The government is on the pressure to do more to protect small businesses. And 3 weeks after running aground memory a japanese ship begins to break apart spilling even more fuel into the pristine coastline. Is far too far stories for me no one rivals yet again. In doha and all of that installed plus powell did he dog them a little escape for another of motor sports biggest names not once but twice. But we begin the news hour in baton rouge far to mulch most week of protests and the government crackdown has now culminated in the largest demonstrations yet against president Alexander Lukashenko a week after he declared an overwhelming victory in the president ial election his government is facing its greatest challenge since he came to power nearly 3 decades ago speaking at a progovernment rally looking shanker rejected calls for his resignation or a rerun of the vote you queues nato sending tanks and planes to the countrys western border claim probably rejected by the military alliance and then across minsk today a larger crowd gathered for what they call. The a day of freedom longstanding grievances over the economy and the governments response to the coronavirus have contributed to a growing sense of anger over last weeks vote which the opposition says was riggs and now calls for you to step down coming from within his own government the ambassador to slovakia has become the 1st high level official to publicly back the opposition protests or a challenge has our report now. 7 days after the contentious election and finally the embattled president of the roost organized a rally of support state employees were brought by bus and train to the capital minsk from all over the country the intention to show that alexander because shanker still has a popular base after a week of antigovernment protests unprecedented in their size in the august heat told the crowd better or is being threatened from outside. The tanks that jets are on standby within 15 minutes reachable border this is not for nothing and nato forces are rattling tank tracks at our doors military power is building up on the western border of our country lithuania latvia poland and unfortunately our brother ukraine its leadership are telling us to hold a new election. Nato has denied the accusations of a military buildup in the region. Just a short distance across the capital a much bigger demonstration followed perhaps the largest of the Antigovernment Movement so far better russians repeating the call theyve been making since what they say was the rigged election on august the 9th that the man whos ruled batteries for 26 years has no legitimacy he should leave and there should be a new and free vote. I was earlier that the Russian Ambassador to slovakia became the 1st senior official to back the protests in a video posted online. I stand in solidarity with those who have taken to the streets of belorussian cities would peaceful marches so that their voices could be heard yes. I sincerely hope that the future of my country will be based on the positions of all sectors of society in representatives of various political forces. Have suffered for this right since his plea on saturday that russian president Vladimir Putin should help him quell the protests theyve had to phone calls the kremlin says its willing to assist batteries militarily in accordance with a collective security pact. For the moment the protesters arent much concerned with possible russian intervention nor are they obviously pro western this is an emotional uprising spurred on by the beatings and alleged torture inflicted by state security their focus is getting out and writing a new chapter for batteries. Aljazeera. Lawson has been at the opposition protests today and sent us this. Well arose as a different country than it was just a week ago when the elections took place and people took to the streets in protest against these elections then there was fighting to Police Crackdown thousands of thinking and that led to enormous anger and this are now unprecedented scenes here in the capital of humans up to 100000 people are here at the Independence Square angry about the torture and abuse what happened today is the denise but also very angry at the elections that are we going to take they say history is in the making were not going to leave until the president us. But joining me now is dr Alexander Harrison from Oxford University he specializes in far tarion regimes social movements and social media he joins us over skype from london and so today we saw people taking to the streets in massive numbers does it mark a turning point. In is there any why were they feeling but emboldened enough to to to mobilize it on this scale well indeed it seems to be a turning point it seems to be that this country has changed and there is no way back and the people changed and they definitely demands are what are those kids in mind there is ignition of a new election. And clearly at least 3 percent of the whole population has joined him on the protests across the country in at least 22. 