huge anti-government demonstrations are still being held in the bella russian capital after last week's contested presidential election which store longtime president alexander lukashenko secured a 6th term in office. this person has been in power for 26 years. with you steve and doesn't want to make. any more prolific shanker rallies have also taken to the streets today in support of the beleaguered president. i support an exam to look a shame cause i wasn't forced to come here this is my personal choice. and of the stories that shaped the week russia begins mass production of its new covert

vaccine claiming it's a world 1st but many scientists around the globe express the law on fear in huge quantities have been hurt. very well welcome you're watching the weekly with all the latest headlines and a round of of the week's top stories thanks for joining us. now a week after the hugely contested presidential election bella bruce is still seeing massive demonstrations throughout the country both pro and anti-government rallies have taken to the streets today in some cases gathering just meters apart opposition protesters. opposition protestors are holding a march for freedom through the capital minsk they're demanding the long time president alexander lukashenko resign citing concerns he's clinging to power by force and ignoring the voice of his people similar marches are being held throughout the country our correspondents at this report from the city.

through the desert for 45 this is how the protests unfolding now in independence square people have moved from the money went to here in the morning there was a pro-government rally here. but all the people of left now in the square was freed unlike the previous protest that happened here right place on guarding the house of the government there only buried a statue of people there even sitting on this one office that came out and as i understand people not to sit on the barriers because it's dangerous and they could fall and that's about all the people are chanting all the familiar slogans singing the same songs i can't say there's a certain development or change here. this person has been in power for 26 years he's glowing treat with his teeth and he doesn't want to let go they see him when we are against violence we're defending our vote we're doing this for the future of our contrary i want my children not to live in

a country which has violence where there is no voice and no freedom of speech i think if i can't agree with what's happening in the country one person is trying to hold on to power by force i'm trying to show everyone that i'm against it and that's why i'm here. at the same time demonstrators in support of the president have taken to the streets of minsk to voice their opinions to several 1000 people from all over the country gathered early on independence square in the capital to show their support for the president the pro-government demonstrators always fears about the security of the country saying it's all too familiar it's what happened in ukraine in 2014 go himself also made an appearance at the demonstrations thanking the people for backing him. it was her decision was to. her.

handlers yes but i support alexander lukashenko i wasn't forced to come here this is my personal choice. i've heard so many threats but they won't break me because i bought the still should with my own money no one paid me. i support disability what's happening now reminds me of ukraine in 2014 everything started believes that people the same way as the young people with flowers now just don't understand what was happening here in 1900 perhaps they want to return to 117 when people toppled the russian empire in a similar way and civil war but we want peace there's a process has also been held outside the by the russian embassy in moscow it's been going on every day this week among calls reports from the russian capital. this is the 8th day where we're covering the protests here outside the embassy a bill or is let me just to give you a hint self what's going on this is a live picture you can see people lining up with

a white ribbon the with flowers with red and white flags once again this has been happening here for 8 days straight on saturday was still the largest turnout here as the line of protesters extended beyond that long over the last few days because talk to people from all walks of life but this particular protests are caught my attention issues and it's a big chance there is nobody here waiting for something to happen being anxious and there is nobody like sation there is no sense there's very space had to change it feels like there is a trick but you do not know when it will play out today is my wedding anniversary i wanted to you know i.d.c. events because you know personal life it's turning point to 3 sets and for motorists this is the moment at least you opus unities in the resources for me uniting the students being as opposed to new life peaceful demonstrations continue in minsk as well where earlier least 65000 people came out in support of

alexander lukashenko now those numbers are according to the interior ministry hours later and and see look at shango rally began that building up with our correspondent in minsk reporting that there are over 100000 people the most recent reports indicate that the city's independence square is filled to near capacity similar scenes have been recorded in other places in belarus as well as pro and anti look at shanker rallies unfolded meanwhile nato is calling on men still allow the peaceful protests to continue and said that they're going to as ation is following the events in bella ruse very closely the statements came out when right out. sir a look at shank award to his supporters that's a nato forces building up their army near the below russian border lithuania's foreign minister was quick to denounce that say that statement saying

