hello, i'm philippa thomas, this is outside source. protestors in belarus are told the european union stands with them — condemning the elections as fraudulent, imposing targeted sanctions. these elections were neither free nor fair. these elections were neither free norfair. and it did not meet international standards. here in the uk the old bailey hears from the families of the manchester arena bombing — as the hearing of the bomber‘s brother gets under way. the membership of mali was suspended after the coup of the president. and pop star britney spears asks a court not to return her father

to a role that gave him control over many aspects of her life and career. the diplomatic stand—off over belarus has escalated further, with the european union announcing today it will impose targeted sanctions. here's the european commission president ursula von der leyen. we will sanction all those responsible for violence, repression and falsification of the results of the election. the people of belarus took peacefully to the streets. and the authorities answered with violence. this cannot be accepted. eu leaders held a virtual summit today to discuss belarus. here's the eu council president charles michel. the european union stands in solidarity with the people of belarus.

and we don't accept impunity. on august the 9th, belarus held elections. these elections were neither free norfair, and did not meet international standards. we don't recognise the results presented by the belarus authorities. the people of belarus deserve better. it was poland who called today's emergency summit. it wants president lukashenko to commit to talks with the opposition. here's poland's deputy foreign minister. you cannot rule the country without a popular support. itruly you cannot rule the country without a popular support. i truly believe that the president lukashenko understands is very well, he cannot rule without a popular support of your own people. so the dialogue is the best option for now. all this follows the belarus presidential election on august nine in which official results awarded

80% of the vote to the incumbent alexander lu kashenko. there've been widespread claims of vote—rigging and ten days of mass protests. ahead of today's summit, mr lukashenko told the eu to stay out of belarussian affairs. translation: they are holding a meeting today of eu foreign ministers or leaders. i would simply advise them before pointing fingers at us to focus the agenda on for example the yellow vests of france, the terrible chaos in the united states, the protests in germany and other countries against coronavirus restrictions. what i am saying is they have lots of problems of their own, so don't point at belarus to deflect attention from the problems that exist in france, the united states, germany and so on. mr lukashenko‘s main opponent, svetla na tikhanoovkaya, ran for office after the arrest of her husband. last week she fled to neighbouring lithuania, where she's organised

a council for co—ordinating the transfer of power. here's the message she sent the eu today. honourable leaders of europe, i call on you to support. support the awakening of belarus. i call on all countries to respect the principles of international law. here's our correspondent gavin lee in brussels with more on the ground, sits at the situation has also accelerated. lukashenko has ordered the interior ministry to end unrest. a state owned fertiliser company has been threatened with the loss of subsidies — but here are many of its workers protesting in minsk today — and state television journalists who went on strike have lost their jobs. according to the state

news agency he said... it's already having an impact in the city — franak viacorka is a non—resident fellow at the atlantic council, he's tweeted. this all comes as a third person has died from wounds sustained during the protests. here's a tweet from the belarusian journalist hanna liuba kova: the interior ministry confirmed that police used live bullets against protesters in brest."

in moscow, the kremlin has officially commented on the situation for the first time — a spokesperson said conditions should be created for dialogue but claimed there was foreign influence in the country... livia paggi is the head of political risk at gpw, a global risk analysis company. she says russia has been taking a cautious approach. they know that it could be very dangerous to intervene, that they could create another ukraine. economically, russia does not have the ability right now to sustain a war in belarus nor have the popular support to do so. and also we have to keep in mind that these protests are not pro—western or anti—russia. so in some ways, it could be much more beneficial for russia to be on the sidelines and have these dialogues with the opposition. i'm joined now by maryia sadouskaya—komlach, a journalist from belarus.

