sure. bearing witness global news that matters. made from minds. to. this indeed every news live from far away and the president of mali toppled in a military coup ybor him bill baka cape town steps down amid his detention by rebel soldiers it follows months of growing political tension and anti-government protest which leaves an already unstable country heading into an uncertain future also coming up as more people in bell a very strong protest calling for president lukashenko to resign german chancellor

angela merkel tells him his government must free political prisoners and avoid violence. i'm sorry kelly welcome to the program leaders of a military coup in the west african nation of mali say that they will enact political transition and fresh elections within a reasonable time this after mali's president. announced his resignation just hours after being detained by armed soldiers his ousting following months of protest over corruption and economic mismanagement but while the events have been met with jubilation and side of mali they have sparked a long among international observers.

7 gun shots that aren't meant to kill but to celebrate this can die the gates the jeering crowd sitting inside is believed to be the arrested president or him because kita and other officials and later on in the day a weary looking president keita appeared on state t.v. . if today it pleased some elements of our armed forces. to conclude that it would end their intervention. do i really have a choice. i submit to it because i do not wish any blood to be shed to keep me in power. it was a very. the coup leaders also appeared on state television that when a transition that would lead to fresh elections. their

takeover started as a media knee among soldiers at an army base near the capital bamako. after seizing weapons and taking high ranking prisoners they then moved to the president's house surrounding it and firing gunshots into the air. crowds of anti-government protesters cheered on as the democratically elected leader was arrested and driven away. so you are very happy because this is a liberation for the people of mali all of mali's people were waiting for this day and we were waiting for the president any of the men to allow us to breathe today we don't have any words to express what's in our hearts thank god and may the president and his gang leave us in pace i don't know. mali has been gripped by months of anti-government protest with many accusing kate is an administration of corruption and incompetence especially when it came to preventing

a jihad this insurgency from the north. while the president's resignation was celebrated by those in the streets the takeover was roundly condemned by the international community eco wess a west african regional bloc pledged to close land and air borders to mali as a result. it must feel like deja vu for some the military coup was launched from the very same base in 2012 toppling the then president and sending the country into a period of chaos. this time around the people of mali will be hoping for a smooth transition of power but it's still unclear just who that power will be handed to. them let's get more now on the coup in mali i'm joined by my colleague tom hall joining us from africa we saw the images there of them celebrating in the streets how has this been received by the broader population would you say well you

know mentioned there have been protests going on for months millions have been unhappy with the state of things in the country and so seeing the fact that the president wasn't giving in despite their months of protests and all of a sudden he has been pushed away i think that is why these people have come out when the soldiers were roaring into the capital bamako crowds came out to cheer them and that showed some sense that this has been to some extent a populist cool locally but he was elected just 2 years ago so i mean what happened in the meantime why did turn on him i think that's what sparked the protest in the 1st place the fact that the people felt that the government was not doing what it was supposed to do they accuse of corruption these accused of being generally incompetent in its in its work the president of nepotism appointing his own cronies into government including his son. as well you have to remember mali also has this insurgency going on particularly in the central northern part of the country that

has not been sorted out as well and so there has been all this discontent why is the government not being able to implement these issues there's been a peace agreement that was signed in 2015 between the government and some of these different rebel movements and in other parts of the country that has not been fully implemented as well there's a lot of dissatisfied. actually the way the government is handling things and that's why such a rebellion has had the kind of support it has me see a party have on the streets busy now the political consequences for the country so i mean this is the 2nd coup in 8 years what comes next for this country that's difficult because we're still in those early stages will the military 1st of all be trusted to do what they claim they want to do which is to force the president out and then have it and it's not clear exactly what they want whether another government to come in place with someone of their own choosing so and that's why i echo us the regional body the west african regional body has come out and denounced

all condemned this this coup because this kind of thing has happened not just in mali but in the region as well and these. ecowas would say that military movements like this cannot always be trusted they're saying the people voices in form of democracy not just people's voices on the streets alone but through a formal democratic process that's what eko us and and molly's partners abroad are calling for so there's a lot at stake in terms of mali's own presidency in terms of the stability of the gov of the country as a whole in terms of security as well as i mentioned that is still shaky and so there's so many issues on how the country's able to move forward over the next few days everyone waiting with bated breath to see what happens next now in mali tommy a lot of reporting thank you. and let's take a look now at some of the other stories making news around the world the u.s. democratic party has now formally nominated joe by as its 2020 presidential