that it is indeed a lie however president of belarus side exotica shankar still announced military drills near the country's western borders. well flown as close live to sean and bricmont political commentary said thank you for joining us on the program now given everything we've seen this week do you think i look at those days as presidents are numbered. i have no idea about that it all depends on the army is young remains faithful i don't think his numbers his name. days are numbered and today there were yesterday there was a significant move by russia to actually in the name of a collaboration between the 2 caltrain to supposedly support stability in the even better homes which means. supporting the catching pool so i think. you know you don't know we don't know because the us has been running these hazim change color

revolutions all over the place so in claim this succeeded but don't you see they really will eventually see the need in israel as this if she didn't believe this is it in some way succeeded in in the way they also created the government we don't know it's a complicated struggle i'm not there i don't speak the language i can't tell you what's going to happen but to me these policies of intervention is killing on the one hand if it succeeded plunges the. trailer in libya any fish can also create enormous mayhem as they have done in syria and those forces the government to become more territory and in order to protect itself from foreign intervention so in fact in both cases the the outcome of these intervention is a disaster because the government might be actually less impressive if it wasn't

facing any influence there is no doubt question crating made a mistake because he was in a quarrel with all places to turn to the united states and then of course he forgot that many people have been trying to use the united states in the past. in the sixty's of. the 9980. or even saddam hussein during the. all these people when the u.s. doesn't want them they just a little closer and they give them the don't give the fact that they were lies and i think the. should never have against person in favor of the united states even though they may make an increase and so that the homo strategy point of view it's a mistake so they have you in the embassy in means and then of course what did they do the national endowment for democracy financed $37.00 organization among the king democracy namely promoting his in change in the whole thing that was a big mistake so after

a week about unrest that the president is out of the net that will be no reward of the election how do you see things playing out in the coming week. as i said can't predict because you don't know either i mean nobody knows how these things unfold or in a few years ago it would not after that the mother will governments in the guy in israel. and the ditch on the other hand did not expect ecuador to evolve the way it went we had a successor you know. the elected successor from the holding back the. change completely east policy and i did not expect to believe you had to succeed but succeeded you know it's an ongoing struggle we don't know i mean it's an ongoing struggle i think the main issue is that you know. what a person has been fighting for china to respect for international law this is the good 17 of all the states and then interference in the hope of the states the west

is systematically very dangerous princie well now that maybe he's threatening sanctions do you think that's likely to fall into you are talking with the opposition. i hope he talks to the opposition but it remains to be seen whether the opposition want to talk to him and when you see that these people say you have to get out you have to get out there's no other way to talk. to the a position that's not the you know i'm not against talking to the domestic opposition but the problem of the sanctions you know the sanctions have. had sanctions against cuba still they had sanctions for decades again the iran and they're strengthening them and they're still there in doing that to syria it will depend on the determination of the people inside of the people inside. with their hazim that of the sanctions may help and a lot but look or see there that are meant to protect their national independence and these issues whether they will have to get rid of the regime and become. the

united states as the. states are pulling in essence ukrainians into or whether they want to him in that and that's the basic issue and i don't know what the being in the. summer months political commentator thank you for your time thank you very much for having other things repair common law in minsk the beginning of the week was marred with andress which left a demonstrator dead that he was now in that reportedly showing the moment of the tragedy and warning you might find the footage the stepping. you can see a group of riot police who were just a few meters away from the alleged victim shortly after comes the apparent moment the protester was killed for the worse interior ministry had previously came the victim a tried to blow an explosive device at officers but it went off in his hands but let's take a look now at how events unfolded during the week. i was . there just a few people but i do not think out of 'd our yes i swallowed yes q

yes that's come out but i want to leave and if we have a peaceful calm what would mr new. let. me come march this mass that is going on can you take this time to talk. i am. not so sure. but it would be. the bellaver so authorities have also been criticized for failing to protect journalists 64 were detained during this week among their reporters working for artie's video agency rectally who spend days behind bars and the 7000

protesters were detained across the country this week the government began releasing them on thursday night promising everyone would be freed by friday there was unclear if that actually happened doctors were among those held. what kind of doctors are you you're not doctors i don't know what you are werewolves that's the sort of thing they shout it and a lot of swear words that i don't want to repeat they were also saying this when you were 1st held on the street everyone driving by was shocked doctors and white ropes on their knees with a machine gun to the head. alexander lukashenko has been at the helm of delivery since 1904 but this year's election has been his most challenging going quarter looks at the shift in support. in bellerose having the title go or daddy means you've got the most populist position in the entire post soviet sphere and for the recently reelected president alexander look at shank oh he's held the position for decades.

