People were optimistic and kosice. The reality of course is lots of people a bit on the streets optimistic and cautious. President lukashenko retains a firm control over security. So theres no obvious route in which he could be removed from office. People in belarus, the largest anti seem pretty infused by the government protests since last weeks disputed elections, have been taking place, with further calls for alexander lu kashenko to step down. Massive turn out on the street. It was a very large and but hes vowing to stay impressive show of the will of in power, claiming belarus the people here. Jonah, what is under threat from foreign forces. Mr lukashenko is accused about its potential involvement of rigging the vote here . That is in the back of and unleashing a violent crackdown against demonstrators. Everybodys mine. We know that russia has been following events here very closely. Many its thought as many as 100,000 people took to the streets in the centre of the capital, minsk, from wherejonah fisher, in russia see belarus has sent us this report. Effectively pa rt in russia see belarus effectively part of their backyard. There have been discussions taking place between russias president chanting. Putin and president lukashenko a week after the disputed election, belarus is in the last couple of days with voting with its feet. The centre of the capital, the mention of russia offering minsk, taken over by hundreds some sort of security of thousands of people. Assistance. So i think people here are worried to a certain united in their demand that alexander lu kashenka, extent that this might possibly the only president this country lead to some sort of russian has ever known, leave office. Intervention from the russian side. Then you move to try and well, i really hope that alter political situations when he sees all these people, he will step down. Here, its like belarus carries do you really think thats likely . Hes been here a long time. Its own risks, they will be maybe. I hope so. Only too aware of the number of people who came out against do you think that this sort of demonstration president lukashenko today and is going to convince the dangers for a way russia is the president to go . Received here if they are seen yes, we believe, and thats why we are all here. To be moving to try and prop all of minsk, him up. Thats jonah fisher there. Lets bring you some all of our country. Breaking news from the United States. Nancy pelosi has said belarus has never seen she will recall the chamber scenes like this before. A couple of weeks ago, this week to vote on demonstrations were extremely legislation to protect the rare and they were usually Postal Service. Brutally snuffed out by the government. In a letter to lawmakers, pelosi said the house would vote on legislation now there are people marching to prohibit the Postal Service as far as the eye can from implementing any changes see through the centre to services it had in place of the capital, minsk. Theres a real sense on january first. Of change in the air. Democrats have accused but for now, president President Trump of trying to hamstring the cash strapped lukashenka clings on to power. Postal service to suppress this was his rally mail in voting. Today in minsk. This comes after the just a few thousand showed up. Main investigative an embarrassing turnout for a man who claims to have won 80 of the vote. Committee of the house called on top figures in the Postal Service to testify at an emergency hearing later this month amid allegations of widespread mail delays and potential interference in a defiant speech, by President Trump. He rejected calls for new elections, telling his supporters that nato tanks mr trump has warned the us were near the border. Is not ready for mail ballots in the november elections. In North Carolina protesters leave, leave, they chant. Gathered again outside the home of the postmaster general but exactly how that happens is farfrom clear. Louis dejoy. Do you think that the president they claim mr dejoy who is is going to go peacefully . A supporter of donald trump is intentionally gutting im not sure about it, the Postal Service to help the president. But we will not go away. Today, tomorrow, next week, we will stay here on the streets. The speaker the us house, nancy and i would like to say that i was born in 1998, pelosi says she will recall the and i spent all my life chamber later this week to vote with president lukashenka on legislation to protect the Postal Service. More on this with president lukashenko story as and when we get here and i dont want it any more. And bbc news. This was a day when new zealands general election has been postponed bela russians found their voice. Because of the recent outbreak of covid i9 in auckland. Lukashenka lock him up, theyre saying here. The poll had been due europes longest serving to take place in september, leader may have passed but the date has been pushed the point of no return. Back by four weeks to the 17th of october. The Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern took the decision after consulting the other political parties. I have received advice from the Electoral Commission on a range of options, including retaining the current date of the 19th of september, moving the election by four weeks to the 17th of october and the final possible date the Electoral Commission considers the election could realistically be held, which is the 21st of november. Having weighed up all these factors and taken wide soundings, i have decided on balance to move the election by four weeks and i spoke tojonah fisher earlier and he began by telling 00 04 49,339 2147483051 39 09,384 us more about the unprecedented 2147483051 39 09,384 4294966103 13 29,430 events on sunday. To the 17th of october. At the end of last week, i was advised that this date is achievable and presents no greater risks than had we retained the status quo. Ive also been advised that in moving to a 17 0ctober election day, the commission will be able to leverage and draw much of the work already undertaken to deliver the election. 