candidate to go up against donald trump party officials from all over the country cast their votes for the former vice president during the all virtual democratic national convention. a special u.n. tribunal in the netherlands has convicted a man of killing former lebanese prime minister rafiq hariri 3 other defendants were acquitted of the 4 members of the hezbollah militant group or try it in their absentia for the 2005 bombing in beirut that killed harare and 21 others. authorities on the indian ocean island of mauritius have arrested the captain of a japanese owned a ship which ran aground off of its coast spewing tons of oil into pristine waters the spill spread over a vast area of endangered corals fish and other marine life in what some scientists have called the worst ecological disaster in the country's history. all european

union leaders will discuss possible sanctions against bellerive said in an emergency video conference today in a video message opposition politician said lata taken off skya called on the e.u. council not to recognize what she called fraudulent elections which saw president alexander lukashenko return to power for a 6th term the e.u. emergency talks come as lucas said go faces growing rebellion from sectors of society that he could once reliably count on for support. more work has joined the walkout in the past president alexander lukashenko could count on state employees to support him but he had to order manages to threaten them with disciplinary action if they joined a nationwide strike. some ignored those threats.

even with the presidential challenger as with lana chicken off sky is still in exile the opposition is growing more confident they set up a coordination council in bella ruse to organize a peaceful transfer of power. we pull commission i am up we are only beginning to rebuild mechanisms to feel like a strong and independent nation yes of course it will be very difficult but we have taken a step and we are setting an example for all to see how we can unite how we can work together and speak with one voice. but bellary says authoritarian leader is not ready to talk about ending his 26 year rule yet at a meeting with his security council he branded the opposition's actions a coup because. what cuba would do the western countries that are behind these protests toss this other side to toss and demand no less then to hand them power we consider it

a clear attempt to seize power with all the consequences of the protesters have already experienced brutal consequences and opposition activists shows photos of injured demonstrators he says were beaten by riot police 2 people have been killed during the mass protests and thousands jailed the violent crackdown has drawn criticism from some of bellary says neighbors or war. but not from one important one. the bit of russian president vladimir putin received phone calls from german chancellor angela merkel and the e.u. leaders on tuesday merkel said political prisoners in belarus must be released and there must be a national dialogue to settle things peacefully. but according to the kremlin putin's reply was to tell them to stop meddling in belarus where the powerful neighbors get involved or not the bellary see an opposition is planning their next

step to bring lukas shanker has rule to an end. and let's get more now we are joined by. shadow who is following developments for us yuri another evening of protest and manske are the opposition and the demonstrators gaining ground grout always see as the opposition but there is definitely acting more and more professionally more and more coordinated and goal oriented given that just a few weeks ago there was almost a no united to position what's happening today is it really a future success for them the opposition created and coordinating council that announced yesterday the concrete aim of its work to hold 'd a new presidential elections and arrange for a peaceful transfer of power the council has no other political or reform program they set counselor members pointed out to that that they do not aim to cease power

which is what actually accused them of wanting to do the peaceful program of the council seems really well considered because nobody wants more violence neither on the opposition side nor among the supporters of alexander lukashenko the e.u. also meeting today to discuss belarus talk with us about about the leverage that they might have in the situation. well the you obviously has a lot of influence here bella who is in the middle of your abilities has always seen itself as a european country. is surrounded to not only by its biggest neighbor russia but also by the e.u. members poland and lithuania you may not have the close economic ties with belarus that russia has about it the dots have political influence the opposition has repeatedly emphasized how important the use of their it it's is for them and its opposition politicians have gone to kind of scope we saw it cold today on the you

not to recognize presidential elections however it is not to the e.u. that has the final say when it comes to the country's future about the people and take on also the urge to the e.u. to respect their choice and there's a bit there's a bit of tension right now going on over over the involvement not only of the e.u. but also that of russia talk with us about the how serious russia is in its support of belarus especially if leaders are getting involved now. yeah i think russia will definitely try to avoid any military intervention such interference especially to prop up alexander lukashenko will quickly and irrevocably change the attitude of belarus and society towards russia that attitude is very positive so far we haven't seen any single until russian slogan during the protest for example also such potential interference would ultimately lead to a new crisis in relations between russia and the best it could mean new sanctions

for russia and there could be a reaction from nato of course protests in the thorn in putin's side because they show his own compadres here what the protests against a long term strongman leader can provoke so a kind of dress rehearsal for a possible change of power in russia one day but nevertheless putin is acting very cautiously at least when it comes to public statements and it seems like he is weighing his options very carefully. why subscribe to d.w. books you meet your favorite writer write. to what i write is to share with differing view from. books on you to. use for me. it's for you. it's for help.