thank you forjoining us. what do you make of the european union reaction? thank you. this reaction was very much expected but the form and essence of it makes us raise eyebrows, why so late. the police violence was happening all of last week in belarus and it was credit that elections were not free and fair also last week. —— it was pretty clear. they waited for ten days presumably for the third part of the message which is to confirm that it wants to engage or ready to engage into the dialogue about the transition of power. so the message the eu is sending is threefold. it supports the people, which is great but it offers 53 million euro, which 50 million is to fight covid—i9 consequence is. i'm not sure people are going into the streets because

they are sick and covid—i9 in belarus. in only 3 million is to support civil society and victims of repression. and then want introduced targeted sanctions but they targeted sanctions against the individuals in belarus have been in place since 2004 and have never brought any change. and even the idea of mediated dialogue has already been applied in the early to solvent and lead to nothing. i'm hoping the eu has real argument to persuade the belarussian side that this time it can play a different role. they do seem to be fewer protesters on the streets today. what do you think is happening there? i think they are taking a break because the hope that that the august 19 march would demonstrate to the authorities that there are many belarussians who support change, the hope has not may be painted but transformed into here at the realisation of the authorities will not accept this as authorities will not accept this as a voice of the people and they will continue to use spread rumours and

propaganda about these being just a couple of people who are not happy about their salaries. so we need this time. we have to leave it there. thank you very much for joining us and give me get your insight on what is happening. here in the uk, highly emotional statements from the families of some of those murdered in the manchester arena bombing of 2017 have been heard in court. hashem abedi, the brother of the bomber, salman, has refused to attend his two—day sentencing hearing. in march he was found guilty of 22 counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and conspiring to cause explosions. this report is from daniel sandford. arriving to describe the devastating impact it had on their lives, still grieving relatives of some of those who died in the manchester bomb. others were watching by video link from courts around the uk. but the man being sentenced was not in the dock. hashem abedi chose to stay in the cells in the basement.

thejudge said he had no power to force him into the courtroom. he was convicted of murdering 22 people and attempting to murder many more. in march, a jury decided hashem abedi was just as guilty of the murders as his brother salman, who detonated the bomb. among those the brothers killed was kelly brewster. tearfully, her sister, claire booth, told thejudge they were at the concert together but that after the bomb, she had to help another member of their group was badly injured. she said, "i struggle with feelings of guilt that i had no option but to leave kelly to die alone." a teenage couple, liam curry and chloe rutherford, were also killed. their families had hoped they would marry and have children. liam's mother caroline said, "you took his future, my future, my family's future. all we have now is heartbreak and dreams of what if." chloe's mum lisa said... "there's always that empty chair where she should be."

martyn hett‘s mother explained that she still can't go to sleep before 10:31pm, the time the bomb went off. she said, "i still can't reconcile that i was fast asleep while my son lay dead on the floor and i am ashamed about that. " the family of 14—year—old sorrell leczkowski said her bedroom had been left untouched since the night of the bomb. because he was convicted of 22 murders, hashem abedi is facing multiple life sentences, but because he was under 21 at the time of the bomb, he can't be sent to prison for his whole life. at this hearing, thejudge will decide the minimum term that he will spend in prison. it is likely to be measured in decades. hashem abedi had to be brought back from libya to stand trial, which is why it has taken more than three years to get to this point. but tomorrow, he will find out what his punishment will be for killing 22 people enjoying

a night out at an ariana grande concert. daniel sandford, bbc news, at the old bailey. let's turn to mali now. the african union has suspended mali's membership and the un is holding an emergency security council meeting after yesterday's coup there. the soldiers who ousted president ibrahim boubacar kata say they plan to set up a civilian transitional government and hold new elections. they made an address on television — here's some of it. translation: horror has become the daily life of the malian people. malians have become referees in their own country, prey to all difficulties. highway banditry and armed robberies have become numerous. terrorism and extremism are destroying central cohesion and are not inevitable. bad governance and the frustration that come from it has cause malians to lose hope for a better tomorrow.

it's still unclear exactly what happened yesterday, but here's what we do know. it appears to have started with a mutiny at kati military base, about 15 kilometres from bamako. there were reports of soldiers firing in the air and blocking roads leading to the capital. we think it was led by this man, colonel malick diaw. he was deputy head of the kati camp, and we think he had the support of another commander, general sadio camara. it's been reported both had recently returned from training in russia. this is another of the men we think led the coup — this general is in fact the director of a peacekeeping institution. after taking over the camp, the mutineers headed to the capital. this video was livestreamed on facebook by an account

once there, they were cheered by crowds who had gathered in independence square to demand the president's resignation. on tuesday afternoon soldiers entered the president's residence, arresting him and the prime minister. the president's son, speaker of the national assembly, foreign and finance ministers were also reported to be among other officials detained. this is footage of them being taken away. we think they were taken back to kati military base.