Minsk - Negotiators sent by Kiev and pro-Russian rebels on Wednesday for the first time agreed to pull back troops from three areas along the battered frontline in east Ukraine.

Minsk - Two opposition candidates have been elected to parliament in ex-Soviet Belarus, the first time since 2008 that critics of strongman president Alexander Lukashenko have made it into the rubber-stamp legislature.

Minsk - Ex-Soviet state Belarus went to the polls Sunday for elections expected to see supporters of strongman Alexander Lukashenko fill the legislature, as the opposition branded the process a farce.

Minsk - Green-fingered Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko forced US action star Steven Seagal to eat one of his homegrown carrots in an awkward encounter that prompted much mockery on Thursday in the ex-Soviet state.

Minsk - Thousands of mourners in Belarus on Saturday bid farewell to prominent independent journalist Pavel Sheremet, killed by a car bomb in Kiev, as he was buried back in the homeland where he clashed with the authorities.

Minsk - As Belarusian state policy is to forge ties with Europe, Europe should respond by pressuring the government to strengthen good governance; highlighting human rights issues, systemic corruption, and rampant smuggling across EU borders.

For people living in Belarus, a country that ended up with 23 percent of its land contaminated with radioactive fallout after the Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986, the incident has turned into a fairy tale, and they are living in a fantasy world.

Minsk - Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels agreed a new truce deal Wednesday that goes into immediate effect and replaces one broken just hours after its signature at the end of last month.

Minsk - Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich, this year's Nobel Literature Prize winner, on Wednesday slammed Russia's "political trial" of Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko and compared her to Joan of Arc.

Minsk - Scores of people gathered in Minsk Thursday to commemorate victims of Stalin-era repressions, a rare event organised by the opposition which would usually face a tough police response.

Lenino - The EU suspended most sanctions against Belarus Thursday, citing "improving relations" after authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko released all remaining political prisoners, a statement said.

Minsk - The European Union has agreed to suspend sanctions against the regime of Belarussian strongman Alexander Lukashenko after he won a fifth term as president, even though observers said the poll was flawed.

Minsk - The European Union agreed Monday to suspend sanctions against the regime of Belarussian strongman Alexander Lukashenko after he won a fifth term as president, even though observers said the poll was flawed.

Minsk - He is 11 years old but has already attended the UN General Assembly, had his picture taken with US President Barack Obama and met a pope -- and he has his own golden gun.

Minsk - Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko looked on Monday to the EU to ease sanctions against his regime after a landslide electoral win, but international observers said the poll was tainted by irregularities.

Minsk - Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has won a fifth term with 83.49 percent of the vote, the head of the central electoral commission said on Monday.

Minsk - President Alexander Lukashenko was on track to win a fifth consecutive term by a landslide Sunday, exit polls showed, as the Belarussian leader warned critics against contesting the election outcome and ridiculed one of his opponents for being a woman....

Minsk - Once described by the US as presiding over Europe's "last true remaining dictatorship", President Alexander Lukashenko has kept Belarus in international isolation for more than two decades.

Minsk - In Minsk, street posters, television ads and even automated text messages exhort Belarussians to vote in Sunday's presidential polls.Who to vote for is barely mentioned.

Minsk - In two of Minsk's largest bookstores on Thursday afternoon, local author Svetlana Alexievich's books were on prominent display after she won the Nobel prize -- but only in an edition published in Russia.