this is news coming from european union leaders including the german chancellor say they recognize election results. president lukashenko in power. actions were not free and they were not fair and. the results of the elections. says protesters in belarus deserve dialogue with. the president isn't taking her call also coming up. motorcycle riders along

a busy highway leaving at least one person with life threatening injuries german prosecutors are calling it an islamist motivated attack. plus the last team standing in. munich play leone in the coming hours for a spot in the. in their last match now by and hope to regain the magic there 2013 season last time they won europe's greatest football trophy. hello i'm terry marchin good to have you with us we start in belarus where there is no let up in public anger about the aug 9th presidential election many people are also angry about the. opposition protesters on wednesday have more workers and.

putting those in the public sector joint a general strike called to push for alex because they have to step down for a new boat to be held but the autocratic leader is not ready to talk about ending his 26 year old rule yet and branded the opposition's actions a coup. meanwhile the e.u. held a virtual emergency summit on the increasingly volatile situation in belarus the 27 heads of government and top leaders decided to impose economic sanctions on the former soviet republic lucas shank oh the german chancellor angela merkel condemned the recent elections take a listen 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 dam the brutal violence against the demonstrators as well as the imprisonment and use of violence

exerted against thousands of belo rest since we are calling for the regime of the government of mr luker schenkel to cease violence and 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. that was chancellor merkel speaking in berlin the softer new well in brussels the head of the european commission ursula on the line said the e.u. is ready for a peaceful transition of power and better roast one alliance said the force used by the russian problem 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 falsification of the results of the election. the people of but i was 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 for the very latest let's go now to correspond is nick conley in minsk and barbara in brussels barbara let's start with you how far is the e.u. going out on a limb here diplomatically by formally rejecting election results and better reason backing the opposition. they have really stuck their neck out of the window here

terry because this is the most the moves that they could possibly do and stay within diplomatic limits me not recognizing the election results clearly means you have sort of falsified elections stepped down and in promising to sort of porridge a peaceful transition it is also in message to moscow that the european union once political change and is ready to sort of step up and support to do something for those people there now that is this is just a small slice away from what president putin of call also would call foreign interference and they have really sort of walking a very treating a very tight rope here they're really trying to stave just within the limits of the possible nick alexander lukashenko has survived. before is

there anything to suggest that this time will be any different. well terry the people here on the square in from the government house in minsk are calling for her to go calling for tribunals overhears government also saying that they'll be here every day every day is one of the chance they certainly have been following what's been going on in the e.u. and certainly many of them are encouraged by the sanctions and stood by this is not to recognize this election and its results in terms of the concrete. well as you say he has survived round and round of sanctions in the past often enough they've been then lessened or even taken away without him doing much in return but i think the real importance here is the symbolism for the people here who really are worried the rest of the world isn't looking that their protests are going on notice for them it will be a psychological boost and a sign that the rest the world is paying attention to others and its future. barbara does the e.u. have any real leverage in pushing pushing for

a change in belarus we just heard that lucas shankar seems to resist sanctions will probably what cards does the e.u. have left to play. they do have some leverage and they have so far not employed me you're right in saying also nick of course emphasizing that has seen off around and round of sanctions from the european union and the sort of verbal interventions from the you're european union bot we also know that a large part of the gas in oil deliveries to western europe goes through bella ruse now the message is really one to president putin the message is will you stand for peaceful change in belarus will you let people there decide what their own fate should be as long as it stays within the limits of being a new pro russian. political leader now that is the main thrust of what we saw today here in brussels and so they do have economic leverage and it is really

strong they can really cut off president putin's sort of in economical standing at his knees and that is something that at the present position he cannot afford to so he really has to make up his mind what he wants does he want to keep local frankl in power at all costs or does he want some sort of compromise in belarus and that is the power play that is in running and running itself out here and the european union is really taking a gamble at this point but as nick really said they try to give people in bella who some hope and telling that we are at least looking at you and watching trying to watch will be you. so nick you're saying that the people in belarus those on the streets who are protesting appreciate the noises that are coming from brussels but what about luka shakos himself has he offered any reaction yet to this to the decisions made by the e.u. leaders. will come out in recent days often enough

accusing western european and generally european governments of interference in belarus is internal affairs i think you probably have been looking and meaning most of all poland and if you in your way at the better russian diaspora is concentrated in your country to which presidential candidates said fled for safety just a few days ago poland is home to some of the biggest opposition media networks from operating out of poland so i think that we can guess what his reaction will be i think now moving on the days ahead there is no clear real dynamic where this is going these protests are very sporadic we've had protests cropping up in various corners of means and of the whole country at different times to try and follow them and then they go on and then a few hours they step back again this is a very difficult stage to judge how where it's going but i think the main takeaway from all of this is that people have lost their fear of calling out this regime in public people are no longer afraid to voice their dissent they no longer afraid to

voice their support for the opposition candidates and i think that's going to be very difficult to turn back even if these protests were to die down the fear is gone up 26 years and people are out voicing their opinions and doing it in big numbers world's attention is on minsk nick connolly there in minsk and barbara basal in brussels thank you both very much. now it's a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world today the been scenes of jubilation in mali's capital bomb a co after president car k. to resign saying no blood will be shed to keep him in power. announces a brezec nation just hours after being detained by armed soldiers is now saying falls months of protests over alleged corruption and economic mismanagement in the west. the us their credit card has now formally nominated joe biden as its

2020 presidential candidate to go up against donald trump in november party officials from all over the country cast their votes from the former vice president during the virtual democratic national convention. and german foreign minister heiko must hosted his saudi counterpart prince fuzz all been sought in berlin it's to discuss issues including the normalization of relations between israel and the united arab emirates saudi arabia said it will not follow its neighbor in a salish in diplomatic ties with israel until there is an israeli palestinian peace accord. a man has been arrested for attempted murder after a series of dangerous motorway collisions here in berlin german prosecutors say the suspect was on a hunt in his car targeting motorcyclists and are calling it a suspect it is a missed attack 6 people were injured. the wreckage from tuesday'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 a 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 2. investigators are exploring the possibility it was an islamist motivated attack. power from the radical religious or islamist mindset which evidently lay behind and motivated these actions there's also evidence the man is psychologically unstable we are of course following that up as well. the motorway was

closed for several hours causing major disruption police are strivers to get out of their vehicles as a precaution berliners 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. and munich are the last german club still left in the champions league defeat to. face. in the 2nd semifinal tonight chasing a 3rd trophy of the season a trouble for the 1st time since their last champions troll league triumph in 2013 . donna said it was required munich last won the champions league in 2013 in an all german final against piracy dortmund they've won the blunders league every year

since in an historic st it stands at 8 aces clearly great but what the variance crave is a return to european glory. as been relaxed versus guns i'm relaxed about the whole thing because i know the team is very focused cause it's got big goals but we all know that it's again starting an illness and we have to play with the same level of intensity as we did against barcelona for 90 minutes via this game but i don't like . having this man certainly now messi in barcelona in the quarter final goodbye and machine now face is a relative minnow in french side leon. you are fully after feeding you for a rough to the past a lonely game is of course very very big both on the day and the day after it was a very nice feeling to start the tournament here in lisbon with a win like that but now we know we have to switch the focus to lay on the prepare for them it will be a different kind of opponent

a different kind of game under the spirit. is by and can add a 6th champions league title on sunday and become europe's most successful club side. you're watching the w. news from berlin coming up next we have our daily special on the coronavirus focusing on pregnancy and childbirth don't go away. combating the corona pandemic. where does research stand. what are scientists learning. background information and news. hour carona update. 19 special next on d w. culture. hair.