Also coming up the u. S. Democrats launch their National Convention with some Straight Talk from some high profile figures if we have any hope of ending this chaos we have got to vote for joe biden like our lives depend on. The 1st ever Virtual Convention culminates thursday with bidens nomination as Donald Trumps main challenger in november. Im sara kelly welcome to the program there has been a 9th of night of protests in the belorussian capital calling for president alexander of because shank go to step down that is despite signs from go that he may be prepared to hold fresh elections under certain conditions following his controversial reelection last. Weekend after 26 years under his rule many belorussians want change now. Demonstrators demand liberty for the Political Prisoners and arrested protesters after 9 days of unprecedented protests calling on president Alexander Lukashenko to resign. And workers across the country joined a nationwide strike called by the opposition. To go away chanted factory workers at the president who had come to shore up support in an exchange with a worker has said new elections were possible but only after the country holds a referendum. President should not make decisions as a result of pressure to make the president must find a compromise exactly thats how. We need to approve a new constitution so the opposition wont be against it it needs to be approved in a referendum because our previous constitution was approved in a referendum and based on the new constitution and if you want it we will show you a lections for the Parliament Presidency and local government bodies. New and Fair Elections are what the opposition leaders spittle on a chicken off sky now in exile in lithuania campaigned for. Im prepared to take responsibility and act as the nations leader during this period so the country settles down and gets back to normality so that we can release all Political Prisoners and prepare a Legal Framework in conditions to hold another round of president ial elections in the shortest time possible. As the internal pressure grows so too does. International concern. The e. U. Is planning an emergency summit about valeries someones day the block is already making a list of people who will face sanctions for the violence that followed the disputed elections in belarus striking workers joining determined protesters in calling for their leader to go. And emily short when it is following developments she joins us now emily as we heard there noname nights of protest against go the pressure is high whats at stake at the moment well i think in a way the future of the political future of other acts on the little question go is at stake and as you say pressure on him has been growing and continues to grow yesterday we saw protesters marching to several prisons in minsk and demanding the release of Political Prisoners and of some of the people who were arrested during the protests they gathered there and more and more workers from state enterprises are joining protests and are joining strikes as well including enterprises that really make up key sectors of the russian economy and yesterday also state t. V. One state t. V. Channel joined those strikes so these are really groups that are traditionally loyal to the question co and it seems that even support within those groups is crumbling yesterday will question cause focused some workers at a factory and even they were shouting at him to leave and for his part you know in reply to all of that said on monday that he would be ready to hold new elections and hand over power after a constitutional referendum do people believe him. Well the main demand of protesters still is for luka shanku to leave and of course what hes been saying isnt very credible considering the fact that yesterday alone in the during the day he said that there would only be new elections over his dead body and then later on he said that thing about about there only being new elections after constitutional reforms its not really clear what exactly that would mean but it does seem that the opposition is prepared for dialogue one of. Those close allies. Told d. W. That the opposition would even be open to dialogue with luka shango if necessary and meanwhile has gotten together kind of a board of people to coordinate the transfer of power so it looks like the opposition is preparing for some sort of talks and even look i may have some kind of a role and not i mean time on the International Level is claiming that russia says that it will support the roost the u. S. And the e. U. Officials there saying that russia should stay out of it so tell us a little bit more about that tension. Well the west wants russia to stay out of it and russia clearly wants the west to stay out of it they very much see being kind of part of their sphere of influence and on on the weekend we saw the russian side even offering military support if necessary to i think that was a very clear signal to the west to kind of stay out belo reuss is seen as a key ally here in russia and also as kind of a buffer zone between russia and nato allies and i think even russia now knows that. It has kind of lost legitimacy in the past few days and that if he stayed if they did prop him up he would be a weak leader so im sure that the kremlin is looking around for other options after all even the opposition here even the opposition in bell roots rather knows that russia is a key partner that russia is an important country for the belorussian economy and that they will want to keep it that way so it could be that if there are talks at least thats what people in the media here are saying that russia could be some sort of a mediator in those talks that could reflect the thinking in the kremlin as well that they want to mediate the future of. Thank you. Lets get a quick check now some other stories making news around the world German Foreign minister heiko mosse has paid a surprise visit to libya berlin has been trying to broker peace in the country mired in a civil war since trying to 11 boss called the recent low in fighting quote a deceptive calm and warns that outside powers are still sending arms to libya. Fire fighters and brazil are struggling to contain blazes of the worlds his largess tropical wetlands brazils penton now the region has seen a 3 fold rise in the number of wildfires compared to last year the