Polling stations in Moldova opened on 7 am Sunday morning and will close at 9 pm with voters eager to choose the new parliament after the previous one was dissolved by President Maia Sandu in attempt to strengthen her position against pro-Russia political forces, news wires reported.

Moldovan citizens will go to the polls on Sunday in a key snap parliamentary election that could decide whether the former Soviet republic fully embraces pro-Western reform or prolongs a political impasse with strong Russian influence, AP reported. The landlocked country of 3.5m, Europe's poorest, sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine has in recent years lurched from one political crisis to another, dogged by instability and stuck in geopolitical limbo between pro-Western and pro-Russia forces.

A court in Belarus on Tuesday sentenced former Belarusian presidential contender Viktor Babariko to 14 years in prison on corruption charges, Reuters reported citing information from local media and Russian news agencies. Babariko's team said before the ruling that the charges against their client had been fabricated to thwart his political ambitions.

Belarus closed its border with neighboringUkraine as Minsk claimed that there was detected plot to initiate a coup. Belarus also claimed that there were large volumes of arms smuggled to its territory, BBC elaborated. President Alexander Lukashenko said his country was a victim of an attempt by outside powers to overthrow his regime.

Russia on Friday said it would not impose a new lockdown despite reporting a record number of coronavirus deaths for the fourth day in a row, AFP reports.

Belarus on Monday retaliated to the European Union sanctions by halting cooperation on stemming illegal migration and denying entry to EU officials, AP reports.

The Sea Breeze drills, led by the US and Ukraine, started on Monday in the Black Sea, despite sharp criticism from Russia, news wires reported. They are set to last up to two weeks with the participation of 32 countries from six continents, according to the US military.

Russia is preparing new export taxes for steel products, nickel, aluminium and copper which will cost their producers $2.3 billion between 1 August and 31 December, its officials told a government meeting on Thursday, Reuters reports.

Russia on Saturday has reported its highest daily COVID-19 death toll of the year as the country grapples with a sharp spike in infections that has brought new restrictions in some regions.

The Russian military on Friday launched sweeping maneuvers in the Mediterranean Sea featuring warplanes armed with state-of-the-art hypersonic missiles, a show of force amid a surge in tensions following an incident with a British destroyer in the Black Sea, AP reports.