he loves to push on the russians have to hold on to look even in the most critical situation as a drowning man who catches the straw that you just took my racing to be 90 percent tomorrow he will be with you like we all know it is not for you to decide for. themselves i envy myself i see i am the last and only dictator in europe. i'm not going to hold this position for a lifetime as soon as the people refuse my services i'll take my bag under my arm and i'm going. on board the populist train before it was cool before politicians like steve bannon and donald trump probably even knew the meaning of the word one

of his most recent populist stunts involved the dismissal of belarus as agricultural minister after the minister's cows failed to gain lucas shank those approval. why did you bring me here so why now tell security service to put you in handcuffs if a person does not understand that this is auschwitz and you put him in charge of the holding who did not understand you were to. look at shank as a man of inspections meetings with bureaucrats and reprimands of government officials when the cameras are watching of course this puts a smile on the faces of ordinary people who struggle daily with bureaucratic red tape it's also the main reason why they call the shank obama for many baka is also a strong man who created an enclave of the soviet union. within europe it's been a popular stance for years but now look at those image is facing some big problems .

sure look at shank go claims he won the election it seems like the security forces are on his side and for a while he only faced small pockets of pro western opposition but based on the brutality used by the police to control the situation arrests made of journalists and the death of a protester it seems like the entire country's view of the government is definitely turning sour. that it's possible lucas shank owes recent anti russia statements alley and made it his main base of support those who want closer cooperation with belarus is eastern neighbor we need to address the russian media reduce them not to say you know incidents if you would you'll see you need to get into the situation with dignity you know you'll see good we have no gold to discredit the country clues to us

arresting russian journalists didn't help the situation either. for the west he's always been europe's last dictator even look at shankar himself said he knew people would dispute the election results whatever the case the belorussian president will need to father more support if he wants to remain at the head of the table. a number of countries have condemned what they called a rigged election and the heavy handed response of the police the e.u. has voiced its plans to sanction those responsible for the violence and what it called the folds of occasion of election results or some other lists we spoke to are drawing parallels with what happened in ukraine in 2014 while others said dialogue remains key. there are very strong similarities between what we laid out in front of our eyes now in belarus and what happened in ukraine so we had a very similar scenario not a color so attentive reading

a successful color revolution in yugoslavia the united states aligned in that line of many western countries with whatever happens in the result but also between it will be illegitimate we had the same rhetoric coming out of the western capitals as we're getting yet that the government that was told it couldn't really respond to any protests against even if they turn violent and that's what we're seeing so it's kind of movie that we've seen many times before and it doesn't end well that would be that the previous law that didn't end well for the people of your great probably the better comparison is with ukraine in 2004 of the time of the so-called orange revolution by the russian society whatever its views on who should be president. is anxious to avoid not only the kind of violent people that you saw in ukraine in february 2014 but all the problems that ukraine has had ever since and i think for those of us who want to see a peaceful and if you like a legitimate democratic outcome for both of us it's very important that the losing side in any political crisis has options of coming back through the ballot box once

you foreclosed that new then do risk civil war civil conflict which is after all what has been set up parts of ukraine ever since because it is escalating that means that both sides are short sided of the hair or lack of strategic vision of the situation overthrowing governmental side it would be wise to ask the opposition to least of the interests so why they are so keen to get to read all the president lucas and opposition should also try to find a way to be integrated into into into legal political process drive to suggest something that is acceptable to the government. coming out of russia this week announced they had approved a while. covert vaccine but jop is already in production of us scientists around the globe have run the alarm over the speed of development more on that story after this short break stay with us.

ah no team no crow. no shots. patches. no 1st to. switch your thirst for action. when i was chilled small seemed wrong why don't we all just don't all. get to shape our just to become educated and in detroit because the trail.