0pposition activists in thailand have staged another Anti Government rally in bangkok to demand political change. As well as a revision of the constitution, the demonstrators called for reform of the monarchy. An estimated 20,000 people have joined a protest in bangkok calling for sweeping political reform. The Thai Government successfully contained the coronavirus, but the tourism dependent economy was badly hit, and a series of other blunders have eroded its popularity. However, it is the Student Movements unprecedented call for reform of thailands monarchy, which has stunned the country, where harsh laws criminalise any negative comment about the royal family. Jonathan head reports. They havent seen a protest this big in thailand sorry but it seems technical gremlins have stopped us from playing you that package. We will try and get that to you later on in the programme. This move later on in the programme. This m ove o nto later on in the programme. This move onto somalia. Somali special forces say they have ended a siege at a hotel in the capital mogadishu, that was stormed by armed militants. Reports say more than 20 people were killed when a car bomb exploded on the recently built elite hotel on lido beach, which is reportedly owned by an mp, and is frequented by government officials. According to one government source more than 200 people, including cabinet ministers and members of parliament, were evacuated from the beach side hotel. The al shabab militant group has claimed responsibility. Stay with us on bbc news, still to come hes not donald trump is that all democratic challengerjoe biden has going for him . We investigate, ahead of the National Convention. Washington, the worlds most political city, is today assessing the Political Health of the worlds most powerful man. Indeed i did have a relationship with miss lewinsky that was not appropriate. In fact, it was wrong. In south africa, 97 people have been killed today in one of the worst days of violence between rival black groups. Over the last ten days, 500 have died. Czechoslovakia must be free russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 118 sub mariners who died. We are all with them now. They are in our hearts. The pope has celebrated mass before a congregation of more than two and half Million People in his hometown of krakow. Stay with us, stay with us, chanted this ocean of humanity. Well, well, joked the pope. So you want me to desert rome . This is bbc news, the latest headlines. Tens of thousands of people have turned out at one of the biggest demonstrations in the history of belarus, to protest against what they see as the rigged election victory claimed by president lukashenko back to thailand now would have been protest. 0pposition activists in thailand have staged another Anti Government rally in bangkok to demand political change. The Student Movement has surprised many in the country. Jonathan head reports. They havent seen a protest this big in thailand since the military seized power six years ago. And for these youthful demonstrators, the militarys influence is still too great. Its performance in government on freedom, human rights, and in managing an ailing economy is now a burning grievance. This large gathering at the monument which has always symbolised the hopes for a real democracy in thailand is the culmination of weeks of student led protests, demanding wholesale reform of the political system. But that is not all they are demanding. They are also asking for significant changes to the monarchy, an institution that is officially viewed as sacred and untouchable. And in a country where few have even dared to broach the subject before, that is revolutionary. It is almost unimaginable. Only a couple years ago, seeing what the youth are now demanding on stage as part of their manifesto for reforms. They seem to be unafraid i would say. They havent been held back by the concerns that previous generations had before, not even to talk about, or even discuss about the monarchy. Complaints about the monarchy have been heard at the protests in recent weeks. But it was the manifesto read out by this young woman at a university rally last monday that sent shock waves through the country. For the first time, it demanded an accountable monarchy. One that limited its power and its spending. The king, making a rare visit back to thailand this week from germany where he stayed during the covid 19 crisis, has said nothing. The Prime Minister, while acknowledging the students right to protest, said he would investigate who was behind them and punish any who had broken laws. The students, though, seem undaunted by threats of prosecution or worse. We have to try to Start Talking about and making it a new norm for the society that it is ok to talk about the monarchy. Do you think many thai people agree with your programme . I think the silent majority itself want to talk about it, and the monarchy, because if you dont act on something or reform something, nothing will happen and it will collapse on itself. This is a historic moment for thailand. A taboo has been broken by a Younger Generation who have lost faith in the old royalist establishment and want change. It is though hard to imagine that they will be allowed to go on saying what has always been unsayable here. Theres more uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of students in the uk. The exams regulator has withdrawn its advice on how pupils in england and wales can appeal their allocated grades, just hours after making the advice public. The uk government has been under fire since thursday, when end of School Results for 18 year olds were awarded with nearly 40 of teacher assessments having been downgraded. Theres concern there will be more confusion with School Results for 16 year olds just days away. Heres our education editor, bra nwen jeffreys. 