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RFE/RL Condemns Detention of Another of Its Correspondents in Belarus
Voice of America
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has condemned Belarus's detention of another of its correspondents, Ales Dashchynski, as President Alexander Lukashenko continues to crack down on independent media.
Dashchynski's relatives told RFE/RL that police detained him on July 16 after his apartment in Minsk was searched and his computer, telephone, a hard drive, several flash memory sticks, and a bank card were confiscated. His accreditation as a journalist was canceled last October as part of Lukashenko's campaign against dissent and free media following a disputed presidential election in August that the opposition and many Western nations say was rigged. Dashchynski's detainment came the same day as police and security forces raided the offices and homes of several independent journalists across Belarus, including RFE/RL's offices in Minsk.
Dana Shem Tov, sister of Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov, reacts as she watches his televised release by Hamas militants at the family home in Tel Aviv on Feb. 22, 2025. A woman mourns at a memorial for deceased hostages Shiri Bibas, her two children, Ariel and Kfir, and Oded Lifshitz at “Hostages Square,” while Israelis gather while waiting for the release of six hostages in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 22, 2025. Omer Wenkert, a hostage held in Gaza since Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, is escorted by Hamas militants as he is released in Nuseirat, Gaza Strip, on Feb. 22, 2025.
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A mahout sprays water over elephants during their daily bath in a river, at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in Pinnawala on Feb. 16, 2025 as Sri Lanka's main elephant orphanage marked its 50th anniversary. Tourists take pictures as elephants return to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage after taking their daily bath in a river in Pinnawala, Sri Lanka, on Feb. 16, 2025. Elephants stroll across the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in Pinnawala, Sri Lanka, on Feb. 16, 2025.
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A poster shows pictures of the Bibas family, top row from second left: Yarden, Shiri, and their sons Ariel and Kfir, who were kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, in Jerusalem, Feb. 21, 2025. Words above read, '37 members of Kibbutz Nir Oz are still missing.' Palestinian Hamas militants and people gather at the site of the handing over of the bodies of four Israeli hostages in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Feb. 20, 2025.