President's virus swagger fuels anger ahead of Belarus vote

As Kseniya Milya's grandfather lay dying of COVID-19 at a hospital in Belarus' capital of Minsk, the country's authoritarian leader was blithely dismissing the pandemic as “psychosis,” and recommending an unusual remedy: Have a regular shot of vodka and work hard in the fields. Like many other Belarusians angry with the government's cavalier approach to the pandemic, Milya joined large opposition protests ahead of Sunday's presidential vote in which President Alexander Lukashenko is seeking a sixth term. The outpouring of public discontent poses the most serious challenge yet to Lukashenko after 26 years in office.