maria kolesnikova is the most prominent opposition leader left in the country. here addressing reporters. she spent the last 10 months in custody awaiting trial along with maxim znak, who is a lawyer for the opposition. you can see them both here at their trial today. let's get more from outside the courtroom in minsk. >> we were outside the court this morning just as the trial began. we were not allowed inside. the only people allowed in the process where the lawyers themselves. outside there was a small group of supporters and family members of both maria kolesnikova and maxim znak, who are on trial as of today for very serious charges. they are accused of plotting to overthrow the state, accused of extremism. that is why officials here are saying that the trial is closed. what family and friends have told us is they believe this is simply because there is a complete lack of evidence. >> here is the father of maria kolesnikova talking to sarah earlier today. >> i know my daughter is not guilty, and she is so brave. i cannot be anything but positive. she told m

but somehow maria kolesnikova is still smiling. leader appeared in court today charged with plotting to seize power. she and a fellow activist are facing 12 years behind bars. maria's father brought her flowers. alexander hasn't been allowed to see his daughter for ten months, an extra punishment. and the woman who wanted to change belarus did this dance of defiance. for her dad, it was a chance to smile. "it just shows how free she still is inside," he told me, "despite everything." sarah rainsford, bbc news, minsk. the mexican government is suing major us gun companies, accusing them of failing to stop the illegal flow of weapons across the border. thousands of murders in mexico have been linked to the trafficking of arms. mexican foreign minister, marcelo ebrard, says his country is seeking billions of dollars in compensation. what is the goal of this lawsuit? what what is the goal of this lawsuit? what is what is the goal of this lawsuit? what is mexico what is the goal of this lawsuit? what is mexico tryin- lawsuit? what is me

but somehow maria kolesnikova is still smiling.and a fellow activist are facing 12 years behind bars. maria's father brought her flowers. but had to pass them on via her lawyer. alexander hasn't been allowed to see his daughterfor ten months, an extra punishment. there's a small group of friends and family and supporters who've turned up here outside the court, but the trial�*s been declared closed, supposedly for security reasons. and none of these people are going to be allowed inside. they told me that's because there is no evidence. they believe this trial�*s all about scaring critics into silence. the protests have stopped, but do feel like people in belarus are following what's happening here, following this trial? so, today, we have legal process not only for maxim and maria, we have the process about belarusian people actually and bela rusian rights. and the woman who wanted to change belarus did this dance of defiance. for her dad, it was a chance to smile. "it just shows how free she still is inside," he told me, "despite

here's the father of maria kolesnikova talking to sarah rainsford earlier today. sentence she gets, she's ready. she writes to me all the time. if you want to hear more or read more on all the stories you've been watching here on this addition of os you can go to our website. abc .com/ news for those of you who are not watching in the uk. don't forget you get in touch with me and most of the team on os on twitter. thanks for watching. bye—bye. hello there. much of the country today had a fine one with plenty of sunshine. it felt quite warm, too, but there were some heavy, thundery showers across parts of the midlands and northern england. these will tend to fade away. many places turning drier tonight, but we start to see some rain pushing into western areas, courtesy of this new area of low pressure which is going to be with us for quite a few days. you can see ahead of it very light winds. it turns drier as we start the early hours of friday for many central, southern and eastern areas, but the cloud continues to build up across western scotland and certainly ac

but somehow maria kolesnikova is still smiling.r appeared in court today charged with plotting to seize power. she and a fellow activist are facing 12 years behind bars. maria's father brought her flowers. but had to pass them on via her lawyer. alexander hasn't been allowed to see his daughter for ten months, an extra punishment. and the woman who wanted to change belarus did this dance of defiance. this is closed for security reasons. i have been told this is about scaring critics into silence. do you feel like people are following what is happening here? today, we have legal process, we have the process of belarusian people. and the woman who wanted to change things, she did this done. it was a chance for her dad to smile. "it just shows how free she still is inside," he told me, "despite everything." sarah rainsford, bbc news, minsk. the lengthy legal battle over the whether a senior executive from the chinese industrial giant huawei can be extradited from canada to the us has reached a crucial stage. meng wanzhou, the company'

