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Crowds of protesters in Belarus swarmed the streets and thousands of workers rallied outside industrial plants Thursday to denounce a police crackdown on demonstrations over a disputed election that extended the 26-year rule of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. Beginning in the morning, hundreds of women formed long “lines of solidarity” in several areas of the capital, Minsk. Many were dressed in white and carried flowers and portraits of loved ones who have been detained during protests that began shortly after Sunday’s vote, which they said was rigged.  The human chains grew throughout the day, filling the main central squares and avenues as motorists honked in support. In Minsk and many other cities, thousands of factory workers also rallied against the police violence, raising the prospect of strikes in a new challenge to the government. Amid growing public dismay, dozens of military and police veterans posted videos in which they dumped their uniforms and insignia in the trash. Several popular anchors at Belarus’ state TV stations have quit. People hold a handmade banner of an old Belarusian national flag as they gather to protest results of the country’s presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 13, 2020.Nearly 7,000 people have been detained and hundreds injured in the clampdown on demonstrators protesting the official results that said Lukashenko won 80% of the vote and his top opposition challenger got only 10%. Police have broken up protests with stun grenades, tear gas, rubber bullets and severe beatings. “Belarusians have seen the villainous face of this government. I argued with my husband and voted for Lukashenko. And this is what I got in the end — I can’t find my relatives in prisons,” said Valentina Chailytko, 49, whose husband and son were detained in protests Sunday. She has been unable to get any information on their whereabouts.  One protester died Monday in Minsk after, the Interior Ministry says, an explosive device he tried to throw at police blew up in his hand. Some media reports have challenged that official version. Neither the ministry nor the media outlets have provided evidence.  Thousands of people converged Thursday on the place where he died, many carrying flowers. European ambassadors also laid flowers at the site earlier in the day. The authorities also confirmed that a detainee died in the southeastern city of Gomel, but the circumstances of his death weren’t immediately clear. ‘War against us’Hundreds of medical workers joined the demonstrations Thursday in Minsk and many other cities. “There is a feeling that a war is going on, but it’s a war against us,” said Mikhail Portnov, a 33-year-old general practitioner. “We, doctors, see the price of this war as no one else. We were ready for violence, but the brutality of it has crossed all limits.” The unprecedented public opposition and unrest has been driven by the painful economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and Lukashenko’s dismissal of the outbreak as a “psychosis.” The vote and the brutality of the subsequent crackdown — remarkable even for Lukashenko’s iron-fisted rule — have made the anger boil over. The 65-year-old former state farm director has been in power since 1994 and was nicknamed “Europe’s last dictator” by the West for his suppression of dissent. “You can see the election result in the streets,” said 32-year old engineer Andrei Gubarevich, who joined a demonstration in Minsk. “Lukashenko has already lost.” Belarus’ Investigative Committee launched a criminal probe into the organization of mass rioting — an indication authorities may start leveling those charges against some detainees. The charges could carry prison terms of up to 15 years for those found guilty. The ministry said 103 police officers have been injured since Sunday, and 28 of them were hospitalized. In Minsk and the western city of Baranovichi, people ran over traffic police with their vehicles on Wednesday before being detained. Global reactionThe brutal suppression of protests drew harsh criticism in the West.The European Union foreign ministers are set to meet Friday to discuss a response, and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the 27-nation bloc would “increase the pressure” on Belarus. “The brutal actions and the arrest of peaceful protesters and even journalists in Belarus isn’t acceptable in Europe in the 21st century,” he told reporters in Berlin. A member of the Belarus diaspora holds a placard depicting Alexander Lukashenko with blood on his mouth during a rally outside the Belarusian embassy in Kyiv, Aug. 13, 2020.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the election wasn’t free or fair and urged the government to refrain from violence against peaceful protesters.  “I’m confident that EU and the United States fully share the same concerns about what has taken place and what is taking place in Belarus and I’m very hopeful that we can collectively work in a way that gets a better outcome for the people of Belarus,” Pompeo said Thursday on a visit to Slovenia. Police responsePolice appeared to scale back their response on Wednesday. In many parts of Minsk, the all-female “lines of solidarity” stood unchallenged for some time before police dispersed some of them without violence. Similar peaceful demonstrations were seen across the capital and other cities Thursday, but police refrained from dispersing them immediately. People react during an opposition rally to protest against police violence and to reject the presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 13, 2020.Also Thursday, hundreds of workers at plants across the country, including the huge truck factories in Minsk and Zhodino, held rallies to protest the clampdown and demand a recount of the vote. Many shouted “Go away!” to demand Lukashenko’s resignation. During a meeting with workers of a plant in Grodno, near the border with Poland, the local police chief apologized for the violent crackdown, according to tut.by news portal.  The demonstrations have spread even though the protest lacks leaders. The top opposition challenger in the vote, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, suddenly emerged Tuesday in neighboring Lithuania and called on her supporters to stop protests in a video that her associates said was recorded under pressure from law enforcement officials before she left. The 37-year-old former teacher joined the race to replace her husband, an opposition blogger, who has been jailed since May. Lukashenko has derided the political opposition as “sheep” manipulated by foreign masters and vowed to continue taking a tough position on protests. But that has not deterred many. “Protests will only grow,” said 25-year-old demonstrator Anna Shestakova in Minsk. “They can cheat some, but they can’t cheat the entire people.” 
 
