on the second day of the republican national convention. speaking from the rose garden of the white house she said that women she said that women must be listened to and was the only speaker to mention the pandemic. the parents ofjacob blake, the unarmed black man shot by police in the us state of wisconsin say their son has been left paralysed from the waist down. they also pleaded for an end to the protests sparked by the shooting, as the destruction does not reflect their son. secondary school pupils will have to wear masks in corridors — in parts of england where local lockdowns are in place. the government says it's changed its guidance after updated advice from the world health organization. the opposition labour party say they don't think the new rules go far enough. now on bbc news, it's hardtalk.

welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. his people have turned against him in the streets, but belarus' dictator, alexander lu kashenko, is still in power. his security forces are still following his orders. so where do the anti— lukashenko activists go from here? my guest is natalia kaliada, one of the founders of the belarus free theatre, an artist dissident in exile. will bela rus‘ summer rebellion be blown away with the autumn leaves?

natalia kaliada, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me here. we have seen extraordinary scenes for more than two weeks now in belarus. masses of people protesters on the streets. but president lukashenko, he hasn't blinked, he hasn't buckled. are you surprised? 0h, he blinked. and i am sure you saw a number of days ago when he was in his helicopter, fully equipped with a rifle, and he presented himself as a complete joke to the world. so we need to understand he is in that mental condition, because he has messiah psychopathic, and he speaks, and now we need to understand is the world what to do with him next, because people are standing up. yes, but when you say he made

himself a complete joke, are you sure the people of belarus saw it that way? after all, the man was holding an automatic rifle, he was talking to his own security forces on the streets, heavily armed, determined to repress the protesters. that is not a joke, that is real, that is what is happening and repression is still happening. it was a joke because he didn't have a machine—gun in that huge rifle. so i guess he is not ready to understand what is happening around him. repressions are taking place, awful repressions are taking place, and it has happened the first week after the elections. it was absolutely the severest, bloodiest crackdown ever in belarus. we never saw any torches like that. and in my personal experience, 10 years ago, when i was injail i was threatened to be raped, i was put in front of the wall with my face back, and there

were dogs, german shepherd dogs on metal chains barking at me. but in that particular moment i was lucky not to be raped. this particular time, people had been raped by foreign objects and they had been cutting slices of their bodies in order to rape people. i have read the amnesty international reporting, i have seen the words of the un special rapporteur on human rights, it is clear that some terrible things have been happening inside belarus' prisons and detention centres. there seems no doubt about that, according to independent sources. but in a sense, you are making my point for me. you experienced the reality of this repression ten years ago. he is still in power. he is still able to repress. and frankly, looking at what is happening today, he believes he can continue to repress. that will be the question to the world community. why are they allowing, for 26 years, to have that dictate in place?

while the european union and uk and the united states, they continue to stay in a deep political coma, allowing all of it to happen at their borders. and not understanding one particular thing, but it is not only already about the safety and independence of the people of belarus, it is about the european continent's safety. just think about what is happening inside the country itself. you are in exile now. are you sure, are you confident, but these popular protests are penetrating lu kashenko‘s heartlands, that is, the rural areas, the small towns, the older demographic in your country who have been so loyal to this man for so long? people are standing up. the whole of belarus is standing up. it's never happened before. is it the whole of belarus? i see the pictures from minsk, i see thousands, tens of thousands, it has to be said, mostly young people. they are internet—savvy. they are connected.

they are educated. is it all of belarus that you are talking about? you know that wonderful slogan that appeared before the elections in belarus? sasha 3%. that exactly reflects on the situation. 97% of the population is standing up against him. do we want to be realistic? let's go into statistical data and discuss his real numbers. now we're talking about 8.6%, 8.9%. this is the only per cent that he got. because we need to understand that itjust didn't happen out of the blue. and people went to protest. our economy went down, march, april, horrific collapse of the economy that we never saw in belarus before. and then coronavirus happening, when lukashenko is denying the fact of it and he is calling that a psychosis, and you need to drink vodka, get on tractor,

