svetla na ti kha novs kaya and nigel gould—davis, thank you.questioners who have joined us from all over the world. remember, we are the programme that brings you the trend lines behind the headlines and i think we have had some very useful ink sites from one of the key players in the belarus crisis and also some very good analysis and don't forget you can be part of a programme and you can submit a question to a panel for the next programme just please e—mail global questions at bbc.co.uk but now from me and the rest of the global questions team, goodbye. hello. following the sunshine today will turn cold quickly underneath the clear skies. we have got more cloud coming into western scotland and northern ireland, so much over in northern ireland than it was last night. it was the coldest september night. it was the coldest september night here on record, so 9 degrees in belfast. ahead of that advancing cloud all the way from eastern scotla nd cloud all the way from eastern scotland down to the west country there is a touch of frost and some sh

i think you make an important point, svetla na. a nigel.belarus that can choose the way in which it is governed will be by definition be governed in the interests of all the people. so it will be free and also more prosperous as well. i think from every point of view, the letter, moral and economic, the gains stand on the side of change, ultimately. svetla na, several of on the side of change, ultimately. svetlana, several of our questions have 30 was president elect. is that how you see yourself?” have 30 was president elect. is that how you see yourself? i would say that i'm a national leader at the moment, may be a national symbol of freedom because it doesn't matter how people call me, it matters that they know i am among them, i am with them, i'm ready to fight for our future come up for free and safe future come up for free and safe future together with all the people who want to build this country together. tibetan lama and nigel, thank you. thank you very much indeed and also to our questioners who have joined us indeed and also to

so this is a problem to say what was the real result, we can guess that svetla na kuznetsova result,can guess that svetlana kuznetsova was the winner of those elections. we treat her as a national leader and she is the leader of the opposition at the moment right now. she is in the waimea right now. she is in the waimea right now and she is safe together with herfamily now and she is safe together with her family — now and she is safe together with herfamily — — let the waimea. for you are offering her protection but how frustrated you feel right now because you have spoken out loudly right now and four weeks but even today as we speak to each other the bela rusian polymeric chief authors are continuing to repress the protesters and picking up senior opposition figures on the street — — belarusian forces. they picked up another one a few days ago and that follows the arrest of maria kolesnikova, and your voice makes no difference —— lithuania. this is the reason why we need actions. yes, rhetoric is good but even strong rhetoric is not good enough, we need actions and to free baltic

belarusian senior opposition figures who have been forced out of belarus have gathered, not least, svetla, who was of course the candidate who ran against lukashenko and she claimed she had won the election, had it not been rigged. are you saying that svetla na ti kha novs kaya is actually the winner of the election and are you recognising her as the de facto leader of belarus, in exile? we can call her a de facto leader but the problem is that the elections of august 9th, they are spoiled, and we cannot prove that by giving the figures, giving the result and nobody can say what votes are the votes indeed and what votes are the fake votes because appearance rate in some districts of belarus during the election was more than 100%. so this is a problem to say what was the real result, we can guess that madam tikhanovskaya was the winner of those elections. we treat her as a national leader and she is the leader of the opposition at the moment right now. she is in lithuania for the moment and she is safe together with her family. right, so you are offering her protection but i wonder how hel

svetla na ti kha novs kaya svetla na tikhanovskaya is svetlana tikhanovskaya is addressing the humanuntry after last month's presidential election, which saw incumbant — alexander lu kashenko — claim victory. but the opposition says it was rigged. hundreds have been detained amid claims of human rights abuses. she called on the un to send investigators into belarus. a nation cannot and should not be a hostage to one man's thirst for power. and it won't. belarussians have woken up. the point of no return has passed. i want to make it very clear — collaboration with the regime of mr lukashenko at the moment means support for violence and blatant violation of human rights. i call on the international community to use all the mechanisms to stop the violence, including sanctions on the individuals that committed electoral violations and crimes against humanity. at the same time, i stress that lukashenko does not represent belarus any more. after a protracted saga, lionel messi has decided to stay at barcelona. the argentinian forward initially said he wanted to leave after the club were t

