Minsk - The Russian Orthodox Church said Monday it is breaking ties with the Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarchate over its decision to grant independence to the Ukrainian church, which Moscow does not recognise.

Minsk - The Russian Orthodox Church said Monday it is breaking ties with the Constantinople Patriarchate over its decision to grant independence to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which Moscow does not recognise.

Grodno - When she set out on a boat for the USSR with her family some 70 years ago, Yanina Stashko had no idea she would never see her native France again.

Minsk - Belarusian authorities on Tuesday detained at least three journalists from two independent news websites over "unauthorised" access to services provided by the state news agency. Tut.

Minsk - A massive corruption scandal has rocked the health service of ex-Soviet Belarus, leading even officials in the country dubbed "Europe's last dictatorship" to call for an overhaul of the system.

Minsk - Belarus on Tuesday announced that it is extending visa-free travel for tourists from five days to 30 days in a move that could attract more visitors to the ex-Soviet state on the European Union's doorstep.

Minsk - A court in Minsk on Tuesday sentenced an independent journalist to four years in prison for allegedly assaulting a police officer.

Minsk - Chinese troops on Tuesday took part in a military parade marking Independence Day in Belarus as the country's authoritarian leader seeks closer ties with Beijing to counterbalance Russia's influence.

Radin - Natalia Shevchuk gazes at the peeling walls inside her old flat and tears run down her cheeks: 32 years after the Chernobyl disaster she is finally revisiting her childhood home in the ghost town of Pripyat."Come inside: this is Apartment No.

Minsk - Belarusian authorities on Sunday arrested around 30 protesters in Minsk ahead of a banned opposition march while detaining activists across the country, human rights group Viasna said.

Minsk - Former Soviet republic Belarus has blocked a top opposition website for spreading "illegal" content, the information ministry said Thursday.

Minsk - Thirty years after the Chernobyl disaster spewed radioactive clouds into the sky and sent shockwaves across Europe, Belarus is building a nuclear reactor on the doorstep of the EU despite fears in neighbouring Lithuania.

Minsk - A Belarusian court on Wednesday sentenced opposition politician and poet Vladimir Nekliayev to 10 days in prison for urging supporters to protest against the rule of President Alexander Lukashenko.

Moscow - If you read the Western “reviews” of the major Russian military exercise in Belarus, you might get the impression that there is something very superficial about the Russian military. That’s a bad mistake.

Minsk - More than 100 people in Belarus appeared in court on Monday over protests at the weekend against hardline President Alexander Lukashenko, with dozens of them jailed, including journalists.

Minsk - Belarus authorities raided the offices of a prominent rights group Saturday, detaining dozens of people, including foreign rights workers, ahead of a planned protest by opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko.

Minsk - Belarusian authorities have arrested some 26 people following a wave of major protests against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, state television said Thursday, citing security services.

Minsk - Some 3,000 protesters marched through the Belarusian capital Minsk Wednesday in the latest of a spate of rare demonstrations to challenge the country's authoritarian leader.

Minsk - Thousands of Belarusian opposition supporters rallied in Minsk on Friday against a Soviet-style "tax on spongers" imposed by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Minsk - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko slammed Russia on Friday as tensions bubbled between the two close allies in a spat over border controls.