everything is wrong around the world, but in belarus there is stability.course, this is not true. >> more are challenging that version of reality. if people have taken to the streets on a regular basis since last december's presidential elections. >> i go. they tried to arrest -- the kgb guys. >> the young woman who managed to escape is heading to minced along with her colleagues. what is known as a people's gathering is planned. the team is among the 1000 demonstrators calling for reform despite the threat of imprisonment. they are surrounded by undercover agents who record who is taking part. the reporter is undaunted. >> when you are working, you do not think about whether you are fighting or not. you get on with your work and realize later you might have been in danger. >> the term mensuration -- the demonstration here is the top item on the news broadcast. without it, few people would find out about the call for new elections. >> it is my job to spread the news. if i did not do this, and no one else would get >> i spent a long time thinking about how

russia and belarus have been friends for ages. but it will of course for decades we had this artificial ideal for one nation being a big brother and other nations being little brothers. but that time is over now but. it is here that the parties decided to invite the ukrainian leader to join them for their first ever discussion of their common future without go but off the yes to the point was obviously to deliberate in europe since of corba charge i would even say we all realized that we would not be able to persuade gorbachev and besides he's worried it could not be relied upon i mean he could tell you anything and do something completely different with. late on december the seventh yeltsin was already in viscously the next day the press was admitted to the lobby of the premises and the signatory parties to the agreement would periodically make an appearance the core deliberations however were all being held behind closed doors. as we sat down to draw up the documents question immediately arose as to who would do the writing. so

called the belarus democracy act. and it builds on that framework of trying to target those who are doing the abuse. it's timely and necessary, as i

belarus is the only country in europe to still carry out executions. the mother of one of the men said her son was innocent part. >> if anybody still does not understand what is going on around us and once more innocent blood spilled in addition to this innocent 15 victims, i am ready to sacrifice myself. let them shoot me instead of my boy. i have lived enough. >> the sentence cannot be appealed. the belarus authoritarian president could pardon the men, but that is not likely. he said earlier this month he wants to see them punished with the full force of the law. >>> out a deal with right wing extremism in germany, the rest this week of another man with links to a neo-nazi cell is fueling calls for the far right npd party to be banned. >> the rest has fueled the national debate on banning the npd. he was the deputy leader of the party's regional branch. he is alleged to have given support to the neo-nazis. many in parliament believe this alleged link makes an npd ban all the more probable. >> this is real evidence that our party that? contrary to the

thousand nine hundred one yeltsin and the presidents of the then soviet republics of ukraine and belarus met secretly and agreed to dissolve the soviet union. the way this aggression go you've mentioned the two people we just saw yeltsin and gorbachev many think that it was the power struggle between those two major political figures that caused the collapse of the soviet union however people claiming to have a deeper understanding of the process say that the root cause was different. course some also say that the collapse was orchestrated by the ninety's stay. it's with a key reason some people believe it was money so they see the country daid economy wise. it can they do agree with that. you know i can't agree with that let me give you a simple example from our time america's foreign debt in dollars and mainly in treasury bonds of course because they don't print actual bills like big seeds its g.d.p. . they are only surviving on credit. the u.s.s.r. had a budget deficit since around one thousand sixty six but then deficit was not properly reported to the supreme council so no measures

russia has agreed to grant belarus a discount on oil supplies minsky's increasing oil purchases to one hundred fifty seven million barrels from next year but it will pay one billion dollars less than the current price in exchange for this it has allowed russian companies to use fineries to process fifty percent of oil they supply products could be sold in belarus and russia or go for export early in. the price of gas supplies from minsk and president look says energy discounts the country to save about four billion dollars a year russia's all major tab near ft has agreed to develop the rich oil fields in iran in a deal worth one billion dollars it will work in partnership with the state petroleum and engineering development company iran's. oil minister says that the field is expected to produce around twenty million barrels a year that's close to annual output after seeking more joint ventures in iran as western companies curb their curb their investment as part of economic sanctions against the country's nuclear activities. it's all the business used for now german about fifty five mi

survive how are we going to pay for green and everything else we were getting from russia ukraine belarus in kazakhstan. we didn't have our own gold or foreign reserves or even a currency of our own for we had absolutely nothing. today as a buy john's international reserves amount to thirty five billion u.s. dollars the country gets its money from hydrocarbon exports it is estimated that the oil and gas supplies here will last for one hundred years i am. the outskirts of baquba to the world's largest oil and gas terminal don't have permission to open the pipe. it transports caspian oil to the mediterranean through the back to tbilisi j. hahn pipeline it is a boon for both as a by john and the european consumers of the other end who buy caspian oil. this is the b.b.c. pipeline which starts at sandwich i'll go through georgia and stop in turkey j homeport and this is the biggest pipeline in the caspian ridge on with the capacity of one point two million barrels a day. it is commonly acknowledged that azerbaijan knows a successful oil and gas development to the so-called contract of the cent

around 30 demonstrators have been detained in belarus for taking part in protests on the first anniversaryof the re- election of president look yushchenko -- of the president. the u.s. and the eu issued a joint statement, calling for the release of all political prisoners in the country. a fire at a russian airport has brought down the roof of the terminal building and bad the damage to other facilities. fire crews managed to evacuate the airport. and there were no reports of injuries. the airport handles local flights, but is also the base for an emergency departments center. a possible cash boost for countries in the eurozone. >> a number of european countries have agreed to provide nearly $200 billion to the international monetary fund, which could help the eurocurrency. hunter versions are coming from germany, italy, and spain, which may soon be in need of help. the united kingdom has refused to help. there is a question whether the imf has enough money to solve the problem. >> $200 billion looks like a figure plucked out of the air at the summit. it has come down to $150 billion. the

