August 2, Vitebsk /Olga Bogacheva - BELTA/. Farms in the Vitebsk region have closely approached the 50 percent mark in harvesting the second cut of grass, the Agriculture and Food Committee of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee informed a BELTA correspondent.

In the coming day, September 28, the weather will be spoiled by an atmospheric front, which, moving from Western Europe, will bring rains to the country. In some areas, heavy rains are not excluded, and thunderstorms are possible in places. The wind will be southeasterly, shifting to westerly, moderate, with gusts in places during the day. The air temperature at night will be plus 10-16 degrees, and during the day - 13-19 degrees. In the southeastern parts of the Gomel and Mogilev regions, the air will warm up to 20-22 degrees.

The crime rate in the Vitebsk region for January-October decreased by 21% compared to the same period last year. This was announced today at a meeting of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee by the Prosecutor of the Vitebsk Region Gennady Dysko, reports a BELTA correspondent.

"In a few days, a joint board of the Ministries of Internal Affairs will be held in Vitebsk," said the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus. He explained that the main topics of the board will be issues of countering extremism and information exchange.

Novopolotsk ophthalmologists have mastered new high-tech surgeries that allow patients to preserve their eyes. Previously, with such pathologies, the organ had to be removed. 5 organ-preserving plastic interventions have already been performed.

The high award of the Belarusian Orthodox Church was received by the Chairperson of the Novopolotsk City Executive Committee, Natalya Kochanova, for her many years of fruitful work on spiritual revival.

Construction of a new polyclinic for 1000 visits per shift has begun in the YUG-7 microdistrict of Vitebsk

The joint strategic exercise of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation "Zapad-2013" concluded yesterday. The exercise was held from September 20 to 26, 2013, under the leadership of the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Belarus and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation.

Vitebsk's preschool institutions will receive Br3.9 billion for improvement in 2014-2015. A plan of measures with this funding volume was approved today at the 38th session of the Vitebsk City Council of Deputies, according to a BELTA correspondent.

The competition, aimed at developing the creative potential of the younger generation and popularizing the Olympic movement, was organized by the NOC Representative Office in the Vitebsk region with the support of the education, sports and tourism departments of the regional executive committee.

At the road international checkpoint "Grigorovshchina", when leaving Belarus for Latvia, in a Volvo truck during inspection, tobacco products were found hidden under the trailer, concealed from customs clearance.

Issues of trade and economic relations were also touched upon. Over the past 5 years, they have been stable, with an annual turnover between the Dvina region and France amounting to 20-25 million dollars. In 2014, our supplies of timber and linen fabrics increased.