but somehow maria kolesnikova is still smiling.n court today charged with plotting to seize power. she and a fellow activist are facing 12 years behind bars. maria's father brought her flowers. but had to pass them on via her lawyer. alexander hasn't been allowed to see his daughterfor ten months, an extra punishment. and the woman who wanted to change belarus did this dance of defiance. for her dad, it was a chance to smile. "it just shows how free she still is inside," he told me, "despite everything." sarah rainsford, bbc news, minsk. the lengthy legal battle over the whether a senior executive from the chinese industrial giant huawei can be extradited from canada to the us has reached a crucial stage. meng wanzhou, the company's chief financial officer, as well as the the daughter of its founder, has been held on bail for almost three years. the us wants her to stand trial for financial impropriety. she denies that, and china says the allegations are a sham. the final extradition hearing is under way in vancouver, and barbara p

maria kolesnikova is the most prominent opposition leader left in the country. just as the trial began, but we weren't allowed inside. the only people allowed to wear the lawyers themselves. there was a small group of supporters and family members of both maria kolesnikova... they're accused of plotting to overthrow the state and another national security charge. that's why the officials here are saying the trial is closed, but what the family and friends have told us as they believe this is simply because there is a complete lack of evidence. here's the father of maria kolesnikova talking to sarah rainsford earlier today. translation: i know my daughter is not guilty and she's— i know my daughter is not guilty and she's so— i know my daughter is not guilty and she's so brave that i can't be anything _ she's so brave that i can't be anything but positive. she told me whatever— anything but positive. she told me whatever sentence she gets, she's ready~ _ whatever sentence she gets, she's ready~ she — whatever sentence she gets, she's ready. she writes to me all t

maria kolesnikova was one of the faces of the protests. touring the country, rallying mass crowds. n trial accused of trying to overthrow the authorities. i met maria's father outside her old flat. alexander hasn't been allowed to see her since her arrest last september, but maria writes from her cell every day to reassure him. translation: i know my daughter is not guilty, and she's _ so brave that i can't be anything but positive. she told me, "whatever sentence i get, i'm ready for that. she writes to me all the time that we'll meet against soon, that everything will be ok. but belarus today feels anything but ok. even our meeting is being monitored from the shadows. sarah rainsford, bbc news, minsk. let's get the latest on that story from our reporter in tokyo mariko oi. what can you tell us? several news agencies narraport that krystsina tsimanouskaya has arrived at tokyo airport early this morning. she has now arrived at narita airport, tokyo. there is a direct flight to warsaw in just over one hour. in poland she has been granted a humanitarian visa and she can choose to cont

maria kolesnikova was one of the faces of the protests. touring the country, rallying mass crowds. ow, she goes on trial accused of trying to overthrow the authorities. i met maria's father outside her old flat. alexander hasn't been allowed to see her since her arrest last september, but maria writes from her cell every day to reassure him. translation: i know my daughter is not guilty, and she's _ so brave that i can't be anything but positive. she told me, "whatever sentence i get, i'm ready for that". she writes to me all the time that we'll meet against soon, that everything will be ok. but belarus today feels anything but ok. even our meeting is being monitored from the shadows. sarah rainsford, bbc news, minsk. this is the scene live at narita airport in tokyo where the belarus sprinter krystina simanovskaya is about to board a plane to warsaw. the 24—year—old had posted on social media a few days ago that she had been entered in competition by belarus and officials, she refused and they then tried to get her to fly home which she said she did not want to do. subsequently, po

maria kolesnikova was one of the faces of the protests. touring the country, rallying mass crowds. rrow, she goes on trial accused of trying to overthrow the authorities. i met maria's father outside her old flat. alexander hasn't been allowed to see her since her arrest last september, but maria writes from her cell every day to reassure him. translation: i know my daughter is not guilty, and she's _ so brave that i can't be anything but positive. she told me, "whatever sentence i get, i'm ready for that". she writes to me all the time that we'll meet against soon, that everything will be ok. but belarus today feels anything but ok. even our meeting is being monitored from the shadows. sarah rainsford, bbc news, minsk. this is the scene live at narita airport in tokyo as this is the flight where krystsina tsimanouskaya has boarded. it is a flight that is heading to vienna, austria, not warsaw in poland as was originally thought. there was a degree of confusion around this because poland had offered krystsina tsimanouskaya a humanitarian visa. a lot of photographers and journalists

maria kolesnikova was one of the faces of the protests. touring the country, rallying mass crowds. ow, she goes on trial accused of trying to overthrow the authorities. i met maria's father outside her old flat. alexander hasn't been allowed to see her since her arrest last september, but maria writes from her cell every day to reassure him. translation: i know my daughter is not guilty, and she's _ so brave that i can't be anything but positive. she told me, "whatever sentence i get, i'm ready for that". she writes to me all the time that we'll meet against soon, that everything will be ok. but belarus today feels anything but ok. even our meeting is being monitored from the shadows. sarah rainsford, bbc news, minsk. mariko oi is in tokyo. things may very quickly in the last couple of hours, talking through how these events unfolded?— unfolded? originally, we thou . ht unfolded? originally, we thought that _ unfolded? originally, we thought that she - unfolded? originally, we thought that she would l unfolded? originally, we. thought that she would be unfolded? originally, we - tho