00 locations that was perhaps the largest ever process of this movement indeed. Of course outwardly president lukashenko is defiant he says the opposition are traitors he says that foreign interference is to blame for this on rest but privately does he acknowledged that it might be very difficult now for him to to restore the control that he once had. A year perhaps perhaps kubica guys the some changes his position but it doesnt look hes going to step back at the moment. You know the really huge huge this this morning and it means cause really and use you know in general he is his language. Didnt change that much you know. When you say it didnt change that much but at the same time he might be considering his position what do you what do you mean by that would he ever consider negotiations for example with the with taken off sky whos obviously not in the country right now but has formed this this Transitional Council you know well it doesnt look like hes considering any negotiations of the moment that it doesnt look that hes that man that few want to just step back. What hes doing right now is talk him intensively to get him a potent president of russia perhaps thats the way hes looking for help at the moment. Why do you suppose the government has been a bit more lax in recent days obviously its been a very difficult week has been violence detentions live ammunition used against protesters why then have they been able to to protest without the threat of violence today well. The 1st few days of the movement was very violent and then something changed and perhaps if it relates to the to several things. On the one hand they realize its very difficult to continue like that but the same time its actually been used before by the region to 1st give some concession to the protesters and than actually repress some part of them who would remain protests and but this this time it seems doesnt work so we might see more violence and portion italy in the future you say that hes trying to draw the kremlin in somehow obviously have been these conversations between looking shanker and putin but really its president bush and co that has been much more vocal about that communication than than president putin or the kremlin now what what a president putins options in this situation can look at trying to really count on on his support well it looks like there are many options for team for putin and to consider and it relates to the position of russia russian government that looks at bellerose as its sphere for influence and it doesnt really its not really prepared to lead others goal or decide and so on at the moment it looks like so putin has an option to how economically or help or anyhow politically on in military terms or sends in for this Additional Police forces for he says to belarus to how to helps to control the movements i mean he might not i mean obviously russia might not be willing isnt going to be willing to allow batterys to leave it there of influence but might president putin be willing to cut like a shank ellis. Well if they if they see that there is another option for russia that would be more progress than the look of shock and its quite difficult to be honest to find any politician in belarus whos prominent who is more progress. But the same time they see that hes getting we care every day and they might not rely on them all on human as much as they used to be so well they can consider another candidate for because position there was a similar process not similar but there was precious new meaning which is also another part of kind of part of russian influence and in case of armenia russia really didnt interfere so it might be also the case was belarus thank you dr Alexander Harrison manker from Oxford University thank you of course our other top story that been protests in thailand as well thousands of people joining student led rallies in the capital calling for political reform these are the biggest protests the countrys seen in recent months theyre demanding a new election and an amended constitution is wayne hale reports just from bangkok some ties are even broaching a taboo subject with calls for reform of the monarchy. In big numbers they came to the center of bangkok to escalate their call to change protesters gathered around democracy monument a symbol of what they say thailand doesnt have or i can pick the fact that the government is so corrupt its been in power for far too long and things arent getting any better after weeks of peaceful protests led mainly by students this was by far the largest and most diverse attracting thais from different sectors of society including other groups who have staged mass rallies in the past. But that a lot more people have come out today the pair of young people and students alone cant force change we need everyone to work together. The protesters say thailands entire political system needs to change including the monarchy its a dangerous and sensitive issue to take on because the royal family is protected by strict laws designed to prevent criticism demonstrators also want the government gone and on thursday thailands Prime Minister the army general who led the military coup in 2014 addressed the nation he urged unity at a time when the economy is being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Right now we must focus on the economic survival of the 10s of millions of people here lets get the economy going 1st get that done by working together then we can look at fixing the other issues collaboratively later but the protesters say the pen demick is proving and highlighting one of their points that thailand is an economically Unequal Society and must change tires that are well accustomed to political protests but there is a sense this is Something Different a movement centered around a new generation making unprecedented demands and wanting something profoundly different for thailand the law in recent weeks the government has warned the protesters to be careful what they say and arrested 3 protest leaders but if that was a tactic to try to scare them and bring an end to the movement it hasnt worked and judging by the size of this crowd it may be having the opposite effect when hey al jazeera bangkok. Or Somali Security forces have now ended a 5 hour siege on a hotel in the Capital Market issue. A suspected car bomb and shootout at the elite hotel beach sore at least 6 People Killed and 40 others injured Security Forces say 2 gunmen are among the dead