and go to sauna. those two factors made the belarus population understand that he is not caring for themselves. you think his handling, or maybe some would say, many would say, his mishandling of covid—i9, has been a factor in expanding the constituency? it is gun power, it is gun power of the whole situation. coronavirus added to the economic situation. the whole development that went against him, and for people, it became an existential crisis. you are an artist. let us not forget that 15 years or so ago you and your husband founded the belarus free theatre. you are very interested about what happens in people's minds when they are confronted with authoritarianism and dictatorship, it is the subject of many of your dramas and plays. what do you think is the impact of the abuses you have just

characterised to me? we have heard about the torture in detention centres, the violence, the threats. what, right now, do you believe it is doing to the minds of people in belarus? that is the third factor. economy, coronavirus, riot, police, violence, that belarus never saw before. because before, he killed people in dark times of the day. he kidnapped them and killed them by specific means. those who did it are still in power and they trained the whole new generations of those who started to openly kill and torture people. right, but i ask you to question because it seems to me it is possible that over time, weeks and months, this new level of repression that we are seeing, it could intimidate and quell the resistance simply because it is so wearing to live with threat and fear and the thought of violence over a long period of time?

that is why i am saying, again and again, unfortunately i need to repeat that it is happening already for 26 years, but what i am saying now, we have a very tiny time lock now in order for european union, united states and uk, of course, if they want to participate in it actively and prove that they are the oldest democracy in the world, and not the unprofessional democracy that is behaving now, and for them to act appropriately now, and start peaceful negotiations about the transition of power. we can't have any conversation about lukashenko in any negotiations, we are not able to discuss a second election that will be called free and fair with the presence of the ocsc when they will allow

lukashenko to participate. no way it is possible, because lu kashenko is falsifying elections for 26 years, even in the presence of osce. if osce allows him to participate again, we'll have a zimbabwe situation where we have 52, a8, and belarus will lose its future forever. for the pressure to be maintained and for the international community to do what you want them to do, and we will get into whether they really will do it in a moment, but for all that to happen, you need the mass street protests to continue. and yet i wonder whether a little bit of you feels maybe even a sense of guilt about encouraging people to take to the streets when you know better than anybody what the physical, personal impacts of facing the violence and the repression can do to yourself, and indeed to your husband, who i am very mindful has suffered long—term mental and physical consequences of treatment he suffered in prison

in belarus. do you really want more people, including the members of your own theatre group to go through that now? all of us are making our own choices. we are all adults, and we are standing up for our freedoms. nobody is making anyone go to the streets. if you hear all the testimonies of people who are telling that from belarus, and when they ask that particular question, one asked, are you tired from all these protests, they say no, because i am staying here for myself and for the future of my children. that is the situation that we have now in belarus. and that is such a beautiful moment for our country, when people use nonviolent resistance in order

to express how ready they are for changes and how ready they are for the european way of development. your husband nikolai, who founded the theatre with you, he has said in recent days but what he sees in his own country right now is what he calls more of a hong kong than a traditional east europe style popular resistance. by that he says it is leaderless. we are not looking to specific political leaders to lead the masses. he says the protests are driven by small, localised groups. but you do need leaders, don't you? and where are the leaders, the real leaders of the opposition in belarus today? we know that the woman who ran as the main candidate against lu kashenko is currently in exile in lithuania. so where are the leaders? that woman's name is svetla na ti kha novs kaya, the woman running as the presidential candidate instead of her husband, who was arrested, he is a video blogger

and now he is injail, as are other presidential candidates. the situation why she is in exile is very similar to the situation i also face, ten years ago, when you are threatened with your children's lives and when you are threatened with this situation when you are told that your parental rights will be taken from you, and your children could be sent to the orphanage, and this is what happened to me and my husband, we are lucky because we already got smuggled out of the country and the kgb didn't know about that. and we already had the meeting with hillary clinton. this woman, who said that i am not a politician, i am staying here for freedom, i am staying here for my husband in order, for me, to become a president, i will announce new presidential

elections within six months, and those people who are now injail, they will run for those presidential elections. after those threats she was driven to lithuania, where she is located now. she is recognised as a national leader, by other european countries, and lukashenko is recognised as not a legitimate president and this is happening for the first time ever. and yes, nikolai, my husband, is right. in terms of it being hong kong style. because what is happening now in belarus, this is the best possible way of nonviolent resistance, and it is accumulated wisdom of all revolutions that happen, but is now happening in belarus. and people have stood up, literally.

