Poland has stopped some 16,000 migrants crossing its border from Belarus since August, and accuses Belarus' authoritarian regime of facilitating illegal migration into the European Union.
The U.S., which accuses President Alexander Lukashenko of corruption and repression, imposes new sanctions on his financial backers on the one-year anniversary of an election widely considered rigged.
The two coaches had their credentials revoked by the International Olympic Committee four days after they ordered sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya back home for publicly criticizing them.
An expert says threats against Belarusian athletes aren't uncommon. Olympian Kristina Timanovskaya refused to board a flight home to Belarus after officials abruptly took her to the airport.
Nearly a year after Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko's crackdown, "None of us doubt that we will prevail," an activist tells NPR. Others sound worried. "Every day is a little scarier," says one.
President Biden reassured his NATO allies that the U.S. has their backs, and said he was gratified that the alliance will now also focus on challenges from China, climate change and cyberattacks.
The move, affecting about 400 flights per day, is a reaction to the shocking arrest of a journalist last month after Belarusian officials forced his plane Greece-to-Lithuania flight to land in Minsk.
After some European countries blocked access to Belarusian airlines after officials arrested an opposition journalist on a commercial flight, NPR asks an expert about Putin's support for Belarus.
The arrest of journalist Roman Protasevich, who was seized from a flight that was forced down by Belarusian authorities, is being called an act of state terrorism and air piracy.
The move comes a day after Belarus ordered a Ryanair flight to make an emergency landing in Minsk due to reports of a bomb aboard, in a ruse to apprehend an opposition activist.
The passenger flight carrying Roman Protasevich, the former editor of an opposition social media channel, made an emergency landing after reports of a bomb on board. No explosives were found.
The exiled leader of Belarus' pro-democracy movement says that renewed protests and diplomatic pressure will lead to a peaceful political transition and new, free and fair elections.
"We will continue to fight and speak and raise our voices," says Belarusian athlete Yelena Leuchanka. "The face of what is happening in Belarus is largely the face of women," says an ex-U.S. diplomat.
Heather Shkliarov warns that her Belarusian American husband's health is in "immediate danger" following his late-July arrest by security forces of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