government officials often stay at that facility. Has claimed to be behind the attack. On the feeling that i can buy a car full of explosives was rammed into the front gate of the hotel then attack is from alshabaab stormed into the hotel and started shooting at everyone they came across i saw many did bodies on the ground the situation in there is really miserable it was the news our life from london much more still ahead the restrictions are eased in south africa as the country passes the peak of its coronavirus outbreak. P. P. And the planets environmentalists warn of a rising tide of pandemic driven plastic wastes. And in sport after a 6 month wait simona halep wins a 2nd straight tennis like peta will have known that its possible. The head of the u. S. Postal service has been summoned to testify at a Congressional Committee later this month listed joy he was appointed postmaster general by President Donald Trump and now facing accusations of trying to sabotage the mail network ahead of novembers election by withholding funding and limiting its operations on saturday the Postal Service when millions of mail in ballots might not arrive in time to be counted on election day or lets across to my county hes following this story now and so it looks as though the pressure is increasing on the joy with now this call for an Emergency Oversight Committee hearing what do the democrats hope to achieve from this. But they want clarity this is an emergency meeting hes been summoned to appear before the house Oversight Committee a month from tomorrow along with him the chairman of the board of governors of the Postal Service has also been summoned now the postmaster general is actually appointed by the board of governors one of the questions the Oversight Committee is going to ask is how did they come to choose a man who was in opposition to the United StatesPostal Service for much of his career he ran a Logistics Company which operated against u. S. P. S. So thats one of the questions but theyre also going to demand and have already asked for documents pertaining to the changes that detroit has made within the Postal Service took he took over in may he has reduced overtime hours he has slashed the number of available mailboxes he has shuffled all fired a number of senior figures within the service and he has also decommissioned at least 10 percent of the automatic mail sorting machines so congress has now asked for documents pertaining to all these decisions to come and he must bring them with him when he appears before them so what the house Oversight Committee is doing very clearly is bringing pressure to bear on the postmaster general with an eye perhaps to introducing a bill which would 3 all operations within the post office from the 1st of january this year retrospectively to all the 1st of january next year so a lot of movement happening within congress that one must remember that the house is on autumn recess at present so obviously theres been this warning from the Postal Service like it then are any measures being taken to to expedite the delivery of these nailon ballots in time for counting. Well at this stage no and this is what the house Oversight Committee wants to address and its not only in the house Oversight Committee a number of governors have knowledge made moves to bring legal action against the Postal Service to actually get them to go back to the way they operated before this is the basis of the bill that the chair of the house Oversight CommitteeCarolyn Maloney has actually drawn up and wants to push through the house this bill as i said freezes operations retrospectively to the 1st of january effectively putting the Postal Service back on the 14 that it was now its important to note as well other developments the white house seems to be backtracking on its original position that it would not accept a bailout for the post office only on thursday president trumps stated absolutely plenty that he did not want to give a cash injection to the Postal Service because that would encourage mail in votes which the president actively opposes now theres been a slight backtracking from this position the chief of staff mark meadows today said that the white house would be prepared to consider a stand alone bill providing an emergency funding for the Postal Service whether the democrats accept that they still want to push through a 2 trillion to 3 trillion dollar coronavirus reese bill of which the Postal Service 25000000000 dollars would be part so these are ongoing discussion these are ongoing moves and its not only limited as i said to congress you have got governors in a number of states now coming in youve got some private organizations who are beginning to take legal action essentially what all parties want those that want change in the post office is for it to a retrospective really change back to the way it was operating on the 1st of january and before louis to joy a Republican NationalCommittee Chairman of the past and a close friend of president took over banking like like hannah in washington. Now the japanese ship that ran onto a coral reef off the coast of moorish last month has broken up the ship had already leaked around a 1000 tons of fuel into the water over the past 3 weeks well now there are fears about how the rich and fragile ecosystem can recover from the spill whether it can recover and what it could mean for an economy that relies heavily on tourism or bad money has mol. Seawater flooding in oil boosting out the japanese owned vessel m b rock a share has split apart and the oil is though spreading along the pristine coastline of east and richest. The ballcarrier running to refit pointis the 3 weeks ago a 1000 tons of oil spilled into the ocean presenting a huge danger to M