as equal pillars to the other things and because of that, it has such a symbolic value to the military because it is both something it says the defence but it is also something that gives the military if legitimacy is agency gets legitimacy question in sucha agency gets legitimacy question in such a way, they think is unacceptable and, yes, the situation is so fluid right now. I never thoughti situation is so fluid right now. I never thought i would be here right now. I have covered politics in thailand for two decades and to see this happen, idid not decades and to see this happen, i did not think i would feed in my lifetime. For people to be clear for people trying to keep an eye on the situation as it develops, if people come out on the streets with a decree now in place, they are automatically breaking the law and it will get difficult very
quickly . That is correct any national chief and the Police Spokesmanjust had national chief and the Police Spokesman just had a press conference an hour ago, saying that anyone who comes out will not only be arrested but, they will be tried to the full extent of the law but not only that, anyone who is posting m essa 9 es that, anyone who is posting messages urging people to come out online will face the same risk. It is a wide ranging state of emergency decree and its quite troubling they would go that far that they would even prosecute people calling for people to come out, online. Thank you so much for talking to us. Thank you. Northern ireland is to impose the toughest restrictions anywhere in the uk, to try to slow the spread of coronavirus. Schools are being closed for two weeks from monday. Pubs and restaurants will be limited to takeaway and Delivery Services only, for four weeks from friday. Officials have suggested hospitals 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. The first minister, mark drakeford, said hed decided to act after Boris Johnson refused his request to stop people travelling in and out of virus hotspots in england. The deputy chief medical officer for england has suggested that Greater Manchester and lancashire be moved to tier three the highest level of virus restrictions. Pubs would be closed and households banned from mixing. Health officials will hold further talks with local government leaders later. Germany and france have announced new controls. In france, there will be a night time curfew for paris and eight other cities. In germany, bars will be forced to close early and there will be limits on people meeting, in areas with rising numbers of cases. Simonjones reports. Two leaders with two announcements that will have a big impact on the lives of their citizens. In germany, there is a warning that the disease
is growing 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 im convinced that what we do and what we dont 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 curves on the infection rates are pointing upwards, in parts, quite steeply. Translation we are much closer to a second lockdown than people would like to believe. If we look at how the numbers are developing, then its high time, maybe not even five to midnight but rather the stroke of midnight, to set the right course. In france, a state of emergency has been declared. Theres 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 dining in paris. People there and in eight other major cities will have to stay indoors from 9pm to 6am. The curfew will come into effect from saturday and last for at least four weeks. The details were announced at the elysee palace. 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 shouldnt remain inactive, but we shouldnt panic. We cannot get through this if everyone doesnt play their part, doesnt do their bit. And in the netherlands, a last hurrah. Bars, restaurants and cafes are closing. The warning there, like in many other european countries, is that if the coronavirus rates dont come down, more drastic measures may be needed. Simon jones, bbc news. Lets get some of the days other news. Iranian backed Houthi Rebels in yemen have freed two
american captives, in what its reported was a swap involving a number of militants. The white house has welcomed the release of sandra loli and mikael gidada. The remains of a third us captive, bilal fateen, were also repatriated. 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 the end of the year but not, he said, at any price. The uks Prime Minister had set a deadline of thursday, but this has been delayed until the European Council summit ends on friday. The state department in the us has announced new measures in response to chinas crackdown in hong kong. Its already imposed sanctions on 10 people including hong kongs leader carrie lam. Now theres a threat of sanctions against Global Financial institutions doing business with them. Two catholic priests have gone on trial in the vatican its the first time the city state has prosecuted allegations of 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. With early voting very much under way in the us, an historic problem has reappeared in the state of georgia and several others. Its called Voter Suppression and ranges from excessively strict id requirements to removing huge numbers of people from electoral rolls all of it disproportionately affecting black voters. Larry madowo reports from atlanta. Waiting for hours. Long lines at polling locations at the primary elections in georgia injune. Ive 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 georgias 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 . Im good, thank you. This is a first in the state of georgia . Yes, sir, and were very proud of it. But a voting station on wheels wont 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 states voter rolls in 2019, according
to the American Civil Liberties union of georgia. A lot of the rules that seem to be reasonable if youre 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, whos low income, whos 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. Weve done everything since 2013, when i arrived, the only thing that weve 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. Youre welcome. Thank you for waiting. A record turnout is expected in this election but, in the worlds most famous democracy, full access to voting is not yet the full guarantee that has been promised. Larry madowo, bbc news, atlanta. Stay with us on bbc
news, still to come 200 nights in a tent and counting, the british by paying tribute to his neighbour and raising money for charity. 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. Its emerged that barron trump, teenage son of the us president and first lady, tested positive for covid i9 but suffered no symptoms. In a personal statement, Melania Trump also describes her own symptoms as minimal. A little earlier i spoke to dr ashwin vasan, whos an epidemiologist and assistant professor at columbia universitys