went on many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground. welcome back to this week claimed saying it has a covert vaccine ready for mass production named sputnik 5 that the authorities confirms that work was now under way to produce it however huge concerns have been expressed around the world at the speed of the developments amid fears that russia cut huge corners in the race against the coronavirus no mass testing has yet been carried out and no details published about the vaccines effectiveness i hope that the russians have actually definitively proven that the vaccine is safe and

effective i seriously doubt that they've done that it is not about being 1st it is about having a tri tested and safe vaccine which will be given that's the important part to hundreds of millions maybe even billions of people the problem is that we know very little because the russian authorities are not being very transparent and so i am very skeptical about what's happening in russia. well it is obvious that. our foreign colleagues who probably want to kind of competitive advantage over the russians acceding are offering judgments that are to our minds completely groundless in fact many countries have taken accelerated decisions in their vaccine studies but the russian vaccine has already seen a distinct clinical trials and evidence. the vaccine was developed at moscow's gamma layer institute medical workers teachers and those considered to be in other high risk groups will be the 1st to receive it and what is to the general public is

set for the new year but develop a 17000 people work at the new jobs shortly as trials continue well more than 1000000000 doses of the russian vaccine have already been requested from different countries across the globe orders mostly came from asia and the middle east carol dimitri as the russian be head of the russian sovereign wealth fund investing in the country's research outlined more details about the new job. but on the russians people of the wall the very body are tools the virus a very part of the restrictions a very tired of the refused to come homage to those attacks that one of the countries. in which we believe this very state very active. duty of. the people now back to hope to raise your normal life as a vaccination. well i'm confident enough that the injected legacy myself my

wife my of and your 4 year old parents and i think it's very important that we understand the science behind civics though russia great historic knowledge of which you can get my interest you it has developed very successful in all of your seeing and mercy and then basically current virus just proved to be very similar the merce though we've had great science and will likely that there is a good has been done really applied very close allayed was a fight they're not hiring it's beneficial for russian because. everything will be followed almost i've seen to date i know as a 100 percent always a line cheers elop for a strong immune response or significant side effects of 100 percent protection of animals for is you biased the level of immunity. it will produce a stronger immune response going forward but we believe we are still only ones who

have those 2 different than the virus vectors that used to live as a big scene and that means that our books in response will last longer hopefully it will be more than a year while scientists believe that years but of course physicist fact. will be needed to really understand the duration of the vaccination. and ever since people were starting to receive permission about a week seeing it more and more interest but frank a lot of western media outlets locked access to our information so i think now we have break ins through this information bear is it exists and the more people understand what we can do they go because there's outside to learn about the extreme more countries become interested even today we had major announcement by israel serbia in the us oh brazil who are interest who or the russian banks you know work with us on. more than 10000 files have been recorded in

the brazilian amazon this is the beginning of august and viral mentalists say the fires are part of deliberate the forestation but despite being illegal the president is accused of turning a blind eye. to the for the 1st air fire happened on north just the 10th and 11th last year where social media grid coordinates of farmers to been both pasture and forest areas demonstrate their approval of the anti environmental policies the government has been implementing in recent.

white i'm back to the button and has the power to record the regenerate other biomes and other eco systems however what's being done to fight this fire cannot be estimated that this fire has a huge impact especially during the time that we're getting through a very severe says and with very strong winds again that must have brought so wetland specifically supposing small fossil in to last months across slush and be a side of many had tests have burned so it's a criminal fast. thanks for joining us here on aussie international we're back at the top of the hour.

well look forward to talking to you all. that technology should work for people. i robot must obey the orders given it by human beings. except when such orders to conflict with the 1st law show your identification for should be very careful about artificial intelligence at that point all v.c. is to face trusts are volunteer. conflicts on various chaing with artificial intelligence where some of the. robot must protect its own existences comix. will. join me every thursday on the alec simon show and i'll be speaking to guests of the world of politics sports business i'm show business i'll see that.

it could be argued. that we're now in the midst of a could in slow motion. democracy is weakening. conference's and is strengthening. and none of us has chosen this route for our society. is fine of which our elites quite happily continue down. this is a multi-lane highway.