this is. european union leaders including the german chancellor say they don't recognize the election results president. he's elections were not free and they were not fair and do not recognize the results of the elections. the

president isn't taking her. also coming up. 7 there's jubilation in mali's capital as president. should keep him in power but international observers fear more instability is on the. motorcycle riders along a busy highway leaving at least one person with life threatening injuries prosecutors are calling it a terrorist attack. hello and welcome to the program the european union does not recognize the results of the recent election in belarus that has allowed president. to cling to power that from an emergency video summit of e.u. leaders the 27 head. the government will also impose economic sanctions on

individuals they say were involved in voting fraud and a crackdown on protesters. when chancellor merkel spoke to reporters after the emergency summit there have been huge infringements against election rules these elections were not free and they were not fair and this is why we do not recognize the results of these elections together in a common message of the member states we've said clearly that we can damage the brutal violence against the demonstrators as well as the imprisonment and use of violence exerted against thousands of belo rests we are calling for the regime of the government of mr luker shanker to cease violence but the freedom of opinion and freedom to demonstrate must be guaranteed and we also called for an independent media so that people can get independent information

. chancellor merkel though speaking in berlin shortly after the summit well speaking of brussels the head of the european commission ursula on the line said the e.u. is ready for quote a peaceful transition of power in belarus an alliance the force used by bill russian police against opposition demonstrators was unacceptable. today we gave them 3 clear messages. firstly we stand by the people of belarus who won fundamental freedoms and democracy. secondly we will sanction all those responsible for violence repression and force a fixation 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. and thirdly we are ready to accompany peaceful democratic transition of power and bellows. well in belarus itself there's no letup in public anger about the election many people are also angry about the violent crackdown faced by opposition protesters today more workers joined a general strike call to push him to step down and new elections to be held many public sector workers usually a mainstay of official support for the regime also risked disciplinary action to join the national walkout but it was 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 let's cross over to minsk now where our correspondent nick connolly is standing by nic e.u. leaders today threw their weight clearly behind the demonstrators and agreed to

impose sanctions on lucas shakos government is that likely to change anything in belarus. well the thing is resolution to his being under sanctions time and time again during his 26 years in power and they haven't pushed him out of the position palace here in the gulf and being withdrawn years later without really doing much in return i think that would have much the way of direct effect on his ability to exercise power what it will do it will show really strong sign to people here on the ground by the roots that europe cares about the situation this country that europeans all following situation that's something you really need to see when you talk to people they are worried and keen to hear how far this situation is being followed in the rest of europe and what people think about it i think there wasn't really much more the europeans could do they're all big you're going to russian desprez in poland in ukrainian neighboring countries if you're in your home to sit on the presidential candidate had to flee. so there is

some support there for these opposition groups that operating from those neighboring countries but beyond that this this change of power if it comes will be decided on the streets of minsk and not with the help of european powers ok will europe clearly. owing its weight behind the protesters but russia has an interest in all this of course nic what is the kremlin saying about these latest developments. so far we haven't heard any peace pacific response to these latest decisions taken at this summit but it puts that in a good system in a very difficult position on the one hand we have seen attempts to. move closer to the e.u. offer about 56 years of deep divisions of ukraine over crimea and on bass maybe an end to some of the sanctions that have been imposed on russia now this situation better reuss really puts them into the dilemma russia doesn't see any real. thing to win in case you can think of what to do and it's been made clear time time

again that who can seize the roost as russia's nearest ally nearest neighbor that he plans to integrate that you countries close into one kind of federal state so i mean a protest here that would take them to respond with russia is not something the kremlin seemingly would contemplate for now. nick we're getting reports that president lukashenko has ordered police to put down the protests in minsk is there any sign of that happening where you are. i mean terry they've been doing this for the last 10 days it's been a game of cat and mouse to protest as and the police no central protest camp here means people coming out across the city across the country indeed not just protests but also strikes in the country's biggest companies but it's very clear that he is relying fully on security services the k.g.b. headquarters behind me here in central minsk is crucial to the survival of his government his supporters have been absent they've been a few pro-government demonstrations but it's being pretty clear that most people