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson traveled to Northern Ireland Thursday where he held talks with his Irish counterpart and other Irish officials to promote British unity and a strong rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.Johnson met Irish Prime Minister – also known in Ireland as Taoiseach – Micheal Martin, arriving at Hillsborough Castle and bumping elbows with each other for reporters. It was the first time the two leaders had met in person since Martin was elected to his position as part of a new Irish coalition government in June.A short time later, Johnson also met with Northern Ireland’s first minister, Arlene Foster, and her deputy, Michelle O’Neill.Relations between Johnson and Northern Ireland have been strained after years of sometimes acrimonious negotiations regarding Britain’s departure from the European Union, commonly known as “Brexit.”  Johnson was a strong proponent of the plan, while, in a 2016 referendum, Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU, 56 to 44 percent.Following their talks, Martin told reporters he and Johnson both agreed on the necessity for a free trade agreement with the EU that would be “tariff and quota-free.” The Irish leader said Johnson was “very committed” to reaching a comprehensive agreement with the alliance.Talks between Britain and the EU have stalled but are scheduled to begin again in Brussels next week. 
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is meeting Thursday with leaders in Slovenia, where they are set to sign a joint declaration on 5G technology.Over the past year, European countries including Poland, Estonia and the Czech Republic have signed agreements with the United States pledging that 5G suppliers would not be subject to control by a foreign government without independent judicial review, which effectively excludes Chinese firms.Pompeo’s visit to Slovenia is the first by a U.S. secretary of state since 2011.His schedule Thursday includes meetings with Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, Foreign Minister Anze Logar and President Borut Pahor.The State Department said some of the key topics in the talks would be nuclear energy, Western Balkan integration and energy issues.Pompeo was in the Czech Republic on Wednesday and said there that China’s economic power is in some ways a greater global threat than the Soviet Union was during the Cold War.“The challenge of resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) threat is in some ways more difficult,” Pompeo said in a speech to the senate in the Czech Republic. “The CCP is already enmeshed in our economies, in our politics, in our societies in ways the Soviet Union never was.”Pompeo’s remarks came after China’s ambassador to London accused the United States last month of instigating conflict with Beijing before the November U.S. presidential election.US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, center, arrives for a meeting of the senate in Prague, Czech Republic, Aug. 12, 2020.U.S.-China relations have deteriorated sharply this year over issues such as Beijing’s management of the coronavirus, its security clampdown in Hong Kong and activities in the disputed South China Sea.Pompeo held talks with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis in Prague earlier Wednesday on the second day of his weeklong visit to central Europe.The two leaders discussed nuclear energy cooperation and the Three Seas Initiative, a political platform to promote connectivity among nations in central and eastern Europe by supporting infrastructure, energy and digital interconnectivity projects.The initiative gets its name from the three seas that border the region: the Baltic, Black and Adriatic Seas.The chief U.S. diplomat began the day taking part in a roundtable discussion with a group of leaders from tech companies from the U.S. and the Czech Republic to highlight the benefits of U.S. investment, and according to the State Department, “underscore the attractiveness of the United States as an investment destination for Czech start-ups.”Pompeo’s trip this week will also include stops in Vienna, Austria; and Warsaw, Poland.The trip comes as the Pentagon prepares to move forward with a plan to pull almost 12,000 troops from Germany and redeploy part of the U.S. forces to Poland and other NATO nations, raising concerns at home and in Europe even as senior FILE – A view of a Verizon 5G promo poster during the coronavirus pandemic on May 13, 2020, in New York City.Austria hosts the International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear watchdog of the United Nations in charge of monitoring Iran’s adherence to the 2015 nuclear deal from which the U.S. has withdrawn.Pompeo will also hold talks with IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, as Washington is calling on other members of the U.N. Security Council to indefinitely extend an arms embargo on Iran that is set to expire on October 18.In Warsaw, the chief U.S. diplomat will meet with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz on deepening defense ties, recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, securing 5G networks, and improving regional energy and infrastructure through the Three Seas Initiative. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus.Pompeo will also meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda, who visited the White House in late June.Poland sees Nord Stream 2, which would double Russia’s gas export capacity via the Baltic Sea, as a threat to Europe’s energy security.Last month, the State Department said people making investments or engaging in activities related to Nord Stream 2, including pipe-laying vessels and engineering service in the deployment of the pipelines, could face U.S. sanctions.”It’s a clear warning to companies: aiding and abetting Russia’s malign influence projects will not be tolerated,” said Pompeo during a July 15 news conference.”Let me be clear. These aren’t commercial projects. They are the Kremlin’s key tools to exploit and expand European dependence on Russian energy supplies,” Pompeo said. 
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Thousands protested in Belarus for the fourth straight night Wednesday against what they said was the fraudulent election of President Alexander Lukashenko for a sixth term.Demonstrators in Minsk formed human chains to try to block police from approaching.Witnesses said on one street in the capital riot police fired rubber bullets at people who stood on their balconies to cheer the demonstrators.Earlier Wednesday, groups of women also formed human chains and carried bouquets of flowers as police stood by, making no effort to disperse them.Similar demonstrations were held in other Belarusian cities.As many as 6,000 people have been arrested and hundreds injured after police used tear gas, clubs and rubber bullets to break up the nightly marches.They include Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Vital Tsyhankou, who was badly beaten by police, the Associated Press reported, along with two independent Belarusian television reporters.People flocked to the jails to look for missing relatives.Lukashenko has said he will not be intimidated.“The core of these so-called protesters are people with a criminal past and (those who are) currently unemployed,” he said Wednesday.European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has called for a meeting of foreign ministers Friday to talk about Belarus. He is threatening sanctions against “those responsible for the observed violence, unjustified arrests and falsification of election results.”The Belarusian election commission declared Lukashenko the winner of Sunday’s presidential election with 80 percent of the vote and 10 percent for the only serious challenger, former teacher Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.She entered the race at the last minute after police arrested her husband, an opposition blogger who was planning to run for president.Tsikhanouskaya fled to Lithuania Tuesday for what she said was the safety of her children.Lukashenko has frequently been called Europe’s last dictator because of his suppression of free speech and human rights while showing little tolerance for dissent. He has ruled Belarus since it declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.Many of the protesters are also angry at his refusal to take any significant action to fight the coronavirus.Lukashenko has sought to lighten his image as a brutal dictator who cozies up to the Kremlin by seeking closer relations with the European Union and United States.
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As Black Lives Matter protests around the world topple statues and target streets and buildings linked to slavery, banks and businesses are increasingly acknowledging ties to the grim history. But critics say corporate soul-searching is not happening in France.AXA Insurance Company, Banque de France and the maker of Hennessy Cognac have one thing in common, according to a new investigation by France’s Le Monde newspaper: All are tied, directly or indirectly, with slavery.  
 Le Monde reports these are among a number of French corporations that have not acknowledged such links. At a time when companies have become socially and environmentally responsible, the newspaper wrote, why not accept their historical responsibility?  
 
