and deja vue correspondent nick connolly has been covering those protests for several weeks now for us he joins us from minsk nic what can we expect from today's rally. but we're expecting tens if not hundreds of thousands of people out on the streets of need for yet another weekend that election that reflects an overall month now and these protests ring no sign of ending anytime soon has come out for today here's present in terms of technology in terms of. also take people away that is the pattern of the past few weeks a definite attempt to intimidate to keep them out of the city center where i am now the suburbs maybe break down the protest groups make it easy to make arrests but if these last few weeks have been a sign of anything it's that every time the government oppression protests that they just bring out more people against them and we just heard in the report that security forces are targeting women why is that. these women demonstrations even if they haven't been as big as the sunday demonstrations they really have played a very important role in social media they've been pe

enough to quell these protests people have covered their voice and are coming with great numbers ok nick connolly reporting from mint source thank you nick. hong kong police have launched a fresh crackdown on anti-government protests in the city they make making hundreds of arrests demonstrators are furious about a decision to postpone today's planned legislative elections they're also angry about a sweeping national security law imposed by china that gives beijing unprecedented power to crackdown on critics in hong kong. was was reclaim hong kong they chant and hong kong people unite. these pro-democracy campaign is should be voting today in elections to the city's legislature instead that out on the streets after a far it is delayed the poll until next summer citing a spike in coded 19 cases. was that that protests have been met with an andras bonds with police firing pepper balls at some. and using stop and search on others was the was that the what the. the new national security law imposed by china bans demonstrations like the use another reason people are protesting right now the protests l

our correspondent nick connolly is following the story in bellows capital minsk and he sent us this assessment. sometimes there's no time to follow the law that was alexander lukashenko message to his own security services today the protests he said were inspired and orchestrated from abroad only harsh measures would do in effect has now given all thought is called laws to use whatever forms of oppression it takes to end these protests in recent weeks we've already seen mass arrests beatings and disappearances. for now at least these attempts to scare people back into keeping quiet don't seem to be working on sunday demonstrators running away from plainclothes police coming to arrest them jumped into the lake behind me. the life guards on duty who came to rescue the protesters were later themselves arrested and spent several days in jail simply for doing their job in the lifeguards left jail today they were met by a crowd of volunteers offering them food and water as well as legal and psychological support offers of new jobs followed. the more the government polls on the pressure the closer it

we spoke to our correspondent nick connolly since a number of opposition activists have been forced to leave the country now we asked him whether this has weakened the opposition movement. with definite chilling sign it's a sign that the government is making good on its promise to crack down and to really get rid of any serious organized opposition activity there are now 2 main leaders of the opposition council left in freedom in belarus one of them being to see which the nobel prize winning writer so that really gives you a sense of what how many people have been forced out forced to leave the country but these parts the why did this is not about organized political parties or structures these are protests organized by people by individuals by students by residents of individual parts of me so i think by putting 1020 or even a few 100 people in jail these protests are going to end it and soon. to the case of the russian opposition leader alexei enough army foreign ministers of the group of 7 leading nations have condemned what they describe as the confirmed pi's inning of the kremlin

are pulling our correspondent nick connolly he is in the capital of the roost minsk for us tonight good evening to you nic this secret inauguration did not remain a secret very long as we have seen has it triggered more protests and i'm wondering has it strengthen the resolve of the opposition. well there were a few hours brant where you got the sense that everyone was just shocked no one could actually believe that this was happening this seemed like a dress rehearsal there wasn't much urgency about it i certainly just heard the roads go silent but you know roads being shut down a settlement is no rarity these days in the capital some people had seen you uniforms dress uniforms on soldiers in the capital but no one could imagine that he would pull this off without foreign dignitaries to add legitimacy to the event without the russians not even the russian ambassador was there and extraordinary that those $700.00 people all top officials in the regime managed to keep a secret no one releasing information no one letting out about this event but it definitely seems to have changed the ton

our correspondent nick connolly he is in the capital. for us tonight good evening to you nic this secret inauguration did not remain a secret very long as we have seen has it triggered more protests and i wonder has it strengthen the resolve of the opposition. well there were a few hours brant where you got the sense that everyone was just shocked no one could actually believe that this was happening this seemed like a dress rehearsal there wasn't much urgency about it i certainly just heard the roads go silent but you know roads being shut down essential is no rarity these days in the russian capital some people have seen you have uniforms dress uniforms on soldiers in the capital but no one could imagine that he would pull this off without foreign dignitaries to add legitimacy to the event without the russians not even the russian ambassador was there and extraordinary that those $700.00 people all top officials in the regime managed to keep a secret no one releasing information no one letting out about this event but it definitely see

correspondent nick connolly is reporting for us out from minsk protesters are keeping up with the pressure what does that look like today. well that is the $1000000.00 question how many people will do the test and get out today there's obviously pressure on them to bring out more every week and it looks like the signs are good given the disappearance and attempted expulsion make a list of the last week you'll remember she was abducted in broad daylight not home here in central maine then turned up at the ukrainian border where the authorities want to keep her out but managed to prevent that by ripping her possible and jumping out of a window. that is a backdrop to this week's protests we've also heard from i got a look cinco telling his security services that sometimes there is no time to comply with the law basically giving them caught last using any kinds of oppression legal and illegal to say put a lid on these protests but based on what we've seen in recent days this isn't working people are not scared they tell you time and time again there are just too many of us for them to put us a

kremlin is watching the protest movement in belarus very closely well they doubly correspondent nick connolly is on the ground for us in minsk protest aside i feel like it's their time how does it look from your vantage point. well it's difficult to imagine now on the streets how many people were out today around 200000 as we just heard but it ended as quickly as it began that is the pattern here because most of the arrests happened beginning before the big crowds arrived easier for the security so take stragglers and the same as it ends so kind of extraordinary contrast to a very relaxed atmosphere people out with. small children their strollers and then suddenly when the end nears everyone disappearing in a great hurry into the metro and shopping centers just trying to get away from the police who as we've just heard of made about 400 arrests so far although still rising. these protests are continuing a month after the election here in belarus and no sign from the people here that the threat and the arrests of the last 2 days the release putting them up. to violence against women protesting

and let's cross straight to mint now and get our correspondent nick connolly on the lawn nick tell us what's happening in the capital right now. good evening while the main march is now over people are heading home in the last few analysis we've seen think of the police some with balaclavas grabbing people off the streets young people running the company in shops and cafes trying to get away from all that this was overwhelmingly a peaceful march i think the numbers were just too big for the police to try and coordinate or make big arrests need to be the most i've seen in the cost few weeks hundreds of thousands probably out but the police again trying to separate people in the course of the city prevent them from the one single column where i was we reached going to sink those official residence there was a huge police cordon fencing and you saw the people in riot gear looking of the fence slightly seemingly surprised by the sheer numbers of people out there playing music very relaxed people even with young kids in prams. specially given by the government recent days to scare people a

your correspondent nick connolly is reporting for us from minsk take a protester as a keeping up with the pressure what does that look like today. well that is the $1000000.00 question how many people will do the test and get out today there's always the pressure on them to bring out more every week and it looks like the signs are good given the disappearance and attempted expulsion make a list of the last week you'll remember she was abducted in broad daylight not home here in central maine then turned up at the ukrainian border where the authorities want to keep her out but mr bent that by ripping her possible and jumping out of a window. that is a backdrop to this week's protests we've also heard from i got a look at telling his security services sometimes there's no time to comply with the law basically giving them caught last using any kinds of oppression legal and illegal to use put a lid on these protests but based on what we've seen in recent days this isn't working people are not scared they tell you time and time again there are just too many of us for them to put us all in