so far, lukashenko has refused to bend to pressure.here are now concerns the recall of the eu on voice could make dollar is even more dependent on russia. >> so why are these tensions escalating now? i put that question earlier to our brussels correspondent, nina. >> the eu has been very concerned about what is going on in belarus for a long time. how the opposition is being oppressed. and number of sanctions already in place. in fact, does it the longest- running program of sanctions at the eu has in place against any country. this program was to be extended on monday when the foreign ministers met, but then that did not happen. but some countries, like poland, pushed for it to happen, that more people were going to be put on the list. and the eu did decide that. so that is what triggered president lukashenko's reaction, that he requested that the polish ambassador and the eu envoy leave belarus and return to the capitals for what he called consultations. in a gesture of solidarity, lady said we're all going to withdraw our ambassador

way guest is alexander lukashenko. the leaders of the eurasian economic community have gathered in moscow this week to discuss further integration on the post soviet space one of them was forced alexander the president of. one of the most famous but controversial leaders of the lot of the work today he's here on spotlight to discuss the latest news coming. and some other items please welcome president got. the latest news coming from the other rules caucuses on two major topics the first and most controversial is the recent days accusing of two metro bombers fifteen people were killed and over two hundred wounded in a terrorist attack on the russian capital subway last april two men who were convicted and put to death but some human rights activists said the trial was unfair the second big topic is the eurasian economic community and some it has just finished in moscow russia plans further integration within the group but belarus is reportedly getting cold feet about the process. of the fishing co think you for joining

he's the strongman president of belarus, alexander lukashenko. for more than 20 years, he has ruled belarus with an iron fist, using a barbaric combination of repression, intimidation and torture to maintain power. he is so bold as to continue to call his security services the k.g.b. can you imagine? in today's world, calling your security service the same name as the dreaded security service of the soviet union, the k.g.b.? under lukashenko's rein, elections have been consistently rigged, arrests have been made for political purposes, and the public's basic freedoms of speech, assembly, association, even religion, which we take for granted, are severely restricted this is victor -- pardon me, alexander lukashenko, the last dictator in europe. the president of belarus. on december 19, 2010, lukashenko was given an opportunity to ease the iron grip of his police state and move closer to democracy by holding a legitimate presidential election. he couldn't bring himself to do it. he orchestrated a fraudulent election and then he turned on -- turned

and you can hear more from the russian president alexander lukashenko in our international spotlightthroughout the first day here on r.k. it's time to get the latest market news from the business press with katie i understand china is setting the tone once again for the business exactly right. commodity stocks around the globe taking an absolute saying after china raise its fuel prices by the most in two years and executive from the h.p. business and also acknowledges that china's demand i know is something else i would bet that says tom like i just three percent you can see the stock figures on the screen right now they are declining for a second day as mine is i'll make use of the building no quick number treated on concerns over the chinese. if we take a look now the u.s. markets you see how they finished up yesterday and they're falling from his store a call high we had housing starts in the u.s. falling from a three year high ball permits for future building rose to the highest levels. two thousand and eight if we look at the oil markets we can see the. pounding from their bigge

you can hear more from belarus president alexander lukashenko in our interview spotlight for thursdayhere on r.t. time now to get the latest market figures with katie at the business desk hello katie so china is still the dominant theme in the trading day very much. and it's. thinking and we think around the life of the china raised its prices by the based on why. two years and is that superbly hate britain also acknowledges that china's demand for or is out to the tumbling of the region as you can see asian stocks are the climbing first second day as mine is make use of building a quick retreat is. the chinese economy slowing we have a look at how the us finished up yesterday we can see that stocks fell after reaching stroke or highs they've had some great results this week yesterday it was very disappointing for the housing starts and the rest fell from a three year high for future housing is highest level since october two thousand interesting see how. we look at the oil markets we can see it is a mix of senses today because prices now. from the biggest decline in. polls in the us

puts the president of bellers under the spotlight in an exclusive interview alexander lukashenko defends the execution of two men found guilty of the deadly metro bombings in minsk despite international concerns. a welcome to the internship on that i'll be novel today my guest is aleksandr will question. the leaders of the eurasian economic community have gathered in moscow this week to discuss further integration on the post soviet space one of them was the worst alexander lukashenko president of. one of the most famous but controversial leaders of the lot of the work today he's here on spotlight to discuss the latest news coming from then some other items as well president of girls. the latest news coming from brother who's focuses on two major topics the first and most controversial is the recent days accused of two metro bombers fifteen people were killed and over two hundred wounded in a terrorist attack on the belorussian capital subway last april two men who were convicted and put to death but some human rights activists said the trial was unfair the second big topic is the eurasi