0utraged, disappointed by their a levels. The common theme is anger, a lot of people are really sad and distressed. Its a really stressful time, like, yourfuture is uncertain. Students brought their protest to westminster today. I was predicted a, a, a, and i got given b, c, c. I think its unfair that we got given these grades, even though we didnt actually sit these exams in the first place. Afraid their future is at stake. I dont really know what to do. The only thing i have left to do is wait for the government to reveal a fair appeals process. Some did get the grades they needed, but 40 of a level grades were adjusted down. Next week, with gcses, it could be worse. Half a million pupils will get their grades. In england, only a 1 rise overall is allowed. Senior tories calling for a rethink. There will be a massive number of downgrades this thursday. A really great massive number. We mustnt forget half a Million People take maths gcse, so youre into numbers of hundreds of thousands complaining that theyve been hit. You know, when youre in a hole, stop digging goodness knows what is going on at 0fqual. It sows confusion amongst pupils, head teachers, school teachers, and its the last thing we need at this time. We need a ronseal appeal system that is simple, that people understand it. The politics of grades never so heated. The pressure on ministers building. I care about these young people, to be honest, and the hundreds of thousands of students who are affected by this disaster. So, thats why im calling on the Prime Minister to step in, quite frankly. He needs to right this wrong in the next 24 hours. Thats why hes the Prime Minister of the country. He needs to get up off his backside and help and support these young people. When schools shut, exams had to be cancelled. But now support for the alternative is falling apart. Its really not good enough for us to be finding out information last night, which our members are going to have to implement. You know, one head teacher saying theyre going to have 900 appeals across their school at a time when theyre trying to do the logistics of this pandemic. There has to be a sense of government, the regulator working with the very people who are responsible for young people and who have to implement these ideas. And still, its not clear how many will appeal, as rules for that have been rewritten. Branwen jeffreys, bbc news. Sources in the Afghan Government say the release of some of the most controversial taliban prisoners is being delayed because of objections from foreign governments and from within kabul. Last weekend, a grand Council Approved the release of 400 remaining detainees, a demand of the taliban as a Pre Condition to the start of intra afghan peace talks. Ahmed rashid is a journalist and Foreign Policy author, focusing on afghanistan, the taliban and the wider region. He said it was difficult to have hope for the peace process. I think its becoming very difficult to see how it will succeed. It has already taken several months to reach to this position whereas when after the american taliban deal was signed in february, we were hoping for a meeting of the taliban and the Afghan Government by march. That has not happened. This present issue has weighed every thing down. And now its becoming more acute. The americans were urging the Afghan Government to free these 400 extremist prisoners who are wanted for terrorism and kidnapping and other heinous acts. And clearly the americans did not confer with their nato partners and what happened was that a lot of the afghans was that a lot of these afghans were responsible for killing nato soldiers, the french government was public on this and nato governments are demanding these prisoners not be freed. And that would really be a big blow to the americans and to the afghan president. The democrats will host their National Convention on monday, wherejoe biden will be confirmed as the partys nominee for us president , in novembers election. The event has been scaled down due to the coronavirus pandemic. Mr biden knows there are some in the party less than enthusiatic about his nomination, particularly on the left. But there is a belief his choice of running mate senator Kamala Harris, can help him unite the party and turn a healthy lead in the polls against donald trump, into victory. Heres our north america editor, jon sopel. Folks, thanks, i understand there are thousands of you on this zoom. Campaigning, covid style. This is a socially distanced fundraiser. But there are no phone banks, just thousands on a zoom call. And since Kamala Harris joined the ticket, the moneys been pouring in. 48 million raised injust 48 hours. The excitement is palpable at least im excited. But enthusiasm is hardly the right word. Even among democratic voters, like these college kids. Hes getting older. I dont think hes the strongest candidate that was out there, but he is the lesser of two evils, definitely. Maybe not the most, like, the person i would