Belarusian protesters march in Minsk
KYIV, Ukraine -- Tens of thousands of Belarusians calling for the authoritarian president to resign marched through the capital Sunday as the country's wave of protests entered its seventh week.
Hundreds of soldiers blocked off the center of Minsk, deploying water cannons and armored personnel carriers and erecting barbed wire barriers. Protests also took place in several other cities, including Brest and Grodno.
Ales Bialiatski, head of the Viasna human rights organization, said dozens of demonstrators were arrested in Minsk and Grodno.
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Protests began Aug. 9 after an election that official results say gave President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term; opponents and some poll workers say the results were manipulated.
The Minsk demonstrators carried the red-and-white flags that were independent Belarus' national standard before being replaced in 1995, early in Lukashenko's tenure. Some bore placards depicting the president as a mustachioed cockroach.
"Every Sunday, you are showing yourselves and the world that the Belarusian people are the power," Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who was Lukashenko's main election opponent, said in a video message from Lithuania, where she is in exile.
Berliners demand more help for migrants
BERLIN -- Thousands of people marched in Berlin on Sunday demanding that the government do more to help migrants stuck in Greece, many of whom have been made homeless since fires ravaged the country's largest refugee camp.
The crowd marched through the capital to the landmark Victory Column carrying signs with slogans like "We have space" and "Seehofer, be a Christian" -- a reference to Interior Minister Horst Seehofer.
A little girl held a sign saying "Let the people in" while a woman waved a placard saying "People are suffering, Fortress Europe looks on -- and cuddles up to the right."
More than 12,000 migrants and refugees fled the fires, which the Greek government says were deliberately set by a small group of Afghan migrants to protest a virus lockdown at the Moria camp. Thousands have slept outdoors on a nearby roadside in the nights since the blazes.
Germany said last week it would take in 1,553 migrants -- 408 families with children -- from various Greek islands who have already been granted protected status in Greece. The move came on top of a decision to take in up to 150 unaccompanied children as part of a European effort.
The demonstrators demanded that Germany do more, and that the government not block independent state or municipal efforts to take in refugees themselves.
2 Pakistan soldiers killed in shootout
ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's military Sunday said two soldiers were killed in a shootout with militants during a search operation in the country's northwest, a former militant stronghold.
The operation was conducted late Saturday in the Spalga area near Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan.
The area has served as a base for Pakistani and foreign militants until recent years, when the military claimed troops had cleared it.
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Earlier this month, the Pakistani Taliban took responsibility for a powerful roadside bomb in northwestern Pakistan that targeted a military vehicle, killing three soldiers and wounding four.
That attack raised fears that the Pakistani Taliban were regrouping in the region. Also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, they are a separate insurgent group from the Afghan Taliban, although Pakistan's militant groups are often interlinked with those across the border in Afghanistan.
The Pakistani Taliban have been targeting the military and civilians across the country since 2001, when Pakistan, an Islamic nation, joined the U.S.-led war on terror following the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S.
Battle of Britain 80th anniversary marked
LONDON -- Military jets flew over central London and a memorial service was held at Westminster Abbey on Sunday to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, a major air campaign against Nazi Germany during World War II.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson led the service, which was attended by fewer than 100 guests to allow for social distancing.
In a speech, Air Vice Marshal John Ellis honored public health workers in their fight "against an invisible army" as he compared the Battle of Britain with the country's current battle against the coronavirus pandemic.
"Once again, there have been sacrifices made, often quiet, often humble, unnoticed by many," he said. "Although starkly different events, each of them has two things that are so important for our humanity -- service and value."
The Battle of Britain in 1940 saw 630 Royal Air Force fighters repel some 1,120 Luftwaffe aircraft sent to attack London, and led to Hitler postponing his plans to invade Britain.
Westminster Abbey has held a service to remember the 1,497 pilots and crew members killed or mortally wounded in the battle every year since 1944.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