how significant were the scenes today of svetla na svetla na tikhanovskaya me to a major world leaderel macron of france? this was a symbolic meeting for her and other representatives of opposition but the trouble is the european union has not introduced sanctions. there are talks about that but cyprus has been blocking those decisions for a while so the main challenge for emmanuel macron and the european leaders is to agree whether sanctions from the eu should be introduced and whether there was sanctions should be just political 01’ sanctions should be just political or political and economical because the thing which does matter for alexander lu kashenko as the thing which does matter for alexander lukashenko as his economy because he relies on the support of the security forces and people who work at the factories as we remember from the previous ones. he only got really worried when factory workers started to protest. still to come... amnesty international halts its working in the blaming the indian government for incessant reprisals. the reaction from delhi. both sides say they

opposition figure to flee belarus following last month's disputed presidential election. 0pposition leader svetlaravelled to lithuania immediately after the poll, which is widely believed to have been rigged. speaking alongside the polish prime minister in warsaw, ms kovalkova condemned her treatment. translation: i consider everything that's happened to me in recent weeks to be torture. i received threats that i would be jailed for a very long time. when i fell ill in my cell, it wasn't doctors who came, but representatives of the authorities. they suggested that i leave the country, otherwise i would stay in prison for a very long time. yuri vendik from the bbc russian service has been following developments including today's protests in minsk. most of them, as far as we can understand, most of them went peacefully. even though we do have reports of several people detained, in particular several students detained in minsk. and there are also reports that the chief executive officers of an it company are being arrested today. and that's one of the companies which first of all supported the oppos

the bela russian opposition leader svetla na tikhan—ov—skaya has addressed the united nations, to discuss human rights situation in the country. mass protests and strikes have gripped the country after last month's presidential election, which saw incumbant — alexander lu kashenko — claim victory. but the opposition says it was rigged. hundreds have been detained amid claims of human rights abuses. she called on the un to send investigators into belarus . a nation cannot and should not bea a nation cannot and should not be a hostage to one man's thirst for power. and it won't. belarussians have woken up. the point of no return has passed. i want to make it very clear, collaboration with the regime of mr lukashenko at the moment means the support for violence and blatant violation of human rights. i call on the international community to use all the mechanisms to stop the violence. including sanctions on the individuals that committed electoral violations and crimes against humanity. at the same time, i stress, if lukashenko does the same time, i stress, if lu kashenko does not the same ti

svetla na ti kha novs kaya, who was forced to flee after she complained that the election was rigged,hundreds of people are jailed, beaten, raped. this should not be the norm in europe. this can't be the norm in europe. this can't be the norm in of the civilized world. but the power of sanctions seems limited. mr lukashenko has been in power since the ‘90s, and only one of two things would change that — the police and army would need to turn against him, or vladimir putin would need to tell him to go. at the moment, despite huge opposition pressure and some international pressure, those things haven't happened. joining me now is evelyn farkas, the former us deputy assistant secretary of defence for russia, ukraine and eurasia. thank you very much for your time today. we appreciate it. do you think there's more that the international community can do to apply pressure? absolutely! first of all, we need to be engaged, we meaning the international community, more actively in diplomacy and trying to essentially engineer a transition, much as we did in the ukraine. ultimately we know the u

but on the other hand, let me remind you that yesterday, svetla na tsikhanovskaya, the leader of then, made a video statement in the united nations security council, and some of the observers say that that wouldn't be possible without the consent of all the permanent members of the security council, including russia. let's get some of the day's other news. rescuers in beirut have found "no sign of life" in the rubble of a building destroyed in last month's massive explosion. a sensor detected possible signs of life on thursday, but after clearing 95% of the rubble, workers have not found the source of the reading. about 50 volunteers, including a team from chile, have been at the scene. police in the us city of portland have arrested 27 people after protesters marched through the streets and refused to disperse. the demonstrations, which began after the police killing of george floyd in minneapolis, have been going on for almost 100 straight nights. hundreds of mourners have attended the funeral in south africa of a 16—year—old with down‘s syndrome who was allegedly shot dead by poli

