Belarus plans to study the international experience on issues of regulating Internet at lawmaking level. It was stated by Information Minister of Belarus Uladzimir Rusakevich. As said by the official, the decision to regulate mass media on the web was taken not in Belarus only, but in many other countries as well.

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On January 27 the results of the II international contest were summed up by the “Free Theatre”(free theater). 200 plays of modern playwrights from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Great Britain and Baltic countries competed. Traditionally, the Free Theatre happening was held secretly. The Free Theatre has not been legally registered but since the moment of its set- up in 2005 it has always had a full house. In its interview with Mikalai Khalezin, artist, journalist, head of the Free Theatre, the Radio Svoboda talked about the theatre but that was not the only topic of the interview.

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Management of the Unitary Enterprise “Lyos” (Baran city) decided to get rid of a free trade union by dismissing its activists. Yesterday, on 30 January, four members of the Free Trade Union of Metalworkers (SPM) have received the notice that since 1 March 2007 they would be dismissed based on expiry of the term of their contracts.

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Following Russia`s more than twofold increase of gas prices and imposition of a sizable duty on crude oil supplies to Belarus in 2007, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka seems to be utterly confused and at a loss to decide what course he should take now.

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Russia is set to halt imports of Belarusian sugar in the long run, Russian Agriculture Minister Aleksei Gordeyev said in an interview published by the Russian newspaper Vedomosti on Tuesday.

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The recent dispute between Russia and Belarus almost left all of Europe without gas supplies and has received much coverage in Western media. The resistance from Belarus, which has stayed loyal to Russia for many years, came as a surprise to many. The feud with Minsk, which came just a year after the dispute with Ukraine, has once again shattered Russia’s image as a stable energy supplier. GT phoned Yaroslav Romanchuk, a political analyst in Belarus, to talk more about these issues.

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“I agree with any freedom of a journalist, and today in Belarus we are carrying out this policy. But the most important thing is that a journalist should be responsible for what he had written. Then there would be less articles written on order,” Alyaksandr Lukashenka said yesterday during a meeting with the chairman of the Hungarian Communist Workers` Party, Vice chairman of the Party of the European Left Gyula Thuermer.

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In connection with another vandalism attack in the national memorial site Kurapaty, the Young Front organization stated that it wouldn’t tolerate further desecration of burial places and the memory of Belarusian citizens or criminal passivity of policemen. The organization is ready to resume a watch of honour in Kurapaty including setting a tent camp of the memorial place defenders.

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The main economic board of the Department of Presidential Affairs has extended the tenancy agreement with the republican pubic association “Belarusian Helsinki Committee”. The Charter’97 press-center has been informed about that by the Chairperson of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee Tatsyana Protska. Today she had a meeting with the acting head of the main economic board of the Department of Presidential Affairs Mikhail Belyaeu.

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