Your trusted source

Tens of thousands of protesters have rallied in Minsk in opposition to Alexander Lukashenko, Sky News reports.

Mr Lukashenko, who refuses to stand down over election rigging claims, spent his 66th birthday on Sunday at his residence in the capital, where he was again pictured carrying an automatic rifle.

He received a congratulatory phone call from Russian president Vladimir Putin, who extended him an invitation to visit Moscow.
Meanwhile, protesters in Minsk carried balloons, flowers and the red-white-red flag which the country bore briefly during the 1990s and which has become a symbol of the anti-government protests. Some carried cockroach puppets while others called the president a "rat" - a slur Mr Lukashenko has previously used to describe opponents.

The protesters converged on Mr Lukashenko's residence in the afternoon, protected by security forces carrying riot shields - while armoured military vehicles were seen earlier driving towards the city centre.

Throughout the day, police, including some in plain clothes, bundled protesters into vans, the source said.