the bela russian opposition leader svetla na

svetla na ti kha novs kaya was their candidate, and she's widely thought to have won the most votes.sident lukashenko declared victory. miss tikhanovskaya left the country. a few days later, i caught up with miss kolesnikova. but do you feel safe here? you are the most prominent opposition leader who is on the streets of minsk. are you worried? no, i'm not worried. i'm very safe and when you see these people who are here around me, i'm happy. i feel very safe. if president lukashenko is hoping to crush the protests by detaining opposition figures, he's likely to be disappointed. belarus' demonstrations have no clear leadership or structure, and just one key aim, to remove an unpopular president from power. jonah fisher, bbc news. i spoke just now to rachel denber from the campaign group human rights watch and asked her for her reaction to events in belarus. well, it's completely outrageous that maria kolesnikova has been abducted. unfortunately, i can't say it's an aberration. it's something we've come to expect from this government. she's not the first person to be abducted in this

svetla na ti kha novs kaya was their candidate and she is widely thought to have won the most votes.sident lukashenko declared victory. miss tikhanovskaya left the country. a few days later i caught up with miss kolesnikova. do you feel safe here? you are the most prominent opposition leader who is on the streets of minsk. are you worried? no, i'm not worried. i'm very safe and when you see the people around me i'm happy. i feel very safe. if president lukashenko is hoping to crush the protests by detaining opposition figures he's likely to be disappointed. belarus's demonstrations have no clear leadership or structure, and just one key aim, to remove an unpopular president from power. jonah fisher, bbc news. rachel denber is deputy director of europe and the central asia division for human rights watch. she's in new york. i know that you know this region very well. what do you think is going on, and what is your reaction to it? well, it's com pletely your reaction to it? well, it's completely outrageous about maria kalesnikava has been abducted, and unfortunately i can't say it is a

svetla na ti kha novs kaya was their candidate and she is widely thought to have won the most votes,dent lukashenko declared victory. miss tikhanovskaya left the country. a few days later, i caught up with miss kolesnikova. do you feel safe here? you are the most prominent opposition leader who is on the streets of minsk. are you worried? no, i'm not worried. i'm very safe and when you see the people around me i'm happy. i feel very safe. if president lukashenko is hoping to crush the protests by detaining opposition figures, he's likely to be disappointed. belarus‘s demonstrations have no clear leadership or structure, and just one key aim, to remove an unpopular president from power. jonah fisher, bbc news. officials have blamed a so—called ‘baby gender reveal party‘ for one of more than two dozen wildfires burning across california. a pyrotechnic — a firework or smoke bomb — set off to reveal whether a couple's soon—to—be—born baby is a boy or a girl — sparked a fire that's now covered more than 7,000 acres. all this while the state is sweltering in a record heatwave, with los ang

alexander lu kashenko claimed victory but is widely thought to have lost august's vote to the housewife svetlating they chant for her but a crackdown has destroyed the opposition leadership. this tractor factory worker and trade unionist is pretty much the only leader who's neither injail or in exile and he's worried. while we're with him, his wife calls twice to make sure he hasn't been picked up. "at the moment, there is no organised opposition inside belarus", he tells me. "but if you call the people of belarus the opposition, then the opposition is stronger and more united than ever." while the police and remained loyal, it's hard to see president lukashenko going. so this is what we have seen repeatedly here in belarus. excuse me, sir. basically, these masked guys, nothing on them which says who they are, disrupting demonstrations... ..detaining people, taking them into vans. where are you taking these people? woman screams this was a women's march on saturday. what's happening to you? she says she was just standing outside a cafe. what's your name? we've showed you our name. no name. no

