Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated in an interview published on Friday that he has no intention of seeking another term in office and dismissed claims that he is preparing his son to take over leadership.
Lukashenko, a long-standing ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has ruled Belarus for over 30 years under an authoritarian regime and was re-elected to a seventh term in January.
Speaking to TIME magazine, the 70-year-old leader said he was “not planning” to run again, though he joked that U.S. President Donald Trump, at nearly 80, was still “looking decent.”
He emphasised that his successor should not make abrupt changes but should continue the country’s development to prevent any “revolutionary collapse.”
Addressing persistent rumours that he is grooming his son, Nikolai, as a successor, Lukashenko firmly denied the speculation.
“No, he is not a successor. I knew you’d ask that. No, no, no. Ask him yourself- he might actually be offended,” he told TIME, with excerpts later published in Russian by state news agency Belta.
Lukashenko faced massive protests in 2020 after an election widely condemned by the opposition and Western governments as fraudulent. His government responded with a crackdown, imprisoning or exiling opposition leaders.
Since mid-2024, several hundred people jailed for "extremism" and other politically motivated charges have been released- a move analysts interpret as an attempt to reduce Belarus’s isolation from the West. However, human rights groups report that nearly 1,200 political prisoners remain in custody.
Lukashenko continues to deny the existence of political prisoners in Belarus.
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The global recall of Airbus A320 aircraft has triggered widespread disruption across several major airlines, forcing flight cancellations in the United States, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
U.S. investigators have recovered the black box recorders from the wreckage of a UPS cargo plane that crashed in flames on takeoff in Louisville, Kentucky. At least twelve people died. The crash sent a wall of fire into an industrial corridor and forced the shutdown of the airport.
Pope Leo visited Istanbul’s Blue Mosque on Saturday, stepping inside one of the most iconic sites of the Muslim world. He removed his shoes at the entrance in a gesture of respect. He did not appear to pray.
Russian drones and missiles struck several districts of Kyiv early on Saturday, killing one person and injuring more than a dozen. Fires swept through residential blocks as debris rained over the city.
At least 47 people have died and another 21 are reported missing following ten days of heavy rainfall, floods, and landslides across Sri Lanka, local media reported on Thursday (27 November).
Hong Kong fire authorities said they expected to wrap up search and rescue operations on Friday after the city's worst fire in nearly 80 years tore through a massive apartment complex, killing at least 128 people, injuring 79 and leaving around 200 still missing.
Netflix crashed on Wednesday for about an hour in the U.S. as it launched season five of "Stranger Things", with the service becoming inaccessible to many subscribers within minutes of the episodes going live at 8 p.m. local time.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth visited sailors aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier in the Latin American region on Thursday, amid a military buildup by President Donald Trump’s administration that has heightened tensions with Venezuela.
French health experts are warning that the highly pathogenic H5 strain of bird flu, already devastating wild and farm animals, could evolve into a virus capable of human-to-human transmission — potentially sparking a pandemic worse than COVID-19.
The global recall of Airbus A320 aircraft has triggered widespread disruption across several major airlines, forcing flight cancellations in the United States, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Pope Leo visited Istanbul’s Blue Mosque on Saturday, stepping inside one of the most iconic sites of the Muslim world. He removed his shoes at the entrance in a gesture of respect. He did not appear to pray.
Russian drones and missiles struck several districts of Kyiv early on Saturday, killing one person and injuring more than a dozen. Fires swept through residential blocks as debris rained over the city.
Shoppers packed malls and downtown streets in Caracas on Black Friday (28 November) as retailers offered discounts despite Venezuela’s prolonged economic crisis. Customers queued in shoe and electronics stores and browsed signs advertising cuts of up to 50%.
The famed Nuremberg Christmas Market opened on Friday (28 November) with its traditional ceremony featuring the Nuremberg Christkind, an angel-like child figure said to deliver Christmas gifts in some European countries.
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