they understand that it will be time for the leader to come back to them and start to leave the country. and people have stood up, literally. we have seen the pictures of them walking out of factories. but i am also mindful, reading an article from belarus the other day, that some of those strikes are now ending because many of the workers, according to one worker in a tractor factory, he says that arrests and threats to sack strikers and replace them with workers coming from russia which alexander lukashenko says he can easily get access to, undermine result. only few men are ready to go to the end, he quotes. alexander lukashenko is getting on tv and saying we can see only those 20 people who came from the major factories that produce main machineries

for the industry in belarus and at that same moment, 16,000 workers got out onto the street and said "we are not 20!" but thousands just feel they have to go back now, notjust because of that economic circumstances and their families but they see that alexander lu kashenko is serious. he will hire russian workers. that is not possible. not able to support anything but for now he has money to support a ministry of internal affairs. russia of course has its own interest and we could see absolutely specific thing that has started to happen on the 15th, 16th and 18th of august when the aeroplane landed in minsk, having their russian propaganda specialist, the ministry of defence, russian administration

and russian government. of course, there is that interference, hybrid interference, happening already for the last week and it is only increased because now presenters of belarus in tv are replaced by russian propaganda people. but no money can replace workers. of playing into alexander lu kashenko‘s hands and maybe moscow's hands. you're now based in london. when you speak out, as you do so passionately and strongly, and direct your message to the people of belarus, alexander lu kashenko says everything that is happening here is as a result of the european union meddling in our affairs, western interests trying to bring down

the government because they want to turn belarus into some sort of puppet state of brussels and the european union and you have said it yourself, you want to risk to face towards brussels, not towards moscow. it is absolutely true in terms of belarus since thinking to become a pro— european country but at the same time they are saying neutral to russia. i do not think moscow is going to regard you are saying we want to be a pro— european country as neutral. they see belarus as their strategic space. we know it! that is why there is intervention happening by russia and this is exactly what we have momentum for the democracy style negotiations between belarus, with participations of belarusians an western negotiations in order for alexander lu kashenko

to step down, not allowing his participation in any elections. and this is the main thing that has to happen. this is a time when the west really needs to get out of the political corner. just look at the word of the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov when he said that what we are hearing from the baltics and poland, is not about alexander lu kashenko, human rights and democracy, it is actually all about geopolitics. you are sort of saying the same thing. it is a battle between east and west. oh, yes, it is the historical battle that has been happening for years and years but to give you a wonderful answer to what sergei lavrov said, i will tell you another thing that it was a wonderful momentum

when white, red, white balloons, a symbol of resistance in belarus, went to the sky of lithuania yesterday, on a sunday, and that was the moment when the wind took those balloons to the territory close to belarus and at the moment belarusians minister of defence, put helicopters into the air to shoot the balloons, and they made an official statement that we stop the provocation by the west. white, red, white balloons, that is the symbol of freedom just flying over air. don't you have to be careful what you wish for because of this could end very badly? you must surely be more aware than me about what russia

has done in the past in georgia, ukraine, in the neighbourhood of former soviet union allies and members of the soviet space, who, frankly, russia is determined to keep on its side of the ledger, could happen in belarus as well. you could end up with russian forces on your soil. we cannot rule out that opportunity with russia. never with russia. we need to understand that vladimir putin will never support the guy who is losing and alexander lukashenko lost. he would never do it. but we could have that intervention that is happening softly and that deep integration that might happen very quickly and that is why we say, again and again, that jointly, for the first time ever, west needs to come up with a plan in order to show to russia