from the yeltsin crowd choke and trio the meeting between the three leaders of russia ukraine and belarus on december eighth brought the famous bella vision accords and established the commonwealth of independent states but by that time signs of breakdown were already ubiquitous the most amazing was one thousand nine hundred ninety or in one thousand nine hundred one the u.s.s.r. had accumulated a set of serious problems there were attempts to repair the system which started after nine hundred eighty five and failed to one another just imagine driving a car and trying to fix the engine and the wheels while it's moving twenty years on progress in positive change have certainly benefited some in the new russia but clearly not all according to recent opinion poll by the levada center more than fifty percent of russians say they regret the breakup and think it could have been prevented. ok stephen cohen i'm going to go to you first in and new york you know it's i've been over the last two weeks or so i've been interviewing a number of people the principles that were involved in the dissolutio

intended to carry gas from southern russia to europe bypassing the transit countries of ukraine and belarus well it's planned to have the capacity of sixty billion cubic meters a year and will cost around twenty billion dollars to built from fifty percent of the project while twenty percent belongs to any the rest is evenly distributed between france's e.d.f. and germany's one just whole. new year is beginning for the russian economy of the country fast apply for membership of the world trade organization but can one thousand nine hundred ninety three well finally that long negotiation is over and russia has been formally invited to join our g.'s dmitry medvedev looks at the changes that will bring. becoming a member of the world trade organization is both a political and economic milestone the fact that for such a long time russia now a top ten global economy was outside the trading club that unites ninety eight percent of the world's population sounds pretty ridiculous under w. zero rules the average duty on imports of goods will be reduced to seven point eight percent for agriculture it

intended to carry gas from southern russia to europe bypassing the transit countries of ukraine and belarus is found to have a capacity of sixty bidding cubit me to get i will cost around twenty billion dollars to build gas from fifty percent of the project while twenty percent but longs to its lows in ny and the rest is evenly distributed between france's e.d.f. and germany's winters hole. let's have a look at the market sell all has slightly retreated from the gains and saw in the previous session but it's still fairly high on concerns tension in iran might cause supply disruptions another driver is improving u.s. consumer confidence and now on ticket is u.s. stocks are now open for business that i've been just mildly lower this wednesday following on from the successful also sure it is it's late and in europe the footsie and the dax are on the rise as trading resumes following an extended holiday break retail company shares all seeing gains as the retail sector has been pursued by post christmas shopping. rush in the markets are now closed and they did close the red the r.t.s. last a per

use well i was refineries to process fifty percent of oil by supply the products could be sold in belarus and russia or go for export earlier moscow home of the price of gas supplies from minsk president lukashenko says energy discount will allow the country to save four billion dollars a year and russia's all major tat nafta has agreed to develop the rich oil fields and iran in a deal worth one billion dollars now it will work in partnership with a state run petroleum and injuring an engineering development company iran's oil minister says that the field is expected to produce around twenty million barrels a year that's close to touch annual output to seek a more joint ventures in iran and western companies curb their investments as part of economic sanctions against the country's nuclear activities. and russian tycoon dmitri live has bought the most expensive home in the history of manhattan real estate the new york observer says he's paid eighty eight million dollars for a ten room penthouse measuring six thousand seven hundred forty four square foot. runs the world's biggest potash pr

the state department released a report on the human rights situation in belarus. and under this regime, belarusians have been subject to manipulated elections and oppression on the basis of political affiliation, ethnicity and religious beliefs. following the most recent election, security forces arrested presidential candidates and journalists. mr. speaker, it is unacceptable that this kind of oppression exists today in europe. and i hope that more americans will be a-- made aware of the tyranny in belarus. i thank the belarusian american youth association for bringing this to my attention and i stand with my constituents in support of freedom for the belarusian people and in opposition to this oppressive regime. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leaves of absences requested for mr. berman of california for today, mr. cicilline of rhode island for today, mr. coble of north carolina for today, mr. davis of illinois for today, mr. grif

intended to carry gas from southern russia to europe bypassing the transit countries of ukraine and belarus is planned to have a capacity of sixty breeding cubic metres a year and will cost around twenty billion dollars to build. fifty percent of the project while twenty percent belongs to islam is in a the rest is evenly distributed between france's e.d.f. is window all. let's have a look at the market now all prices are kind of for the first time in seven days but are still high and investors fears a possible sanctions against iran that may cause a surprise disruption. and now let's see what's happening with the exit is u.s. stocks are pulling following on from the news from europe in reaction to the news that the european central bank's balance sheet expanded to wreck or often lending. and the european markets are now closed with both the docs and the footsie finishing off today's session in the red but that was the most affected by the c.b.s. news snapping three days of gates on the footsie also reacting to the news as investors work for the. realty appear once more. and in russia the m

intended to carry gas from southern russia to europe bypassing the transit countries of ukraine and belarus its plan to have a capacity of sixty billing cubic metres a year will cost around twenty billion dollars to build. fifty percent of the project while twenty percent longs to italy as it may the rest is evenly distributed between france's e.d.f. and germany is we just. so let's see what's happening in the wallet of the markets today all prices are to kind for the first time in seven days but that's still high on investor spears a possible sanctions against iran that may cause supply disruption and now let's see what's happening with yet it is u.s. stocks falling falling onto the news from europe in reaction to the news of the european central bank balance sheet expanded told blackpool's high after lead in. the european markets are now open with both of the sort of an up close up with both the dax on the footsie that finishing off the day session in the red but that was most affected by the e.c.b. looking at three days of gains. on the phones he also reacted to the news as investors wor