 And Belarus marked on Saturday the Independence Day for the first time after last year's protest over the result of the presidential election. President Alexander Lukashenko laid down flowers at the World War II Victory Memorial and told the people at the ceremony that the future is in their hands. Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko on Friday, July 2nd ordered the closure of the border with Ukraine, seeking to block what he called an inflow of weapons to cool plotters detected by his security services. Western countries imposed sanctions on Belarus to polish it for the action and the European Union and Ukraine have also banned Belarus registered flights from entering their airspace. And heavy rain turned a scenic stream in central Japan into a raging river on Saturday after the area was lashed by heavy rain. In the nearby city of Atami, a landslide swept through houses, living 20 people missing. The rainfall deluge in the city since Friday has already exceeded the average July levels for both the Shizuka prefecture where Atami is located and neighboring Kanagawa prefecture according to the public broadcaster NHK.