member of the council leadership who remains free — the nobel prize winning author and journalist svetlasian journalist hanna liubakova: "no rules and no limits. sviatlana alexievich, the nobel laureate, asked journalists to come to her apartment in minsk, because she gets calls from unknown numbers and somebody tries to get to her apartment." diplomats from several countries have joined her at herflat — here she is speaking to journalists at the doorway. she has, not surprisingly, had a lot to say. jonah fisher has the details. she said, "they have stolen our country, now they are trying to object the best of us. but hundreds of others will come to replace those who have been taken away from our ranks. it wasn't the coordination council that rebelled, it was the entire country that rebelled." that's really reflecting a broader point, really, that though the opposition leaders are being rounded up — it seems pretty much one by one — that is unlikely to have much of an impact on the demonstrations, because they are very much decentralised, organised by groups of strikers, of workers, of s

alexander lukashenko claimed victory but is widely thought to have lost august's vote to the housewife svetlat for her but a crackdown has destroyed the opposition leadership. this tractor factory worker and trade unionist is pretty much the only leader who's neither injail or in exile and he's worried. while we're with him, his wife calls twice to make sure he hasn't been picked up. "at the moment, there is no organised opposition inside belarus", he tells me. "but if you call the people of belarus the opposition, then the opposition is stronger and more united than ever." the opposition's problem is that despite the protests, president lukashenko's security forces remain solidly behind him. so this is what we have seen repeatedly here in belarus. excuse me, sir. basically, these masked guys, nothing on them which says who they are, disrupting demonstrations... ..detaining people, taking them into vans. where are you taking these people? woman screams this was a women's march on saturday. what's happening to you? she says she was just standing outside a cafe. what's your name? we've showed y

opposition leader svetla na tikhan—ov—skaya is in lithuania. she's told reporters...n detention — and 400 did. then these pictures are from saturday. a number of women protesters are met with force — and as you can see, they're attempting to pull the masks off the security service agents. it's thought that once the masks are off, images are then shared on social media and the agents are identified. all of this stems from the presidential election five weeks ago. in theory, mr lukashenko won a remarkable 80% — but many are disputing the outcome — not russia though. thew two countries share a border — and vladimir putin described belarus as russia's "closest ally." belarus was part of the soviet union before its break up — and there remains a raft of cultural and economic ties. it's strategically important too — belarus has borders with three members of the nato alliance — which russia sees as a threat. president lukashenko frequently warns of troop build up on those borders, which nato denies. gennadiy kot from bbc monitoring has more on this. anti—western rhetoric has

svetla na ti kha novs kaya was their candidate, and she's widely thought to have won the most votes.. miss tikhanovskaya left the country. and a few days later, i caught up with miss kolesnikova. but do you feel safe here? you are the most prominent opposition leader who is on the streets of minsk. are you worried? no, i'm not worried. i'm very safe and when you see these people who are here around me, i'm happy. i feel very safe. if president lukashenko is hoping to crush the protests by detaining opposition figures, he's likely to be disappointed. belarus' demonstrations have no clear leadership or structure, and just one key aim, to remove an unpopular president from power. jonah fisher, bbc news. let's speak to maksimas milta, who is in minsk. he's a lecturer and head of communications at the european humanities university, which is a bela rusian university which has been operating in exile in lithuania, since it was shut down by president lukashenko in 200a. welcome to the programme. we we re welcome to the programme. we were just hearing there in the report about the disappeara