that don't necessary want to be that have been told to go there by their employers so as difficult situation here but no sense in the protest is that they're losing hope all that they're going to just simply stop coming out just because the cinco is still in power you get the people to sense talking to people here that they see this is the beginning of the end of it. nic thank you very much for bringing us up to date that was nick conley there in minutes. now let's take a look now at some of the other stories making news around the world today the u.s. democratic party has now formally nominated joe biden 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 ever tragic national convention. japanese prime minister shinzo has dismissed concerns about his health the 65 year old said a hospital visit on monday was for routine check up it came just days after top politicians said of a appeared overworked took time out from politics

a decade ago for health reasons he is japan's longest serving prime minister. authorities in france are to make face coverings mandatory in all places of work throughout the country from september 1st basques will be required in all work spaces including open plan or shared offices corridors meeting rooms and changing rooms move comes after france's daily corona virus infection count jumped past 3000 for the 1st time since may. tell us indians in the gaza strip of burnt israeli flags and images of israeli prime minister binyamin netanyahu protest over the recent decision to normalize relations between israel and the united arab emirates comes at a time of rising tensions with palestinian incendiary attacks being countered by israeli airstrikes in gaza. leaders of a military coup in the western african nation of mahdi say they will bring about

a political transition and hold new elections within quote a reasonable time mollie's president abraham boubacar announced his resignation just hours after being detained by armed soldiers his ousting follows months of protests over alleged corruption and economic mismanagement but while the events have been met with your relation inside mali they sparked a lot more among international observers. well for more now let's talk to delay soon a tsunami rather from the c.m.o. lightness research center here in berlin thanks for being with us dr soon i a coup is underway in mali the president has resigned what do you think will happen next. well i do believe that there would be a transition government that would be put in place. probably led by. generals or the military. and then they would organize a. civilian regime but of course they haven't set

any timeline yet. but i think most likely scenario. this is not the 1st 2 and what do you think it will take for the country to return to stability or achieve stability to begin with well you're right it's not the 1st it's not the 1st one maybe the. problem is really structural it has to do with the wait just a function. of constitutional genes. in the country and how. that each was or are not being taken care of for example most of the demonstrations the last few months i've been about ok. marginalization. you. have the and the terrorist

groups that are neatly making. running or governing the country. you mentioned the militant group saw the desert doesn't regions of northern mali are home to a number of some of whom are linked to al qaida what implications does the coup have when it comes to security not only in mali but also in neighboring countries the sawhill region as a whole. yeah i think for countries like nice air. and. the collapse of miley would mean a lot. for the whole region basically so of course this is a cool thing going for the taken as a no 14 day i think by these militant groups to push for

whatever i joined that they might have but i think could be this is a risky. situation for for for the region as a whole and. it's going to be. a very difficult situation to resolve especially if that's transition regime doesn't manage to negotiate we for the groups it's not just about the jihad. in the region there are also other groups that might cause problems for. region. thank you very much that was only a so knife from the. research center here in berlin. thank you. a man has been arrested for attempted murder after a series of dangerous motorway collisions here german prosecutors say the suspect was on a hunt in his car targeting motorcyclists and are calling him

a suspect it is 6 people. the wreckage from g.'s day's crashes was still being cleared on wednesday morning a series of collisions left 6 people injured 3 of them seriously police arrested the driver of this mangled black vehicle a 30 year old iraqi asylum seeker with temporary permission to remain in germany they believe he deliberately rammed 2 motorcycles and the car on the busy a 100 motorway running through berlin after getting out of his car witnesses say he shouted. and placed a metal box on the roof of his vehicle telling people nobody come closer or you will die police later found the box contained only tools investigators are exploring the possibility it was an islamist motivated attack. from the radical religious or islamist mindset which evidently led behind and

motivated these actions there's also evidence the man is psychologically unstable we are of course following that up as well he's invited. the motorway was closed for several hours causing major disruption police drivers to get out of their vehicles as a precaution lynas have faced islamist terror attacks before such as the 2016 christmas market attack which left 12 people dead for now they're left wondering whether a similar motivation was behind what happened here on tuesday evening thanks for watching. carefully. simply. to do good.