during the day the most prominent opposition leader left in belarus — maria kolesnikova — was being triedegime's human rights abuses. our correspondent bethany bell is in the polish capital, warsaw. what is going on? well we're at warsaw airport _ what is going on? well we're at warsaw airport where _ what is going on? well we're at warsaw airport where we - what is going on? well we're at| warsaw airport where we expect krystina timanovskaya to arrive within the next hour or so. we understand that she is flying here today. it has been a very long day. she left tokyo earlier this morning, initially there were reports she was going to fly directly here, but there were concerns about her security and she flew via vienna instead. she was met in vienna by an austrian official who said she was safe, but worried about her future. here in poland, we are not being given many details about what will happen to her after she arrives, but they will give her a humanitarian visa and there are plans to bring her husband here. he fled from belarus after the incident at the olympics. he is now in the ukra

maria kolesnikova was one of the faces of the protests. touring the country, rallying mass crowds. l accused of trying to overthrow the authorities. i met maria's father outside her old flat. alexander hasn't been allowed to see her since her arrest last september, but maria writes from her cell every day to reassure him. translation: i know my daughter is not guilty, and she's _ so brave that i can't be anything but positive. she told me, "whatever sentence i get, i'm ready for that". she writes to me all the time that we'll meet against soon, that everything will be ok. but belarus today feels anything but ok. even our meeting is being monitored from the shadows. sarah rainsford, bbc news, minsk. let's get some of the day's other news: the australian state of victoria has recorded its first day without a new locally acquired case of covid—19 in more than three weeks. both new south wales and south east queensland are currently in lockdown and the prime minister has said the country needs to get around three quarters of the country vaccinated before they can come out of recurring l

and staying with belarus, the last major opposition leader still in the country, maria kolesnikova, hased her dancing in the dock and making the sign of a love heart. she's charged with plotting to overthrow the government of president alexander lukashenko by organising protests. let's get more now from the bbc�*s sarah rainsford who is outside the courtroom in minsk. we were outside the court this morning just as the trial began. we weren't allowed inside. the only people allowed into the process where the lawyers themselves. outside there was a small group of supporters and family members of both maria and maxine who are on trial as of today for very, very serious charges. they are accused of plotting to overthrow the state. there accused of extremism and other national security chart. that's why officials here are saying that the trial is closed but with the family and friends have told us is that i believe is simply a complete lack of evidence. believe is simply a complete lack of evidence. the head of the world health organization has called on a moratorium on covid—i9 �*vaccine bo

earlier, the most prominent opposition leader left in belarus, maria kolesnikova, made a defiant appearanceong trip all _ on what happened last night? well, after a very long trip all the - on what happened last night? -ii after a very long trip all the way from tokyo via vienna, krystina timanovskaya has arrived in warsaw. she was greeted by senior officials here. poland has given her a humanitarian visa. they have been expressing sentiments of support and solidarity for her. and there are also plans for her husband to come to warsaw as well. he fled belarus to warsaw as well. he fled belarus to ukraine after the news of this incident occurred. and we understand that he will be joining her fairly soon. this now, of course, was a journey that was full of incident. initially she was planning to fly directly here. but then she flew via vienna because of security concerns, but all of this shining the spotlight on the very difficult situation in belarus at the moment. and bethany, what do we expect to happen today?— and bethany, what do we expect to happen today? well, we understand that she ma

because one of the faces of the opposition protest that we saw here last year, maria kolesnikova, wentthe authorities here. they are facing up to 12 years behind bars. the trial itself was closed, ostensibly for security reasons. at the family outside said they believe it is because there is no evidence against these two, they say the entire trial is simply about silencing critics of the authorities here. borisjohnson is setting off on a two—day visit to scotland today. but he�*s declined an invitation to meet the first minister, nicola sturgeon, for talks. she had invited the prime minister to her official residence to discuss recovery after the pandemic. mrjohnson has suggested a meeting with the first ministers of other devolved nations at a later date instead. nicola sturgeon has been speaking about the prime minister�*s visit. i don�*t feel snubbed. i think most people think it�*s a bit odd and a bit strange that we have got a prime minister visiting scotland, who talks a lot rightly about the need, despite our political differences, for us to work together where we can on getting