Belarusian leader and Russian ally Alexander Lukashenko extended his 31-year rule on Monday after electoral officials declared him the winner of a presidential election Western governments rejected as a sham.

Belarusians voted on Sunday in an election set to hand President Alexander Lukashenko a seventh term, prolonging his three-decade authoritarian rule. At his press conference on Sunday, he dismissed rumours that he was planning to hand over to one of his three sons.

Many Western leaders are decrying Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's re-election victory Sunday, calling it a sham along with the country's opposition.

As an East African bloc urged an immediate ceasefire in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwandan-backed M23 rebels who seized the city of Goma extended their advance on Wednesday, and Congo said it planned a campaign to recover lost territory.

Lukasheno's win in Belarus' presidential election over the weekend has been decried by the EU and opposition activists, calling it a 'farce'.

President Alexander Lukashenko prides himself for having ... national election after Belarus gained independence from the Soviet Union. Criticism of the strongman is banned. Most people AFP ...

MAYNES: Yeah, you know, as you noted, we'll almost certainly see Alexander Lukashenko, a one-time collective farm manager, elected to a seventh term in office. That's extending a rule that began way back in 1994.

Belarusian strongman President Alexander Lukashenko is poised to extend his rule in a tightly-controlled vote where he faces no opposition and that’s been called a “sham” by the European Union.

Russian, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko casts himself as a plain-spoken strongman and "president of the ordinary people".

Reclusive Moscow-allied Belarus will hold a presidential election Sunday, with President Alexander Lukashenko set to cruise through to victory unchallenged for a seventh term, prolonging his three-decade authoritarian rule.

Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko is all but certain to extend his more than three decades in power in Sunday’s election that is rejected by the opposition as a farce after years o

Near a border checkpoint between Belarus and Ukraine, anti-tank spikes and concrete pyramids block what was once a bustling road between two peaceful neighbours.