Up to 90% of country`s businessmen and retailers joined the national five-day strike, commenced on January 1, 2001.

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Leaders of civic associations of Vitebsk, including the chair of the local UCP affiliate Alena Zalesskaya, representatives of the "Kaucheg" NGO Irina Baidak, BPF member Sergei Askimovich and BSDP (NG) member Ada Bobrova forwarded Dec.30 their complaint to the chair of the Vitebsk city hall Vladimir Pelageiko. They expressed their indignation over the ban, placed on mass gatherings in the town`s center.

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In the year 2001 one may expect significant growth of illegal immigration influx into Belarus, BelaPAN was told Jan.2 by major-general Nikolai Kohan, deputy chair of the State Committee for Border Control. According to his words, such forecast is based on Poland`s introducing visa regime with Asian states and CIS ones. If Belarusians will have to apply for Polish visas later in the year, Mongolia and some CIS citizens will be obliged to do it right away.

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President Vladimir Putin is increasingly relying on oil and gas pipelines in his dealings with his neighbors who need them. Putin is achieving his stated goal, making Russia the predominant Eurasian power. The Newly Independent States (NIS, a.k.a. former Soviet republics) are paying attention as Moscow pulls their energy leash. This is the newest development in the geopolitics and geo-economics of Eurasia, to which policy experts of the incoming Bush Administration will be forced to pay increasing attention.

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A body of a man, dressed in a Santa Klaus costume was found dead January 1 morning in one of the villages of Grodno regions. NTV reports with a reference to Interfax that the person was stabbed in heart by the unknown murderer.

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in order to force the government to pay them their wages before the New Year breaks. Having failed to obtain their monthly incomes for November, a thousand workers of the Mogilev car-building factory took to the streets Dec.28 and blocked the traffic.

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Usually Lukashenko threatens the world to sign a treaty with Russians on bringing in nuclear missiles back to Belarus, as far as they have all the necessary facilities to store them here.

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As compared to November, the apartment rent (maintenance) grew by 7,6%, heating, hot and cold water, sewerage, gas and removal of waste - by 8%, elevators - 9,2%.

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on January 1, 2001. The protest involved a few dozen thousand salesmen from the country`s marketplaces.

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Having provided Belarus with a $30 mln. loan, the government of Russia made Lukashenko another present on Dec.30 - Russia`s PM Kasyanov extended their agreement on partial compensation of gas indebtedness by food and materials.

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Russian news agencies report that there occurred almost a 100% price-increase on major goods in Belarus. But that`s an average figure. As for paid services for example, they grew 3 times more expensive. Ukraine and Tajikistan also had great inflation, though it cannot be compared to that in Belarus.

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A group of unidentified individuals assaulted Minsk synagogue Dec.30. Radio "Svaboda" reports that the hooligans threw petrol bombs at the building of the Jewish center. The guards managed to put out the flames quite quickly, so the synagogue wasn`t damaged too much. Last year there have been registered a few cases of attacking the synagogues and desecrating Jewish cemeteries.

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Famous BPF activist Vera Tserlukevich died from cancer in the afternoon December 31 in one of Minsk hospitals.

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