Minsk - The editor of a Belarusian independent news website avoided jail on Monday but was fined by a court in Minsk in a case denounced by rights activists as censorship. Marina Zolotova, editor-in-chief of Tut.

Minsk - Belarus strongmanAlexander Lukashenko said Friday that 98 percent of citizens of the ex-Soviet country would oppose unification with Russia, as speculation grows that the Kremlin is pressuring Minsk into closer integration.

Brest - Construction on the site of a former Jewish ghetto in a Belarusian city has unearthed the remains of hundreds of people in WWII-era mass graves, prompting many locals to oppose a planned residential building.

Minsk - Belarusian prosecutors on Monday demanded the editor of the country's biggest independent news site pay a hefty fine in a criminal case, which may allow her to avoid prison time.Marina Zolotova, the editor-in-chief of tut.

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.