the chicago to pardon two men convicted of a bomb attacks last april -- by belarussian preside lukashenko>> the arrest was with, and so was their trial. they were found guilty of carrying out last year's deadly metro station bombing. their sentence -- execution but his shot to the head. on wednesday night, state television announced that the president had refused to grant clemency, and this, in spite of belarus' continued use of capital punishment. >> belarus does not orientate itself on europe but countries like the united states. it is demonstrating that it is a sovereign, independent state and with a right to determine its own laws. >> the two men's guilt was reportedly backed up with video evidence, but relatives claimed that they were framed and tortured into confessing. now that the last clemency has been denied, the men may be executed at any time. >> onto some economic news, and the jobless rate in greece has hit another record high. >> officials say about 21% of the work force was unemployed in the final quarter of 2011. young people have been hit especially hard with nearly 40%

chairman of the european parliament have said requests to the bill or should president alexander lukashenko for two grounds clemency to the two convicted men but those requests and i were disregarded in fact a lot of the european out of the european human rights observers and officials have long been looking in belarus and questioning the officials approaches to human rights freedom of speech and their treatments all of the opposition this has in fact to lead to diplomatic route bellaver was told it's in basters from several of the european countries and in retaliation the european union has also recalled all of their ambassadors from delhi rose to the european union foreign affairs chief catherine ashton already said that she strongly condemns the executions and she was seconded by the chairman of the european parliament martin short also said that he is horrified at the news and this is just about to worsen the situation and the relations which are in belarus and the european union even further. are reporting there. thousands of people have been arrested in new york are scores of proteste

condemned the said instead of refusal of the belorussian leader to pardon the man president alexander lukashenko defended his decision party. for me it was yet another tragedy in my life but above all i think sympathy for the parents of those people i did to mike did not help unfortunately here we are talking about a criminal case plane and simple well wolf the man committed an hour through just crime and there is no reason whatsoever to shill clemency the second still picture is a good body parts and the just the natural car i saw when i entered the station those images are forever with me i can see the sun record right now. absolutely certain that the court verdict and sentence were correct and justified i have no doubts about that whatsoever. so much for the full exclusive interview with memories as president in our show spotlight coming away a little more than an hour here on r.t. . india has come up with a new initiative to get every one of its billion citizens registered in an electronic database they'll get a new id card that will allow easier access to basic services but as artes prettie

sanctions on the country while its human rights groups question the fairness of the trial president lukashenko has told us here at r.t. exclusively that the refusal to pardon a man was tough but it was ultimately the correct choice to make. it was a tragedy in my life most of all i feel for the parents of those men to whom i unfortunately cannot. prove absolutely transparent but brushes federal security service the f.s.b. israel's mossad and interpol in the investigation and none of these organizations had any questions about the inquiry and it's to process so i have absolutely no doubts about the fairness of that certainly. and you can catch on more of this exclusive chat with the russian president in our interview show spotlight throughout thursday here on out. summer three hundred a french police may have surrounded a house in to lose with a suspect in the killings of a at a jewish school is holding out he's already thrown a handgun out of the window but is reported to have other weapons including a k forty seven but the interior minister killer told them he would surrender at noon he's rep

pleaded not guilty in both cases and he has written a letter to the belarusian president alyaksandr lukashenko with a plea to for pardon now that plea has been officially refused by the belarusian president just a couple of days ago and now we're getting the news that this live kaleido has actually been persecuted has actually been executed again there is no official confirmation now the thing which a lot of people of be a lot of people have been watching this very closely especially human rights organizations in europe bellerose has had it was quite a longstanding relationship with western countries which is hard to call amicable by any by any standards in fact a lot of european officials and leaders have questioned our bell about russian officials and policies and tactics when it comes to really respect when it comes to human rights and freedom of expression freedom of speech in the country and they have been watching this case as well in fact as a matter as a matter of fact the president of the european parliament has also. has also clear the fourth part and for the better for the men in th

are now preparing to impose new sanctions on minsk the country's president alexander lukashenko told r.t. exclusively that it was one of the toughest decisions he's ever had to make. it was a tragedy in my life most of all i feel for the parents of those men to whom i unfortunately cannot help it's. absolutely transparent brushes federal security service the f.s.b. israel's mossad and interpol all took part in the investigation and none of these organizations had any questions about the inquiry and its two process so i have absolutely no doubts about the fairness of the verdict that certain. that you watch the full exclusive interview with the russian president in our spotlight show throughout thursday here r.t. . britain's prince william is back from his tour of duty in the falkland islands where he's been stationed since february to support it has added to growing tensions in argentina as the thirtieth anniversary of the four plane war approaches but as our as and london have had a longstanding dispute over the islands with both countries claiming ownership our correspondent i bet

