Belarus Plane News Today

The government says it has decided to ban planes operated by any Belarusian airline from landing in Japan after the Eastern European country forced a civilian plane to land and arrested a dissident journalist on board last month.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko will meet Friday after the UN civil aviation agency announced it will investigate the diversion of a passenger plane and the arrest of a journalist.

Alexander Lukashenko's press service said on its Telegram channel the president had given the order to divert a Ryanair flight to Minsk, where Belarusian dissident Raman Pratasevich and another passenger were arrested. Journalist Hanna Liubakova tells DW what may have motivated Lukashenko to take such drastic action.

Rest of World News: A founder of a messaging app channel that has been a key information conduit for opponents of Belarus' authoritarian president was arrested Sunday aft