who is stronger, who is stronger — democracy or dictatorship? what about the european council president that says that while europe stands by the people of belarus, in the end, any resolution of this crisis must be found inside belarus, not in brussels or in moscow. that was his way of saying there is not much we can do here. the eu commissioner on marketing onlyjust said last week that belarus is not part of europe and belarus is located in between europe and russia. this is the knowledge that the european union has on belarus and that is absolutely shameful what is happening and that is exactly what was said yesterday when it was announced that we would talk to alexander lukashenko so, again

and again and again, for 26 years people of belarus feel betrayed. do you feel let down? the question is, when, for sake, the european union will wake up and act properly, when the european union will show its force and it looks like the dictator is stronger than democracy. that takes me back to the beginning. alexander lu kashenko has not buckled. whatever you say, your husband said the other day, fundamentally we will never go back to the way things were. he said a massive transformation is taking place, it is just not clear how long it will take. how can you be so sure of that, given you are not getting what you want from europe? how can you be so sure you are on the winning side? people of belarus have made their choice. it is not possible to put back that idea of freedom anymore. there is no way back

for people. it is not possible for people to continue to live in the country led by the person who they hate, who tortured them, who raped them, who killed their relatives. there is simply no way back. unless he forces out the leaders of the protest movement, people such as yourself. you left almost a decade ago. there are maybe young people in belarus today who in the end give up, decide they have to do what you did and leave. then it will be very simple, europe, open your doors, 10 million are coming. are you ready for that? better get prepared to put your plan in place and act now in order to have a transition of power otherwise 10 million belarusians will be part of europe but i hope they will be part of europe as the youngest

democracy in europe if you act now. natalia kaliada, we have end there. thank you very much forjoining me on hardtalk. thank you very much for having me. hello. storm francis battered a large swathe of the uk through tuesday. we had a gust of 79mph at the needles on the isle of wight. for many southern and western coasts, scenes like these. all tied in with this area of low pressure, and through the early hours of wednesday morning, it tracks its way eastwards into the north sea, taking the strongest winds and the heaviest rain with it. still some gusty winds for a time down eastern coasts through the morning.

some leftover rain for a time for southern scotland. that will soon ease. and for most, mainly dry and spells of sunshine. a few afternoon showers developing in northern ireland, a few across northern scotland, perhaps a couple developing along the spine of england, but for most, it is dry. and crucially, the winds will not be as strong on wednesday as they have been on tuesday. still, some gusts initially alongside eastern coasts, which will ease through the afternoon. feeling a bit warmer as well — 22, 23 celsius. quite widely in the high teens for many. still around 13 or 14 for the far north of scotland. showers keep going overnight across parts of scotland, northern ireland, a few into north wales and north—west england. 0ur eyes once again turn to the atlantic. another area of low pressure heading our way as we move into thursday. that will mean we'll start the day with rain across northern ireland and northern england, it could be heavy for a time. and rain starts to arrive into wales and south—west england in the afternoon. ahead of this, showers, but driest across england, and northern scotland as well. temperatures, though, a little bit lower on thursday compared to wednesday. this area of low pressure still with us on friday.

tracking its way eastwards. notice how the isobars just start to move closer together, so the winds will be strengthening once again on friday. heaviest of the rain at this stage probably across northern england and into north wales and the midlands, but also some heavier rain developing across parts of southern and south—west england through the day. dry through the north and west of northern ireland and much of scotland. we cannot rule out a few showers. as i mentioned, the winds will be picking up once again. quite wet and blustery, and along eastern coasts, temperatures are going to struggle in places to get much above 14 or 15 celsius. for the weekend, the rain will slowly ease from eastern parts of england. the winds will ease down too. and for most, it's dry. some sunshine, but there will be some chilly nights. and this isjust an indication of the overnight temperatures on saturday across parts of the uk. that's all for me. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. i'm david eades with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the first lady's endorsement. melania trump gives the keynote speech on the second night of the republican national convention. i believe that we need my‘s leadership now more than ever in order to lead us back once again to the greatest economy and the strongest country ever known. —— my husband's leadership. the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, praises president trump's foreign policy — and his handling of china. the president has held china accountable for covering up the china virus and allowing it to spread death and economic destruction in america and around the