Belarusian activist calls on EU leaders to investigate Lukashenko

Poland plans to build a wall on its border with Belarus to prevent undocumented migrants from crossing into its territory illegally. But environmental campaigners warn a wall could have a dire impact on local wildlife. DW’s Jack Parrock reports.

He is the most famous Chinese dissident and one of the best-known contemporary artists in the world. Ai Weiwei was harassed by the Chinese authorities, who bulldozed his Shanghai studio, sent him to jail without charge and drove him out of his country. After the February 2 publication of the French translation of his memoir, "1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows", the artist sat with Eve Jackson to talk about the moment in a Chinese prison when he decided to write his life’s story for his son and what he learned growing up in a labour camp with his persecuted father, the poet Ai Qing.

Russian and Belarusian troops will continue their joint exercises near Ukraine, which were expected to end on Sunday, due to the "escalating situation" in Donbas.

World powers, including the United States and the European Union, have announced their first round of sanctions against Russia over its recognition of two breakaway republics in Ukraine. They include blacklisting certain banks, barring American and European banks from trading Russian government bonds, and targeting individuals with asset freezes and travel bans. FRANCE 24's Business Editor Stephen Carroll looks at how the measures might affect the Russian economy.

Belarusian opposition leader in exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has expressed solidarity with Ukraine, telling DW that most people in her home country "don't support this war."

A new constitutional amendment will allow Russian troops and nuclear weapons to station permanently in Belarus. The amendment also gives leader Alexander Lukashenko immunity from prosecution.

As aggressive sanctions hit Russia over the war in Ukraine, a growing number of Western firms are cutting ties with the country. While ordinary Russians stand to be hit hard, the EU has also imposed more targeted measures at business elites. We take a closer look.

Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs told FRANCE 24 in an interview from the Latvian capital Riga on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking to install a puppet regime in Kyiv. But, Rinkevics said, he believes such a plan "will fail", as the Kremlin doesn’t have the military capacity to occupy Ukraine and "winning over the minds of Ukrainians after what the Russians are doing is almost impossible".

The growing exodus of Western firms has upset Russian consumers, while authorities are weighing up the possibility of temporarily taking over firms with large shares of foreign ownership. We take a closer look. Also, the IMF warns that rising commodity prices due to the war in Ukraine could hurt developing nations in particular, and investors grapple with market volatility.

We examine the role played by Western allies in the Ukraine conflict. We're asking: what will NATO do next? There was more destruction in and around Kyiv this Tuesday. So what will NATO do? It is a question many observers are asking. Most importantly, it is the only question people in Ukraine want answered.

State media have published a series of critical articles against Chinese journalists, accusing them of helping foreign media with "anti-China reports."