marshlands are home to thousands of species unique to the reach. Protests have taken place in buenos dias a sick and starch in chinas rotavirus locked out demonstrators carried signs criticizing confinement measures and government corruption president ill bet a phenomenon as has extended prescriptions in the capital home to 90 percent of the countrys growing coronavirus caseload. The Democratic Party in the u. S. Has kicked off its 4 day Virtual Convention and further solidifying support for its president ial candidate joe biden the event is normally packed with crowds but this year it is being held a remote late because of the coronavirus the convention will see the democrats formally choose biden to take on trump in november the speeches on the 1st day came from former president ial candidate Bernie Sanders and former 1st Lady Michelle obama. Joe biden will end the hate and the vision trump has created he will stop the demonization of immigrants the coddling of white nationalists the racist or whistling the religious bigotry and the ugly attacks on women im a lifelong republican but that attachment holds 2nd place to my responsibility to my country thats why ive chosen to appear at this convention what we do know is that we can do better and what weve been seeing today for sure and i know that joe biden with his experience and his wisdom it is decency can bring us together to help us find that better way we have to vote for joe biden in numbers that cannot be ignored because right now folks who know they cannot win fair and square at the ballot box are doing everything they can to stop us from voting theyre closing down polling places in minority neighborhoods theyre purging voter rolls theyre sending people out to intimidate voters and theyre lying about the security of our ballots these tactics are not new but this is not the time to withhold our votes in protest or play games with candidates who have no chance of winning. Just some of the highlights there of day one of the democratic National Convention kroft is following this very unusual convention theres a lot of firsts here namely the fact that it is a Virtual Convention and weve just heard from Michelle Obama she was really the highlight of day one wasnt she i mean for democrats she definitely hit all the right notes she is extremely popular not only among democrats and she occupies a very interesting position because as 1st lady she was a quasi political position of course not an elected position but the 1st lady has developed into a position all of its own with its own agenda its own staff and she was able to see firsthand what it means to be president and what it takes to be president and she said very clearly donald trump doesnt have what it takes to be president and that kind of message really hits a note hits a chord with. As i said not just democrats but many people who respect her especially women of both parties there were other strong case we saw Bernie Sanders a fierce opponent of joe biden quite ideologically different in many different in many ways but Bernie Sanders saying you got to vote for joe biden appealing to his further left supporters say you need to vote for joe biden this is not a joke this is not a time for kidding around so a lot of strong messages we also saw from republicans as well who are fed up with with donald trump so democrats and i would be pleased with their 1st day of it is the moment where everyone comes together and rallies behind the party its really a big opportunity to rally that support to talk with us about the challenges of the format now because obviously were not seeing the typical big venture in you know where there are a lot of people where balloons are dropping confetti is in the air Hillary Clinton in the mike arena for example yeah exactly it is a very interesting format its a big experiment if it works this could be the way the conventions happen in the future if it doesnt theyll be a lot of jokes to be said to be a lot of joking around no matter what but still very popular. I was following a couple of the online live streams with just thousands of people following adding their own comments in a way harnessing the internet and social media it actually makes it a more interactive experience for many people it allows many diehard democrats many partisans people you know average voters get to feel like theyre part of the action in a way because theyre watching online theyre able to comment they feel that theyre involved in a way that they couldnt if they were fit if the event was physically taking place milwaukee then its only for delegates and really party Party Members in so much as that so well see how this works so far there werent any huge problems today its a lot of different streams coming in from a lot of different places some prerecorded some live its a definitely a big technical hurdle and well see if the democrats can handle it this week and republicans have a shot next week you just believe there is that that jump in support in the polls following these conventions but talk with us about the bottom line yeah what does it mean for the elections what does it mean for november which is still months away right that bump comes as a result of 4 days of wall to wall Media Coverage most of it positive this week for the democrats next week for donald trump of the republicans because that is the new story is this convention a hyper partisan event the long term effect im convinced that conventions have an election historically not so great hard to make a case that it really impacts peoples opinions or change peoples opinions minds the convention is about rallying the troops preaching to the choir and getting getting them to open their wallets and that is the big point is fundraising coming out of the convention with a lot of money in your back pocket that you can go on to conduct your campaign and go on to hopefully win. With the latest on the democratic National Convention which kicked off last night in the United States thank you thanks. And with that now youre up to date on news remember you can always get more on our website get a few dot com im sorry kelly in berlin thanks for watching take care m. C. C. Been robbed of their sony thats what a people experiences when theyre taken from them. Countless cultural riches were stolen from africa and carted off to europe by colonialists. Each artifact