JAILED BELARUS PROTEST LEADER IN ICU

Jailed Belarusian protest leader Maria Kolesnikova was already in a serious condition when she was taken from prison to a hospital to be operated on and her diagnosis has not been disclosed, a political ally said on Wednesday.

Kolesnikova, an outspoken critic of Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, was in intensive care on Tuesday after undergoing an operation at a hospital in the southeastern city of Gomel, her sister said on Tuesday.