it's this woman, the investigative journalist and nobel laureate svetla na alexievich. supporters. here he is on president lukashenka's tactics. "what is happening today in the country is incredible pressure on the coordination council, this is absolute lawlessness, and this is being done for two things: first, so that lukashenko can say, during his upcoming visit to russia too, that he has no one to talk with in the country. and the second, of course, is to scare those who come out today to peaceful protests. more than a0 protesters were arrested during wednesday's protests. but people are still coming out to demonstrate. here's sarah rainsford again. certainly there are more important —— protests planned by this weekend it's usually to send a protest which is their biggest gathering it's also to know about the movement in better with this is it's not really led by specific people it's very much an organic process and the streets have not been called for specifically by a position so it's that has its momentum and continue and the noble prize winning author. she has sa

the belarus opposition leader svetla na tikhanovskaya — speaking via videolink — told the meeting inse people? it is a scene we have witnessed countless times, the men operate in complete secrecy and act with impunity. but this last week the tables have been turned. groups of female demonstrators have started grabbing at the masks that hide the men‘s faces. what is the message these women are sending to these security forces, when they take the masks off? we will know you and we will know your face, and everyone should know your face, and who is doing such things to peaceful people. so you can identify him by his eyebrow... the pictures and videos of the exposed faces are shared on telegram channels. kirill says he does not do the identification himself but monitors it closely. so here, a guy is kidnapping a woman. this woman tried to fight her back and these two guys... so that is him, with his mask pulled down. that is him — his name, date of birth. they have identified him but they do not know where he works. so he might not be a police officer? may not — when belarus will be free

the bela russian opposition candidate for president, svetla na ti kha novs kaya, has been speaking toova, was kidnapped. also kidnapped were anton rodnenkov and ivan kravtsov. all of them were members of the team of viktor babaryko, who is injailfor simply daring to run for president. my husband, sergei tikhanovsky, is injailfor the same reason. sergei dylevsky, jailed. hundreds of people are jailed, beaten, raped. this should not be the norm in europe. this can't be the norm in the civilised world. the headlines on bbc news: the health secretary says each and every citizen has a responsibility to follow social distancing guidelines as the number of coronavirus cases rise across the country, particularly among young people. coronavirus restrictions are tightened in bolton, with hospitality venues limited to takeaways only. in scotland, there are now new coronavirus cases reported in all mainland healthboard areas. three people who tested positive for the virus have died in the last 2a hours. the last two journalists working for australian media in china have flown home after a five—da

the exiled bela russian opposition leader, svetla na ti kha novs kaya, has called for sanctions againsttion, that the president was desperately clinging on to power, and needed to be put under international pressure. mrs tikhanovskaya was speaking via video link from lithuania — where she was forced into exile. only yesterday, one of the leaders of the peaceful protests, maria kolesnikova, was kidnapped. also kidnapped were anton rodnenkov and ivan kravtsov. all of them were members of the team of viktor babaryko, who is injailfor simply daring to run for president. my husband, sergei tikhanovsky, is injailfor the same reason. sergei dylevsky, jailed. hundreds of people are jailed, beaten, raped. this should not be the norm in europe. this can't be the norm in the civilised world. a teenage boy remains critically ill in hospital after he was shot while walking to school. the 15—year—old was on his way to kesgrave high school near ipswich, in suffolk, when the attack took place yesterday morning. police have arrested a 15—year—old boy on suspicion of attempted murder. a 23—year—old man w

the belarus opposition leader svetla na tikhanovskaya — speaking via videolink — told the meeting in daily demonstrations against president lukashenko are still continuing — with clashes between protesters and security forces a frequent occurrence. fed up with the constant harassment — this week female protesters started taking matters into their own hands by trying to identify the men and make them accountable for their actions. jonah fisher reports from the capital — minsk. president lukashenko has tried to crush the protests against him using groups of masked men. it has not worked, the demonstrations are still continuing but, every day, in the streets around here, in central minsk, people have been dragged off the pavement and put into unmarked minivans. reporter: why did you detain these people? it is a scene we have witnessed countless times, the men operate in complete secrecy and act with impunity. but this last week the tables have been turned. groups of female demonstrators have started grabbing at the masks that hide the men's faces. what is the message these women are sen