want if i had any option, but, yeah, definitely the lesser of two evils. Im voting for him, sadly. Um, because at the end of the day, electoral politics is. Its basically damage control. And these students arent exceptional. A newly published Pew Research Poll asked democrats why theyd be voting for biden. A staggering 56 said it was because he wasnt donald trump. The next most important was his leadership performance. Just 19 said that would be the reason for backing him. Butjoe biden has likeability. Ask the owner of this diner in his home town of wilmington, where the biden family have been regulars for decades. I wouldnt just vote democratic, ijust. Im on his side. You know, i agree with his policies and hopefully thats going to get us out of a big mess. For the past five months, joe biden has scarcely emerged from his basement hideaway in the house behind me. And keeping such a low profile, paradoxically, has served him well. His poll numbers keep going up. But, surely, in the next three months, hes going to have to campaign hard, if he wants to win the presidency. Trump campaign ads have sought to portray the 77 year old as a man who is losing it. Ill make sure that we are. In a position that. Go ahead. Oh, no, probably best i dont. Certainly, biden is gaffe prone. If you have a problem figuring out whether youre for me or trump than you aint black. And that im going to beatjoe biden. We hold these truths to be self evident. All men and women created by the. You know the. You know the thing. The next Vice President of the United States of america in 2008, when a youthful barack 0bama stood with joe biden as his running mate, the optimistic and positive message was hope and, yes, we can. Ready, set, go. In this strange 2020 election, not being donald trump might be joe bidens biggest plus. Jon sopel, bbc news, wilmington, delaware. Plenty more on all of the stories on our website. Thank you for watching. Goodbye from us. Hello there. We had lots of thunderstorms across england and wales on sunday, but its not every day you see one of these. Yes, a waterspout that formed out in the bristol channel, and this was seen by a number of our weather watchers, actually, from north somerset. It was also spotted around the newport area of south wales as well. That was all associated with this low pressure thats across northern france. We can see an occlusion. This band of cloud here that brought some thunderstorms across eastern england, and they were torrential. 28 mm of rain on sunday fell in bedford. Looking at the weather picture at the moment, this system, essentially, is going to split into two bits, with this branch not really making much progress further north. That means the rain will continue to affect greater manchester, lancashire, merseyside along with wales for a time, before easing later in the night. It wont really push that much farther north. That means the far north of england, Northern Ireland and scotland stay largely dry over the next few hours, but with low cloud, therell be some mist and fog patches, and maybe a little bit of drizzle around some of the eastern coasts in scotland as well. For the rest of monday, the low pressure will continue to move its way in, and that will bring showers. This time, the showers will be affecting scotland and Northern Ireland through the afternoon, but its further south across england and wales that the days heaviest showers are most likely to be. 20 or30 mm in the space of an hour. Again, thats enough to cause some localised flash flooding. In between those showers and the sunshine, still feeling warm, still a little on the humid side. But were not finished with the showery story just there, because tuesday will be another showery day. This time, the heaviest showers look more set to go in across Northern England and scotland. Lots of thunder and lightning, a bit of hail mixed in with some of these fewer showers in the south. Still one or two fairly pokey ones as we go into the afternoon. Beyond that, we see some changes in the weather. This area of low pressure slow moving, will be with us for much of the rest of the week with fresher air following this cold front through. It means on wednesday, many of us start off on a dry note, but the cloud and rain will spread in across Northern Ireland, england and wales. Eventually, it will turn a fair bit windier across the southwest. Gusts of around 30 40 miles an hour, all the while staying largely dry in scotland through the afternoon with sunshine. Fresher air then arrives from thursday onwards, but thats not an end to the wet story. It stays unsettled with rain or showers to take us into next weekend. This is bbc news. The headlines an enormous crowd of opponents of belarusian president alexander lu kashenko has gathered in minsk to demand his resignation. It comes amid growing anger over alleged poll rigging and Police Violence at subsequent protests. But the president vows to stay in power, claiming belarus is under threat from foreign forces. The speaker of the us house of representatives, nancy pelosi, has said that she will recall the chamber later this week to vote on legislation to protect the Postal Service. Democrats have accused President Trump of trying to hamstring the cash strapped Postal Service to suppress mail in voting in novembers election. New zealands Prime Minister has announced that general elections due to take place in mid september have been postponed because of a fresh covid 19 outbreak. Jacinda ardern told a News Conference the poll date has been pushed back to october the 17th, giving parties time to resume their suspended election campaigns. Now on bbc news, hardtalk