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![Military parades in Belarus: displaying military might and annoying locals](/sites/default/files/iudfkgyyuin.jpg)
Every year on 3 July in Minsk, Belarus traditionally conducts a military parade devoted to the official Independence Day. This year, however, the military parade triggered widespread discussions in the media. Just before the most recent parade, more than 9,000...
![Belarusian Nobel laureate Sviatlana Alieksijevič hit by a smear campaign](/sites/default/files/ridus.ru_.png)
On 19 June, the Russian information agency Regnum published a widely discussed interview with Sviatlana Alieksijevič, the 2015 Nobel Prize Winner from Belarus. Despite the fact that Alieksijevič forbade Regnum to publish the interview, the news outlet went ahead...
![The unexpected rise of Belarusian universities in international rankings](/sites/default/files/topuniversities.com__0.png)
According to recent QS World University Rankings, two Belarusian universities appeared on the list of the best 959 universities in the world. The Belarusian State University received a higher rating than all universities in Poland and Lithuania. Nevertheless,...
![Belarus becomes safer, but political persecution continues](/sites/default/files/safety_index.jpg)
Numbeo, the world's largest database of user-confirmed data about cities and countries worldwide, ranked Belarus the safest country in the region in 2017. Other global metrics also indicate that Belarus is a relatively safe part of the world. Domestic trends...
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On 12 May, Alexander Lukašenka suddenly announced that starting in September, school children would start class at 9:00 am rather than 8:00. This reform would give children an extra hour of sleep. However, many maintain that the change would...
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According to a report on May 22 by TUT.by, 31.3% of Belarusians would consider moving permanently to another country. The study, conducted by Belarusian Analytical Workroom, surveyed 1,063 people and demonstrates that more and more Belarusians are willing to...
![malitva-3105-2_krynica.jpg](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/malitva-3105-2_krynica-180x120.jpg)
On 26 May, Archbishop Tadevuš Kandrusievič, the head of the Belarusian Catholic Church, announced that the Episcopate is working on an alternative to concordat. Concordat is a formal agreement regulating the relationship between the church and a secular state,...
![union_of_poles_in_hrodna._charter97.org_.jpg](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/union_of_poles_in_hrodna._charter97.org_-180x120.jpg)
On 11 May, the Union of Poles in Belarus sent around 6,000 signatures to Alexander Lukashenka demanding an end to the Russification of Polish schools in Hrodna Region. In July, The Belarusian Ministry of Education plans to decrease the number...
![4.jpg](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/4_1-180x120.jpg)
Belarus is perhaps the world's second booziest nation. In 2014, Belarus topped the World Health Organisation's report on alcohol consumption. According to the WHO, an average Belarusian drinks around 17.5 litres of alcohol per year, while the median global...
![pavel-and-lukashenko-600.jpg](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/pavel-and-lukashenko-600-180x120.jpg)
Last month, the Pew Research Centre released its Global Restrictions on Religion report, which gauges barriers imposed by governments as well as social hostilities towards religious organisations. Out of the nearly 200 countries studied, Belarus ranked among the 'high-risk'...
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On 25 March, a record number of Internet users visited the website of the independent Belarusian newspaper Nasha Niva. 109,000 Internet users read articles describing the protests against the social parasite law. In Belarus, this is nothing to...
![5.jpg](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/5_0-180x120.jpg)
On 23 February, the administration of the Belarusian State University expelled the youth activist Yury Lukashevich. The former student claims that the reason behind his expulsion lies in his political activism and board membership in an oppositional party. While the...
![grodno3.jpg](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/grodno3-180x120.jpg)
Around 1,100 tourists, a record number, visited Hrodna Region between 26 March and 2 April 2017, according to Belta news agency. Since October 2016, it is possible to visit the region for five days visa-free. This growth in tourism has...
![4.jpg](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/4_0-180x120.jpg)
In March, two Belarusian youngsters attempted to commit suicide while playing a 'game' on the popular Russian social network VK. Belarusian law enforcement services have initiated two criminal cases, connecting the suicides with a game called ‘blue whale’, especially popular...