Belarusian protest leader disappears after being detained by masked men

Masked men detained Belarusian protest leader Maria Kolesnikova in central Minsk on Monday morning and drove her away in a van and two of her allies also disappeared later, the opposition movement said.

Kolesnikova, a member of the opposition coordination council, is the last of three female politicians left in Belarus who joined forces before an Aug 9 presidential election to try to challenge veteran incumbent Alexander Lukashenko.