AXA and the Banque de France could either not be reached or did not immediately respond to VOA.  
 
Bordeaux-based activist Karfa Diallo, who conducts tours of the city’s slave trading past, said he’s not surprised by the silence. His association, Memoires et Partages, has also tried to contact local businesses with similar historical links – with no success.  
 
Luis-Georges Tin, honorary president of Black activist umbrella association CRAN, offers one explanation.  
 
“France is a very arrogant country,” Tin said. “In the elite, most people will tell you, ‘We are the country of human rights. So, why should we apologize when we’re so great?’” 
 
France ended slavery and the slave trade in the 19th century. But there was a time when it was one of Europe’s top slave-trading countries. So was nearby England.  
 
Now, a growing number of prominent British banks and businesses are beginning to acknowledge past links to the slave business. In the United States, too, the Black Lives Matter protests have cast new scrutiny on businesses and places like New York’s Wall Street, which was once a slave market.  
 
Still, French historian Myriam Cottias says she can understand this nation’s corporate silence. It can sometimes be hard to draw clear historical links with French businesses today.  
 
“It’s not clear, even for me, the exact organization from the slavery (times) to the present. And maybe it’s one of the reasons why there’s no acknowledgment or apology.”  
 
Still, activists say France is beginning to face its past in other ways. A slavery museum is to be built in Paris. And a new foundation for the memory of slavery was launched earlier this year. A Banque de France subsidiary is helping to finance it, in what some say is at least an indirect acknowledgment of history.
 
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