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 and did not meet international standards. here in the uk, the brother of the manchester bomber‘s hearing gets under way with emotional testimony from victims‘ families. the african union has suspended mali's membership after yesterday's military coup. and pop star britney spears asks a court not to return her father to a role that gave him control over much of her life and career.

hello. 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. and 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 9, 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. he was referring to the belarus presidential election on august 9, 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. but ahead of today's eu summit, mr lukashenko told the european union to stay out of belarussian affairs. translation: they're 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'm 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. his main opponent, svetla na ti kha novs kaya, 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. the awakening of belarus. i call on all countries to respect the principles of international law. i call to respect to the serenity of belarus and the choice of

belarussian people. here's our correspondent gavin lee in brussels with more detail on the sanctions. these will beat most likely asset freezes to an as yet undisclosed number. ursula von der leyen, the commission president, said a significant number of players involved with the alleged rigging, the violence against peaceful protesters, in the roads of charles michel too. on top of that, there was an agreed form of words to use against the belarussian president and also to say that the use stands with the people on the streets and does not recognise the results of the election ten days ago, but he did not go as far as to say that they did not recognise the authority of president lukashenko. meanwhile, on the ground, the situation has also escalated. mr lukashenko has stepped up efforts to reassert his control, ordering the interior ministry to end unrest in the capital minsk. a state—owned fertiliser company has been threatened with the loss of subsidies —

but here are many of its workers according to the state news agency, he said... it's already having an impact in the city. here's what one nonresident fellow at the atlantic council tweeted. all this as a third person has died from wounds sustained during the protests. here is a tweet from the belarussian journalist hanna liubakova. ..

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 is there 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. well, a little earlier, i spoke with maryia sadouskaya—komlach, a journalist from belarus. this reaction was very much expected, but the essence of it makes us raise eyebrows, like so late? the police violence was happening all of last week in belarus fair the fair the fai ten last. mck’bgt‘fhtfiéhéswtfiftfi to