Mikola Statkevich, one of the leaders of the Belarusian National Congress or BNK, has disappeared and has not contacted anyone since March 23, his wife, Marina Adamovich told Deutsche Welle.

Statkevich was supposed to be in Minsk near the Academy of Sciences for Freedom Day on Saturday, March 25. As the BNK organizer for the event, he had planned for a procession to start along the main avenue of the Belarusian capital but he never showed up.

"The last time I saw Mikola was on Thursday …

Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano expressed his hope that the G7 summit, which will be held on May 26-27 in the city of Taormina in Sicily, would be followed by a meeting on the highest level but already in the G8 format.

"I hope that the summit in Taormina will be the last in the G7 format, and that the next one after Taormina will be held in the G8 format with the participation of Russia. This scenario, however, depends on Moscow's constructive and cooperative approach. We believe …

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed a decree to demilitarize the unfinished Ukrayina missile cruiser which is stationed in the anchorage area of the 61 Communards Shipyard in Mykolaiv.

Vyacheslav Bonia, Deputy Head of Mykolaiv City Administration, made a statement to this effect at a staff meeting, Hronika.info reports.

At the staff meeting, Bonia told the workers how the authorities plan to deal with the matter of the salaries they are owed.

“You have the cruiser Ukrayina here, …

The Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine for Humanitarian Affairs, Vyacheslav Kyrylenko, offered Russia the option to choose another participant for Eurovision-2017 that has not violated Ukrainian legislation, as stated on Ukrainian Radio, reports Ukrainska Pravda.

Kyrylenko stressed that from the very beginning Ukraine warned that no artist who had violated Ukrainian legislation would be able to participate in the song contest.

"Of course, we are ready to accept all 43 Eurovision participating …

 A meeting with the head of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Mahmoud Abbas, is on Russian leader, Vladimir Putin’s schedule on May 11th. The Press Secretary for the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed that preparations are being made for the Palestinian head’s visit, Interfax reports.

"Yes. The meeting is planned," Peskov said. However, he also stated that so far there is no intent to organize a meeting between the PNA head with Israeli leadership in Moscow.

Previously, the …

The US State Department condemns the actions of Russian law enforcement agencies during protests against corruption that took place in dozens of Russian cities on March 26th and call for the immediate release of all peaceful rally participants, as stated by State Department spokesman Mark Toner, reports Reuters.

"We urge the Russian government to immediately release all peaceful demonstrators," Toner said in a statement.

The State Department spokesman noted that Washington “condemns the …

The Tabqa dam on the Euphrates, Syria’s largest dam has been partially destroyed by the fighting between the Syrian Democratic Forces or SDF coalition and the Islamic State terrorist group, as reported by RIA Novosti with a reference to the Lebanese TV channel Al Mayadeen.

The Tabqa hydroelectric power station was built in the early 1970s with the assistance of Soviet specialists. It keeps in check the Al-Assad, the largest reservoir in the country.

Al Mayadeen reported, citing informed …

President of Poland Andrzej Duda is disappointed with the reaction of Belarusian authorities toward participants of a protest rally held on Freedom Day, March 25th.

He said this at a meeting with the presidents of Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as reported by Onet, with reference to Polish Press Agency.

“I watched with great disappointment how the Belarusian authorities dealt with the protesters,” Duda said.

He also said that he is concerned about the detention of Polish citizens in …