found guilty of carrying out the attack were executed by firing squad last week president alexander lukashenko called europe's allies dictator refused to pardon them despite numerous please both from within his country and abroad human rights groups question the fairness of the trial but luka shango insists everything was done according to law . process of those. so prove it was absolutely transparent to the investigation was laid for the new head of the company's investigative committee which is toward the prosecutors of course it's also russia's federal security service the f.s.b. israel's mossad with interpol all to part of this investigation none of these organizations have any questions bradley inquiry i'm just to prove and most importantly of my personal request every step of the investigation since the first interrogation was recorded on tape recorder not once since the arrest of the defendants claimed innocence testified to the issue of everything and charges have been supported by evidence and the trial itself was held in open court that's was absolutely no doubt about the fairness of

have recalled their investors from bella ruse which just did not leave the president alexander lukashenko clearly on the shaky grounds but again i what we're hearing what we're seeing here now with this particular incident is that's all we have two men who have been sentenced to death one of them reportedly has been has been executed but of course there's still no official confirmation on that case we have yet to hear from the russian officials. thank you for that update our teams are reporting from moscow. it happens every year provokes the route of those who remember nazi atrocities over a thousand lot hands have held their annual march commemorating those who fought for hitler's waffen s.s. divisions the gathering is condemned by many both in law and abroad as a misguided inspiration for young neo nazis archies jacob greaves reports. there's been decades of change since the world where nazi germany dominated despite their bloody legacy in some quarters of europe that you still have an audience come are you referring to jews are crying about the holocaust with very few forty nine hundre

and hear more from the russian president alexander lukashenko in our interview program spotlight airingon thursday here at r.t. . a series of blasts have shaken several iraqi cities killing at least forty six and entering almost two hundred latest violence comes nine years after the u.s. led invasion of the country started any ahead of next week's arab league summit in baghdad as a war activist michael right he says nato has left a deadly legacy in iraq. well i think what we have to remember the back is it's effectively still under occupation. we may have seen the withdrawal of combat troops but there are still tens of thousands of what western media would refer to as private contractors but we all know who but these are paid mercenaries hired killers and it's in their interests and it's in the interests of the the leagues around the world to keep this keep this conflict going there won't be any change in these countries until not only do the soldiers in the army's leave put all the probably contractors gone through and also the puppet governments that have commonly been put in place by

found guilty of carrying out the attack were executed by firing squad last week president alexander lukashenko dubbed europe's last the dictator refused to pardon them despite numerous pleas from both within his country and abroad human rights groups have questioned the fairness of the trial but luka shane cohen says everything was done according to well. put this with those who put us through but was absolutely transparent and the investigation was laid. the new head of the country's investigative committee who just toured the prosecutor's office is also russia's federal security service the f.s.b. israel's mossad and interpol all took part in this investigation and none of these organizations had any questions by being quietly on the stoop and most importantly at my personal request every step of the investigation since the first interrogation was recorded on tape not once since the arrest of the defendants claimed innocence they testified this through everything and charges have been supported by evidence and the trial itself was held in open court so i have absolutely no doubts about the f

the sentence and a refusal of the belorussian leader to pardon the men but president alexander lukashenko defended his decision to r.t. . for meat was yet another tragedy in my life but above all i feel sympathy for the parents of those people did to my could not help unfortunately here we are talking about a criminal case spleen and simple well wolf the man committed an artery just crime and there is no reason whatsoever to shill clemency the second still picture is getting ready for it's in a just a natural chorus so when i answered the station those images are forever of with me i can see this on the record right now. absolutely certain that the court verdict and sentence were correct and justified. no doubts about that whatsoever. and you can hear more from the girl russian president in your interview show spotlight coming your way in the us than ten minutes. india has come with a new initiative to get every one of its billion citizens registered in an electronic database or to get new id cards all in use your access to basic services but authorities proofreader reports there are fear

he's actually insisted on his innocence and has appealed for clemency to the president alexander lukashenko however president refused to ground him clemency refused to pardon him and then several days later news started streaming to streaming through. has been executed somewhere in belarus his mother has received the news from. high courts however at this point we still have no confirmation on whether or not that in. to execution have actually taken place wherever there are reports from russian and national television which are as good as official confirmation is saying that indeed the executions have taken place from the very beginning i thought it is officials in the european union have been closely following the case their relations with belarus of course have been strained for quite some time even before these arrests and the following trials that's a lot of. particularly human rights organizations in europe have a lot of questions to the russian authorities when it comes to human rights freedom of speech and also the approach to the opposition in the country they believe that those cas