Belarus’ authoritarian leader claims his country is “so democratic, it’s just nauseating”, adding to concerns that a crackdown on political opponents after disputed elections and an underground bombing that killed 13 people is set to intensify.

Two more people have been arrested over the deadly subway bombing in Belarus as fears grew among opponents of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko that he is using it to strengthen his grip on power.

TWO suspects have confessed over a fatal bomb attack on the subway system in the capital of Belarus, President Alexander Lukashenko said.

Two suspects have confessed over a fatal bomb attack on the subway system in the capital of Belarus, President Alexander Lukashenko said today.

BELARUS has made the first arrests over the Minsk metro bombing that killed 12 commuters, the worst attack in its modern history which the authorities called a plot to destabilise the country.

A rush-hour explosion which tore through an underground station in Belarus’ capital Minsk, killing 12 people and wounding 126, was a terrorist act, an official said.

A BLAST hit a crowded metro station in the centre of the Belarusian capital Minsk during the evening rush hour yesterday and police said eleven people had been killed and about 50 injured.

The authoritarian leader of Belarus has appointed a new prime minister after last week’s disputed presidential election.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has been officially declared re-elected for a fourth term after a vote that other contenders say was rigged.

The hardline leader of Belarus was today accused of winning re-election through fraud and violence after more than 16 years of repressive rule.

Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the State-controlled gas monopoly to cut gas supplies to ex-Soviet neighbour Belarus over its debt for Russian natural gas supplies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met the Belorussian leader tonight, starting a visit that was closely watched for signs the two ex-Soviet neighbours were advancing towards a long-discussed merger.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko slammed Moscow today for a series of energy deals that have sharply raised prices and cut revenues for Belarus, vowing in a defiant speech to find oil from sources other than Russia.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko lashed out angrily at the Russian leadership over energy price increases, calling its conduct “shameless” and threatening to charge Moscow for military facilities and transit of oil across his country.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko lashed out angrily at the Russian leadership today over energy price increases, calling its conduct “shameless” and threatening to charge Moscow for military facilities and transit of oil across his country.

Russia and Belarus are digging in today in a deepening dispute over natural gas prices, as Russia's state-run gas monopoly Gazprom started the countdown towards a January 1 supply cut unless the neighbouring nation agreed to pay more.

Belarussian opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich today received the EU’s top human rights award – the Sakharov Prize – in recognition of his fight for democracy in the ex-Soviet republic.

WORKERS around the world held May Day rallies yesterday to press for better factory conditions and higher wages, while activists in the Philippines and Belarus used the holiday to show their opposition to their governments in tense protests watched by police.

The European Union today imposed a visa ban on Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and 30 other officials in protest at his re-election last month that Western nations claim was rigged and for cracking down on opposition supporters.

UKRAINIANS voted in a parliamentary election yesterday that could tip the divided ex-Soviet republic back toward Russia just 16 months after the Orange Revolution protests helped set it on a Westward course.

Thousands of Belarusians defied a massive show of force by the hard-line government in Minsk today, protesting in streets swarming with riot police and gathering peacefully in a park to denounce President Alexander Lukashenko after a disputed election returned him to power.

THE European Union was joined by the United States yesterday in imposing sanctions on Belarus in retaliation for a crackdown on political protesters after an election that both said was fraudulent.

Police swiftly ended an unprecedented protest in Belarus on today, arresting hundreds of demonstrators in a pre-dawn raid.

European Union leaders slapped expanded sanctions on Belarus today and condemned a crackdown against opposition protesters in Minsk.

Riot police stormed the opposition tent camp in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, detaining scores of demonstrators who had spent a fourth night in a central square to protest at President Alexander Lukashenko’s victory in a disputed election.

Police in Belarus stormed a protest rally against the contested re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko early today and arrested dozens of demonstrators.

Thousands of Belarusians demonstrated in a central Minsk square for the third night in a row tonight, swelling the ranks of a core group who spent the previous night there to protest at the extension of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko’s rule.

Opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich said today that Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko must be excluded from a rerun of presidential elections that is being demanded by the opposition.

The European Union today said the presidential election in Belarus was marred by a “climate of intimidation”.

Belarus’ main opposition candidate demanded a new vote today as President Alexander Lukashenko stormed to victory by a massive margin.

SEVERAL thousand opposition supporters gathered on a main square in central Minsk last night as polls closed in a disputed presidential election.

President Mary McAleese today opened the doors of her official residence to dozens of Chernobyl children escaping the effects of nuclear fallout.

The presidents of Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan were gathering today in the Black Sea coast resort of Yalta for two days of meetings on the mechanics of a fledgling economic community meant to boost trade among the former soviet republics and promote growth by increasing investment.

A FIRE believed to have been set by a psychiatric patient engulfed a Belarusian mental hospital, killing 30 patients and reducing much of the century-old wooden building to ash.

A fire ripped through a wooden mental hospital in Belarus today, killing 30 patients, the government said.

Belarus is voting in elections to decide if President Alexander Lukashenko is to be returned to office.