Belarus frees 52 political prisoners as U.S. lifts some sanctions on its national airline

VILNIUS, Lithuania — Belarus freed 52 political prisoners on Thursday, as the United States announced it was lifting some sanctions on the isolated country's national airline. Belarus, a close ally of Russia , has been repeatedly slapped with Western sanctions both for its crackdown on human rights and allowing Moscow to use its territory in the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Its president, Alexander Lukashenko