mailman school of public health. I asked him what he made of the first ladys announcement. This is, as dr fauci has said, a documented super spreader event, and it comes directly from a lack of adherence to masks, to social distancing, in both indoor and outdoor settings, and it is pretty consistent with the overall lackadaisical approach that this administration has taken to the covid response, sending inconsistent messaging, allowing states to fend for themselves and undermining the number one thing that will help respond to pandemics effectively consistency and clarity, and communication, and adherence to science. So this is kind of consistent with how the president has lived his entire life flaunting the rules and not really paying the consequences. Dr ashwin vasan. President trump is visibly 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 social distancing. And again tonight the president was flouting white house guidance. The president tells them there is nothing to be afraid of. But that message does not seem to be landing so well with the seniors or suburban white women who so helped him to victory four years ago. Our north america editor jon sopel reports. Love train by the ojays 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 dont seem happy travellers, as i discovered at an impromptu focus group. How many of you just want this election to be over . Cheering. He laughs. They all live at the villages, americas 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 Trumps reelection. But not all republicans are seeing it as black and white. I am thinking that 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 im 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 . Im 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 dont 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 dont be fooled there is a vicious and
unrelenting fight going on that wont stop until november the 3rd. Jon sopel, bbc news, florida. Hes the best known playwright of all time, so what price would you pay for one of these a copy of shakespeares first folio . You might have to dig a bit deeper into your savings. It went under the hammer at the worlds leading auction house on wednesday, fetching a world auction record for any printed work of literature. Tanya dendrinos has the story. An immeasurable impact on English Literature and language, this poor player will be heard for evermore and, in part, it is thanks of this collection, published in 1623, seven years after shakespeares death. Friends of the bard compiled mr william sha kespeares comedies, histories and tragedies, including 18 plays that had never been published before. This copy is a complete copy. That means it has all of its pages and that is very unusual in that shakespeare was read and read and read and many copies the vast majority of copies are imperfect. And this is the first time in a generation that a complete copy has come on the market. It is known as the first folio, and contains 36 of shakespeares plays, including macbeth and julius caesar. Lovers of literature the world over would argue it is priceless but the bidding had to start somewhere. They are only five complete copies known in private hands so it is an extraordinary honour for us to be offering this today, here at christies. With that in mind, we must open the bidding at 2,600,000. 2,800,000 now. To be or not to be. For the folio here at christies 8,400,000. Sold. Thank you, fernando. And that was just the hammer price. The total coming in at 9. 97 million, a new world auction record
for any printed work of literature, far exceeding the previous high of 6. 16 million, set in 2001. It was bought by an American Private collector and founder of a rare book and photograph shop. A treasured edition, no doubt. As for the rest of us, its beware of the green eyed monster. Tanya dendrinos, bbc news. Here in the uk a ten year old boy has raised tens of thousands of pounds for charity, 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 thats more than 200 days jon kay has the story. 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, youve got to promise me that you will have an adventure, and i said, yes, iwill, i promise you that. And what an adventure hes had. Since march, max has slept in the garden every night, despite all the dangers hes 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. Youve got a house here with a bedroom, with a nice, warm bed. Its been the tidiest ever ive 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. Its the middle of october now. Very soon its going to be cold and wet and wintry. Are you prepared to do this, keep going . Yeah, yeah. Even if its snowy, ill build an igloo and live in it. Max says hes going to do a full year under canvas, and theres 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. Ina in a world first, athletes have dived 120 metres into a salt mine in rome mania. This is the moment there bodies decelerated because of the high density of the water. Mining he is stopped in 1880 and it has since become a renowned tourist destination. That is it for now. Much more
at any that is it for now. Much more atany time that is it for now. Much more at any time on our website and twitter feeds. Thank you for watching. Hello there. When you think back to the start of october and just how wet it was, its 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, weve 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 weve 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. On 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, well 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, theyre 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, youll 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 orkney, where things will start to get a little bit cooler. Otherwise, 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. The government has brought in an emergency decree, in response to a series of protests. Theyve 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. In germany, bars will be forced to close early and there will be limits on people meeting, in areas with rising numbers of cases. Tough new restrictions are coming into force in the uk. Schools in Northern Ireland will be closing for two weeks. All pubs and restaurants, hairdressers and beauticians will also have to shut their doors for a month. Officials have suggested hospitals are only ten days away from being overwhelmed. Now on bbc news, click